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

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But I would say that obviously there is a separation when being in hell, you're separated from the tree of life, you're separated from the joys of heaven, you're separated from being in God's presence on earth. And so there's multiple aspects to the presence of the Lord. And so there is going to be an element of disappointment being in hell by not being with God in heaven and being on the new earth and the new, the new heaven and new earth. You know, the Bible talks about how those Jews that did not believe in Jesus Christ are going to see many come from the east and west and they're going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they themselves are going to be thrust out. And so an element of hell is the fact that you've been rejected and cast out and you're not going to be with God. Makes me think of another verse in Revelation 22. And verse number 14. The Bible says, blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city for without our dogs and sorcerers and hornmongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. So notice, according to the Bible, there are people that are being separated from it says for without meaning they're on the outsides. They're not able to come in. They're not going to be in the gates in the city. There is that level of separation. And it's showing here that those who are sinners. Some people would look at this list and say, oh, well, you can't sin then otherwise you're going to go to hell. But the reason why it's painting these people as sinners is because they haven't been redeemed. Their sins haven't been forgiven. They haven't been given the new man, which cannot sin. So therefore, they're still in their sins. You know, Jesus said that if you do not believe that I am he, you shall die. They're going to die in their sins. And so let's pull up that verse while I'm thinking about it, because I want to get it quoted exactly right. But. It's in John. John 14, verse 10, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me, the words I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works is kind of our context that I'm thinking of. And. I'm trying to find this verse. Yeah, John eight, verse 24, I'm sorry, I was I was wrong on my context. Let's let's get a little bit of context here, since we're looking it up. John Chapter eight, verse 21. Then Jesus again, or then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? Because he saith, whither I go, you cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above. Ye are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins. For if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. So again, a great quote here talking about how people are going to die in their sins. And this group of people in Revelation 22 are in their sins. And so therefore they're not able to enter in. There is a separation. So, is hell separation from God? That was the original question. I would say in a sense, yes. In a sense, they are cast out of the new heaven and the new earth. In a sense, yes, they are without the heavenly city. Yes, they are without, you know, the joys and the pleasures of God. But it's also no in the sense that they're still in the presence of the Lamb. And so, you know, it kind of depends on how people are framing this question. But I think the reason why people are doing this is because they're trying to get away from the seriousness of hell. Because while that is one aspect of suffering, it's much more than that. The Bible says that they're going to be tormented in fire and brimstone. If we go back to Revelation 14, I already read this, but let's pay attention to that verse again. In Revelation 14 verse 10, it says, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. So, sure, is hell separation from God? In a sense, sure. But you know what's just absolutely true? It's being tormented with fire and brimstone. It's constant torment that never ends. And, you know, it leads me into a third question that we had prompted. And I want to get to a question in the chat. But since we're already on this topic and we're in this verse, I want to see if we can get to our third question on purgatory itself. Because some people would ask this question, does purgatory exist? Now, this is a Catholic doctrine. And the reason why I like going to this question right after is simply because when you read in these verses about how they're going to be tormented with fire and brimstone, the next verse says, very clearly in verse 11, it says, And the smoke of their torment has set it up forever and ever. And they have no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast in his image and whosoever see with the mark of his name. So according to the Bible, hell, there's no rest, day or night. Now, if you look up the definition of purgatory, just Google it or something like that, it'll say a state in which the souls of those who have died in grace must expiate their sins. And expiate is kind of a strange word, but it's talking about make amends for or to pay for in kind of a sense. And so what their Catholic doctrine is, is that people who die will go to this temporary state of punishment. And then once they've done their time, they'll eventually get out. So they kind of have a modern version of jail where you just go to jail and you get a 20 year sentence or a 50 year sentence or whatever. And once you've paid your time, paid your dues, then you eventually get out. Now you're reformed. Now you're better. But those who know anything about jail, people come out not reformed, number one. And number two, purgatory is not a word found in the King James Bible. Purgatory is not a doctrine taught in the King James Bible. There is no such temporary state of punishment. The Bible gives us clear scripture that it's a forever punishment. Not only this, other verses give the same picture. Mark 9 verse 44, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9 46, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9 verse 48, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Jesus said this three times in a row to really drive in the seriousness of hell, the seriousness of eternal and everlasting punishment. The Bible used the phrase everlasting punishment, everlasting destruction, because it's something that is going to be permanent and last forever. That's probably the worst part of hell, is the fact that it's forever. A forever punishment that never ends. There's no escape. There's no getting out. There's no bribing your way. Technically the only event that will occur is that those who are in hell right now will one day stand before God at a great white throne judgment. And they will be judged according to their works. Even every idle word that they spoke will be judged. And then one last throwing into the lake of fire, where they're going to be permanently destroyed, permanently on fire. And of course, when the Bible used the word destroyed, some people get this picture of, well, I guess you eventually are just gone. But according to the scripture, your worm dieth not. So whatever you are, your internal soul body is going to just feel the pain and suffering forever. The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell and he wanted water on his tongue. So obviously, whatever the soul is, it still seems to have all the different various body parts and that they're all experiencing suffering at the same time. I mean, if you're on fire, but yet you're still concerned with your tongue, this tells me that you are feeling the most excruciating pain in every square inch of your body. Which would motivate me or motivate anyone to want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, but if you are saved, if you've already believed on Jesus and you've accepted the free gift of eternal life, if you don't love someone enough to give them the gospel, I really question if you believe in hell. Because hell is just so bad, it's so awful. I think that anybody who noticed a loved one trapped in a house that was on fire would scream and yell and do everything in their power to rescue that person from physical fire on this earth. And how much more is hell? How much more is the suffering of eternal punishment and everlasting destruction? And yet so many Christians are not preaching the gospel. They're intimidated, they're scared, they compromise. They use toned down language such as, well, it's separation from God. It's much more than separation from God. And, of course, because hell is so awful of a punishment, Catholics invent this idea of purgatory to try and make people think, oh, it's not as big a deal, or, well, I'll do my time. But there's no getting off, folks. Your loved ones that have already perished, I'm sorry, but they will not go to heaven if they didn't believe in Jesus. They are going to be eternally damned in hell. The only thing we can do at this point is to save and rescue those who still have a chance. And so it's important that we take this serious. It's important that we don't believe in strange doctrines or make up doctrines of convenience. Purgatory is not a real doctrine, and God is not someone to be messed with. This is our opportunity to be saved. This is our one chance in life, and we need to redeem the time because the days are evil. Let's go to a question in our chat, and this is a question that says, can you talk about Romans 16, 7? A lot of people are trying to use this verse to defend female preachers, saying Junia was a woman apostle. So I wasn't prepped for this question, but it is something I've actually thought about before as well in Romans chapter 16. Let's just read the verse for our listeners so they can get an idea of what we're talking about. In Romans 16, and just to give you context, the apostle Paul is signing off in his letter, and he's giving a verbal thanks to all kinds of different people. He's just name dropping all kinds of different individuals that have helped him. It says in verse 7, salute Antonychus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. So, in just the simple reading of this verse, notice a couple different wordings here. My kinsmen. That doesn't give me any kind of indication that these individuals that are mentioned here are women whatsoever. Notice another fact. It says, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. So, it stands to reason that they themselves are apostles. If so, they would be men. So, I personally believe that Junia could certainly be a man, that there's no indication from just reading the text that that's actually a woman's name. Several names in our current culture go both ways. Even names that seem a little bit feminine. Here's an example for me. It's a name like Stacy. Whenever I hear the name Stacy, I typically think of a woman. That would be my initial reaction. But there's a lot of men named Stacy. There's a lot of men with all kinds of different names. So, just because Junia may or may not even be a feminine name in our current culture, personally I don't even know because I've never even heard someone with this name. I don't see any indication that this individual is actually a woman. That's my personal interpretation of this verse, is that Junia is a man. But let's just, for the sake of the argument, let's just say Junia was a woman. Number one, how does this verse by itself say anything about Junia preaching or being a pastor? It doesn't, number one. Number two, there was plenty of women in the Bible who preached the gospel, and I have nothing against women who preach the gospel. Of course, if you look at verse three, it says, greet Priscilla and Achilla, my helpers in Christ Jesus. Now, this is a husband and wife combination who went out and preached the gospel to all kinds of different people. Also, in verse one, I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is in Chancharea. There's no question that Phoebe's a female, and it says that you receive her and the Lord has become a saint and that you assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you, for she hath been a suckerer of many and of myself also. So, in this particular passage, we actually have clear females. We don't even have to wonder if they're female or not. Yet, neither of these passages illustrate for me them being a pastor or being what we would consider the preacher of the pulpit. But, you know, why would I go to a passage that certainly doesn't even bring, it's not talking about pastors, it's not talking about who should be preaching behind a pulpit. It's simply saying these are just great Christians. And in fact, you know, Phoebe was a wonderful Christian that the Apostle Paul is wanting people to help her and her work to the Lord. So, there's nothing wrong with a woman being in the ministry, in a sense, in the sense that she's serving people, helping people, loving on people. Of course, many women ministered unto the Lord Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry. But, you know, what we don't have is that great sermon preached by Mary Magdalene. You know, we don't have that great sermon preached by one of the female disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were there to minister. And, of course, they spoke. Of course, Mary Magdalene was the first person that Jesus Christ is showing himself unto and wanting her to go out and tell the whole world about the gospel. But, you know, we don't see Mary Magdalene being the pastor of a church. And what's clear, there's clear verses in the Bible. If you go to 1 Corinthians, chapter number 14, it's actually going to settle this dispute instantly for us. We don't even have to wonder whether or not women should be the pastor or the main preacher of a church. It says in verse 33, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Honestly, I don't believe you could get any clearer. This is as clear as you could possibly have of a passage to say when the whole assemblies gathered together and were there to be edified by the Word of God, it is a man's job to get up and be the one who preaches the Bible. The Bible makes it clear in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1 that the qualifications of a pastor is the husband of one wife. It does not provide any provision for a woman to be the pastor. We see no women pastors in the Bible. We see no women deacons in the Bible. We see no women evangelists in the Bible. We see no ordained positions of authority for women in the Bible because they're just not ordained positions for women. Now, when it comes to them being ministers, yes, everybody's supposed to be a minister. When it comes to them evangelizing, yes, women should go out and evangelize. When it comes to preaching the Word of God, hey, let women preach the Word of God to people that are lost and need to hear the gospel. Let women preach the Word of God to their children. Let women study and meditate on the Word of God. Let it be dwelling in them richly. When a woman opens her mouth, let her open her mouth with wisdom of the Scripture. I'm all for women speaking the Bible and preaching the Bible to those who are under her authority. But the Bible does not provide a situation in which women are to be in any kind of authority position in the church, especially not over men. 1 Timothy 2 makes that clear too. But if someone doesn't agree with what I just showed you now, usually they're not going to be persuaded by the Bible. They need to get my first question, which is about your authority. Who are you trusting, your own understanding or the Word of God and the Bible? And we adhere to the King James Bible as our final authority, and the King James Bible is clear that men are the only preachers. Hey, that was a great question. I think we have another one from the chat I want to get to. I have a daughter who is nonverbal due to autism. Well, I'm very sorry to hear that. It says, I've tried witnessing the gospel to her, but there's no way for me to know or for her to confess if she believes. How can I approach this? Now, this is definitely a unique question. There's going to be circumstances where this is true, not just for your particular situation or someone's situation of only autism. There is going to be people that are maybe elderly or very sick. There's going to be situations where people might have been born with some kind of mental deficiency. They could have other problems. What if we talk about Helen Keller, who was blind and mute? That would be a very difficult person to communicate with. It even took Helen Keller a very long time to learn how to sign and to communicate with individuals. Now, the person's question posed to me doesn't necessarily give me an age. I don't know how old your child is. Sometimes with people that have a severe disability, they tend to mature slower. So their mental capacity might take a lot longer in development process. Number one, I personally believe, and I think the scripture teaches, that those who die prematurely, whether that be infants or babies and they don't really have an opportunity to hear the gospel or they don't understand what sin is, that when they die, they're going to go to heaven. We see, I believe it's 2 Samuel 12, that actually has King David. He had a child that the Lord ended up taking from him, but David was very sad while the child was sick. He prayed and fasted for it. But then once it died, he ended up not being sad anymore. And I want to read a verse here. It says in verse 18, 2 Samuel 12, verse 18, And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice. How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead? So the servants were afraid to tell David that his child was dead, but eventually he finds out. Verse 20, Then David arose from the earth, and was annoyed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord in worship. Then he came to his own house, and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Verse 21, Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. So the reason why I bring up this passage is, first of all, if your child is very young, you know, we're talking about babies and infants and toddlers, and they unfortunately pass away, I do believe that they go to heaven. And so, you know, for someone that's very young, this would be the case, but I also think that, you know, there's other people that might fit into this kind of similar category, where if they have such a severe mental disability, and even though their body may have aged to a point where they're 4, 5, 10, 15, even an adult, but their mind or their understanding has stayed at an age of 2, 3, 4, or something similar, then I believe that they too would probably fall in the same category, where essentially God's not going to hold them responsible for something that they're incapable of understanding. So again, in answering your question, it's a little bit difficult for me to know your exact situation, but I think that's one answer to your question. Another answer to your question is if, you know, you're having trouble confirming with someone their level of understanding, you know, you preaching the Gospel to them and praying for them and trying to show them clearly from the Scripture is really all that you can do. At some point we have to just trust the Lord that what we do is going to work. You know, there's been cases where preaching the Gospel to someone that's very old or non-verbal, you give them the Gospel, but you can't necessarily check to make sure they believe that or they understand that as well, and you do the best that you can, but, you know, I don't know that there's necessarily a special method to test someone's understanding. Whenever I talk to a child, I try to get them to understand, you know, the few basics, sinners, and what a sin is, that it's breaking God's rules, and that those sins would lead us to hell if we don't believe in Jesus, and that Jesus did die on the cross. He was buried. He rose again. He paid for all of our sins, that salvation is only by believing. It's not faith and works. And I typically ask children, I say, do you have to believe in Jesus to be saved or do you also have to be a good person to kind of test and see how they feel? I ask them questions like, if you do not believe in Jesus, where will you go? And so that they can kind of understand those basic elements. But the beauty of the Gospel is that it's simple, and the beauty of the Gospel is that even a very young mind can understand the simple elements of the fact that we're sinners, that we would go to hell if we don't trust in Jesus, that Jesus took our punishment that we deserve, and that by placing faith in Him and asking Him to save you, and not trusting in yourself, that you will be saved, and that there's nothing you could do to lose that. I believe that I was saved at age five by trusting a simple Gospel presentation, and I believe there's many people that are saved at very young ages, not having a lot of doctrine, not necessarily having a lot of information. And so as your child continues to develop or becomes older, I hope that maybe more of this will sink in, maybe there's a new method by which you can communicate with them. You know, you could try some alternative communication techniques, such as writing, sign language. I know that a lot of people practice sign language with very young children, and it actually is effective. If their mental capabilities, though, however, never get to a point where they can't even simply answer simple questions of yes or no or hold any real understanding, again, I believe God would give that individual grace. So I hope that I did answer your question. You know, if you have more specific questions related, you can always email us, steadfastbaptistkjvatgmail.com, and I'd love to help you or assist you with that, and to pray with you that your child would be saved. I'm very blessed to know that people care that much about their children, and you know, take that zeal that you have for your child and apply it to other children. Because while we all want our own children to be saved, we should want every child to be saved, and we want to put a lot of effort and energy into getting as many people saved as possible. And so I'd encourage you to put a lot of efforts into going out and reaching everyone with the gospel, and not just your loved ones as well. Here's another question from our chat. It says, what are the qualifications for a pastor, and what does it take to start a church? Well, this is definitely a pretty big question. First of all, I kind of mentioned earlier 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1 give biblical qualifications. And I would say that just on the surface, number one, you should meet all of the requirements found in scripture. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1. Beyond that, I also believe that you should be ordained by a pastor that's already scripturally qualified and meets the clear qualifications of the scripture. And by being ordained by a particular pastor, you would also then need to submit to and or meet the criterion that he has for someone to be a pastor. Because I also believe that when Jesus gave the keys to Peter of the church, and he told him that, you know, loose on earth shall be loose in heaven, and whatsoever that I shall bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven, applies to the fact that church has some level of authority to make decisions, to make determinations. And that pastors can make determinations as far as what their criterion is for a pastor, and that that individual should meet the criterion of that ordained minister. That it's not simply, well, here's a checklist I found in the Bible, and I think I meet it, so I think I should be ordained. You know, that's not following the pattern shown in scripture. I think that that violates a lot of clear scripture. To give you at least one verse, 1 Timothy chapter 4, it says in verse 14, So I believe that Timothy was a pastor, and he was given that gift from the apostles and other elders of the church when they laid their hands on them. And very clearly, it said here in verse 14 that he was given a gift, and that gift was given to him specifically because there was a laying on of hands, and it was done by the presbytery, which is a word that simply only found in the Bible once, but it means kind of an elder, leaders of the church. And so, you know, without having this formal process of a leader laying hands on someone, you know, sending them out, I don't believe that it's a scriptural ordination. Just to give you a sample, 1 Timothy chapter 3, this is some of the qualifications found in scripture. So we have seven verses here found in 1 Timothy chapter number 3 that give us some of the qualifications of a bishop, I believe also Titus chapter 1 should be cross-referenced. I also believe that the instructions given to the deacon found here get a little more specific, and they would also pertain to the pastor himself. And so, there's a lot on this list, and to me, what people have to understand is that even though this list is given, this is not like a special list for pastors. This is actually what every single man should do. Every single man, especially one that desires marriage, should get married, have children, should be someone who's sober and faithful and trustworthy and ruling his house well and ruling his children well. Essentially, the list is just saying, here is a standard of a good Christian, and from those who are good Christians, those are the people that are eligible to become a pastor. It does not make sense to put someone in the position of a pastor who's not a good Christian, or who is inexperienced at being a good Christian. Because some people can be a good Christian for a week, some people can be a good Christian for a month, some people can be a good Christian for a year or two. But then eventually, they wear away, they waste away, they get offended, they quit, they just simply backslide. And so, someone needs to be a good Christian for a very long period of time to show that they're dedicated, to show that they're committed, to show that they're willing to weather storms in their life. Because being a pastor is a very important job. I personally believe it's the most important job that a man can have, is being used by God to be a servant. And of course, being a pastor is not some lofty title of importance, it's more a position of servitude. It's one who's supposed to minister, and to help others, and to lay down his life, and to be a shepherd, of course, under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. And being a minister, being a pastor, I think a lot of people underestimate the toll that it takes on a person's life. That it's very difficult, it can be very frustrating, it can be lonely, it can really challenge you in every possible way. It's going to challenge your marriage, it's going to challenge your finances, it's going to challenge your physicality, it's going to challenge your mentality, it's going to challenge your feelings, it's going to challenge every area of life. And so it's not for the faint of heart. Some people think that their life would be easier if they were a pastor, but nothing could be further from the truth. A man that really wants to serve God and is going to follow the Biblical model is only going to have a harder life ahead of him than the life he previously had. And so therefore, it's important that someone's already successful in every area of life before becoming a pastor. Because once becoming a pastor, all those areas of your life are going to be tested, and we're going to see how good are you at managing your finances, how good are you at managing your wife, how good are you at managing your children, how good are you at continuing to serve the Lord and read the Bible and have a walk with God and to not be self-indulgent. And a lot of these verses are talking about self-indulgence. Not being someone that just is a glutton and someone that is consumed with covetousness, but it's really someone that's very selfless. And so a pastor is a high calling, and we should have high standards. We don't want just anyone to be a pastor. Whereas we see a lot of bad churches today because they don't have a high standard for pastors. They simply just let any yahoo. There's a lot of nepotism in Christianity today where people are just ordaining their sons, and oftentimes the son is not the father. I personally am against fathers ordaining their children unless it was absolutely necessary. I don't think that means that someone has to be bad. If someone was ordained by their dad, I'm not saying they're a bad pastor necessarily, but I think that we should avoid that practice since we have an abundance of pastors. If there were a situation where we were destitute and there was no option, then of course we wouldn't want to hold someone back based on that reason alone. But when given other options, it makes sense that the next generation of pastors should be ordained by people that have no reason to ordain them except for they meet the criterion. Myself included, my children, if my sons ever decide they want to be a pastor, of course I'll train them and teach them and I'll give them everything that I have here. But I'll want them to go to another church, to serve with a completely different pastor, and to meet all of his criterion if they truly want to become a pastor someday. And if they never do, I'm going to love them the same as I would if they did. Just because being a pastor is a really important job doesn't mean that there isn't other very important jobs. We need every job. Every job is super important. Even being a mother is arguably the most important job. But at the same time, we need to have high standards for being pastors. And starting a church, you know, really it doesn't even matter because if you're not going to be a pastor, you don't really need to know that, number one. And really you need to just worry about being a godly Christian. For those that want to be a pastor or start a church someday, they need to stop worrying about what it takes to be a pastor or start a church and worry about being a godly Christian. They need to worry about studying the Bible and showing themselves approved unto God. They need to worry about being a good soul winner. They need to worry about being selfless. They need to worry about loving their wife. They need to worry about their wife loving God. They need to worry about their wife being someone who preaches the gospel faithfully. They need to worry about their wife doing the things that she does because she believes them, not because her husband's telling her to do that. And that was a big deal for me is, you know, I wanted my wife to genuinely want to preach the gospel, to genuinely dress godly, to genuinely use a King James Bible. For her to sincerely and through in the deep parts of her heart want to serve God because I knew when becoming a pastor that the pressure was going to come from family members, from friends, from the world. And that if my wife didn't sincerely believe these things or sincerely want to do them, she would struggle. She would struggle with that and she would not want to do those things. And so it was important for me to lead her and to guide her and to help her to believe those things sincerely. And for me personally, if she never got there, I wanted to have the integrity to say, well, I shouldn't be a pastor. I don't want a pastor because I can't even convince my wife. And here's the thing, if I can't even convince my own wife to love God, to have a fervent zeal for the Lord, how could I expect to give that to other men who aren't, who have nothing to do with me? Or if I can't teach and train my children, if I can't guide my children, if I can't discipline my children, how could I then church discipline men and church discipline other people and other families? So really, if a person wants to be a pastor, what they really should do is focus on being the best Christian they can be, focus on being the best servant they can in their church, help their pastor in every way they can ever think of, do things that they're not even asked to do. Try to be the best person they can be. And of course, you know, you can let your pastor know that you have that desire, but really you should just take your hands off the steering wheel at that point and let God put you in the position that you should be in. I personally believe every man of God I know that if they have a guy going to their church that meets all the criterion of a pastor and is a great Christian and is serving in the church and doing everything right, that pastor is not going to hold him back from great positions to serve the Lord. They're going to put him into the ministry. And so, you know, people need to stop worrying about if I'm going to be a pastor or not and just start worrying about being a good Christian and then, you know, pray and ask God to use you greatly. You know, I've prayed a lot of prayers in my life about God giving me wisdom and being used by God, and that's what I want to do. If I end up not being a pastor one day for whatever reason, you know what, I hope that I still serve God to the best of my ability. And no matter what, you can always be a soul winner. And let's be honest, that's the most important work is just getting people saved. Because at the end of the day, all this is going away. I'm not going to be a pastor forever. We're all going to just be in heaven. And those who are winning souls to Christ is going to be what really matters. So I hope that, you know, these questions were, you know, a help to you, a blessing, the answers that I was able to, you know, impart from the scripture. And of course, the Bible is our final authority. It's the Sword Drill Podcast. We're using the Bible and the sword to cut through all the lies and the deception that's out there. Please check in with us on Tuesdays from 12 to 1. We'll be starting our new podcast series and season very soon. And so I hope that you'll continue to check in. You can find us on Rumble at Steadfast Baptist Church, and we'll also be putting the podcast out on some different platforms. But the best place to find us is going to be the Steadfast Baptist Rumble. Please go out there and subscribe, create an account, subscribe, sign up, put questions out there. Also, I'm going to be putting on GodResource.com in the future. So those are going to be your two resources for this podcast. Well, God bless you guys. I hope you have a great day and continue to be steadfast by using your sword.