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All right, we're in Matthew chapter 20 look down at your Bibles at verse number 25 It says here But Jesus called them unto him and said ye know that the princes of the Gentiles Exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them, but it shall not be so among you But what's whosoever will be great among you? Let him be your minister and whosoever will be chief among you Let him be your servant Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto But to minister and to give his life a ransom for many and the title of this sermon this evening is whom God exalts whom God exalts here in this passage of Scripture We see the disciples basically desiring a specific lofty position They want to be exalted and let me just start off by saying is that the desire to be exalted is not a wicked desire It's not a bad desire In fact, it's not a bad goal to have you know to be promoted because exalted simply means to be promoted to be elevated To be honored so to speak, but it's not bad and often we think well, you know We shouldn't desire those things but in reality all of us within every within the heart of every single man We have a desire to do great things for God We have a desire to make a big impact in this world for Christ and that requires for us to be promoted to a position We promote it to a level of influence that we can do that. So there's nothing necessarily wrong with having that desire What's wrong is the avenue or the vehicle that we take to get us to that destination? You know, what's wrong is we don't when we don't use God's formula to be exalted We use the world's formula to be promoted. Okay, and that's exactly what we're gonna talk about this evening You see Jesus Christ actually makes the distinction. What's the difference? How are we supposed to be exalted by God in this world look at verse 25? Jesus called them unto him and said ye know that the princes of the Gentiles now when he says Gentiles He's referring to unsafe people Exercise dominion over them and they there are great Exercise authority upon them. So we see that the type of leadership that the world has is a type of leadership That's not based on servitude but rather on Dominion But rather on exercising authority, okay And you study any type of Empire throughout the years that was not based on a biblical foundation This is exactly how they would rule their people. They would exercise authority. They would exercise Dominion now what is specifically being discussed here? Look go up to verse number 20 Look what it says in verse number 20 says then came to him the mother of zebedee's children with her sons Worshipping him and desiring a certain thing of him and he said unto her what wilt thou? She saith unto him grant that these my two sons may sit The one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom now, what is this? This is position. I Mean good night. Not only do they want to have a lofty position in heaven They want to be on the right side and on the left side of Jesus Christ This is quite a request Now it's a little embarrassing that the mom had to come and ask for that, right? We're gonna look at other scriptures where they actually come to him themselves, but they had mommy come or hate and do that By the way, uh, you know side note here don't have your mom come ask for you You know something that you want be a man ask yourself. Amen verse 22 But Jesus answered and said ye know not what ye ask now. He's not reprimanding them for wanting this disposition Because he says you know not what you ask. It's like you don't know what it's gonna take to actually get to that point Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink up and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with They said it's him. We are able now. What is he referring to? Well, the cup is referring to the cup of suffering You know this cup that his father has given me shall I not drink it? He said and the baptism that he's referring to is also the suffering because who is the most exalted Person in all of mankind Jesus Christ because of the fact that he humbled himself God gave him a name above every name and exalted him so in order for them to sit on the right and the left they need to drink the cup that Jesus drink up and Be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized with and these guys had some had some guts because they said we are able Verse 23 and he says unto them ye shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it shall be given to them to for Whom it is prepared of my father by the way, this coincides with Romans chapter 8 Well, the Bible says that we are heirs with Christ and joint heirs. If so be that we suffer with him Right that's referring to the baptism that's referring to the cup He says if you we suffer with them if we drink of that cup and be baptized with that baptism We shall be joint heirs with him. We shall rule and reign with Christ Verse 24 and when the ten heard it, they're removed with indignation against the two brother You're just gonna bring your mom over here and do this So they wanted a position they wanted a pretty lofty one at that and Jesus doesn't rebuke him for it He just explains to them. Hey, if you really want this position Here are the two elements Here's what you need to do suffer right verse 22 I'll go to mark chapter 10. Excuse me mark chapter 10 Let's look at another instance where they do this mark chapter number 10 So the first element that we see for us to rule and reign with Christ as we mentioned in times past is that we have To suffer with Christ, you know Paul the Apostle said this that I may know him in the power of his resurrection And the fellowship of his suffering being made conformable unto his death right and that suffering gives us access to be Rulers and to be joint heirs with Christ look at mark chapter 10 verse 35 It says in James and John the sons of Zebedee come unto him saying master We would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever. We shall desire and he said it's him What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him grant us that we may sit on thy right hand and on the other thy left hand in Thy glory, but Jesus said unto him, you know not what you ask Can you drink of the cup that I drink up and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Skip down to verse 41 and when the ten herded they began to be much displeased with James and John But Jesus called them to him and say them to them Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and their great ones exercise authority upon them But so shall it not be among you but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister So he says look if you want to be great, you got to be a servant Whosoever will be the cheapest shall be a servant of all for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his Life a ransom for many go to Luke chapter 22 Luke chapter 22 Luke chapter 22 and look at verse 26 They come to him again and he words this a little differently verse 26 it says but ye shall not be so but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and He that is chief as he that doth serve for whether is greater he that sitteth at me Or he that serveth is not he that sitteth at me, but I am among you as he that serveth He says obviously when you look at someone who's eating and someone who is serving the one who is great The one who is being tended to has the authority has the position is the one who's important He says but me who obviously is Jesus Christ who's the most important man that ever lived He says he comes as one that serves Given us the example that if we're going to be great in this world or even in the world to come We need to be servants. We need to be ministers. It's not wrong to want to be a chief It's not wrong to want to be great. It's not what wrong to want a lofty position. What's wrong is how you get it The manner of which you obtain that position that becomes wrong if it's not biblical Okay, if it's not according to what God says here Now here's the the great thing is that Matthew 19 verse 27 says then answered Peter said unto him behold We have forsaken all and follow thee What shall we have therefore and Jesus said unto him verily I say to you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration When the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon the twelve thrones Judging the twelve tribes of Israel man. That's that's awesome That is a great privilege that these men were given to have now Go with me if you would to Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 So tonight I want to talk about this subject of whom God exalts Okay, and the reason I want to talk about that is because I believe we have a great church Amen, and as a church we want to be exalted We want God to promote us we want God to increase the scope of our influence and on an individual Level we want the men at our church also also to be exalted Amen, but we never want to have this attitude that the way we get exalted is by doing anything other than the formula than We see in the Bible by crooked means by perverseness by lying by deceived by dishonesty We want to make sure that we do it the right way so I'm gonna give you a couple points how the world promotes versus how God promotes and The interesting thing is that Christians will use the world's manner and promotion in the church You Know they will use the formula unbeknownst to them or maybe because they're ignorant or maybe because they just want a position And I'm not we're not talking about reparations tonight I'm talking about just regular Christians who have a desire to be great, but they try to use Different means worldly means to do it. Okay, and I just want to realign our focus to remind us Hey, if you want to be great, if you want to be a leader be a servant first So How does the world promote versus how God promotes well number one the world says push people down in order for you to move Up, right Push people down in order for you to move up Hey If you're in a company You're working for some CEO and you want to move up in the ladder. You got to make sure you make everyone else look lame Lazy and and you know just a bad worker in order for you to rise up That's not a way to go about it You know when you try to lie about your employees or you try to make them look bad or whatever may be and you you you? Basically rail on people in order to make yourself look good. That's the world's way of getting promoted That's a wicked means of being promoted that God will not honor that The world says push people down to move up God says humble yourself John the Baptist I must decrease that he may increase right in Fact the Bible says humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord that he may exalt you in due season. That's what the Bible tells us So it's the opposite isn't it and it almost seems illogical But you know what the Bible is not meant to be logical is meant to be accepted by faith and God says hey if you Want to be promoted whether at your job in church wherever it may be Guess what? You need to make sure that you base yourself. You need to make sure that you humble yourself You're not you shouldn't be a Christian who's always proclaiming his own goodness Trying to make yourself look good in order that others may not right And look let's let's talk about church for a second You know, maybe there's someone who wants to be a pastor here, okay I'm sure there's many people who want to be pastors here The way you move up the way you get promoted the way you get recognized is not by making other people in the church look bad It's not by trying to make other potential pastors look worse by making yourself look good By pushing them down in order for you to prop up and be recognized of the leadership That's not how you get promoted in the church Okay, you know we need to make sure that we humble ourselves that God may raise us up and recognize Hey, we're not all that in the bag of chips, right? You're not God's gift to this world You're not God's gift to this church. Now. You have gifts that you can utilize for the church But guess what? The church is not based off of you Jesus Christ said upon this rock. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against a Jesus Christ is the one building this church So the way you need to see yourself is as a component in order to be a blessing to others Where God has gifted you with certain things to utilize within the church to basically edify it Not be like, well, you know, I'm like this church is lucky. They got me Lucky I got all kinds of gifts You know, I'm good-looking I Can do this. I'm like a David The only thing I can't do is play the harp But I can No, what we need to do is say well, yeah, I'm sure I got some talents I'm sure I got some abilities and what at whatever capacity I could be used. I want to be used And you know where you start just being a servant what can I do What can I do? Where in what area can I serve? The world says exalt yourself to move up. God says let another man praise thee and Not thine own lips Look at Luke 14 verse 7 brother Paul. Can you change every water please? That's mine. That's mine. Yeah Thank you. Luke 14 verse 7. Look what it says here. This is the story is so funny to me He says he put forth the parable to those which were bidden When he marked how they chose out the chief room saying unto them without a bidden of a man to a wedding Sitting out down in the highest room Lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him and he that baby come and say to thee Give this man place and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. I mean that's kind of embarrassing. Is it not? It's just like hey, this isn't your seat. This actually belongs at all. Sorry about that. And then you're just like this is embarrassing, you know So what was the problem with this guy? He put himself in the cheapest of seats instead of being asked To be placed in that position. He placed himself in that position Verse 10, but when they are bending go and sit down in the lowest room That when he that baby cometh he may say unto thee friend go up higher Then shall thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee for whosoever Exalted himself shall be abased and he that humbled it himself shall be exalted You see the Bible tells us that most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness But a faithful man who can find you know, people like to talk about the most themselves You know who people like to talk about them the exploits like to talk about the most their own exploits It's easy to proclaim your own your own goodness Faithfulness is the quality that God looks for in order to be exalted The Bible says in Proverbs 27 boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what the day may bring forth let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth a Stranger and not thine own lips now is God against someone else praising you for your good qualities. No Give honor to where honors do a man Give honor to where honors do there's nothing wrong with telling someone you did a great job I like the way you did this, you know, you just you exceeded the expectations just honoring you The problem is when you're honoring yourself The Problem comes when you begin to exalt your self talk about how great you are Okay. Now let's look at some examples of this go to Esther chapter 6 Let me give you an extreme example first, but go to Esther chapter number 6 What's an extreme example of someone who exalts themselves and then God just brings them down even to the lowest health? Satan, but what about the Antichrist? right Who opposed it and exalted themself above all that it's called God Yet he's gonna be brought down to the lowest hell because he exalted himself But let me give you another example here in Esther the book of Esther If you read the book of Esther is a very interesting book in the Old Testament and It centers around this woman by the name of Esther and how God used her to basically liberate The children of Israel from sudden death execution Okay by a decree of the king that was influenced by the man a man by the name of Haman okay, Haman hated the Jews and tried to secretly get them destroyed by Convincing the king to make a decree that all of them should be destroyed from off the land But Haman is a perfect example of what we're talking about here because he wanted to be exalted right He wanted the position back Okay, and you know what he did the worldly way of doing it He conspired he lied. I mean he was trying to set his own platform for his exaltation Let's read that Esther chapter 6 verse 1 On that night could not the king sleep and he commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles And they were read before the king and it was found written that Mordecai had told big big Thana and Teres Two of the king's chamberlains the keepers of the door who sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus and the king said what honor and dignity have been done to Mordecai for this. So, what is he talking about? well, these men were planning to conspire to kill the king and Mordecai who's related to Esther heard about this of course by God's Providence heard about this and Basically ratted them out and was able to save the king's life because of this But the king had no idea that Mordecai had done this Mordecai is a Jew He had no idea that he had done this and he had he could sleep went from him He decided to read the Bible which is the chronicles there and he read about this and he's like Have we honored this guy for saving my life? Right. This guy deserves honor Then said the king servants that miniature unto him. There is nothing done for him and the king said who is in the court? So he's just gonna just just say what he's basically doing. He's like just find me something We're just gonna ask him what we should do to this guy Who was in the court now? Haman was coming to the outward court of the king's house to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. Okay, this is funny. So what's going on here? Well Haman had built these gallows, right? These these instruments of execution to kill Mordecai because he hated Mordecai He despised them Okay, so he built these gallows and what he was doing is he was on the way to the king's house to say hey We should kill Mordecai now that the decrees passed. Let's let this guy be the first one to go So he's going but at the same time The king is like who's in the course like Haman Haman's like man. He's like walking over there Verse 5 says and the king's servant said unto him behold Haman standeth in the court and the king said let him come in So Haman came in and the king said unto him what shall be done unto the man whom the king delighted to honor Now Haman thought in his heart to whom would the king delight to do more honor than myself so he's like Cha-ching he's talking about me So In his mind, he's thinking I'm gonna just dish out like the best type of honor a man can get And just play stupid. Like I don't know there. I'm gonna be the one being honored So just just dish out all the honoring all or anything that I want because he's thinking what is he doing? He's exalting himself And by the way, who's the only person who thinks he's being exalted? Who's the only person that's actually exalting Haman Haman? In his heart he thinks he's all that in the bag of chips In his heart, he thinks he's golden in his heart. He's great, but only in his heart Because he's imagining all this and not none of it all of its fabricated none of its true Verse 7 and Haman answered the king for the man who the king delighted to honor Let the royal peril be brought which the king used it to wear and the horse that the king writeth upon and the crown Royal which is set upon his head and let this apparent horse be delivered to the hand of the of one of the king's most Noble princess that they may array the man with all whom the king delighted to honor and bring him on horse back Through the street of the city and proclaim before him thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighted to honor I mean, he's just like I mean he's quick on his feet. Is he not? He had all this thing planned out Then the king said to him and may case Take the apparel and the horse as thou has said and do even so to Mordecai the Jew That's it that the king's gatelet. Nothing fell of all that thou has spoke He's like that's a good idea go tell Mordecai that this is what I'm gonna give him Can you imagine the wonder of his face when he found out that he was giving it to Mordecai He's thinking this is the guy I was coming to tell you to kill And now he has to be the one to go humbly to Mordecai to honor him What a loser Verse 11 then took him in the apparent the horse and arrayed Mordecai man and Brought him on horse back through the street of the city and proclaimed before him thus shall it be done Unto the man whom the king delighted to honor and Mordecai came again to the king's gate But Haman hasted to his house mourning and having his head covered. What does that mean? He was he was like embarrassed. He's like man. I can't believe this just happened. Well, it's not over yet. Hey, man Go to chapter 7 Look at verse number 3 then Esther the Queen answered and said now Esther basically has called for a banquet and she's going to appeal To the king to basically reverse the decree that was made to kill all the Jews now fortunately for Esther the king loves Esther and was willing to basically reverse this law and Everything ends up working out says then Esther the Queen answered and said if I have found favor in thy sidle king And it pleased the king let my life be given Me and my petition and my people on my request for we are sold I am my people to be destroyed to be slain and to perish But if we have been sold for bondmen or bond women, I'd have held my tongue Although the enemy could not contra veil the king's damage then the king then the key Excuse me Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the Queen who is he and where is he that ders presume in his heart? To do so and as I said the adversary and enemy is the wicked Haman by the way Haman was there at the banquet He got invited to that at least right? Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen the king arising from the banquet of wine and his wrath went into the palace garden and Haman stood up to make requests for his life to Esther the Queen for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the King so Haman or the key just walks out into his like palace outside and and Haman Knows it's coming I'm so done because he knows that the king loves Esther verse 8 then the king returned to the palace garden into the palace of the banquet of wine and Haman was fallen upon the bed where on Esther was then said the king will he force the Queen also before me in the house as the word this is so gangster as The word went out of the king's mouth. They covered him in space So in other words that phrase that he said it was like a cue for the guys to just cover his face to be executed You know, he's basically saying oh you're planning to force her to what you're are you even gonna rape her? Is that what you're gonna do too? And our bono one of the chamberlains said before the king behold also the gallows 50 cubits I which Haman made had made for Mordecai who's spoken good for the king standeth in the house of Haman Then the king said hang him there on so they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai Then was the king's wrath Pacified great story. I encourage you just go home and read the book of Esther. It's entertaining You know, he made his gallow in wickedness out of the out of the wicked imagination of his own heart in order to be exalted and it was actually end of It ended up being used on him, you know, and look let me say this Especially for Christians to want to be exalted to want to be promoted and you do it in a wicked manner It's gonna come back to you Whatsoever you shall sow you will reap as well Okay, you will reap that which you sow if you sow to the flesh you shall of the flesh reap corruption Go to Galatians chapter number six Galatians chapter number six I'll read to you from Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought about Robert to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation That's what a lot of people want. Don't they a reputation? He made himself of no reputation and took upon in the form of a servant It was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man He humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and giving him a name which is above every name You know the world says build a good image to move up The Bible says prove your own selves You know This is the reason why people in this world are like thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars in debt Because they're trying to keep up with the Joneses Right Trying to look all spiffy have the most expensive clothing the most expensive car the best-looking house Everything needs to be just on the outside. The image Lee needs to look good to convince your neighbors who are as broke as you are You got it made that you promote it that you're exalted but in actuality you're just thousands of dollars in debt But in actuality you're miserable, but in actuality your wife doesn't love you But in actuality your kids don't obey you Hey, but you look good in that vehicle You look good in those clothes. You got all this money. No you don't Cuz the image does not matter. I Mean think about Jesus Christ the Fox the fowls of the air's have nests the foxes have holes But the son of man have not where to lay his head Jesus Christ was broke You know, he didn't have riches on this earth he made himself poor that we might be made rich through his poverty Well, you know what the Bible says forget about your image, I mean brush your teeth You know look decent we don't want to go to the extreme Would you just come to church looking like you just got out of bed? You got bedhead Okay, by the way, that's popular what the Liberals just let me say that you look at the liberal passage their hairs are just like Throwing up gang signs. They're from like Compton Their their hair is all crazy. You know, that's like the cool thing to do now, right? That's not what? You know, we should be in or decently in an order. Amen But at the same time, you know, we need to make sure that the most important thing is that we're proving our own selves What does that mean our work the work that we do is far more important? Look at the Bible says in Galatians 6 verse 3 for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceived With himself, he's not deceiving anybody else He's deceiving himself. I'm somebody man. You're lying to yourself but let every man prove his own work and Then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, you know It makes you feel good is when you get something done You know what by the way people who are concerned about their image or what they look like they are self-conscious They lack confidence They're insecure Because they're worried about what other people think about them fool me with that Who cares? Let's care what God thinks about us. I Care that my wife thinks I'm handsome and that's it Amen Why do I care if anybody else whatever what else thinks about how I look You know what I care about that I get a job done and I have rejoicing in that Because I accomplished something see what then every man is a desire to have a project to accomplish it and say on to the next project time to do something else You know, my father-in-law used to say, I don't know if this is right or wrong But I understood what he was coming from and it sounded right at the time If you have a different opinion, don't tell me but he but he was like he's to say, you know He said do you talk about marriage he used to say You know, hey wives, you know, don't don't get upset if your husband doesn't behave the way he first behaved when you first got married All right, he goes He goes because you know, obviously we still got a day being loved and love grows and everything But he said but you gotta understand something your your husband's a conqueror And that's how he feels about things, you know, once you get married, it's like this is conquered time to move on to the next thing This isn't and look I know you're not a piece of land. Okay. I'm not saying that you are I'm talking about the concept. This is true though right Because we fight to get married and then once they're there it's like all right time to move on and go do greater works The ladies are like, I'm not this is not right Look This is not in the absence of loving your wife as Christ loved the church and giving them so for it Obviously making sure that you establish a good relationship with your wife. But what I'm saying is this men are project oriented Men are goal oriented They want to keep conquering things They want to keep accomplishing things and look if you wanted your husband To just be this person who just follows you everywhere you go and just pampers you get a dog get a little puppy It's true You should want a husband who's actually going somewhere Who actually has ambition has goals? Right has vision has dreams is going somewhere because that's what he's made for Is to do something for God To accomplish goals now men. Hey, let's keep it in line and make sure that we're loving our wives as Christ loved the church But ladies don't hinder your husband from just dreaming and going out and succeeding and conquering I was gonna say going forth conquering and to conquer that's probably not the best verse to use You know accomplishing things proving his own work Right And look one of the ways that you can guarantee That your husband will continue to lavish you and love you is that you just get crazy about his dreams, too You let those dreams excite you as well. Well, I got my own dreams you feminist you Christian feminists Follow your husband amen That's what you're supposed to do help meet This isn't discernment. I think I'm gonna park it on here for just a little bit You know this society is played with Christian feminism But I'm King James only yeah, but you're not obeying the Bible Get excited about what your husband's doing Amen Well, I got my own thing that I want to do. Well, why don't you ask Eve how that worked out for her? Let's see how that worked out Eve was the one who was deceived Adam was in the transgression, but Eve was the one who was deceived I Don't even know how I got off on that All what I'm saying is this prove your own work and look guys don't be lazy people either Partly the reason why wives get frustrated with their husbands is because their husbands ain't doing jack squat They're just sitting around Just doing nothing at all not accomplishing anything not bettering themselves as men as fathers as husbands Hey, you need to be constantly working on something improving yourself Ladies like that He's he's got tunnel vision right now Working on a specific project or whatever it may be. Okay? You know the Bible tells us that in order for us to be promoted Yeah, in order for us to be promoted. It's not about how we look on the outside, but the work that we do Okay And look, it doesn't say prove your own prove your work to other people Prove your own self. Okay. Look your greatest Opponents your greatest person to your that you are Comparing yourself to should be yourself Are you better than yourself today than you were last year? All right That's the one who that's the person you should be competing with the most Go with me view it to Luke chapter 12. The world says be rich to move up Be rich have money clout The Bible says beware of covetousness The world said the Bible says that for the love of money is the root of all evil You know not be rich Not being hate trying to be hasty to be rich People want money they want possessions But look what the Bible says in Luke 12 15 Jesus saith unto them take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not on the abundance of the things which he possess it You ever see like a really small guy Let's just exaggerate like a pygmy sized guy and like a monster truck Do something wrong with that Right, it's just like This guy is not secure in himself His life consisteth in the things which he possesses Right. He fleshes out who he is and the things that he has What does our life consist of serving God the Bible loving my wife loving our children soul-winning The Bible says in James 2 5 harken my beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor thing of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him look Who cares about what kind of car you have a man You see my van up there You know, that's not necessary You just need something to get you from point A to point B Now if you could afford something that will last you longer. Amen Okay, nothing wrong with having a new car if you can afford it and if it gets you from point A to point B But if you got the spinners on there, you got the latest, you know, whatever Bells and whistles, you know, we're in LA if you got the You got the airbags and the switches there's something wrong with that. Okay. Are you trying to prove something to someone else? Okay Go to 1st Timothy chapter 3 1st, Timothy chapter 3 Hey richest prophet not in the day of wrath the Bible says a man And Don't don't get me confused. Don't don't twist what I'm saying We need money Amen We need finances. We need money. We're not we don't want to have this type of attitude It's like well, no no money at all. We can't have no fun. No money and wrong. That's an extreme that it's unbiblical as well Okay, because money does answer problems Right, like if we have a problem that we can't produce materials or tracks You know what? The answer that problem is money to buy the materials that we need to propagate the gospel But the problem is is when people love money Okay, that's the problem at that point. It becomes covetous Okay, we all have to understand that money has its place in this world. It has its place in the church The church needs money to keep these lights going You know that AC that never works. We need to make sure that we keep paying so it keeps working the way it's working All the materials the invites everything that we have requires Finances to keep it going if we're gonna take missions trips soul-winning trips, you know, the activities or whatever may be these require money But we never want to live for money. Okay? Now here's my last point this is the one that I'm gonna focus on the most You know, the world says do the bare minimum and cut corners in order to be promoted Do the bare minimum and cut corners in order to be promoted the Bible teaches us to just be well-rounded Okay What I mean by bare minimum Well, let's look at the qualifications of a pastor first and foremost because I think this is a good way a place to start Okay. Now, let me just say this. I'm gonna talk about the qualifications of a pastor tonight a little bit But let me just say this is that the list that we see here is the bare minimum for a pastor But it's something that every man should follow Right, so I'm not gonna be a pastor so I don't have to follow that No, this is just bare minimum for a pastor and this is one thing that I want to talk about tonight Is this is that first Timothy chapter 3 is not a checklist for you to become a pastor Because that's how a lot of people see it I'm sorry. This is just the bare minimum There's a lot more to this to become a pastor Well, I don't believe that well too bad you're not the pastor I Don't think it should be that way well, maybe you could go find a church where they believe that it is that way But guess who's the pastor So I'm gonna tell you what the Bible says about this first and we're gonna we're gonna share common ground what the Bible says But I'm gonna show you that this is bare minimum Okay It's not a checklist and look in the world people cut corners and do the bare minimum to get on top all the time Cheat be dishonest. They do that all the time to be exalted. It's impossible to do that as a Christian, but people try to though Let's look what the Bible says verse 1 This is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop. He desired the good work, by the way Notice that it says if a man desire the office of a bishop That's for that's for those Pentecostals out there. They have these women preachers. Oh And by the way chapter 2 verse 12, it's not there by accident But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man But to be in silence and then he goes into by the way, these are the qualifications of a pastor if a man Desired the office of a bishop. He desired the good work Then he goes into the qualifications a bishop a pastor then must be blameless The husband of one wife Vigilant sober of good behavior given to hospitality apt to teach not given to wine No striker not greedy a filthy lucre But patient not a brawler not covetous one that ruleth well his own house having his children in 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? Let's being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil moreover He must have a good report of them which are without lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil Now as I mentioned bare minimum for pastor for pastors, this is all across the board for men This should be I mean I remember when I first got saved I read this I'm like, well, I'm just gonna like obey this and use this as a template just because I want to be a good Christian. I Want to be an effective man So a bishop verse 2 must be blameless Not perfect, but blameless In other words, I would say it's a person who is constantly working on their character flaws Now, let me ask you men. Do you have character flaws? If you said no, you need to go back to the beginning of the sermon And just remember you're deceiving yourself You're constantly working on yourself and How can you work on yourself? Well first and foremost You got to recognize what your weaknesses are and fix them. But you know what if someone else sees your weaknesses and They try to help you with them. Don't get mad at that Don't be a little snowflake sissy weenie Who can't take any criticism? You just bark when someone tells you something you just flinch and you always feel like that You have this need to just defend yourself If someone tells you your weaknesses just take it like a man Take it like a man take it like a spiritual punch to the face Take it like a man. Well, I just don't agree with you then you know what you're not ready then to be a man Little boy You're not ready to be a man Because a man is able to take constructive criticism and not think that everyone's against him Not think that people are trying to bring you down. They're trying to improve who you are But you know, we don't improve by only succeeding we improve by failing we improve by being corrected of who we are And look you guys in the preaching class. It's not just through preaching that you get corrected where you learn. It's just in life period Well, I don't I don't think so. I think I'm a pretty good guy, you know, I think Yeah, you're pretty weak guys what you are Learn to take criticism and look it doesn't feel good at all I'm with you on that When someone begins to criticize you it doesn't feel good at all It's like stripes to the inward parts of the belly the Bible says But the blueness of a wound cleanses up the waist in right it's to make you better. Hey, no pain no gain a Bishop that must be blameless the husband of one wife. Hey, this is good Hey single guys if you want to graduate as a man Get a woman to follow you You know, I'm always intrigued and humored when single guys want to tell me how I could be a better husband When single guys try to school me on how to be a husband That's funny to me You know, I don't I Just not them It's not the way it works buddy You need to get someone to follow you first That's a great accomplishment by the way to get a woman to marry you You know to lie to a woman to lie to a woman enough to marry. I mean, uh I'm just kidding To trick her into marrying it's a that's a great accomplishment, man But it takes a lot because you know what a woman has to be willing to marry you Says a lot and look if you're single don't act like a know-it-all Especially when it comes to marriage the most annoying thing that a single guy could ever do is Act like he's an expert in something that he has no he has no experience in Get some experience and then let's talk You know who I go for advice people who have been married for 10 20 30 40 years I don't even go to people who have been married as long as I have for marriage counsel Because we both know basically the same amount of stuff It's not gonna help me none. I go to the people who have a successful marriage who've been married for like 50 years Right and I humbly go to them because obviously they're doing something right So Single guys don't be a marriage counselor to people who've been married for a while Yeah, but I know the Bible and everything, you know, I just know what the Bible has to say about it Yeah, but you got no credibility By the way, you know credibility is important to people, right? Right credibility is important in order for us to listen. Hey, this is family time right now and then this is good All the single guys are gonna forsake me tonight No, I know we got good guys here the husband of one wife Vigilance, by the way, when it says one wife, it means only one wife ever Right Now look we're talking about be a pastor here. If you're divorced in times past, you know, obviously if you made a mistake We have divorced people in our church. We love them. There's some of the best people in our church They recognize it. And in fact when I when I rip on divorce, they're like the loudest ameners in our church And that's how it should be but lest we forget no pastor should ever be pastoring and he's divorced Vigilant means he's paying attention. He's aware sober in other words. He's not given to like alcohol You know, he's wicked Calvinist who part of their diet is like Jack Daniels How can you be sober well sober just means aware you can't be aware if you're drinking you fool If you're taking shots of whiskey drinking wine or beer Guinness Can be sober of Good behavior. This is something that aligns with being blameless You're above reproach in other words Given to hospitality. This is a good one right here. What does that mean? You're just a hospitable pretty You're friendly Okay, and again, I'm not just talking to those who want to be pastors. I'm just talking to men period we should be lovers Of good men, should we not? We should be lovers of good men be friendly to everyone Hey, let me say this in our church Sunday morning. The men should be the one greeting everyone All the visitors even the ladies You're not crazy. I just don't know. I just don't want him to be awkward. No, you are awkward by just doing that Nothing wrong with going look if you're secure, there's nothing wrong with going to lay said nice to meet you. What's your name? Thank you so much for coming. My name is so-and-so. Hope you enjoy your visit here If you got a I mean a guilt-free conscience, there's nothing wrong with that Be a lover of hospitality Come to church ready to greet the people who come to our church Look for new people greet them say hi to them conversate with them get to know them I don't want people to think that I'm weird or anything You're weird just by thinking that Be a lover of hospitality and look You know, the cool thing about our churches is that we all get along great You know, we have a good time fellowshipping Sometimes we like to fellowship too much Well, let me say this this is not a law that I'm putting in the church it's not a rule But I'm saying this because I know it's gonna improve our church Sunday mornings, we need to get out of our clicks And when we see new people you need to gravitate towards them Because everyone has their clicks. You got your gangs people that as soon as you come to oh, there he is right there Don't leave me don't leave me And you guys are just like Right you're laughing because you know, it's true now tonight do that as much as you want because the Sunday night crowds Typically the trout the crowd is just faithful, but you know Sunday morning abandon your clique Your little clique out that you got going on there Forsake it and go look for some new people not if there's no new people then go ahead join up with your clique But if you see that there's people break off from that and go talk to me why because we want to be lovers of hospitality Men, I'm talking to the men ladies you apply this if you want. I'm talking to the men right now Men be lovers of hospitality be lovers of good men love new people We should love the people who come to our church and just try to like enthrall them with love. Amen So it's given to hospitality apt to teach Now look the regular Joe Schmo in our church who doesn't want to be a pastor. It's okay if you don't know this Right because not everyone is apt to teach. What does that have to teach able to teach? The Word of God But if you want to be a pastor you have to be able to teach the Word of God That means open up the Word of God expound from it make it clear make it distinct, right? Able to teach if you don't have that ability nothing wrong. You just cannot be a pastor Right and look I would say being apt to teach also includes being able to preach hard right Because look we got to lift up our voice like a trumpet cry aloud and spare not and show my people their Transgressions or else no one's gonna take you serious apt to teach Verse three not given to wine Now when it talks about wine here This isn't referring to alcoholic beverage because that's a no-brainer that no Christian should have been given to wine This wine is just referring to juice But hold on a second pastors are not allowed to drink juice. They're not to be given to it What does that mean that you're just addicted to it? You have a bad habit of just constantly consuming You know beverages filled with sugar such as wine right See dr. Rita for more details Not given to wine okay and look I had this problem before I love coke Part of my sin nature You know and look Right now. I'm on a strict Window of time right now, and maybe sometime in the future to be honest as you might desire for coke is actually dwindling believe it or not Like we're to the point where I really don't want it at all, but you know a sparkling cider sounds pretty good Every once in a while ago This should not be something that I'm given to right he that loveth wine and oil shall be poor the Bible says Okay In other words what this is saying is that we should have our appetites in subjection to us We should be able to have the resilience to resist that which is Appetizing to us that which we would want and don't give me this well. I can stop anytime look. You know what? Your walk walks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks Prove your own work Let's do it, and then we'll see right But not given to wine now for just the general man in our church This is a good principle to go by to Keep it under your body bring it into subjection Let's by any means when we have preached others. We ourselves should be castaways. You know. This is good. Just to learn how to Subject our body and understand all things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient all things are lawful for me But I will not be brought under the power of any right We need to learn how to abstain from certain things and look I'm not promoting my diet here. I'm not saying you should get on my on my plan here But look there is a bunch of people who are you know why cuz it's the results You do whatever you want as long as it produces what the Bible says As long as you're able to produce resilience and to abstain if you have a different manner of doing it More power to you as long as you're resilient as long as you're able to be resistant as long as you're able to keep under Your body you know as long as you shall not be brought under the power of any I think that's a good thing. Amen Self-discipline is what we're talking about here. I know this is an end-time Bible prophecy and reprobates and all that stuff, but this is just practical living right here, right? No striker, what does that mean? You shouldn't be characterized by fighting This is something our church struggles with Because we have a bunch of fighters in our church Which I think is a good thing We have a lot of people who know how to fight, and we don't have brawls or anything like that Just on fight night. I'm just kidding But we should not be characterized or be violent people, right? Men we should not be violent and look men have a tendency to lose their tempo very quickly But you know what the Bible tells us to be slow to anger You know he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that keepeth the spirit than he that taketh the city Ruleeth the spirit than he that taketh the city Okay Not greedy a filthy lucre Right now. What does that mean not greedy and look side note here pastors out there Greedy a filthy lucre. This is the main reason why people hold back on their preaching by the way because they're trying to keep the tides coming in and the offerings because they got to build the building and the missions program and the Mercedes-benz and all their little vacations that they want to take so they preach what everyone wants them to hear what everyone wants to hear In order for them to get filthy lucre So it's money when we're doing the right thing, but it becomes filthy lucre when we do it for the wrong reasons Okay But patience not a brawler self-explanatory not covetous see greedy a filthy lucre look at verse 4 One that ruleth well his own house Having his children in subjection with all gravity Okay, this is important here now when it talks about ruling your own house now remember we're talking to all men and Those of you who want to be pastors you got a doubly take heed of this Okay, but this is for all men. He that ruleth his own house. Well, what is that talking about says his house? well, it includes the wife and the children So the qualifications of a pastor is not just for you to be married and to have two children Right I got that done when you're gonna ordain me I'm married got my two kids One's the ordination service Sorry you got to rule your house well What does that mean it means you and your wife got to get along? Right My best friend is my wife My wife and I get along great She's had my back. I got her back. We get along great. We're a great team but you know what my wife follows me to And this is not something that I say behind her back Like yeah, my wife followed me man. She does she does what I tell her to do. I Don't have to say that fearfully You know and I don't even have to boast about it cuz why is there boasting I'm secure about it She'll tell you herself Because we understand God's order is the wife is supposed to follow And the man is supposed to lead well, but you know what ladies even if your man does not lead Well, you're still supposed to follow Right Rule your own house well Men learn to love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it Learn to be patient with your wife learn how to bring your wife lovingly along and your wife has to follow you Look as a pastor. This is important. I Remember when we started this church, that's one thing that pastor Anderson was concerned with Because he knew me but he didn't really know my wife And he's had experiences in times past where a church plant didn't work out because of that The man was on board. He thought the lady was not or that he thought the lady was the church fell through because of that So ladies are important in this equation here The ladies have to be up to par with their husbands Or at least on the same page as their husband It's not bad if the lady knows less Bible than the man but let me say this they need to like agree There needs to be an agreement there needs to be a sense of unity and I remember pastor Anderson's like what about your wife? Is she on board of this? I'm like, yeah And he was like, are you sure I'm like, yeah, she's on board because he's thinking like I never and I remember when he came here he came here and Then he's like how this is like in the very beginning he's like, how's it going? I'm like great and he saw my wife came by he goes, how are you? She's like good He's like, are you okay with everything? She's up. Yeah, great. We didn't understand why but then I understood later on why Because this is important So look this should help you young men to choose wisely Choose wise Because look I know sometimes young guys are just like I don't want to get married I just want to get married. I just want to get married. Hey, that's great. But just understand this Whoever you're married with this is profound. She's your wife forever She's gonna be with you forever choose you choose wisely and See if she can follow You know if she has Christian parents, you should see how she behaves towards her dad Because the way she behaves towards her dad is the way she's gonna behave towards you The respect that she shows her dad is the same respect. She's gonna show you You know the type why because it's it's a transfer of leadership Once she leaves her dad and her mom she's gonna act the same way with you Keep that in mind So that's ruling your house well being able to have you look not forcing your wife to follow you Not pulling her by the hair to come to church Not just do it It's the ability to lead Lead means you don't have to do that. She'll just follow you and look there's nothing wrong with being stern either Like I understand what you're saying, but we're still doing this. Let's go It's called putting your foot down. I Understand your concerns. I get what you're saying. We're going anyways, I Understand that you're afraid we're hating homos anyways, I Get it, but we're still gonna do this It's being able to lead So this is important for those who want to become pastors, but it's also important just all across the board Okay One that rules well his own house and he expounds having his children in subjection with all gravity This is an important point right here. Okay? Now look not perfect children All right, not perfect children because look babies they do this. This is not bad That's okay and some of you need to get used to this Okay, because we're trying to raise up a generation of children that are used to growing up in church They're there They're hearing the preaching of God's Word and this is these are things that we can tolerate in order for them to benefit from that Okay But what I'm saying is this is that your children do need to listen to you And look, let me say this you need to discipline your children None of this timeout crap None of this taking possessions and things away from them if they don't obey you Discipline Spanking a whooping a Biblical one at that though, obviously This is necessary. Oh, yeah, but I just can't do that with with my kids then you're not ruling your house. Well You don't have your children in subjection with all gravity And let me just say this is that This is family time. Amen We need to know how to behave ourselves in the house of God This is not a playground for your children And we need to recognize that parents you need to supervise your children at all times You see me here fellowshipping. You know what my wife is doing. She's on watch and She's spanking my children doing whatever she's making sure that they're in line. She doesn't remove them from their sight and look They need to be supervised because the child left to himself bringing this month. It's a shame and You got to teach your children how to behave in the house of God What I mean by that the the church building is not a Playground where food you're just gonna be thrown all over the place. They damaged the church property You need to teach your children to be respectable towards the things found in the church Because they're gonna grow up just disregarding everything just throwing things around and being destructive This is not me mad at anybody and look my son and my daughter. They're both guilty of it, too But here's the difference when it happens and it will happen We need to discipline the children Point blank And look, we're not gonna go through all the verses and proverbs to show you what I'm talking about I'm sure you can read those on your own Okay, but don't tell little Timmy Forget that you need to rule keep your children's objection with all gravity and that requires supervision Yeah, but I want a fellowship. Well, you're gonna have to switch off with your spouse Because you know, what's more important than fellowship is supervising your children We want a fellowship but never at the expense of supervising our children and you don't want to teach your children It's okay to be destructive in the church Just because it's the church. No, we need to behave ourselves here and look it reflects How I might be at your home when they're destructive here Okay, and look here's the thing again This is church and we need to make sure that We recognize, you know fellowship is important. But you know if it's time to go it's time to go If the child is just can't handle it no more and you can't and they just destroying everything and all things and everything I Think it's time to go. You know why because they probably need to go to sleep And right now we're we have a young generation of children Do we not like everyone is about my son's age everyone, you know You just see all these little heads running around and all that But they're gonna grow up and then they're gonna be able to help to supervise the other children But during this window of time during this time period we need to make sure that we're supervising our children Don't be careless with their children. You need to know where your children are at at all times all times All their church nothing's gonna happen. Yeah, but they're destroying everything And look If you see my son ever beating on some other kid You come tell my wife you come tell me we'll deal with it like that Because that is not tolerable for us For our children just to go and just you know harm other children That's not a good thing to teach them It needs to be disciplined And look foolishness is bound on the heart of a child. Is it not my son's gonna bite one of your kids someday probably tonight Gonna pinch one of your kids gonna scratch one of your kids gonna slap one of your kids You gotta throw he's gonna do something It's gonna happen. The point is we teach them By the rod Not through the talk Don't do it. No, no, no, no, no No, no, no you discipline them Listen to me these years are very important for your children right now Everything they're learning right now. They're gonna carry with them for the rest of their lives You need to discipline them and Keep your children's objection with all gravity Your children need to listen to you and look if they're teenagers your children definitely need to listen to you They need to be able and look teach your children to be respectable to look the adults in the eyes to greet To be to be happy when they come to church Why not teach your children that? Not to be all mad and grumpy and just like they don't want to be here. That's a reflection of your parenting Hey, man That's a reflection of the parenting if they don't want to be here and look doesn't make you wicked parents It just means we need to correct this right Because keep in mind you're not gonna be here forever whatever you instill in your parents and your children now They're gonna be when they become adults Why are you telling us this because this is the church the pillar and ground of truth Right. This is where we need to hear these things To better us as parents We're not like other parents where they just lose their children because the pastor is too afraid to talk about any of this Okay for if a man or not how to rule his own house how shall he take care of the church of God Don't even let me get into this point right here Where you have these pastors that are ruling over a church of God and they can't even take care of their own kids Kids are in sin. Just doing all manner of evil Doing all kinds of crazy stuff and it's just like and you wonder why the church is falling apart It's because their families are falling apart Not a novice let's be lifted up with pride II fall into the condemnation of the devil So let me say this this is bare minimum what you have to do to be a pastor You should seek To practice this on a daily basis just in your personal life Even if you don't want to be a pastor, but if you want to be a pastor, this is bare minimum But think about all the things in between do you have to take care of? One of the biggest things I'm telling you is not the app to teach part If you got it, you got it It's the ruling your house. Well It's the ability to get your wife to follow you It's your ability to keep your children in subjection with all gravity not perfect family. Just keep that in mind I'm not saying you have to be a you have to have a perfect family And look, okay. Here's another thing. Let me just mention this. I know we're going along tonight, but this is important. Okay When I say discipline your children You don't have to overcompensate in your discipline to prove to everyone that you discipline your children Everyone understand what I mean by that you just kind of go overboard You're just like putting a whooping you're like I spent my kids Listen listen if you do that if you do that, you're just showing us that you don't do it at home Because you have a need to persuade So you overdo it here to make people think that you actually do it there right So this is what you're supposed to do. Just do it here and there and Don't think that we're gonna think any less of you if your kids are being wild or crazy or to do something crazy Don't think I'm gonna be like Like whose kid is that? Actually what I am gonna do is look at the parent like man these people are not disciplining their children But hey if you nip it at the bud you take care right then and there is like hey man That's how you're supposed to do it and look sure enough. My son's gonna do something stupid today. Okay, I get it But mark this we will take care of it Not because I'm trying to impress you or trying to prove something to you But because I love my son and I don't want him to grow to be some rebellious derelict Who doesn't listen? Okay, I do it for his sake So I just want to mention that You know whom God exalts are those who do it the right way, okay, and We need to make sure that we as God's people do it the right way If God wants if you want to be exalted by God even in parenthood do it the right way Don't do the timeouts don't do the talk and Don't go to the other extreme where you just In front of everyone just to prove to everyone that you're a good parent. No, just be consistent just be faithful and Know this we're not gonna think any less of you if your children act all crazy You know, I'll just think of you as being a Negligent parent if you don't do something about it Amen Spire heads and I were to pray father we thank you so much for your word and I pray God that you'd help us all load raw growing in this area and I pray that Lord you'd continue to give us wisdom and Lord. We're a church family This is what a church family does we got to talk about these things And I just pray that you can help us to continue to grow up because more people are gonna come to church More people are gonna get saved and they need to learn these principles But they need to see it fleshed out to the people within our church They need examples of godly couples who are doing it right within our church so at the end of the day this is for the furtherance of the gospel because even our Conversation matters as a family as a husband as a wife and as our children and God, please blesses in doing so in Jesus Let me pray. Amen