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All right, we had the reading there in Ezekiel 33 and look at verse number six. It says, But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. The title for the sermon this morning is blood on the watchman's hand, blood on the watchman's hand. Say, Pastor Kevin, great sermon title for the first Sunday of the New Year, blood on the watchman's hand. Well, you know, we've been going through a series on submission, and we've we finished that series. And we've looked at many ways that we ought to be submissive, we ought to be submissive to the Lord, we ought to be submissive to our governments, to the authorities that God has put over our heads. And one of the sermons in that series was that church members need to be submissive to their pastor. Did you know that? If you didn't know that, by the way, you need to be submissive to me. I know it's a hard thing to do. But hey, you know what, it's only for an hour and a half on Sundays, an hour and a half on Wednesdays, don't worry, but you got all the other hours, you don't need to be submissive to me. Okay, praise God. But what we've also done is we flipped the sermon or the series on its head. And we're also talking about those in authority. Okay. And you know, when it comes to pastors, what the name of the actual office, according to the Bible is the office of the bishop. Now if you go to your dictionary and just type in bishop, the definition you're going to get is a religious title, you know, a leader in the church or something like that. But the word bishop, actually, the actual etymology of the word, like if you go back to the Greek, right, the Greek is what gave Latin its word and English came from the Latin of that word, and essentially just means overseer, okay, overseer, or how we term it today, supervisor in the job, right? Verse number one, who has the super vision, he watches for others, he watches, he has a higher level view over other people. And that's essentially what the word bishop means. Now the other end is equal 33. Let's read it from verse number one, it says, again, the word of the Lord came on to me saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman. So God is speaking about a town or a city. And you know, one of the things that the city needs to do was protect itself from any enemies from the sword, right from warfare. And if they were, you know, people would require to have a position of a watchman, someone that would would watch during the day watch during the night. And if they see an enemy approach, they see an army approaching that watchman is to sound an alarm. It says in verse number three, and if he see if the sword come upon the land, and blow the trumpet and warn the people, right, so the watchman sees the enemies, he sees the problems, he sees the struggles, and he blows the alarm. The whole town is supposed to hear it. And when they hear the blow of the trumpet, they know, boy, there's danger, right? There's something that's coming to harm us. They're being warned about the dangers to come. And then verse number four says, then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and take if not the warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. All right, so if you hear the sound of the trumpet, you hear the alarm, the enemies are coming, and you're like, I don't care, whatever, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna react. I'm not going to change. I'm not going to do anything about the alarm that I've heard. And then the sword comes the army, you know, soldiers come and they they kill you. Well, it's not the watchman's fault, right? It's the fault of the person that didn't, the blood is upon him, like it's his own problem, his own fault that he died. And then it continues in verse number five, he heard, he heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him. But hear that taketh warning, shall deliver his soul. All right, so the wise thing to do is when you hear the trumpet sound of the watchman is to get ready, right, whatever the preparations are, whatever the requirement, whatever the role is of that person in the town in the city, when he hears the warning, he needs to take action, he needs to deliver his soul, right? Some people might be the ones that are in charge of the city gates, right? And those that might be in charge of city gates, when they hear the trumpet, they need to close the gates and reinforce the gates, right? Maybe you're enlisted in the army and you hear the sound of the trumpet and you know, you know that your role is to grab your sword and grab your shield or grab your bow and arrow and you know, get ready to stare down the enemy, that might be their responsibility. Other people might have the responsibility of, of causing, you know, retreat or fleeing of the, maybe the women and the children, find them a place of protection. You know, everyone would have different roles and responsibilities, but when they hear the sound of the trumpet, they are to change, they are to react, they are to respond to that warning. And then look at verse number six, where we got the title from, but if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet, right? We know there are things that are dangerous, we know there are things that are harmful, we need to be aware of them, but the watchman goes, you know, whatever, we'll just play it out, see what happens. Maybe it's my best friend coming to say hello to me or something, right? I don't think it's as dangerous as it seems to be and I'm not going to blow the trumpet, right? And the people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will are required at the watchman's hand. You see, if the watchman doesn't blow the trumpet and people perish, it's the watchman's fault. God is holding to account the watchman for the death and the bloodshed for those people in the town or in the city. And then verse number seven, so then God says this to Ezekiel, he says, so thou O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, therefore thou shall hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. You might be saying, boy, it must be great to be a pastor. It might be, you know, pastor Kevin, how much do you work? What are your hours? I see you work on Sundays and I, you know, and it's only for an hour and a half. And then I see you work on Wednesdays, an hour and a half. Must be nice to have a five day weekend, pastor Kevin, must be nice. But I'm telling you, and look, yeah, I'm not trying, you know, if someone wants to be a pastor, someone wants to be a Bishop, if someone wants to be a watchman, go for it. It's a great job. It's, you know, it's, it's amazing. It's very satisfying. It pleases the Lord. There's a necessity. There's a shortage of men who are able to be pastors, but I want you to understand that it's not funny business. It's not games. It's not like, well, let's just try it and see how it goes. You're a watchman. And God is, God is holding to account you that you would blow the trumpet, obviously not physically, but spiritually. The lesson is when we hear God's word, we are to warn the people. We are to teach the people God's word. And Brevin, if I avoid God's word to you, if I just, I'm not going to preach, that's going to offend brother so-and-so, oh, that's going to cause a, you know, people are going to leave my church cause I'm preaching a controversial sermon. If I just start avoiding things in the Bible, I'm not a very good watchman, right? And if your life is destroyed because I did not teach things from the Bible, guess who's to be accountable. Guess who's at fault? Me. The watchman. Okay. The pastor, the Bishop, the overseer. And so, but my goal is that I would preach everything. That's my whole goal. There's a reason we go chapter by chapter through the Bible. So I don't avoid or miss things that God has told us to teach. And the great thing about being a pastor is if you go about and just teach everything in the Bible, yes, you'll cause offense, but the thing is God will not hold you to account if someone's life gets destroyed. For example, just recently I taught on husbands, loving their wives, you know, and loving their wives like Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, right? And so I've taught that and you guys know that's what you need to do with your husband. That's your role. And I've also taught on wives and wives needs to be submissive to their own husbands, right? And I've taught that. Now if your marriage ends in divorce, if your marriage ends in destruction, it's your fault. All right. I've taught it. You guys know what you need to do. And if your marriage falls apart, you can't blame me. All right. I've been the watchman. I've announced God's words to you. I've proclaimed them boldly. I've tried to lift my voice as a trumpet to sound the alarm. And if you guys don't do it, well, it's on you, but here's the thing. What if I just, I'm not going to preach on, on, um, you know, on, on the role cause you know, feminism, right? We, we, we're in 2025 now, pastor, how dare you preach a woman be submissive to their own husband. I go, well, you know, I don't want to offend anybody yet. You know, I don't want to, so I'll just avoid that. I'll just want to cover that topic and your marriage falls apart. Guess who's fault God's gonna, guess who God's gonna blame me as the watchman, right? And so, you know, it's great for the church to be submissive to their pastors. Praise God. But you know, pastors need to lead. Pastors need to sound the alarm, right? Pastors need to be watchman. And so, like I said, the title for the sermon is blood on the watchman's hand. I don't want your blood on my hands. Help me out here. Please don't get offended when I preach something in the Bible that might be contrary, you know, controversial or contrary to how you personally live your lives. Please understand, I just don't want to be walking around with your blood on my hands. All right. And it's a huge responsibility to be a pastor. Now we can move away from Ezekiel and come with me to first Timothy, come with me to first Timothy, first Timothy. So what I want to do today is essentially preach to myself. If there was another pastor here, I'd preach to you. Oh, if you have a desire to be a pastor, you know, this is for you or, hey, you should know what, anyway, if you'll never be a pastor or whatever it is, you should know what the pastor's responsibilities are toward his church. And in the New Testament, God has given us three books of the Bible that are particularly for pastors. They're known as the pastoral epistles. Okay. And that's first Timothy, second Timothy and Titus. Now that's not to say there are not other instructions for pastors in other places of the Bible. Of course there are, but these books specifically are for pastors. Okay. It doesn't mean you can't read them and you can't apply them to yourselves. Of course you can. But the real, you know, textbook to be a pastor comes from these three books, first Timothy, second Timothy and third Timothy. And so what we're going to do, we're going to start at first Timothy, we're going to look at the responsibilities of the pastor, what he's required to do to be the right watchman for the house of God. And then we're going to look at second Timothy and grab some additional things. And then we're going to be looking at Titus and grab some additional things. Okay. So there is quite a lot of repetition between these three books. So we'll start with first Timothy and come with me to first Timothy chapter one, first Timothy chapter one and verse number three. Now very quickly. So we have the apostle Paul writing these epistles and first Timothy and second Timothy are written to pastor Timothy. All right. Then you've got Titus and Paul is writing to pastor Titus, okay. Giving these pastors instructions over their church or churches in some cases. Okay. First Timothy chapter one and verse number three. It says, as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some, that they teach no other doctrine. So Paul is saying, look at the church, there are some people teaching some strange doctrines, some weird doctrines, right? So Timothy, you need to go in there and sort it out, okay. And then he says in verse number four, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions. So it goes these doctrines that have been taught in the church, they're fables, they're not true. They're just made up stories, you know, being taught like they're true. Endless genealogies, speaking about how important your, maybe past lineage is, whatever it is, that doesn't matter, right? Which minister questions. People are coming to church and they're leaving with more questions than when they first came in. It's like, instead of getting answers to questions, they're walking away going, I know even less than I, than I first came in, right? There's too many questions. Did Adam have a belly button? Like things like, just things that are just nonsense, strange doctrines. So it says at the end of verse number four, he goes, rather than godly edifying, which is in faith, so do. So Timothy, you need to get in there, right? And you need to make sure the doctrines that have been taught are correct doctrines, but doctrines that produce what? Godly edifying. My job as a pastor is to edify you. What does edify mean? It means to build up. In Spanish, the word for building is edificio, edifying, that's where it comes from. To build, a building, right? That's my job, to build you. And that is the instruction that God has given pastors to build up your church, to grow and mature in the Lord in understanding in how you live your lives. Look at verse number 18, what else is a pastor required to do? This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou be, sorry, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. The next thing a pastor needs to do is fight in the spiritual war, okay? Fight the spiritual warfare. So you say, what kind of fight is this pastor Kevin? Are you going out there and arguing with the Roman Catholic, you know, priests across the road? Are you going out there and arguing against the, the charismatics down the road? What kind of warfare is this? Well, look at verse number 19, this is what it is, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwrecked. You know, some pastors have shipwrecked their life, okay? Why? Because they did not get ready for the good warfare, which is a spiritual warfare that needs to be fought. You know, I might not have the strength of a soldier in the army, right? I might not have the stamina, you know, of a, I don't know. I might not have the resistance of a fighter pilot or something like that when it comes to g-force forces, right? All that, you know, but one thing I have is strength in the spirit, you know, strength in faith, strength in a good conscience, strength to stand up for what God's word has to say. And again, this is so important to be a watchman because you're sounding the alarm. You need to let people know what God has to say. And if you deviate from that Brethren, you can really shipwreck your life and shipwreck the life of other people. You know, for me, starting a church is not funny business. It's not, well, let's just try it. And if it fails, it fails. You can shipwreck people, like not just, you know, someone's like, oh, like, I like to have a good church. I like to get, okay, let's start a church, but we don't want to cause more damage. I've actually seen, I'm sure if you think long and hard, you probably know examples where churches have started and pastors have failed significantly and completely shipwrecked the life of believers, where they're like church sucks, pastors suck, there's no point of living a righteous life, people that don't want to go to church anymore because their lives have been destroyed, shipwrecked. So it's not just fun and games, let's just try it and let's see if it fails. And if it succeeds, if it fails, it fails. It's not to be that way. It's a, it's a warfare. You go into war. Could you imagine a soldier going to war and being like, whoa, I'll just see how it goes. Pick up, you know, got to learn how to shoot your gun. Who cares? I'll figure it out when I get there. No, look, it requires a lot of effort, a lot of training to get out there and fight that good warfare. Come with me to chapter two, first Timothy chapter two and verse number one, first Timothy chapter two and verse number one. So if in your heart, you're thinking, man, I'd like to be a pastor one day. Yeah, good. I encourage you. Okay. It's a good work. The Bible says your desire and a good work, but there's a lot of responsibilities. All right. The next thing you see there in first Timothy chapter two and verse number one, I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men. You know, the next thing you need to understand as a pastor is you need to be a praying pastor. Pastors need to pray. Okay. And not just pray for me and my needs and my family needs, but the needs of all people. There's a reason why I encourage you to hang around on Wednesday nights to pray together because that is first of all, the requirements that a pastor needs to do and conduct himself and train and teach that we would be a praying people because there are always needs. There are always things that we need God to come through for us. You know, as, as, as a people within this church or within our governments, you'll soon see later on, if you keep reading it, it's about praying for Kings and people like that, people in authority, we need to be constantly praying. This is something that is demanded first of all, from the pastor. And so, look, you know, it's good and I get, I get this all the time, actually, where people message me and say, pastor, can you pray for me? It's good. Now, look, what I often say is, of course I'll pray, but you pray too, okay? Like don't think, okay, I have a need. What do we do? We ask the pastor so he can ask God, no, you ask God too, but it is the pastor's responsibility to pray for his church congregation, okay? That is a, that's, that's something you don't see, like on my five day weekend, okay? That's the part you don't see, the part when I'm praying for God's people, I'm praying for new life and for blessing open for crown Baptist church and for the families within this church. It's a serious business to take these needs before God. Also there in chapter two, look at verse number eight, first Timothy chapter two, verse number 13, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. And then it says this, in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shame facedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array. Drop down to verse number 13, for Adam was first formed, then Eve. Now we're getting to the teaching, you know, pastors need to teach their church. Now one thing we definitely see here that, you know, you can read it in your own time once again, is that pastors need to teach on family. Pastors need to teach on gender roles, okay? Not gender fluidity or whatever they call it these days, not gender fluid, gender roles. Adam was first formed, then Eve, we're created differently, we physically are different, we're emotionally different, we're mentally different, we have different roles and responsibilities that God has given man and woman, and there's nothing else, brethren, there's two genders. Is anyone offended by that? Two genders, because the world's offended by that now, you know, the world is offended by that. Something that is science and factual and common sense, the world is offended by that. But it's important that pastors preach on family and gender roles. Man, because you're a watchman, you're warning, we don't want our marriages to end in divorce, we don't want our families to break down and be destroyed. I don't want God to put blood on my hands. Oh, the reason your family in your church failed is because of you, Kevin, because you didn't teach, you didn't cover this topic, you never preached about the family units. Now you guys know I preach about that a lot, it's close to my heart. Number one, God doesn't even have to tell me, I just love my family. I just, I think family is important, okay, but number two, yeah, it's the first institution that God created. When Adam came, literally on his first day, he gave him Eve, okay, long before the church started. And so for me, that tells me marriage or family is vastly more superior and important than church. Now church is important, don't get me wrong, that's why I'm a pastor, that's why I'm a watchman. Alright, so the alarm can be sounded and the changes need to be made when we're confronted with these issues. Come with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4, 1 Timothy chapter 4. Now the reason we're skipping over 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3 just essentially has the qualifications of a pastor and a deacon, okay, so what a man should be in order to meet the qualifications required to step up and be a pastor. Now before I get to chapter 4, I just want to quickly say something. First Timothy chapter 3, the qualifications for a pastor, I've heard this said over and over and over again, pretty much all the years that I've been a pastor, I've heard this and I find it a bit strange. People say, well, pastors have a higher standard by which they are to live. I find that really weird. So you look at the qualifications and you go, well, that's a high standard. I can't reach that standard, that's for pastors. And so I'm going to judge my pastor based on, and you should judge your pastor based on those standards. But it's like I don't have to judge myself based on those standards. That's crazy. That's crazy. Because I promise you this, and I'm sure anyone that's read the Bible cover to cover will know this, that every qualification for a pastor, you break it down, every single qualification for a pastor can also be found outside of the pastoral epistles just as general commandments for a man. Do you think like when the Bible says the pastor needs, the bishop needs to be the husband of one wife? Do you think it's somewhere else in the Bible that says, but other men can have many wives? Oh, the pastor is not to be a drunkard. Oh, but you know, that's not me. The Bible says I can be a drunkard. Like do we have that kind of view, right? Oh, the pastor is not to be greedy for filthy Luca. Oh, but that's a pastor, I can be greedy for filthy Luca. I promise you, every single qualification that you find for a pastor, you'll find elsewhere as the standard by which you are to live. It's not a higher standard for the pastor. It's a higher standard for every, it's a standard for every man is what it is. It's the standard for every man. And if that man meets that standard and has a desire to hold the office of a bishop, then he can proceed and take on that office. Okay. But anyway, that's first Timothy chapter three. It's a bit off topic right now, but let's get to chapter four. First Timothy chapter four. What else is the pastor supposed to preach? We'll look at verse number one. First Timothy chapter four is number one. Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So guess what? Pastors are to preach doctrine, but did you know there are doctrines of devils? There are seducing spirits that want to turn your heart away from God. Doctrines that sound biblical, but they're actually of the devil. Okay. And again, you can read in your own time what some of those doctrines are, but drop down to verse number six. Paul says to Timothy, if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine whereunto thou hast attained. So Paul is telling Timothy, you need to attack these doctrines of devils. You need to rebuke these seducing spirits that enter in the teachings, the strange teachings that enter in. You are to combat that. Okay. So it's of faith and of good doctrine. So it's good to teach what is right, but it's also important. Like the watchman is aware of the dangers, the dangerous doctrines, the dangerous teachings that creep into churches and have an answer, have a rebuttal against those things. So it's not just edifying, but it's also tearing down false beliefs. It's tearing down false doctrines, doctrines of devils. That's the responsibility of the pastor. Can you come with me to first Timothy chapter six, first Timothy chapter six, first Timothy chapter six and verse number one, the Bible says, let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. The pastor is also to instruct employees to honour their employers. Okay. There's a reason why I preach on work, on labouring, on employee, you know, employee employer relationships. All right. It's not like, well, that's just a hobby horse that you have. No, I'm actually instructed to tell you this. Okay. In fact, as a servant, if you're an employee, if you're under the yoke of a master, that master is worthy of all honour. You know, you got to honour your employer. Okay. Instead of constantly arguing and constantly bickering and thinking he's a loser, maybe he's a loser, whatever. Okay. But you still give him honour because of his authority, because of his title, because he pays your, you know, your, your wage, right? That person requires honour and this is something that needs to be taught otherwise the name of God might be blasphemed in the workplace. Oh, this guy goes to church. This guy's supposed to be a Christian. This guy says he follows Christ. And his look, what kind of example is he in the workplace? Constantly bickering, lazy, sluggard, doesn't turn up to work on time, whatever it is, right? Man, this can cause the name of God to be blasphemed. Drop down to verse number 17. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So what else am I to teach? I'm to teach not to trust in riches, all right, not to trust in uncertain riches. And again, that's again, contrary to the world's philosophy, right? The world thinks if I just amass wealth and possessions, I've got security, right? Just like the man who built his barns greater and filled up his goods. And God said, thou fool, thy soul is required of thee. And he died before he got to enjoy the labour of his hands. Well, actually, God actually wants us to enjoy, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. I actually want you to enjoy your life. I actually want you to enjoy what God provides for you. But I don't want you to trust in those uncertain riches. It's God the one is the one that you need to trust. It's God, the one who provides your needs, who, you know, helps you with your decisions as to what your employment needs to be, who gives you possessions and give you great wisdom to learn how to enjoy what he's given you. So these are things that we see, right, like teaching, just life, right? Teaching how to be a good family, teaching how to be a good employee, teaching you how to combat the strange doctrines that can enter churches. These are things that the pastor is required to blow the trumpets and make it clear, all right? So if, you know, someone's a lazy employee, right? And your boss gets sick and tired of you and fires you. Guess what? It's not on my hands. All right? Your blood's not on my hands. Your struggles financially are not on my hands, okay? You should have followed through with the commandments that God gives us according to his word. Can you come with me to first Timothy chapter four? First Timothy chapter four, please. First Timothy chapter four. What else is required from the pastor? First Timothy chapter four, verse number 10, for therefore we both, so this is Paul saying to Timothy, we both, both of us, for therefore we both labour, that's work, right? You know, recently I've had people say to me, pastor, you work too much. Great. Okay. Great. Good. Good. Because I'm supposed to labour. Right? And like, you know, the five day weekend kind of pastor, right? That's not how I want you to perceive me, because no, the pastor's responsibility is to labour and suffer reproach, okay? So you need to, what's reproach? Basically it's criticism. So this is, this is the response. This is what a pastor does. This is, this is his life. He labours and when he labours and he tries to serve God's people, he's going to be criticised. And that's okay. That is expected. That is the standard, right? Therefore, for therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God who is the saviour of all men, especially of those that believe, okay? So I want you to understand, if you're going to be a pastor, you're going to suffer criticism. You're going to suffer reproach. You can labour, you can sacrifice, you can do everything that you possibly can to serve in the house of God. But I want you to understand that criticism is part of the package, okay? We're not saying it's okay for you to criticise me, okay? But it happens. Okay? It doesn't matter how much you labour, you will suffer reproach. Now I'm not saying that for you to feel sorry, I feel sorry for your pastor. No, no, I don't like, I learned this a long, long time ago, right? Going back in my workplace, I had this, this, he wasn't my boss, but I really respected this man. He was this sort of black American man, right? And he was just constantly putting out fires. There was like just constant problems, and he's trying to sort things out, trying to fix things. And he's fixing things, he's actually doing a good job, but then he's also getting criticism. And I met up with him one day, I'm like, man, how do you do this? Like, I said to him, I feel sorry for you. I see how much you work, how much you give for the benefit of this business, and there's just constant criticism against you. And he goes, look, don't feel sorry for me. This is why I earn the big bucks. He goes, I earn the big bucks. Like I'm willing to be criticised, I'm willing because I'm earning the big bucks. Say pastor, you're earning the big bucks, we're not on this earth. Not on this earth. Say I feel sorry for you pastor, look, there's spiritual rewards, treasures in heaven laying up, you know, you serve God faithfully, you know, you give sacrificially, and then you get the criticism. And I should just go, yes, bring it on. That's more treasures in heaven. So it's a good thing, brethren. Don't let the criticism put you off from trying to be a pastor, because I'm promising you there are big bucks laying up for you in heaven, for all eternity, not for 70 years of life, whatever it is, for all eternity. And I dropped down to verse number 12, first Timothy 12, verse 12. Let no man despise thy youth. So Timothy was just being critical, like, he's a good preacher, he's a good pastor. And they're like, what problem can we find about Timothy? Oh, he's too young. I don't think, does he really measure up to an elder, right? An elder should be at least 50 or 60 years old. How old is Timothy? I don't know, 30 years old, who knows, right? 40 years old, whatever. They go, look, 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. Brethren, pastors are meant to be an example of the believers. My life should be an example. I'm trying my best to be a good example, okay, and an example of what? Well, we saw already, example in word, how I speak, in conversation, that's got most of your behavior and lifestyle, in charity, my care and love for God's people, in spirit. I mean, you ought to see the new man, right? The spiritual man within me rather than the flesh. In faith, you ought to see my faithfulness, though I know I struggle in this area, and in purity. It's like, oh, no, man, I've seen pastor Kevin walk out of the strip club the other day or something like this, you know, my life ought to be one of purity, right? And this is an example of believers. Now, that's a huge responsibility, because that tells me all eyes is on me, all eyes are on my wife, all eyes are on my kids, okay? But here's where people make the mistake. They mistake the example with the standard, okay? Between good and bad, right? There can be a pastor who is performing well, all right, as an example. And sometimes in the hearts of men, they're like, man, I want to be like that pastor. I want to be like the pastor's wife, pastor's wife, teach me how to be a woman. You know, or man, I need to be like, no, it's an example, where does the word example come from? Sample, a sample, okay? You know, when, I don't know, I think in 2025, we're going to have Australian elections, right? And what often happens leading up to elections are polls. And you know, you've got certain media agencies ringing up, you know, they might ring up 20,000 Australians to get a judge of how people are going to vote. So that 20,000 doesn't cover the 28 million Australians, right? It's what it is. It's a sample. They're taking a small part. And guess what? Sometimes they might say, well, the 20,000 that we rang and asked, they're all going to vote. They all, you know, 60% are going to vote liberal, for example, and 40% labour. And then it might turn out in the elections that actually, labour's the one that wins, right? Because like the standard or the whole is different from the sample, okay? And it ought to be a sample, but the standard is Jesus Christ. Now that's one way. You look at the past and go, man, I want to be just like that family. Wrong. It's just an example, okay? Or the pastor fails, pastor's family crumbles, whatever happens, right? It's like, oh, well, if he can't do it, who can? I'm out of church because of the pastor. No, no, wrong, okay? The standard is Jesus Christ. Your eyes must be on Christ, okay? And you know Christ through the word. All the pastor is, is a sample, an example of family, of ministry, of Christianity, of those other things, charity, faith, purity, all right? Just okay, you know, our pastor's, all right, we can do it too. Our pastor can do it. Our pastor's striving for the Lord. I can do it too. You know, my pastor's marriage is strong. My marriage can be strong too, all right? With the help of Jesus Christ, these kinds of things, right? These are examples to show that these things can be done. And so then we often say, well, this can be done. Great example. All right, Jesus, help me make it done. Help me do what I need to do so I can live according to, not the pastor's family, but according to the way you want me to live my life. An example of the believers, but you have to understand that all eyes are going to be on you. All eyes are going to be on your family, which can be a heavy burden, heavy pressure, especially on the children. Come with me to First Timothy chapter five. First Timothy chapter five. First Timothy chapter five verse number one says, rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, as the younger men, and the younger men as brethren. Now, some people misunderstand this rebuke not an elder. They think that's, don't rebuke a pastor, because a pastor, another name is the elder. Okay? But you need to understand that Paul is writing to Timothy and telling Timothy, rebuke not an elder. Okay? So in the context of this, you know, this is about elderly people, older men in the church, seniors, pensioners, whatever, right, whatever we call them. So rebuke not an elder, so like, you know, respect those that are of age, right? It says, entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, right? So if you're like my age or younger than me, we're just brothers, like, I'm not this Superman. I just, we're brethren, right? And then it says here, verse number two, the elder women as mothers. So you can see the difference of the elder women there with the elder, the elder being the men. The elder women as mothers, the younger, the younger as sisters, we've all purity. Honor widows that are widows indeed. Another responsibility for the pastor is to esteem his church members, to esteem and get along with his church members. I think I get along with everybody. I hope. I try to. Okay? That's my goal. Like, I don't have the excuse of another, maybe a church member might go, I just, I'm gonna avoid them. I'm just gonna not talk to them, you know? I can't get away with that, okay? My responsibility is that I esteem my church members. It doesn't matter if you're elderly, you're younger, men or women, I am to get along with you. Okay? And, you know, I try. Like, it's, I actually try hard to do it because I've expressed to you that I'm naturally an introvert. Naturally, I just want you to walk away, leave me alone, let me breathe, you know, let me go home. I just, that's my natural state of being. And so I have to force myself, right, to try to just get along. And you know, I'll do the offending behind the pulpit, right? And by offending, I mean preaching God's word and that offends your flesh will so be it. I'll do that behind the pulpit. But when we get around, I ought to be able to just treat you as a brother, treat you as a sister, the ladies, right, with will purity, right? Not malicious purposes or anything like that. And so if you're someone that says, you know, I want to be a pastor, but I just don't get along with believers, you're going to have a hard time. Okay? Because, like, if your church members don't like you, guess what's going to happen? They're not going to stick around. Okay? If they think my pastor hates me, and wants nothing to do with me and looks down on me, they don't want it. You know, they're going to leave. Okay? They're going to be commanded to, what we saw earlier, to edify, godly edifying. That is the purpose of the pastor. You need to get along with your church members. Look at verse 17, 1 Timothy 5 17, 1 Timothy 5 17, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. 1 Timothy 5 17, let the elders that rule well. The elders that are supposed to rule well, they have the rule, they have the authority. Okay? But it's not to take advantage of people, it's not to destroy people's lives. Like, it's not for me to give you cool aid and commit mass suicide, like what's happened in other places of the world in the past, no, it's for your well-being, ruling well, looking out for your well-being, okay? That is what you need to do when you are, when you have authority in the house of the Lord. I want you to also notice that it said there, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. Okay? So, preaching a sermon isn't just, oh, you preach for 40 to 1 hour, 40 minutes to 1 hour, that's your labor. No, no, laboring is the preparation, right? The studying, the meditation, the thinking behind it. You know, I think, I think, after all these years, you realize that I'm not just putting together a 10-minute sermon, or like spending 10 minutes to put something together, or just parroting another man's sermon, I've seen pastors do that. Just parrot another man's sermon, just word for word, basically, you know, just like point by point. It's like, dude, like you're all meant to labor, you're meant to work, you're meant to study. We'll soon talk about this in a moment. But the point I wanted to raise is that pastors need to rule well. And that's why the family is the qualification. Need to rule your house well, and if you do that, then you can also rule God's house well. Okay, coming to 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse number 10. We know this passage, it says, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet it after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, but thou, O man of God, okay, so we know that concept is universal for all, we should not have a love of money. But then Paul says to Timothy, but thou, you Timothy, O man of God, by the way, that title man of God is for pastors in the New Testament, and for prophets in the Old Testament. I mean we all should, all men should be men of God, but that title, that name is actually for pastors. That's why he's saying to Timothy, O thou man of God, flee these things, flee what? The love of money. Okay, flee these things, rather, it says here, and follow after righteousness, goodness, faith, love, patience, meekness, and on and on. But what are these things that the pastors should strive for? We know them as the fruits of the spirit, don't we? The fruit of the spirit, okay? So pastors should not be lovers of money, rather, flee, okay? And focus on the fruit of the spirit, because again, you're the example, I'm, unfortunately for you Brevin, I'm your example, I'm sorry. It's the best we could find for new life after church, alright? It's the best for now. Lord willing, maybe there'll be something better, you know, in the future, who knows? But you know, the love of money is not something that pastors should strive for. And I hope I've set that as a good example. Now what's funny is, I've actually been criticized for loving money. It's like, I don't think you understand. It's like, oh, but you need this, I've got a big family, alright? My family size is three to four times larger than the average family size. So guess what's going to happen? My bills are going to be three to four times larger than your bills. The groceries are going to be three to four times more than your groceries, alright? The time to get ready for church is going to be three to four times more than your time getting ready for church, alright? The time for you to have freedom and chase your hobbies and I have three to four times less time to chase my hobbies and my things, right? You understand? Our house has three to four times more wear and tear. Door handles fall off. The toilet breaks, right? My van needs to be three to four times larger than your car, okay? You need to understand, guess what, how do I need to cover that? Money, costs, alright? That's an important part as well, right? Being a good steward of what God has given you. But you think for one second that I earn three to four times more than the average household? Do you think that? Of course not. And guess what? I've been a single income earner since I've been married. So how do you do it, pastor? I have no idea. Okay? All I know is I need to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness and the rest of it will take care of itself somehow. But I can't be stupid. I can't live some, you know, glamorous life and have all the leisure and, you know, that average people have. I can't do that. Especially not with my family, but it's funny because again, you labour and you suffer reproach. That's part of it. And sometimes you suffer reproach and people think you're greedy for money. It's like, I don't think you understand what it's like to essentially, you know, if I was a Muslim, it'd be like having two wives and two families in two different houses and trying to make that work on one income, one working man. All right, how does it work? I don't know. Just serve the Lord. Do what he's asked of you. Labour hard as an employee, save up, take care of your finances, don't let things go to waste. All right? Come on, chase the things of the flesh, put God's kingdom first and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Come with me to 2 Timothy now, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2. What else are pastors required to do? 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 2. It says, and the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Another responsibility of a pastor is to train teachers, train other men that can teach others also. Okay? And so this is why I give opportunity for other men to step up behind the pulpit and to preach. That's part of training other men. You know, going back in 2019, I had a men's leadership class once a month for the 12 months of the year. That was one way to train up men. Currently I'm doing something called Coffee with Kev, which is trying to train up men, not necessarily in how to preach, but how to organise yourself in your life. So if one day God takes you into the ministry, you're better prepared for that. When I was down at Blessed Hope Baptist Church during COVID, I was on Friday because you know, it's a church that I can't frequent as much as, as you know, being here, I was teaching the men there that were preachers, how to understand God's Word, how to approach God's Word, how to preach, and some differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament, how to reconcile challenging passages, you know, I've done many things besides just pastoring and preaching behind the pulpit, and this is part of teaching as well, but I've done additional things to help men be better teachers. And that is something that pastors, I'm not going to say to you, just go to the Bible College. You want to be a teacher, you want to know how to preach God's Word, go to Bible College. It's my responsibility, it's the pastor's responsibility, the house of God is the ground and pillar of truth, okay, this is where we train leaders, this is where we train teachers, hopefully one day, train that man enough that he will be ready to step up and be a pastor himself. Look at 2 Timothy 2 verse 15, verse 15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the truth. Now again, this should be for all that we all should study God's Word, right, but this is Paul writing to Timothy and telling Timothy, Timothy study to show thyself approved unto God, you say pastor what do you do on your five-day weekend, I study, oh that's not real work, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, studying God's Word is work, it's not oh man must be nice to be a pastor five-day weekend, studying, reading, thinking, right, there's so much to absorb when it comes to God's Word, right, dividing the word of truth, right, being able to break it down, you know, make it more like dividing it, breaking it, kind of like you take a cake and you slice it up into pieces, right, why, so it's easier for people to eat, right, it's harder to eat a whole cow and I cut into pieces, break it down so people can absorb it and understand it, okay, that is part of the pastor's responsibilities. I'm going to quickly react, in fact, sorry, keep your finger there in 2 Timothy chapter 2, come back with me to 1 Timothy please, 1 Timothy, come back with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4, 1 Timothy chapter 4 please, 1 Timothy, and by the way Brevin, when I was preparing this sermon, I was being challenged, I'm like man, I need to do better in some of these places, alright, I'm not here thinking I'm this perfect pastor, down in worship, no, of course not, okay, be submissive to the pastors, we know that's, you know, I'm a watchman blowing the trumpet, by the way guys, be submissive to your pastor, alright, blowing the trumpet but also I'm blowing the trumpet to me, man, I better line up to the qualifications that I see written out in God's Word, look at 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse number 13, till I come give attendance to reading, Timothy, one of your jobs is to read, alright, read what? God's Word, read the scriptures, right, and then further to exhortation, to doctrine, right, so I read, I read God's Word so I can exhort, so I can encourage, I can motivate and to doctrine, to good doctrine, good teaching, neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on the hands of the presbytery, the laying of hands took place when I was ordained and when I was ordained the Bible tells me I was given a gift, a gift to read, a gift to exhort, a gift to teach doctrine, you know, pastors can neglect the gift, instead of spending time on studying and reading, they can get involved in all kinds of other ministry things and before you know it, the preaching is just repetition, I've been there, I'm not going to name a church or anything like that but I've been there where it's like great sermons, pastor, January to December and then it's like once we hit January, it's like a reset button, we hear the same sermons again and again and sometimes, sounds horrible, a very close friend of mine might be my wife will turn around and say, haven't we heard this like five times already, it's like yep, it's the same sermon, right, no, no, no, we're to continue studying, continue growing, guess what, I don't have all the answers of the Bible in 2025 but I should have more answers in 2026, you understand, I got to be growing and studying and reading and meditate upon God's Word and not neglecting the gifts that has come upon me, look at verse number 15, meditate upon these things, meditate, you might walk into my house one day and I'm just like, I'm just in thought like this, must be great to be a pastor, it's just sitting there thinking, yeah, meditate upon these things, upon what we've read, okay, give thyself holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine continuing them for in so doing, this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee, man, my job is to save me and to save you, not your soul but our lives, right, the watchman, there's danger, you're living lives that are going to destroy you, I need to sound that alarm and save my own life, my family and the God who God's put on them and you, so I get, oh, pastor, you're not doing much, are you, I might just be meditating to save you, to save your family, to save your marriage, to save your job, you know, that you would not lose rewards in heaven, that's the man, that's a huge responsibility, why are you lifting your voice, pastor Kevin, because I've got to preach to myself, right, my mother-in-law, you know what she says, good sermon but you have to do, it's good to tell others what, my mother-in-law can say that to me, okay, she can say that to me but you know, she's like, you're telling people what to do but you have to do, so yeah, I know, I've got to save myself and save others, right, I don't want to be a castaway, I don't want to preach all the right things, you know, great doctrines and then I'm not applying it and I just destroy my life, look at 1 Timothy, go back to 1 Timothy please, 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, 1 Timothy 3 16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Now reproof and correction, you might say these are two negative, like to reprove is to essentially tell you you're wrong, to correct, alright, yeah, you've done wrong but this is the right thing to do and instructions in righteousness, this is how you should live your life according to God's word, right, this is what all scripture is given to us to do and then verse 17, that the man of God, that's the pastor, okay, the first application is the man of God is Timothy, okay, that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished unto all good works. You see, even the pastor needs to mature and grow, the pastor needs to be corrected, the pastor needs instruction in righteousness, this is why he's got to study, this is why he's got to read, this is why he's got to save himself and then save others. But the pastor's, you need to understand that the pastor needs to get to a point where he's perfect, the word perfect doesn't mean sinless, you know that right, it means matured, well rounded, whole, like there's not some major part of their life that is just crumbling right, so like he's got things under control, when he says freely furnished unto all good works, what does freely, like if you were to rent a house and they said to you, you know this house is completely furnished, what are they saying, well it's got a dining table, it's got a fridge, it's got a washer, you don't need to bring any of your furniture, it's fully furnished right, it's complete, it's got everything you need, that ought to be the man of God, that ought to be the pastor, a mature believer all right, freely furnished, he's got things together, it's not just one, like just his life's just falling apart and constant just, I don't know, destruction in his life or something like this, you know things are put together, that's what a pastor needs to be, I hope one day Brethren, I want to ordain elders, I want to do this, you know I think it's an important part of the ministry to do this but you need to understand that we need to grow and mature and again I'm going to keep saying this and I keep offending people, well I don't mean to, it's just I'm watching for your souls, I'm your bishop, I'm your supervisor right, people have a lot of knowledge but not the application in their lives, I have a lot of knowledge, I can preach sermons, I can give good information, yeah but you're an example, you need to be perfect, you need to be freely furnished okay, that is the man that will be the next pastor all right, that goes and starts the new church, the one that takes over Blessed Hope Baptist Church, the one that steps up for Crown Baptist Church, whatever it is all right, this is the man that needs to build himself up and get his life together and know God's word and have maturity, look at 2 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 5, Paul again right into Timothy says but watch thou in all things, again that watcher, watchman, watch thou in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make foolproof of thy ministry, do the work of evangelists, you know the pastor needs to be a soul winner all right, he needs to be able to preach the gospel, he needs to be able to teach others how to put a soul winning plan together, you know I hope you've, I don't know if you've all gone out soul winning with me at different times but I hope you can say hey our pastor is a soul winner all right, I hope you can say hey you know I've gone door to door with him, I've seen him get soul saved, praise God he's even had his own children saved right, I mean that is the work and now what's the difference between evangelists, evangelists is something that, that's their full time job okay, the evangelist is constantly just out there preaching the gospel, today we kind of call them missionaries but even the missionaries that get sent out are barely doing the work in evangelists okay but an evangelist is supposed to be evangelising and so the pastor's supposed to not neglect that work, that should be part of his job as well, preaching and winning souls, make full proof of thy ministry all right, his ministry should be proven right, after eight years I hope you can say hey you know that pastor Kevin I might have had doubts with him at the beginning but you know after eight years he's proven to be a man of God, he's proven to be able to lead a church, he's proven to be able to pass not just one church, not just two churches but now three churches there's proof of his ministry all right, I hope that that should be what a you know a pastor begins to demonstrate in his life, come to verse number nine, second Timothy chapter four verse number nine, Paul writes to Timothy, do thy diligence to come shortly unto me, Paul is stuck in Rome, he says Timothy come and see me, verse number 10, for they must have forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica, Christians to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia, so Paul's saying look I have a need Timothy I've got no one else can you come and see me all right, drop it into verse number 21, second Timothy 4.21 he says do thy diligence to come before winter, he's like Timothy come when you're ready but please come before winter okay and then it continues there but you know there's a piece of clothing that Paul needed and so he was saying Timothy can you come to my aid I need you to come before winter, you know one thing I did not understand I wasn't expecting honestly I just was not expecting when I was ordained as a pastor is the pastor needs to be prepared to travel, you know I just I would love for my feet to just be stuck here on the Sunshine Coast seven days a week but sometimes there are needs okay now praise God in 2025 we have airplanes and cars all right you know we can I can get to Sydney in an hour and a half or not really because airport and boarding and but you know the flight itself is an hour and a half about an hour and 20 minutes where it is you know praise God you know praise God that I'm able to go and help you know the guys in Port Macquarie like six times in a year that's the plan for 2025 right and be available for others that have needs and are in places where people have let them down potentially okay they don't have the leaders that are required to assist in a time of need and remember I wasn't expecting that so I don't like to get away from my family I love my family I don't like to leave my wife on Thursdays and come back Friday I'm not even a great husband on Friday I'm so exhausted I'm tired because I'm usually waking up at four o'clock Sydney time three o'clock Queensland time and by the time I get home I just need to go back and fall asleep again like I'm not that effective on a Friday sometimes you know especially in the mornings but being prepared to travel being prepared to go to people that have needs this is something I wasn't prepared for okay now come with me to the book of Titus there's only one extra thought that I can take away from the book of Titus we're almost done it's the last passage Titus chapter 1 Titus chapter 1 Titus chapter 1 please now again obviously there's a lot of great instructions in second Timothy a lot of great instructions in Titus but there's a lot of repetition you can probably all the other things can probably put it under a subcategory of the things I've already covered okay but in Titus chapter 1 verse number 5 Paul says to Titus well this cause left I thee in Crete the dash is set in order the things that are wanting and ordained elders in every city as I have appointed thee the reason Titus is staying in Crete is that he would set things in order okay sometimes he just needs someone of authority you need a pastor to step in and set things in order and again going back to the covert days I saw things becoming disorderly at blessed about this church I had to go there and set things in order okay that is a you know that's why you have the rule that's why you have authority okay that's why you've learnt how to manage a household learn to lead about a wife how to raise children okay you you have the skills to realize man we need to fix this issue how do we go about fixing it how do we about making things better so Titus is there for that purpose and not just to set things in order but to ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee or as Paul had appointed or ordained Titus okay so the last responsibility that I have here for pastors is they need to ordain new pastors ordain new pastors I would love nothing more than to lay my hands on a man and send him out you know God bless you pray over him right that he will receive that gift to be able to go out and be a preacher a teacher a leader an example to go and start another church forever we need a church in WA we need a church in Melbourne just so you know okay we need pastors in Sydney we need a pastor in Port Macquarie we need pastors and churches all across Australia boy I'd love to start a church in Fiji you're interested I heard it mmm we need this is something we need to do and like you know again maybe it's just my ignorance a little bit I thought I thought I'd have men by now honestly I thought after eight years of pasturing we would have someone at least one man ready to go at blessed hope or new life or something like that hasn't happened yet anyway it's it's the Lord's time it's Lord's will not my will be done but the Lord's will be done and you know I don't because I've had many men say to me and if you're someone I'm not having to go you know it's it is a huge responsibility but I've had many men say look I'd like to be a pastor like yeah all right good now work toward it develop yourself grow in the scriptures you know grow strengthen your family strengthen your marriage learn the doctrines but do the doctrines apply them to your life get prepared count the costs right like everything like every aspect this is what you need to do to get out there and do the work and sometimes you know same men and again nothing wrong it's just it's not for everybody right it's like oh man I just don't think I can make it happen like there's this major issue here or there there's because it's not games it's not about building a kingdom on this earth for our namesake or something like this I don't want to be known as a pastor who passes three churches I don't want that I want to be known as a man who passes one church and has been to other men to pass to other churches I'd rather much rather that right to be my legacy but all I can do brethren is be the watchman that's all I can do all I can do is sound the alarm all I can do is preach God's Word all right I don't want blood on my hands I don't want blood on my hands here I don't want blood on my hands at Blessed Hope I don't want blood on my hands at Crown Baptist Church so it's important we preach the whole Council of God all the Council of God and I'm asking if there are men here maybe 2025 New Year resolution you go to God in prayer you say Lord do you want me to be a pastor do you want me to be an elder because I want I don't know if I really once at this point in time Lord but maybe my desires will change maybe my circumstances will change maybe I'll continue growing in you Lord and I'll get these areas of my life fixed up and be a good example and learn from the problems that I'm suffering with right now maybe I'm going for those problems right now Lord that make me unqualified but maybe you've given those to me so I can fix those things so I can mature and grow in these places so then I can know how to instruct and lead about a church I don't know you know and it's again it's not for everybody but I don't think it hurts for a man to say to God God unless you're completely disqualified you know so but but to go to go and say God would you have me to be a pastor is that your will in my life and Lord if it is can you please help me develop a desire to be that man because I can see Lord that Australia needs churches I can see in Australia we need pastors Lord I see that we need so winning efforts in different places of this nation to bring people closer to you well title for sermon was blood on the watchman's hand I hope that kind of makes more sense now on the side of that I gave you at the beginning and I do want to say thank you for being great church members you know thank you for honoring me as your pastor thank you for your faithful attendance to church and I hope I hope that I've been a good example to you I hope that I'm like 90% meeting the requirements that God would have me to be as a pastor and understand I still need to grow I still need to mature I still need to be perfected I still need to be freely finished I still need to study to save myself and that's an important part of my ministry as well so then I can save the lives of others okay let's pray