The Marks Of A Spiritual Leader

Let’s read Titus 1:5-9. Paul says to Titus, “For this cause,” or this reason, “left I thee,” that is, Titus, “in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: 6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”

In verse 5 of our text, Paul gives two reasons why he had left Titus, his protege, there in the island of Crete. I want you to go back and look at verse 5 with me. He says, “For this cause left I thee in Crete.” Crete is a small island in the Mediterranean. In Titus 1:12, you get a little insight to the kind of people that lived on the island of Crete. Paul said, “The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.” If there is anything you don’t want is a slow belly, okay? That’s King James for actually being gluttons, is what it means. The Cretans were actually known for their party life, for their sinful life and sinful behavior. It was classic Greek culture, the Greco-Roman world, where kind of like anything goes, so the church was floundering, struggling, and facing opposition. Paul wanted Titus to go there and to set things in order. The church needed the help of leadership. It needed the encouragement of leadership.

Notice the two things, they are (verse 5), “…set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.” Those are the two things that Titus needed to do in the churches there on the island of Crete. That phrase “set in order,” or specifically the word “order,” is the word straighten out what is unfinished or straighten out what is left needing to be done. That word “straighten out” actually we get our word orthodontist and orthopedics from. It would be used in straightening out a broken bone. Titus was charged with the task of straightening things out in the church. I think it’s important that the church have strong spiritual leadership. The church cannot rise any higher than its leaders. It’s so very important. A lot of times the church suffers because of a lack of leadership, and God wants the church to be straightened out. He wants it to have strong leadership, so (verse 5) “…ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”

There are only two offices for the church. Those two offices for the church…and I want to take a minute before we unpack this passage to explain them. The two offices are that of an elder and that of a deacon. I know that in church history we try to create another office of bishops and stuff like that or cardinals and those kinds of titles, but the Bible only knows two offices in the church, that of the elder and deacon. Again, it’s contrary to our culture, but it’s biblical and we must think biblically that those offices are held by men. Now, that’s not because God doesn’t love women, and it’s not because women aren’t equal in their standing before God. In Christ, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,” but just as in the marriage relationship the Bible says the husband is the head of the wife, that the wife is to submit to her husband, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, we can’t throw that out because the culture is saying something different, right? We are to dance and march to the beat of a different drummer, and that drummer is the Holy Spirit through the apostles in the Word of God. I think that what is best for the world, as well as for the church and for our homes, is that we follow the biblical pattern.

The divine institutions are first the family, secondly the church, and third is the government. You might put them in a different order. Chronologically, it’s actually first the family, then human government, and then the church. They all are divine institutions. God hasn’t ordained one kind of human government, but God has given human government. Police are a gift from God, by the way. Laws are a gift from God. Government is a gift from God. Now, there is corrupt government, but there is also good government, and we want a government that is closest to or reflects the government of God in their lives. It was George Washington that actually said that it’s impossible to govern a nation without God and the Bible, and that’s the two things that we have tried to systematically get out of our government, we try to get God and the Bible out of the government, thus we’ve sown to the wind and are reaping the whirlwind. That’s the reason we have so many social ills in our culture today.

These two offices are to be held by men. There is no support scripturally or biblically for spiritual leaders in the church in this pastoral or deacon office to be female. There are a lot of women who serve in the church. There are women who have gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are women who are a blessing and serve the Lord in different ways, but these two offices God has ordained that the men take leadership and that it reflect what is to be in the home, and the home reflects what is to be as well in the church.

The reason Titus was to set in order the church and ordain elders was because there were false teachers entering the church, and I would just refer you to Titus 1:10. It seems that some of the false teaching was coming from Jews or Judaizers or maybe Christians that had a legalistic relationship with Christ. In Titus 3:9-11, it describes again the false teaching that was going on, and we’ll get there in weeks to come. They needed spiritual leadership.

Let me break down the terms of these two offices. First, as I said, is elders. Notice they’re mentioned in verse 5, “…set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city,” that term is the Greek word presbyteros. We get our word Presbyterian from it, and what it conveys is that he is to be a mature individual. It doesn’t mean that a young man can’t be a pastor. I started pastoral ministry in my early 20s. I was only 21, 22, 23, 24. I got married at age 25. I’d been a pastor for probably four years before I even got married, but it does mean that you need to be mature. The sad thing is is a lot of times a man matures and he’s got all this knowledge and wisdom and then his mind and body goes and churches like to get rid of the old guys and get the new guys, you know, the cool, hip, young guys; but a spiritual leader needs maturity and experience.

I remember, when I was young in the ministry, that it was a challenge for me to counsel people who had been married for 40 years and I’m not even married yet; counsel people who are raising their children and I hadn’t even had children yet. You know, I had no children and seven theories on raising children. Now, I’ve got seven children and no theories on how to raise them. Sometimes it takes having grandchildren before you really know how to raise your children, you know. It does convey the idea and I want you to understand that he should show maturity and have dignity, and it speaks of the maturity and dignity of the office.

The second title (and these first three titles are all synonyms for the same individual; elder, bishop, and pastor are all the same position in the church) is the word bishop. The Greek word is episkopos. We have presbyteros, where we get our word Presbyterian, and the word bishop is in verse 7. Look at verse 7. “For a bishop must be blameless,” and we’ll get there in just a moment. The word “bishop,” episkopos, we get our word episcopalian from. It’s based upon a compound Greek word that means oversight, so it conveys not his person but his function, that he oversees the church. It’s not necessarily a man who oversees multiple churches, the pastor is to be a bishop or overseer of the church as well.

The third title or term, and it’s not in our text tonight, is the word pastor. We use that so commonly today. It’s found in Ephesians 4:11 where it’s hyphenated in the Greek. It’s actually pastor-teacher which indicates that he is to be a teacher. He is to pastor the flock by doing several things. He’s to feed, lead, and protect the flock. It’s taken from the imagery of a shepherd. That’s what the word pastor means. It means shepherd, so the people of God or flock of God, the sheep of God…and the pastor is actually an under-shepherd. Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd. You are His sheep. You’re not my sheep—praise God for that—you’re His sheep, but I have the task and the responsibility that is assigned to me is to shepherd the flock of God—to feed you, lead you, and protect you from the wolves—and do all of that with, by, and through the Word of God. All three—elder, bishop, and pastor—are used interchangeably for the same person or group. In Acts 20, they are used that way when Paul met with the elders at Ephesus, and the reference is also to oversee and feed the flock which is the word pastor the flock.

The second office is that of deacons. Now, in Titus, unlike Timothy, deacons aren’t mentioned. Titus mentions the two groups. He mentions the elders or pastors or bishops and the deacons and even talks about the deacons’ wives. In Timothy, we only have a reference to the elders or pastors or bishops, and there is no reference to their wives in the Titus passage, so yes, a bit of what we cover tonight is repetitive from 1 Timothy, but it’s very, very important.

The word “deacon” is used in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, which is where you have the qualifications. That word means servant. It connotates more the idea that a deacon are those who do the service in the church, the menial deeds and service of the church, that they roll up their sleeves and do the work of the church, taking care of the things of the church. It’s actually an interesting word. It’s a compound word. It comes from two words which literally means through dust. You say, “What in the world would that mean?” It carries the idea that they’re so busy running around serving that they stir up dust everywhere they go. That’s actually what it means, that they’re just kind of running around serving and doing what they can do to help others and serve in the church. Certainly, we have a lot of people that are deaconing in our church. There were women in the church that were given the term deaconess in the feminine, but there’s no clear declaration of the office of a deaconess, but they were deaconing and it uses the feminine, so women can serve in the churches as well.

As we get into the requirements for these elders or pastors, we’re going to break it down. First, and key theme for these spiritual leaders is they are to be blameless. Look at it with me in verse 6. It says, “If any be blameless,” I want you to appoint elders in every city (verse 5), and I appointed you to do that. Here’s the number one characteristic, these men must be blameless. Again, it’s repeated in verse 7, “For a bishop must be blameless.” This does not, of course, mean sinless. It doesn’t mean faultless. No one would be qualified for spiritual leadership, but it’s funny, people think that. They think the pastor glows in the dark. They think he’s never impatient and never unkind and never thinks an evil thought, he kind of glows in the dark. People have come up to my wife and said, “Oh, it must be awesome living with Pastor John.” She’s going (pursed lips), “Yes, it’s very awesome.” It doesn’t mean that you’re sinless, no one is going to be sinless. No one is going to be perfect, but here’s what the term conveys, and it’s such an important thing. By the way, I think that for too long, and it’s lacking in a lot of churches, we have neglected maintaining spiritual requirements for spiritual leaders. Too many men are put in spiritual leadership because they’re charismatic or because they have money or they have influence or they have a charming personality or because they’re physically attractive or whatever dynamic they have rather than what the Bible actually says these men should have as qualities in their life. They need to be blameless.

This is what the word blameless means. The term literally means not to be taken upon. It means that no just cause for censor or criticism can be proven against them. You can’t stop someone from accusing you, but you can live in such a way that their accusations do not stick. That’s what it means. It means that you have kind of a teflon character. People can say, “Well, he’s this,” or “He’s that,” but everyone knows that it’s not true and it doesn’t stick because the life is lived above reproach, so it means that there is no just cause for censor, that it cannot be proven against them. One translation has, not marred or disgraced; and another translation is, unquestioned integrity or unimpeachable. I like that. In 1 Timothy 6:14, the title is used irrebukable. They are basically to live (in another translation in Timothy) above reproach, so they can be attacked, but they live in such a way that the accusation is known to be false and cannot be true.

Paul tells Titus that the spiritual leaders he appoints must be blameless in three areas. I’ve put them in three categories, if you want to write them down. The first is blameless in their marriage and family life. Notice it in verse 6. He says, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.” If a man’s marriage and family are not right, he cannot lead the church. This is, again, a very delicate and touchy situation. It’s sometimes very hard to grasp and understand, but the home is the training ground for the Christian leader. The Bible says, if a man can’t take care of his home, how’s he going to take care of the church of God? First of all, notice his marriage (verse 6), “the husband of one wife,” literally in the Greek that is a one-woman man. It’s not a good idea for a pastor to be chasing women in the church. It’s a good idea for a pastor to be married. That doesn’t mean that a pastor has to be married. There’s no requirement that a pastor be married, but if he is married, that he is devoted to, committed to, and has eyes only for one woman, that is, his wife. He’s a one-woman man.

There’s a lot of debate that goes on in the church that say, “Well, it can’t be a guy that’s been divorced. It can’t be a person that has multiple marriages,” but that’s not what the Word in itself means or says. Some say that if a man has been divorced and remarried multiple times, that he’s not blameless or above reproach and that’s for however you want to interpret that, but this phrase, this term, means a one-woman man. Some Bible scholars think that it was in light of polygamy that was somewhat common at that time or promiscuity that was common at that time, that the man was to be committed and devoted to his wife and his wife alone. It’s a man’s faithfulness to one woman, his wife.

Write down Ephesians 5:25-27 for you married men. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” It also implies that the inner attitudes and heart should be sexually pure as well. Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” In Proverbs 6:27-29, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? 29 So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.” There’s Proverbs 6:32-33, “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding,” or lacks sense, “he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.” He’s to have purity in his life and be devoted to his wife. This is certainly apropos for all men. God’s will for you as a married man is to be committed to and devoted to your marriage and to your wife.

Then, it speaks about his children (verse 6), “…having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly,” or being wild or disobedient or some have not of debauchery or insubordination. In 1 Timothy 3:4-5, “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)” Again, it doesn’t mean that the pastor’s kids glow in the dark, that they quote Scripture all the time, that they say, “Hallelujah,” all day, everywhere, and that they’re perfect. Sometimes churches have undue expectations on the pastor’s kids. They think that if your dad is the pastor, that you ought to be just perfect and not have any problems. It does mean that the pastor is understanding that he has a responsibility to love, discipline, and train his children, but basically, he’s devoted to and committed not only to his wife but to doing his job in training and disciplining and nurturing his children. It’s so very important that his children are believers.

Some translations actually have, when it says, “faithful children,” that his children are believers, that they love and follow the Lord. You need to ask yourself, dad and spiritual leaders, are you devoted to your children, training them? Write down Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but,” three things, “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Bring them up means you love them, nurture means you discipline them, and admonition means that you instruct them. It’s the job of the father and the mother, but let me say this, I know it’s kind of like, “Whew! I’ve got a lot of things to do. I’m busy and working hard,” but dads should take the lead in loving, disciplining, training, and nurturing in the home. It’s so detrimental when we have absentee dads. The problem is you go to work all day (women are working today, too), but you come home, you’re tired, and you want to watch MBA on tv. You want the house quiet, and you want to go to bed. It’s kind of like your home is your castle, but you don’t want to get up off the couch to take care of the kids, to read them Bible stories—Dads, you can give baths, you can change diapers.

Yes, these sanctified pastoral hands changed many diapers, gave many baths. I used to have the kids in the tub and be working on my sermons in the bathroom while they were in the tub. My wife would come, “Are you keeping an eye on the kids?” “Oh, oh yeah! I’m watching them really close,” you know. Classic dad, you know, but I would actually be reading commentaries in the bathroom while the kids were playing in the soap bubbles, you know. Then, we would go into the bedroom (we used to call it the big bed), which is our bedroom for Kristy and me. We’d bring the kids in, we’d all pile on the bed, and we’d have Bible stories. We would read to them, talk about the Scriptures, and we would pray with them. As they would get older, we would go to each one individually. Kristy would go to one room, I would go in another, and we would spend time reading, praying, talking to them, and sharing with them about the things of the Lord. What a blessing to see all of your children grow up and love Jesus and follow Jesus Christ. There’s no greater reward, and a pastor’s priorities are his relationship to God and his wife and his children and then the ministry that God has entrusted to him in the church.

The second category moves from verse 6, married life and family and home life, to verses 7-8 the character and conduct in public life. He’s to be blameless in his marriage and family, and he’s to be blameless in his character and conduct. Let’s look again at verses 7-8. “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God,” God has entrusted ministry to him, “not selfwilled,” these are the negatives, “not soon angry,” he doesn’t blow up and lose his temper, “not given to wine,” he doesn’t tarry long at the wine, isn’t devoted to drinking, “no striker,” he doesn’t go around punching people out, getting in fights, “not given to filthy lucre,” he’s not motivated by money or to get gain; but positive, verse 8, “But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate.”

I want to look at each one of these. We can’t tarry because there are so many, but Paul first lists five negatives that should not be found in a steward or a spiritual leader in the church. They relate to five areas of strong temptation. The first is the area of pride. Billy Graham warned pastors that one of the great sins that they would face would be pride. Notice it in verse 7, “not selfwilled,” another translation has not arrogant or self-pleasing. I think of King Nebuchadnezzar who was proud of his accomplishments and God had to humble him. Pastors and church leaders need to be humble and realize that the Lord is the One who works, and it’s to Him be all of the glory. Leaders are not to use their position or their power to get their own way, either. They’re not to be self-pleasing. It’s a man that is headstrong or stubborn, who demands his own way without regard to others. They won’t listen to others. They won’t accept criticism or advice. They are self-willed. They are not to be self-willed. It’s so important in the church and so important in the home.

If you’re a dad and a husband and father and your wife wants to talk to you, you ought to listen to her. If the kids have a concern, you ought to listen to them. Not, “I’m the head of the house. Don’t tell me what to do! I’ll do whatever I want! I can’t learn or be taught.” You need to be teachable, not self-willed, not trying to do what you want to do, how you want to do it. The idea is that we’re to be like Jesus, so this conveys the idea that we are to be servant-leaders. I love John 13 where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. There’s your example, Guys. When you come home from work, you go to work washing your wife’s feet, washing the children’s feet, speaking to them, encouraging, and ministering to them. You come home to serve, not to be served, as Jesus did.

Notice it says you’ll be tempted in your temper, and it uses the phrase (verse 7), “not soon angry.” In dealing with difficult and demanding people, you’re not to lose your temper or to become irritable or impatient. I confess this is a challenge to not become impatient with difficult people. Moses lost his temper and struck the rock, right? He was chastened by the Lord and couldn’t go into the Promised Land.

There is also the area of (verse 7), “not given to wine,” the temptation to drink alcohol. This phrase literally means sitting long at the wine. Again, I can understand why these verses aren’t preached or taught in churches because they’re sensitive subjects. The Bible does not teach that you have to totally abstain from wine. You say, “Praise God! Preach it, Brutha!” I would prefer it did because I don’t think it’s necessary. Now, in Bible days and in that culture or time, they had limited options for beverages. They could drink grape juice that wasn’t fermented and they could be fine. Water was very limited. They also had grape juice that was fermented and alcoholic, and they could get intoxicated by it.

The Bible does clearly forbid drunkenness. In Galatians 5:21, it is classified as one of the works of the flesh of which those who participate shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Even the great man Noah, who built the big arc and saved his family, got drunk and brought shame to himself and to his family. I think that it’s important for spiritual leaders to be very, very, very careful in this area. My personal conviction is that I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t touch alcohol, I don’t get close to alcohol. Even when I was not a Christian, I didn’t drink alcohol because I think it’s just terrible. There is no reason to drink it. But if you’re a Christian, and you want to walk in love, you’re not going to do anything that would offend someone else or cause someone else to stumble. Though the Scriptures may not say this, I think it’s very foolish to go down that path when Paul said, “I will not be brought under the power of any,” even caffeine or other things that can bring you under its power, you need to be careful with those things; and if you’re walking in love, you don’t want to do anything in the way of Christian liberty that would cause someone else to stumble. My commitment is that I don’t drink alcohol, and that’s the standard that we have for the leadership of our church. You say, “How can you do that when it’s not biblical?” We just think that it’s best not to cause anyone to stumble, that we actually live by a greater restraint rather than to exercise a liberty that might be a stumbling block to others. That’s what it means to walk in love. You might have the liberty to do something, but it could offend or stumble someone else, then you’re not walking in love if you do that. It’s a very dangerous thing.

What this phrase literally means, “not given to wine,” is you don’t drink a lot of wine, you don’t tarry at the wine. Wine is not your friend. It’s not a good idea. Then he says, “no striker.” Again, this is a quite interesting thing, so here we go. The pastor is not to be drinking a lot of wine, obviously not to get drunk. Secondly, he’s not to be getting in fights or brawls. How would that be, “Well, I was at Home Depot the other day, and I saw Pastor Miller get in a big fight right in the parking lot.” Believe it or not, there are pastors that have done this. They’ve lost their temper and gone to fisticuffs. The word is not pugnacious. That’s not for pastors, and in the home, Dads, you should never resort to this kind of behavior when it concerns your family.

The next is money. You’ll be tempted in pride, in strong drink, to get angry, to be in it for the money, and verse 7 says, “not given to filthy lucre,” not pursuing dishonest gain. Your motive is not to be greed. In 1 Peter 5:2, “…not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.”

After all the vices come the virtues. There are six positive virtues. Look at it with me in verse 8, “But a lover of hospitality,” this is kind of a refreshing positive note here. You know this term “lover of hospitality” we get our word Phileo, we get our word Philadelphia from it, and hospitality means that you are to be a lover of strangers. It doesn’t mean that you invite your friends over, it means that you love people that are different than you. It means that you love people that are outside your little group. You reach out to others. A pastor has to have an open heart and an open home to be able to welcome people into his home, even. He needs to be a lover of what is good, that’s to be loving good people and loving good things. It also has that he loves to submit to the Lord’s Word and to the Lord’s will. He loves what is good and righteous.

Look at verse 8, he is to be, “sober.” This is sober minded, a man who has self-mastery. The idea is that he’s sensible in his judgment. He has a disciplined lifestyle. A spiritual leader is not to be given to crazy, radical extremes. He should live in a moderate home. He should drive a moderate car. He should wear moderate clothes. He shouldn’t be doing crazy, bizarre things. They should be living a sane, sober, sensible life. It’s to be thinking clearly.

Fourthly, (verse 8) he’s to be just or righteous or upright in his dealings, again, with people. I like the translation of virtue here. Again, that he seeks fairness in all relationships with people and others, not necessarily for himself but for others. Again, it’s to be like Jesus. Then, he uses the word holy, which is the idea of saintly or have a right relationship with God or to be godly or God-fearing. Devoted to God is a great translation. He’s to be a man of God and devoted to God and the things of God. Then, he’s to be temperate, a great word there in verse 8. He’s to be temperate. That word is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5. It means to be self-controlled. This word actually covers all of the virtues. It covers all of the other virtues. For you to be all the other things that he listed there, you have to have self-control; so you need to be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18, which by the way, is interesting. There is the negative, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” If you’re filled with the Spirit, then wives will submit to their husbands and husbands will love their wives; children will obey their parents, and parents will not provoke their children to wrath.

The last category is just one verse, and I won’t tarry on it. It’s verse 9, “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,” it conveys the idea of blameless in his belief, so blameless in his family and home life, blameless in his character, conduct, and public life, and blameless in his church life in the way he holds onto the Word of God. “Holding fast the faithful word,” which is a reference to the Scriptures, the Bible, “as he hath been taught,” so he’s been given that instruction, “that he may be able by sound doctrine,” that word “sound” there, again, is that medical term. It means health-giving, life-giving. We get our word hygiene from it, so sound doctrine is right doctrine that brings health. What he’s going to do with this word is, “exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”

Paul moves from the pastor’s home and family, and their character and conduct, to the necessary grasp of truth. Nothing more important for spiritual leaders in the church than for them to be sound in their knowledge of the Word of God. Again, the church has made a big mistake in that they rally behind a man who has a charming personality but has bad theology. That’s not good. It’s not about how charming and pleasing and winsome. It’s not about their oratory ability. It’s not about how charismatic they are. It’s about their orthodoxy. Do they have a high view of Scripture? Do they hold to biblical doctrine? That is so very important. Believe me, when it comes to spiritual leadership, you better make sure you know what your leader believes from the Bible. They have a great influence on the congregation, but you’re responsible to be discerning, to be a Berean—to search the Scriptures to know whether these things be true or not—not just to take things hook, line, and sinker but to open your Bibles, to learn, to grow, and to be discerning and have a biblical palate to understand what is true and what isn’t. Look at the verse again with me. He’s to hold “fast the faithful word,” reliable word. Why? Because it’s true. Remember in Titus 1:2, “which God, that cannot lie,” so if God has spoken His Word, then it must be true. God cannot lie.

In 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,” it’s God-breathed. He also says in verse 9 that it’s according to the teaching that’s consistent with the teaching of the apostles, so “What I taught you,” or “What you were given,” so “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,” they received it first from the apostles, and we receive it from the Scriptures. That’s why Jude says “…that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once,” and for all, “delivered unto the saints.” Church leaders must be men of the Book—men devoted to the Book, committed to the Book, marinating their minds and their hearts in the Word of God, and doctrinal truth.

Notice that they’re to do two things with that teaching (verse 9), “…to exhort,” which means to encourage the believers with their teaching and sound doctrine, “and to convince,” or to refute, which means to overthrow false teachers. Again, this is not something that’s common today or done in the church today. Sermons today are all about positive, happy good thoughts because we’ve brought the world’s philosophy into the church. We’ve brought political correctness into the pulpit. We’ve brought moral relativism into the pulpit. We’ve brought a user-friendly, seeker-sensitive philosophy into the church, but if you want to be biblical and scriptural, the man of God will share the Word of God to teach, instruct, and build up and rebuke and to chasten and to place blame where it needs to be. If the Bible says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” then the man of God in the pulpit better not be afraid to say, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” that it’s sinful behavior. If the Bible says, “Thou shalt not lie,” then he shouldn’t shy away from that or be afraid to say what the Bible says.

I haven’t done it yet here at Revival, but my heart has been stirred and I have a whole lot of stuff I still want to get before the Lord takes me home. One of the things we’re going to do is a series on Sunday morning is we’re going to preach through the Ten Commandments on Sunday morning and understand how they relate to us today. We’re not saved by the Ten Commandments. We’re not saved by keeping them—we’re saved by grace—but those laws were given by God to govern our behavior and how we live our lives. “Thou shalt not lie, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet,” on top of the list, “thy neighbor’s wife,” anything that is thy neighbor’s. He’s to use the Word of God. John Calvin said that the pastor is to have two things: He’s to speak doctrine and build up, and he’s to speak rebuke and to tear down and to warn from false teachers. It’s so very important. There’s the positive and there’s the negative.

Now, in conclusion, notice it says that he does this, “to convince the gainsayers,” In this little section as we’re headed into, it’s all about setting the church in order, ordaining spiritual leaders because there’s false prophets, false teachers, and people that are coming in that these leaders need to take action against by teaching the positive truth of God’s Word and standing against those who come against the Word of God. It’s not his physical strength, it’s not his educational attainments, it’s not his social status, it’s not his business savvy, it’s his godly character. It’s a call by God, and it’s a gifting from God. God is looking for a few godly men to lead the church. I love that song, “Rise Up O Men of God,” Have done with lesser things. Give heart and soul and mind and strength, To serve the King of kings. Men need to be men and take the leadership in their homes and in the church. Amen?