00:00 Introduction: Setting the Stage with Some Jazz

00:13 Deny Yourself: Marc's Sermon Message

00:51 What He Must Be: Voddie Baucham's Book

01:58 Paul's Four Negatives for Church Leadership

02:42 The Importance of Being Above Reproach

04:55 Sober-Mindedness and Alcohol

21:20 Gentleness Over Violence

24:21 Understanding Gentleness in Leadership

25:34 False Teachers and Quarrelsomeness

28:14 Personal Journey and Lessons Learned

32:19 Theological Triage and Doctrinal Distinctions

36:21 Money and Trust in God

46:55 Concluding Thoughts on Godly Leadership

I hope you like jazz and jazz there.

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There's always a riff.

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There's a head that starts

the song, usually ends a song.

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That's what this is gonna be.

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We're gonna have a riff that we're gonna

play, but it's gonna be a lot of jazz.

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Your worksheet's gonna

say deny yourself first.

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Timothy three, three.

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That, that, that is the right text.

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I don't know what I would call

this sermon, but it's a good one.

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We'll keep that, deny yourself the back.

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Um, I only had influence

over one question.

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The others, uh, two questions actually.

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The others are gonna be more or

less related to what I'm saying.

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Um, at least thematically

they'll be related.

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So as you prepare for your small groups,

as you're thinking about these in

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relation to your small group discussions.

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Um, play some jazz, maybe write a

couple questions down as I'm talking

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and you think, oh, that would be

helpful for my group to discuss.

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Um, just feel free to make some additions

or subtractions as you feel the need to.

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Okay.

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Let's jump on in.

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Um, Vodi Baum has his book

called What He Must Be if he's

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Going to Marry My Daughter.

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I didn't care about that book

until I had a, I had a girl.

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Since then, I've taken great interest in

all these, I, these ideas of what a guy

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has to be if he's gonna marry my kid.

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And he says this, he's gotta

be a, a follower of Christ.

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He must be prepared to lead.

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He's gotta lead like Christ.

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He's gotta be committed to children.

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He's gotta practice the four

Ps, which were provider,

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protector, priest and prophet.

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Um.

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So that's kind of cheating.

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He added several there.

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But in any case, he had a lot of

positive qualities that he wanted his

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girls to pursue in a man and what he

was looking for in the suitor to his

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daughter or his daughters in this case.

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What's notably absent though

is what he must not be.

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Things that he said, these are

definitely non-negotiables.

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These are not things, and it's interesting

because you could say, well, if I said

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the positive, then certainly the negative

would be implied by the positive.

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And that's true by and large.

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But that's, there's nothing

to be said here about.

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By him being a Democrat or a

vegan or a convicted felon.

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One assumes that vote.

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He probably would say, oh, if

you're a convicted felon, maybe not.

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Doesn't say that though.

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I bring this up because Paul

does something very similar.

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Except he doesn't just assume

the negative he, he states it.

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We're gonna look at four negatives this

morning that are gonna show us what

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Paul has in mind for God's leadership.

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And in fact, these are the few

negatives in the whole text that

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we're reading about when it comes

to the qualifications of overseers.

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Lemme remind you why these are important.

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There's two reasons why

we're looking at these.

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Number one, these are the men

that you should look to when

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you're looking for a church.

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When you're looking for a a

brother to say, this is the guy

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that I'm gonna call my pastor.

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These are the non-negotiables you

read in second, first Timothy three.

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Uh.

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Verse two.

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He says, therefore, an overseer

must be the word There is day.

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It is a necessity.

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He must be these things.

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This is the kind of man you must look

for when it comes to the man that

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you allow to shepherd your soul and

consequently shepherd your family.

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These are the non-negotiables

of church leadership.

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That's the first reason you need

to know what you're looking for.

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The second reason, however, is that

all of these qualities, minus two,

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the one for teaching and the one for

being a recent convert, all of these.

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Are evidenced in the

larger body of Christ.

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That is to say that it's not just

true for pastors that we need to

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be above reproach or that we need

to be a certain caliber of man.

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So remind self control.

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This is all true for the whole church.

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The reason God says it has to be true

for the leaders or the pastors is because

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it's supposed to be true for all of us.

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They're meant to be exemplary

in the body of Christ, and

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which is why you have to know.

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So two reasons.

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Number one, you need to know what

you're looking for in a pastor.

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Number two, you need to know

what you're looking for in

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your own growth and maturity.

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So Paul gives us this list

here and he says, these are all

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the things that a man must be.

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Let's take a look and

remind ourselves here.

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We'll start at verse one, and

we'll read through verse three,

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which is our text for this morning.

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He says this, the saying is trustworthy.

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It is.

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There's something for you to pay attention

to and, and the likelihood that Paul wrote

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this near the end of his life is high.

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He's preparing to land the

airplane on his ministry.

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And so he's collected a few

truisms that he's saying, these

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are things I need you to hear and

understand as I prepare to leave.

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And so he tells Timothy,

this is a trustworthy saying.

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If anyone aspires to the office of

overseer, he desires a noble a good task.

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He's caring for souls.

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That's a good thing to want.

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It's a good thing to desire.

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It's noble in and of itself, and he

says, therefore, because of the nobility

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of the role, because of the high

calling that God demands, an overseer

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must be, it is necessary a, A leader.

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A pastor, must be above reproach.

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That means people can't lob accusations

against him, at least not with any

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credibility because his life is exemplary.

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It doesn't mean he is perfect else.

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Paul wouldn't be a leader else.

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We wouldn't be leaders.

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He's not asking for perfection,

but asking for a high level of

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excellence in his character.

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It's gotta be above reproach.

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The husband of one wife,

he's a one woman man.

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This does not preclude divorce.

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There are occasions when

scripture does allow for divorce

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in the life of a believer.

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Doesn't encourage it,

but it does permit it.

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So we're not excluding him just

because he's divorced there, there

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are reasons where we would allow

that and we would be okay with that.

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Um, again, not commanded but permitted.

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So he's the husband of one wife.

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He's a one woman man.

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He's sober minded.

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That's gonna come into play

in the next verse here.

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He is sober minded.

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He's self controlled.

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He has possession over his own vessel.

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I use the word mastery when I taught this.

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This is the kind of man who takes care

of his, his mind, his heart, his body.

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He's respectable.

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That is he comports himself in a way that

people admire and say he's a good dude.

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I may not agree with him.

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I may not even like what he

teaches, but he is respectable.

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I can see that man for who he is,

and I can respect his convictions.

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He's upstanding.

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He doesn't do things that are shady.

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He's trustworthy.

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He's the kind of guy that's respectable.

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He's hospitable.

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He's not a recluse, he's not individual.

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He is not isolated.

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He is the kind of man that

invites others into his life.

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He welcomes people into his dwellings,

which is really a metaphor for

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welcoming people into his life, period.

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His house is just a

reflection of who he is.

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He says, I want you to be part of who

I am, so you gotta be respectable.

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Excuse me, hospitable hospitality.

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He loves strangers.

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That's what it says here.

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He's the kind of guy who's looking around

the room and says, who don't I know?

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I wanna make sure that that

guy, if he's a new guy, he's

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feeling part of our crew here.

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He's always looking for people

because he cares about strangers.

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And in our culture, I just gotta

say this, in our culture, there's

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a lot of strangers around us.

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People that don't look like us,

talk like us, they have strange

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accents, they dress differently.

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A Christian man who's qualified

to be a leader in God's church

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is looking for people to say, I

wanna make sure I know that person.

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I wanna love the stranger.

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I don't want their dress or their

food or their smell or their

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anything to, to stop me from seeing

them as an image bearer that God

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designed to be loved and cared for.

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And.

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They need to know Christ.

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They need to know the gospel.

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I saw someone's Facebook post this

week that said there's a hundred

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percent chance that if you know

me, I'm gonna tell you about God.

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That's good.

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I like that.

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That should be all of us.

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Regardless of skin or, or, or

gender or anything like that.

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Hospitality is a love for the

other and that should qualify

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what God's leadership looks like.

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He's not a lover.

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Uh, rather lemme go back.

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He's able to teach.

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This is one of those qualities that is

specific to the office of overseer, but

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it doesn't mean you have to be in order.

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It doesn't mean you have to

do what I or pastor PJ do.

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It just means you have to be

able to communicate the truth.

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Well, that could be done

in a small group setting.

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That could be done in a one-on-one setting

if you're doing the partners manual.

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It's a man who knows how to

communicate the truth with clarity,

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and that's often hard to do.

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Uh, the more you understand, the more

challenging and confusing things can be.

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But a man who is qualified

to lead is able to teach.

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He has the ability to say what's true in a

way that's understandable, able to teach.

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We talked about the context of that

being your family life in particular,

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um, leading your wife, leading your

kids, uh, even leading in the workplace

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requires you to have a certain skill set

of being able to communicate clearly.

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Clear, clear speaking is usually not

always but indicative of clear thinking.

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You can't have one without the other.

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Able to teach Our passage

today is verse three.

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He's not a drunkard, he's

not violent, but gentle.

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He's not quarrelsome.

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He's not a lover of money.

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You'll notice 1, 2, 3, 4 knots there.

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There are four knots.

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These are the first time we

encounter negation to everything

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else that Paul has said.

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Remember, you're saying these are the

positive qualities we wanna see in a godly

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man, but let's be clear, these are four

things we don't wanna see in a Godly man.

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These are four things he must not be

if he's going to be a leader in God's

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church, which again, I find fascinating

given the fact that everything up to

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this point has been a positive statement.

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So why would Paul do this?

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I think Paul is doing this

at least for two reasons.

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Number one, he is doing it

for the sake of clarity.

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It is not only this in positive,

but also let's be sure that

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that's not this in the negative.

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I.

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So clarity is one of those things,

but also comprehensiveness.

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He's covering all his bases.

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So Paul, for the sake of clarity

and comprehensiveness, is giving

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Timothy everything he needs to

identify the kind of man that is

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qualified to lead in God's church.

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And again, to be clear, this is the

kind of man God wants all of us to be,

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whether or not we ever formally acquire

a leadership role within the church.

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This is the kind of

leadership that God endorses.

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So let's look at these four negation

and we're gonna combine two of them

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in my second point, but let's look

at the first one here, not a drunker.

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This is interesting because scripture

does seem to allow drinking scripture even

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seems in some ways to encourage drinking.

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In fact, if you, if you're looking at

first Timothy chapter three with me, turn

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over to First Timothy chapter five, and

let's just take a quick look at verse 23.

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This is interesting, given

what he just said to Timothy

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about not being a drunkard.

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He says in chapter five, verse

23 of one Timothy, he says.

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No longer drink only water Timothy, but

use a little wine for the sake of your

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stomach and your frequent ailments.

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And so whatever Paul means

about not being a drunker, he

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doesn't say, don't drink at all.

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He's saying, don't drink to excess.

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Don't drink beyond what's

appropriate and, and right for a

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liter in your, in your standing.

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In fact, let's take a look

at another passage here.

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Uh, turn to Psalm 1 0 4, verse 15.

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Paul gives clarity about

what he is not saying.

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But it seems in the Old Testament

that there's a little more freedom

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in terms of what God allows for

when it comes to the use of wine.

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Psalm 1 0 4, verse 15, these are the among

the many gifts that God has given the.

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One of the gifts.

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He says, let's start at verse 14 to

get some, to get a rolling start.

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Here he says, you cause the grass to

grow for the livestock and you, and you

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give plants for man to cultivate that

he may bring forth food from the earth.

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Verse 15, you give him wine

to gladen the heart of man.

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Oil to make his face shine and

bread to strengthen man's heart.

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And so the psalmist here is detailing

the gifts that God gives people.

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And among those gifts, he identifies

wine, alcohol, as one of those gifts.

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Unless we forget early in the

gospel of John Jesus', first miracle

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is to multiply wine into water.

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Right?

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Said that, said the wrong way.

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No one caught that

multiplies water into wine.

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Into wine.

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So what is happening here?

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How do we understand this?

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Okay, so Paul is prohibiting

drunkenness, and I think what's

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really at heart here is allowing any

substance to inhibit your control.

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Paul doesn't want you to be

controlled by wine, not a drunkard.

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In, in, in addition to the idea of sober

mindedness, tells us that there is a place

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for alcohol, there is a place for it.

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Now, I've often struggled with this and

tell me if you've ever dealt with this.

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Where is the line with that?

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If I'm drinking alcohol, is it

okay for me to get the buzz?

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Seems like maybe God's okay with that.

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Is the buzz part of being drunk or

am I drunk only after I'm slurring my

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speech and I'm stumbling in my steps?

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And here's where I've landed and I'll

let you decide that I, I think I have,

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I, I, I've got clarity in my mind.

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I think the buzz is

where you cross the line.

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I don't think God intends for us

to, to let our senses be dulled

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or in any way to be inhibited,

at least not with any regularity.

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And I'll qualify that in

just a few moments here.

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I think the buzz feeling is, is a

bad feeling because that inhibits

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your ability to act and react

with alertness and sobriety.

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I think it violates the idea of

being sober minded ordinarily.

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Now, with that said, with that

said, I need to qualify this.

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Is there a place for for

drugs that dull your senses?

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Well, I think yes.

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In fact, okay, just because I'm here

and I have my Bible, let's do it.

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Psalm uh, Proverbs 31.

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Let's just go there real quick.

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I wanna go to Proverbs 31.

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Where does something that

intoxicates or dulls our senses

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fit into a Christian mindset?

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If your kid gets injured, they lose

a leg and they're, they're now in the

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hospital and the doctor says, do you

want to give morphine to your child?

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Your job is to say, probably yes.

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If I can stop the pain or at

least mitigate it in some way.

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We just talked about, uh,

Julia going through labor.

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None of us are probably against

epidurals, but do you have a biblical

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basis for that given the fact that

scripture calls us to sober mindedness?

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I think we do.

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Here's what we have.

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Uh, Psalm, uh, Proverbs rather, 31.

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Uh, Proverbs 31, verse 4 31, verse four.

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It is not for Kings ole mule.

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It is not for kings to drink wine.

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Or for rulers to take strong

drink lest they drink and forget

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what has been decreed and pervert

the rights of all the afflicted.

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And so Lemu Will's mother, whoever

she is, and whoever he is, is

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saying it's, it's noble to be

sober minded so that you can act on

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behalf of the people that you serve.

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And all of us have people that are.

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Our servants are rather people that

we serve, and so he's saying, she's

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saying, look, it's not good for you.

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It's not noble.

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We don't want you to forget the words,

the rules, and we don't want you to to

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pervert the rights of the afflicted.

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We don't want your judgment

hindered by your drinking.

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She says in verse six, give strong

drink to the one who is perishing.

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And wine to those in bitter distress.

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Let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

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So is there a place for strong drink?

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Well, she's saying yes,

at least in two instances.

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One of those instances being

someone who's on the verge of death.

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It's a mercy to give someone

strong drink on the verge of death.

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You might've seen this in some of

the war movies where they give the

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guy the hard liquor as he's preparing

to leave his body and see the Lord.

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She also mentions another time when

those who are in bitter distress.

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Now it seems like this is, this is a

dangerous verse for us because there's

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lots of people that are using SSRIs and

things like that to dull their senses

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or to change their brain chemistry.

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Um, may maybe this provides support.

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I think you might be asking it to do

too much though, to make that case.

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In any event, what scriptures teaches

is that the ordinary way for a

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man, the ordinary expectation for

a man to lead is sober mindedness.

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A man who is not known for drunkenness,

a man who is not known for being

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controlled by an external substance.

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One last verse, Ephesians chapter five.

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Let's turn back to the New Testament here.

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Ephesians chapter five.

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Ephesians chapter five,

also written by Paul.

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But in this case, he, he wants to tell

you why drunkenness is not the right,

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the right reason, or drunkenness is

not the right, the right approach.

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Uh, Ephesians five, starting at verse 18.

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Ephesians five 18.

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He says, don't get drunk.

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Do not be drunk with wine,

or that's debauchery.

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So he's qualifying the sin

now, and he's saying that it's

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more than just drunkenness.

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You're allowing yourself to be debauched.

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That's what it inevitably leads

to, at least is his point.

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But instead of being drunk with

wine, be filled with the spirit.

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In other words, be under the influence,

not of alcohol, but under the spirit.

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If you're under the influence

of the spirit, here's what

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you can expect to have happen.

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Verse 19, you'll address one another in

Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

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You'll sing and make melody

to the Lord with your heart.

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You'll give thanks always.

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For everything to God the Father,

in the name of our Lord Jesus

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Christ, you'll submit to one

another out of reverence for Christ.

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There are a, a whole host of evidences

that you are under the controlling

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influence of the spirit and not under

the controlling influence of wine.

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That's what sober mindedness looks like.

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That's what Paul's expectation is.

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And so when he says here that the man

of God turned back to first Timothy

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chapter three, that the man of God

must not be a drunkard, he's saying

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the reason why is because he's so

controlled by the power of the Spirit.

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His whole life is

influenced by the spirit.

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Not by some external substance.

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He's looking for a sharp

minded, sober-minded man.

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Point number one.

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Let's try it like this.

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Don't allow your mind to

be dulled and controlled.

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I think that's a good takeaway.

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Don't allow your mind to

be dulled and controlled.

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We don't want our mind to be

influenced by something external to us,

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especially when it dulls our senses.

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And I know that also brings up a lot

of questions about other kinds of

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things that enhance our thinking.

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Change our thinking.

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We think about coffee.

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Perhaps coffee.

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Is coffee allowed for a Christian?

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Because it can also have an

influence upon our thinking.

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It can sharpen us in many respects.

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But can that be abuse?

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Of course it can.

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There's a lot of questions

that opens the door to that.

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I don't have time to to go through,

but let's just deal with the,

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the dulling effect of alcohol.

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You might know that the pastors, at

least at this church, are teetotalers.

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We don't drink as a matter of

practice and a matter of policy.

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At least that's the policy for now.

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We inherited this from our old church

that sent us here, and part of the

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reason why is that we don't want to

cause a weaker brother to be offended.

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We don't want to cause the

weaker brother to stumble.

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And so we recognize that there are people

that struggle with alcoholism that are

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gonna have difficulties if they see their

pastor cracking open a cold one, even

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if he's perfectly permitted to do so.

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According to scripture, we don't do that.

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And part of the reason why,

again, is not only because of the

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weaker brother, but because so

many of you guys have different.

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Ideas and, uh, uh, and convictions about

alcohol do in large part to the way that

400

you've seen it either used or abused.

401

I remember the first time I, one of the

first times I visited Kristen's family,

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Kristen, my wife, uh, I got to know them.

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They seemed like lovely people,

and I just thought so well of them.

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I'd, I'd, I'd never seen a, a fairly, a

fairly well functioning family like hers.

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And so I, I was getting to know them

and we were having a great time.

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I think he was at Christmas

party, if I'm not mistaken.

407

And then I go to the kitchen

and people start cracking open

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bottles of wine, and I'm looking

at them like, what are you doing?

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I, in my heart, I, I judge

them quickly and severely.

410

I'm like, oh, these guys are just winos.

411

These guys addicted to wine.

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It took me years to get to this place,

but I've come to realize that so

413

much of what shaped my thinking about

alcohol was my own experience about it.

414

Um, and my family drinking alcohol

in moderation was basically a

415

non, a non-existent practice.

416

If there was gonna be anything opened

up, it was gonna be used to excess, there

417

was gonna be laughter and slurring and

dancing and just all sorts of things.

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And I even knew as a young man

that that wasn't what I wanted

419

and neither was that good.

420

I felt it.

421

So when I saw her family cracking open

bottles of wine, I felt immediately

422

threatened by that and I thought,

I want nothing to do with this.

423

I'm ready to go.

424

Is it time to leave?

425

Yet?

426

Over the course of time, I've matured

in my understanding of this, and I

427

recognize that there is a place for this.

428

There is a place, um, I still

would encourage you to carefully

429

consider when that time and place is.

430

Again, God wants your mind clear.

431

He wants it focused.

432

He wants it sober.

433

That's what Paul says here in

the beginning of chapter three,

434

sober mindedness, self-controlled

alcohol can threaten that.

435

But in any case, I think it's important

for you to understand that we shouldn't

436

let any substance exert a dominating

or doling influence in your life.

437

I would include really any

food or substance whatsoever.

438

Uh, food itself can also be a substance

that's engineered to be highly palatable,

439

to overcome your feelings of satiety

and to steal your, your energy.

440

It's, that's, that's part of the job.

441

There are food engineers who are pre,

who are precisely designing it to

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be so palatable that you can't stop.

443

Part of the job, a Christian man must

have control, a controlling influence in

444

his life that is greater than the food

itself or alcohol or even medications.

445

There was a period in my life where I was,

I was wrestling with the use of NyQuil.

446

Like, is this a good thing for me?

447

I'm, I'm on call if I,

if someone calls me.

448

In the middle of the night,

I need to be able to answer.

449

And if I need to drive to the hospital,

is this a good, should I do, I'm not.

450

Should I take NyQuil?

451

Um, I do, I think I, I do take NyQuil

when I need it, not all the time, but I

452

think there's, those are kind of chemical

dependencies that we often don and think

453

about when it says, don't be drunk.

454

That maybe we should, we should at least

consider whether you're able to do that

455

and still possess a controlling influence

over your body to have mastery over it.

456

All that said, all that qualification

set, here's, here's the balance, I hope.

457

Do enjoy the gifts of God, man.

458

Do enjoy the gifts of God.

459

Do it responsibly and

appropriately, but do enjoy it.

460

If you wanna crack open a bag of

Doritos, let no man call you out on that.

461

If you wanna enjoy some delicious

Starbucks coffee or whatever it is,

462

that is your pleasure, enjoy that.

463

God has given us all good

things for to, for us to enjoy.

464

If you love gluten, throw

that gluten in your chocolate

465

cake and eat that cake, man.

466

Enjoy the good gifts of God

with, I mean, I'm telling you.

467

Be sober minded and self controlled.

468

Almost anything can steal that from you.

469

It just means you have to take

responsibility over your life and

470

your leadership to say, is this

substance, is this thing that I'm

471

enjoying helping me love God better?

472

Or is it stealing my affection away?

473

Is it exerting a controlling

influence in a negative fashion?

474

So whether you're drinking alcohol

or not, or you just have a, you know,

475

you have a love for painkillers, God

has things to say about those things.

476

Do enjoy the gifts of God

responsibly and appropriately.

477

James one 17.

478

Every good gift and every

perfect gift is from above.

479

We ought to receive it that way.

480

So the first thing that you must

not be, if you're gonna be a

481

Godly leader is not be a drunkard.

482

You should not be, uh, controlled or

compelled by a substance, um, really any

483

substance, but especially you should be

controlled and compelled by the spirit.

484

You should be filled with the spirit, not

with a, an intoxicating, uh, substance.

485

Besides that.

486

Second part of one Timothy

chapter three, verse three.

487

He must not be a drunkard.

488

And here's another.

489

We're gonna pair these together, not

violent, but gentle and not quarrelsome.

490

Let's put those two things together.

491

So circle them in your mind.

492

Not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome.

493

Let's start with the word violent.

494

The word violent means a striker.

495

Someone who is physically willing

to get into a tussle with you.

496

They're, they're gonna use

their size or their strength

497

to assert dominance over you.

498

I don't know.

499

A lot of people like this, praise

God, but I know they're out there.

500

Every time I drive on a Texas

road, I'm always thinking about

501

the guys who are carrying a weapon.

502

I'm like, I'm good.

503

You cut me off.

504

Have fun your way first, your world.

505

I just live in it.

506

I don't wanna pick a fight.

507

I don't carry a gun.

508

I don't wanna come into, come

into contact with the guy who

509

automatically resorts to violence.

510

And of course, scripture is

saying, if you're gonna lead as

511

a Godly man, you can't be quick

to assert physical dominance.

512

You can't be the kind of guy who's

saying, well, you wanna talk about this?

513

Go talk outside.

514

And you start squaring up with somebody

that's not the godly man that God wants.

515

In fact, to the opposite, he says, this

is one of the times he offers a contrast.

516

He must not be violent but gentle.

517

He must not be violent but gentle.

518

The idea here, gentleness, um,

this is a person who is forbearing.

519

This is a person who is not quick to draw

negative assumptions about other people.

520

In fact, if, if you're in Timothy,

turn over to Titus, I think this

521

is a really helpful explanation

of what he means by this.

522

That, that Tim, Tim, T five Ts,

that, that Tim, Tim t So Titus

523

is at the end Titus chapter.

524

Let's look at chapter three.

525

Looking at verses one and two,

uh, Paul is writing to Titus

526

his other protege in the faith.

527

And here's he's telling them how

to have people in the congregation

528

act how, how they should respond.

529

And here's what he says in

chapter three verse one.

530

Remind them Titus chapter three verse one.

531

Remind them to be submissive

to rulers and authorities to be

532

obedient, to be ready for every

good work, to speak evil of no one.

533

To avoid quarreling.

534

Being contentious here to be gentle,

there's those two words that we were just

535

looking at to, to avoid quarreling, to

be gentle, and he, he elaborates and to

536

show perfect courtesy toward all people.

537

You see how these words

nicely fit together.

538

Paul tells Timothy Titus, here's

what a godly leader looks like.

539

And by the way, the body looks the same.

540

A gentle man is someone who is courteous.

541

Again, respectable.

542

He doesn't pick a fight even though

he could likely demolish his opponent.

543

He's trying to create context where,

where he can love them and help them.

544

In fact, BD, uh, b Bauer, Danker.

545

I forget the names of these guys.

546

B, D is A.

547

Thank you.

548

R and G, Richard.

549

There there.

550

There you go.

551

B dag.

552

That's how I know it.

553

B deck.

554

Um, it's a, it's a lexicon

for Greek words here.

555

Here's how, here's how they,

here's how they summarize the word.

556

I think this is helpful.

557

The word for gentle is the quality of

making allowances despite facts that might

558

suggest a reason for a different reaction.

559

Other words, clemency, gentleness,

graciousness, courtesy,

560

indulgence, and tolerance.

561

Tolerance.

562

A man who is gentle is a man

who is even handed measured.

563

He's not quick to react.

564

He's the kind of man who is able to

respond kindly to someone who even

565

may cause instigation, who's trying to

create some kind of response from you.

566

A gentle man doesn't need to do that.

567

He's self-controlled, he's in

perfect control, not perfect.

568

He's in great control over his vessel, and

so he is able to respond and not react.

569

That's the idea for gentleness here.

570

Now, if you take that word, you

might be quick to say, okay, maybe

571

this is a milk toast man who's

just easy to get rolled over.

572

He's the kind of guy who's not willing

to, you know, stick his chest out

573

every now and then and say what's

true and stand for the, for the good

574

and the right and the beautiful.

575

No, Paul would say this is in, in.

576

This is in addition to the fact

that he must reprove, rebuke

577

and exhort with all authority.

578

That's what he says in

Second Timothy four.

579

This is the same guy who must

fight the good fight of faith.

580

A gentle man is not a weak man.

581

A gentleman is a man who's in control

over his emotions and his feelings.

582

He's not gonna be violently reactive.

583

He's the kind of guy who's setting

the example for the church speaking

584

evil of no one avoiding quarreling.

585

Gentle, showing perfect

courtesy toward all people.

586

This is the standard that

scripture is calling us to turn

587

back to one Timothy chapter three.

588

This is what is included in the

idea that a man must be gentle.

589

False teachers, on the other

hand, were not gentle, but

590

they were in fact quarrelsome.

591

This is one of the things that

Paul is speaking against back

592

in one Timothy chapter three.

593

He says that you're to, to

not be violent but gentle.

594

Okay, one Timothy three.

595

Move over to one Timothy chapter six.

596

One Timothy chapter six,

starting at verse three.

597

He says, if anyone teaches a different

doctrine and does not agree with the

598

sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the teaching that accords with

599

godliness, that is someone who's

going and they're teaching something

600

heretical or something, uh, heterodox.

601

Uh, they're going off in their owns Paul's

dealing with false teachers and he is

602

trying to help Timothy deal with them.

603

He says, if you have someone like this.

604

They're teaching different doctrine,

uh, and they don't agree with the

605

sound words, the doctrinal, healthy

orthodox words that I've given you.

606

Then verse four, that man is puffed up

with conceit and understands nothing.

607

He thinks he's a good teacher.

608

He thinks he's bringing in the word.

609

He actually understands nothing.

610

Paul says he's full of,

he's full of nothing.

611

He's full of, uh, puffed up with

conceit and understands nothing.

612

He has an unhealthy craving for

controversy and quarrels about words.

613

Which produce, and here's Paul's concern.

614

The reason that he doesn't want

this tolerated in the local church

615

is because those, uh, those words

produce envy, dissension, slander,

616

evil suspicions, and constant friction

among people who are depraved in

617

mind and deprived of the truth.

618

Imagining that godliness

is a means of gain.

619

And so Paul's desire here is that

we not be a group of quarrelsome

620

people because quarrelsome

inevitably leads to dissensions.

621

Inevitably leads to divisions and

evil suspicions about one another.

622

Okay.

623

Practically speaking then, overseers,

godly leaders are not polemical.

624

They're not argumentative.

625

They're not the kind of men who are

ignatious, they're not fighters, they're

626

not the, and when you think of a pastor

or a leader, you should not think of

627

someone who's constantly going to war

with people because he likes that.

628

There are certain kinds of

personalities that really do enjoy this.

629

They enjoy the fight.

630

They enjoy picking fights with people

and starting up issues and saying,

631

well, have you thought about this?

632

And, oh, this person says that over there.

633

And, oh, do you know that that Greek word

though, that Greek word really means,

634

you know, and the Hebrew in this really,

I mean, if you, if you study like I

635

have, there's really, uh, I mean, yeah,

you might know that, but here, here's

636

really the issue and looking for a fight.

637

Godly men are not looking for a fight.

638

They are looking for truth.

639

They're looking for unity.

640

They're not willing to sacrifice

truth at the expense of unity,

641

but they're looking for unity.

642

Point number two, don't allow yourself to

cause unnecessary offense or controversy.

643

Simple.

644

Don't allow yourself to cause

unnecessary offense or controversy.

645

I think that summarizes the idea

of not being quarrelsome and,

646

and being gentle, not violent.

647

When God saved me, um, I was saved

in the charismatic church and

648

I, and I was grateful for that.

649

I loved it.

650

I learned a lot.

651

Um, but when I came across this guy

in John MacArthur, I started listening

652

to a lot of his teaching and saying, I

think I'm wrong about a lot of things.

653

I soon left that church.

654

And found myself in a conservative

Baptist church in the heart of Bellflower.

655

It was some of the best

years of my ministry life.

656

I learned so much.

657

But here's what happened that

I, I don't appreciate as much.

658

Uh, one of the things that took hold

in my heart is what I now understand

659

to be called Cage stage Calvinism.

660

I grew and my understanding

of God's sovereignty.

661

And consequently, I was passionate to

let everybody know, especially my old

662

church, how wrong they were to think.

663

That they had any free will to choose.

664

God, you're their brave sinner.

665

How dare you tell God that

you, you could choose him.

666

You're dead in your trespass.

667

I was throwing Ephesians

two so hard at people.

668

I think I bruised a few.

669

Needless to say, I aggravated a

few friendships from that church

670

and in my heart I was thinking,

and I'm fighting for the truth.

671

I'm letting people know what they

must know, and I was going to

672

resolve the tension between God's

sovereignty and man's responsibility

673

by telling people God is sovereign.

674

Who cares about your freedom

of will you submit to God?

675

That's all you need,

just you filthy sinner.

676

Thankfully, God has grown me quite a bit

since then and I had a lot of friends

677

who graciously pushed back on me and

they tolerated my very inappropriate,

678

ungodly rude polemical behavior.

679

In fact, I have some friends

who, some really good friends

680

from the, from that church.

681

Who we still hang out or used to

hang out before I left to, to, to

682

Texas, but they were gracious to me.

683

One of the things that should not

characterize us as men is that fighting

684

spirit, fighting out of necessity, but not

fighting because it's entertainment to us.

685

Um, I could easily throw someone under

the bus that recently got thrown under the

686

bus because he created personas that were

all about creating division and fighting

687

and creating a polemic against certain

people that were called his friends.

688

What do you know about that?

689

A godly man is not afraid to

fight, just doesn't want to.

690

As a matter of practice,

godly man is gentle.

691

He's also a guy that's considered, uh,

a guy that's considered not quarrelsome.

692

He's, he's not characterized

by a cage stage.

693

Calvinism, Martin Luther once

noted, softness and hardness are

694

the two main faults from which

all mistakes of pastors come.

695

Leaders in particular.

696

Anyone, you could be too soft or too hard.

697

Uh, during my ministry at Compass,

there was one particular season where

698

I was really, really struggling.

699

I really wrestled with being able

to do my job well, and, and God

700

drew me to this place of humbling

me so greatly that I learned.

701

I can't be thick skinned and close

my heart off to people, but I, I

702

can't be so tender hearted that I

bleed every time I'm criticized.

703

And so he taught me I need to be both

tender hearted and thick skinned.

704

I think that's the right place for the

Christian leader to be the, the right

705

place for the, the Christian husband, the

Christian father, the Christian leader.

706

He must be tenderhearted

and thick skinned.

707

If you can have both of those things

that allows you not to cause unnecessary

708

offense and controversy, it allows you

to engage hard conversations in a way

709

that shows compassion and tenderness

and while still sticking to your guns of

710

conviction, which you still should do.

711

So I, I think you should

carefully consider what warrants

712

a fight and what doesn't.

713

Some of the things that we

would easily fight about are,

714

for instance, female pastors.

715

Um, I recently saw a church's website

that is nearby to us looking at their

716

website, seeing what they teach, and I

realized, oh, there's Pastor Sally and

717

there's Pastor Ken, and, and on and on.

718

And I thought, man, I don't, I

don't agree with that anymore.

719

I used to, but I don't

agree with that anymore.

720

Uh, does that need to divide us?

721

I don't think so.

722

I don't think so.

723

Um, do the charismatic gifts

need to divide us as Christians?

724

I don't think so.

725

Um, does, does whether or not

someone preaches or understands

726

arminianism versus a a Calvinistic

approach, does that need to divide us?

727

I don't think so.

728

Now, when I say that I, I, what I,

what I mean is not whether we're

729

gonna be in different churches.

730

We will be, make no mistake about

it, but whether we need to say,

731

you're not even a Christian.

732

If you believe in female pastors,

if you believe in the charismatic

733

gifts, you're not even a Christian.

734

I can't believe how you could

even come to that understanding.

735

Your job is to be so theologically shaped

by scripture, by the word of God, to have

736

so much of it in your head and heart that

you're able to make careful distinctions.

737

Albert Mohler calls this idea theological

triage, that is being able to rank

738

different doctrinal positions to say,

how much weight do I give this thing?

739

Is it a first tier issue, a second

tier issue, a third tier issue?

740

First tier issues are those

issues that are gonna say we're

741

not even in the same fate.

742

You may call him Jesus, but you don't

believe in the same Jesus of the Bible.

743

Easy targets here would be that

of the Mormons or the Jehovah's

744

Witnesses, even the Muslims.

745

They believe in a Jesus, but he is

not the Jesus of the scriptures.

746

And so we would say we are at

a first tier misunderstanding.

747

We can't even call ourselves brothers

or sisters here, but they're second

748

tier issues where they're very

important and they, they, they have

749

influence over primary doctrines,

but they're not the same thing.

750

I would put female

pastors in that category.

751

Problem with this area of conversation

is that there's not a definitive list.

752

Um, first tier is gospel.

753

We know that much first tier is

salvation, but when it comes to second

754

and third tier areas, there's not a

definitive, exhaustive list that says,

755

well, what about this particular issue?

756

Is this a matter of first

tier, second or third tier?

757

It's up to us and to your pastors.

758

More importantly, to make those

decisions carefully After a careful

759

and close study of scripture.

760

I need you to practice theological

triage, and I, I think one, one

761

author puts it this way, helpfully.

762

We must distinguish between what must

be affirmed and what must not be denied.

763

We must distinguish between what must

be affirmed and what must not be denied.

764

There is a difference there.

765

What do we expect a, a new

Christian to affirm a full throated

766

understanding of the trinity?

767

Probably not.

768

In fact, I'd, I'd venture to guess that

most Christians are heretics in this area.

769

Unknowingly unwillingly, and so we have

to distinguish between what must be

770

affirmed and what must not be denied.

771

We would say that it is right to not deny

a triune understanding of the Godhead,

772

but whether we expect every Christian

to be able to articulate an orthodox

773

understanding of the Trinity, that's

asking a lot more than what I think

774

we'd, we'd all say is is right and good.

775

So if we're not gonna cause unnecessary

offense or controversy, we just have to

776

be even-handed tempered and measured men

who know our Bibles really well and can

777

engage people respectfully and gently.

778

Paul says to Timothy later on in his

second epistle, the Lord servant must

779

not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone.

780

Can people call you when

they think about you?

781

Do they think of the word?

782

Not quarrelsome, but kind.

783

This is how Paul says we

ought to be described.

784

He's kind to everyone.

785

To all people.

786

He's able to teach.

787

Patiently enduring evil.

788

When people say that about you,

you're kind and you're, you

789

patiently endure evil again.

790

This is what Paul says, verse 25, in

two Timothy chapter two verses 24 25, he

791

corrects his opponents with gentleness.

792

Here are words, make a recurrence.

793

He corrects.

794

That is he speaks in people's lives.

795

He's not afraid to say that's

wrong, and let me, let me give

796

you some reasons why that is.

797

He's doing it though with a

certain tenor and a temperament.

798

He's gentle.

799

Paul then concludes that thought.

800

He says, God may perhaps grant

them repentance, leading to

801

a knowledge of the truth.

802

Why?

803

Well, because the approach of the Lord's

servant is gentle and not quarrelsome.

804

He's kind.

805

You must not be a ignatious person.

806

Jesus says in his sermon on the Mount,

he says, blessed are the peacemakers.

807

They will be called sons of God.

808

The normal disposition of a

godly man who knows his Bible

809

and loves his people peacemaking.

810

He's not a controversial man,

at least not without cause.

811

He's not usually ordinarily that way.

812

He engages because he must, as a matter

of prudence and wisdom and godliness,

813

not because he's looking for a fight,

not because he can't control himself,

814

but because he's discerned and decided

I have to engage his fight for the

815

good of my church, for the good of my

body, for the good of my my family.

816

Last, let's look at

the last negation here.

817

First Timothy chapter three.

818

He is not a drunker.

819

He is not violent, but gentle.

820

He's not quarrelsome.

821

And lastly, he's not a lover of money.

822

Point number three, don't allow money

to, to make your decisions for you.

823

Don't allow money to make

your decisions for you.

824

Not being a lover of money means

that you're not controlled by it.

825

Money doesn't make your decisions.

826

Money doesn't tell you what must be done.

827

Money's not gonna, they're not

gonna make you decide what's most

828

profitable for my bank account.

829

Money cannot make decisions for you.

830

By the way, let's just take a brief moment

to recognize here, when Paul gives Timothy

831

this list, he doesn't expect you, the

congregation or Timothy, the pastor to

832

say, can I see into my pastor's heart?

833

That is, you can't look at

Pastor PGE or myself and say,

834

does, does, do they love money?

835

Well, I don't know.

836

I don't, I can't see their heart.

837

Paul doesn't expect Timothy

or the congregation to see

838

the heart of the pastor.

839

He's expecting that the life of the

man will be on display to the degree

840

that you can make a decision about

that man and say, yeah, he's not

841

a lover of money, not a drunkard.

842

He's not.

843

He's a man of care.

844

He's sober minded.

845

He's a, he's faithful.

846

He's the husband of one wife.

847

He's self-control.

848

He's respectable, hospitable.

849

Paul is expecting that all these qualities

are self-evident in the life of the man.

850

So we're not talking here about

saying, well, do I know his heart?

851

Don't have to just have to see him.

852

Paul doesn't expect you to know his heart.

853

So what would you look for then

in a, in a man who doesn't love

854

money, what would you look for?

855

And the obvious answer is generosity.

856

It doesn't mean he's squandering

wealth or he is just simply

857

throwing it out the window and,

and letting his money go freely.

858

He's not frivolous, you understand?

859

But he is generous.

860

A man who is not a lover of money

is a man who is not beholden to

861

the tyranny of money's demands.

862

Money is such a fascinating concept.

863

We used to trade things.

864

Here's, you know, gimme three oxes

for this donkey, or you know, I'll

865

trade you this grain for this thing.

866

We live in such an interesting

timeframe and now we're no longer

867

even using paper and coins.

868

We're now exchanging bits and bites.

869

Fascinating.

870

Um, no longer tied to the gold standard.

871

So what is our money?

872

It's our money by fiat.

873

It's valuable 'cause we say it's valuable.

874

Fascinating concept, but God knows that

the tendency is that money can exert

875

a controlling influence on our lives.

876

And for the man of God who is a

leader, he can't allow that to happen.

877

So the first issue, I got three

texts for you under this text.

878

Please bear with me, but make

your, make your way along with me.

879

Let's start with Hebrews chapter 13.

880

Hebrews chapter 13.

881

The first issue with money

is a matter of trust.

882

And because you have a large bank account,

you are quickly enticed to trust the

883

money and not the Lord of the money.

884

Hebrews chapter 13.

885

Hebrews chapter 13 in concluding

remarks in this sermon letter.

886

The, the preacher says, Hebrews

chapter 13 verse five, keep your

887

life free from love of money.

888

That, that, that encourages, I

mean, that suggests then that you

889

have a responsibility to do this.

890

Keep it that way.

891

Don't start loving it.

892

Don't allow yourself to love it.

893

You can have very little of

it and love it quite a bit.

894

Keep your life free from the

love of money, the corollary.

895

Be content.

896

Be content with what you got.

897

Keep your life free from the, the love of

money and be content if you, if you have

898

something in the bank account, be content.

899

He says, for he has said,

here's the reason why.

900

Here's why you don't need to love money.

901

Here's why.

902

You don't need to amass

copious amounts of it.

903

For Jesus has said, I will

never leave you nor forsake you.

904

Your security is not your 401k.

905

Your retirement account can

quickly diminish and even vanish.

906

Scripture says your money can grow

wings and fly away, and so it's a

907

foolish place to put your trust.

908

You should, you should save.

909

You should save for a rainy day.

910

But scripture says, the better trust is,

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

911

Verse six, so we can confidently

say, the Lord is my helper.

912

I will not fear what can man do to me?

913

I can lose every penny, and I

know God's gonna take care of me.

914

And here's the beautiful thing.

915

It's likely gonna happen through the body

of Christ that God will take care of you.

916

It's gonna be through the body.

917

If I went bankrupt today,

I lost every penny I had.

918

I believe in my heart of hearts,

you will not let me suffer.

919

I will have a place to live.

920

If I lost both of my vehicles and

I lost the ability to drive those

921

cars, you would take care of me.

922

I'm confident you guys will start

sending me Uber cash, or you would

923

offer to let me have your car.

924

You would do everything he could

to help me live my life so I

925

don't suffer unnecessarily.

926

I think that's what God intends.

927

He doesn't want us to trust money.

928

He wants us to trust him, and often

that's gonna be provided through the body.

929

Second, second passage here, Matthew 6 24.

930

Matthew chapter six.

931

So the first issue is a matter of trust.

932

Will you trust the money

or will you trust the Lord?

933

The second issue is a

matter of allegiance.

934

Jesus says in Matthew chapter six, verse

24, this is the Sermon on the Mount.

935

He says, no one can serve two masters

for either he will hate the one and

936

love the other, or he will be devoted

to the one and despise the other.

937

You cannot serve God and money.

938

You can't have two masters.

939

You can't have two allegiances.

940

The problem with money is

that it demands attention.

941

It demands your awareness, and this

is part of living in a fallen world.

942

We have to have money to pay the bills,

to buy groceries, to put gas on the car,

943

to rent space for the church to meet in.

944

We have to pay attention to it.

945

We can't ignore it, but we can't let it

become our master, which again means you

946

can't let money make decisions for you.

947

It has to be part of the

calculus out of necessity.

948

I understand that.

949

You have to think about how much your

insurance is and what, what you're

950

gonna spend on this and that, but

you can't let it become the master.

951

Jesus says, you have to let me be your

master, which means practically speaking,

952

Jesus has to control the way that you

spend your money, which first of all

953

means as Jesus says, you give, you give.

954

And scripture is replete with

admonitions for us to be givers.

955

To be the kind of men who give

who, who give willingly, joyfully.

956

Second Corinthians eight says,

we're not the kind of people

957

who are begrudgingly giving.

958

We're giving because Christ invites

us to do that, and it demonstrates our

959

love for him over our love for money.

960

That includes the way that we think

about tithing, which tithing, by the

961

way, not a New Testament concept.

962

Tithing is not a command for

the New Testament Christian.

963

It was tithing was an Old Testament

concept that we've imported into

964

the New Testament that gives us

a really helpful rule of thumb.

965

Can't allow money to master us.

966

We have to master it.

967

One last passage back to one

Timothy, but now I want you to

968

go to one Timothy chapter six.

969

The issue is a matter of trust.

970

It's a matter of allegiance.

971

And the last one here,

this is an interesting one.

972

It's a matter of preservation.

973

Take a look at what I mean by that.

974

Verses six through 10, that's

what we're gonna look at.

975

One Timothy six, starting at verse six.

976

He says this, but

godliness with contentment.

977

Here's that word again.

978

Contentment is great game.

979

If you have a place to live,

if you have food to eat.

980

In fact, here's what he says For we

brought nothing into the world and

981

we can't take anything out of it.

982

It was asked about John d Rockefeller when

he died, how much did he leave behind?

983

And what was the answer?

984

He left everything behind.

985

It's the old canard about you don't

see a hearse pulling a U-Haul.

986

Yeah, but that's true.

987

You can't take anything with you.

988

The only things that are gonna be

in your coffin, maybe a few mementos

989

that your family thinks necessary, but

you're gonna be wearing a nice suit.

990

There's gonna be pain on your face.

991

To make you look a little nicer,

and then they're gonna shove

992

you to the ground and that's it.

993

Everything that you've labored for

in this life is gonna be left behind

994

except for what you send ahead.

995

So he says, we brought

nothing into the world.

996

We can't take anything out of it.

997

But look at this list.

998

If we have food and clothing

with these, we'll be content.

999

If I, Paul, I would've added at

least five things more there.

00:43:30,595 --> 00:43:32,935

I need wifi, I need air conditioning.

00:43:33,935 --> 00:43:36,275

I need, I, I need a car,

or at least a camel.

00:43:36,275 --> 00:43:38,165

Paul, let me have a camel something.

00:43:39,165 --> 00:43:43,935

But under divine guidance, the spirit says

What you really need is food and clothes.

00:43:44,775 --> 00:43:45,435

That's it.

00:43:46,005 --> 00:43:46,575

That's it.

00:43:47,475 --> 00:43:50,115

Brothers, I just need to point

our attention to the obvious.

00:43:51,115 --> 00:43:56,815

By scriptural definition, we are

all wildly wealthy, just wildly

00:43:56,815 --> 00:44:01,805

wealthy, and we need to feel that

because there's added responsibility.

00:44:02,180 --> 00:44:03,050

Because of our wealth.

00:44:03,470 --> 00:44:06,320

When Paul says, look, he must not

be greedy or a lover of money,

00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:08,120

he's telling, he's talking to us.

00:44:08,510 --> 00:44:09,740

'cause we are most susceptible.

00:44:09,740 --> 00:44:13,400

Even though again, you can have very

little and still be a lover of money,

00:44:13,580 --> 00:44:17,240

it's more likely that those who have a lot

have a lot harder time parting with it.

00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:20,690

When God puts things in our hands, he

expects us to remain open-handed about it.

00:44:20,870 --> 00:44:23,000

He gives, he takes away, right?

00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:24,050

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

00:44:24,050 --> 00:44:24,680

Job chapter one.

00:44:25,580 --> 00:44:28,550

But a lot of us, when God puts

things into our hands, we say mine.

00:44:28,850 --> 00:44:29,990

Thank you mine.

00:44:29,990 --> 00:44:31,130

Now my car.

00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:36,660

My house, my living room, my

nice sofa that betrays the kind

00:44:36,660 --> 00:44:38,040

of spirit God wants for us.

00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:39,820

It's never mine.

00:44:39,820 --> 00:44:42,070

We're stewards and so

therefore, it's always yours.

00:44:42,070 --> 00:44:44,680

Lord, do you wanna move

my car to somebody else?

00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:46,150

Okay, your car?

00:44:46,720 --> 00:44:49,450

Do you wanna move my bank account

to giving to somebody else?

00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:50,050

So be it.

00:44:50,470 --> 00:44:52,240

Do you want me to support

your work over here?

00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:52,870

So be it.

00:44:53,870 --> 00:44:56,450

Do you wanna use my living

room to have people meet for a

00:44:56,450 --> 00:44:57,470

Bible study or a small group?

00:44:57,470 --> 00:44:58,100

So be it.

00:44:58,370 --> 00:44:59,600

That's not mine, it's yours.

00:45:00,500 --> 00:45:03,140

Now, of course, you have to do the

discerning work there, but notice

00:45:03,140 --> 00:45:04,490

Paul says here, here are the basics.

00:45:04,490 --> 00:45:05,990

Anything beyond that, man, you're rich.

00:45:06,980 --> 00:45:08,990

If we have food and clothing,

these will be content, verse nine.

00:45:09,230 --> 00:45:12,440

But those who desire to be rich,

those who long for that, they fall

00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:17,030

into temptation, into a snare, into

many senseless and harmful desires.

00:45:17,030 --> 00:45:21,050

That plunge, they throw people

into ruin and destruction.

00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,920

For the love of money is a

root of all kinds of evils.

00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:28,160

It is through this craving that some

have wandered away from the faith and

00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:33,260

pierced themselves with many Ps that the

warning could not be more stark and dire.

00:45:33,650 --> 00:45:36,230

He's saying, look, you cannot

allow yourself to love money.

00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:39,080

You can't let money make

decisions for you because it's

00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:40,400

a matter of your preservation.

00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:42,860

It's a matter of your

persevering in your faith.

00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:46,940

If money takes hold of your heart, it

can lead you into ruin and destruction.

00:45:46,940 --> 00:45:48,200

These are not soft words.

00:45:48,380 --> 00:45:49,280

These are not light words.

00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:51,080

These are the kind of words

that Paul uses for his.

00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:53,690

Harshest and strongest admonitions.

00:45:54,560 --> 00:45:56,630

Don't let money make decisions for you.

00:45:57,630 --> 00:46:01,510

You've heard pastor PJ say, uh, a

couple weeks ago, I think it was a

00:46:01,510 --> 00:46:05,560

couple weeks ago, to I think quoting

Randy Alcorn, that when we get money,

00:46:05,590 --> 00:46:07,960

we ought to think about, not how we

can raise our standard of living,

00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:09,010

but raise our standard of giving.

00:46:09,370 --> 00:46:10,450

And that really is the point.

00:46:10,660 --> 00:46:12,820

An open-handed man is gonna be evident.

00:46:13,390 --> 00:46:16,690

An open-handed man is I, I want to give to

the Lord's work, whatever that looks like.

00:46:17,455 --> 00:46:20,575

That might look like buying textbooks

for a young man going through college

00:46:20,575 --> 00:46:21,715

doesn't have the money to buy that.

00:46:22,170 --> 00:46:26,005

It might look like buying a, or, you

know, giving, if you have extra cars and

00:46:26,005 --> 00:46:28,765

you need, you know, someone who needs

a car, let me help you out with that.

00:46:28,765 --> 00:46:30,085

I've got one sitting in the driveway.

00:46:30,085 --> 00:46:30,955

I don't really use it that much.

00:46:30,955 --> 00:46:31,555

Here's a car.

00:46:32,275 --> 00:46:35,575

The body of Christ serving the body of

Christ is what God has in mind here.

00:46:35,815 --> 00:46:40,855

We're free and open because God

himself was rich and he emptied

00:46:40,855 --> 00:46:41,965

himself and made himself poor.

00:46:41,965 --> 00:46:44,485

For our sake, we can't outgive God.

00:46:44,845 --> 00:46:45,595

You never will.

00:46:46,595 --> 00:46:51,165

But I dare you to try, dare you to try

the GLY leadership then as we looked

00:46:51,165 --> 00:46:54,585

at here, is not only defined by what

it does, but by what it doesn't do.

00:46:55,035 --> 00:46:56,085

We saw four things.

00:46:56,385 --> 00:46:57,585

We said we shouldn't be allowed.

00:46:57,975 --> 00:46:59,685

We shouldn't allow our mind

to be dull or controlled.

00:47:00,165 --> 00:47:04,035

We can't let drunkenness or any kind

of inebriation steal our thinking.

00:47:04,035 --> 00:47:05,745

We need to have our minds sober.

00:47:05,895 --> 00:47:06,645

Clear, alert.

00:47:07,425 --> 00:47:08,445

To put it to work for Christ.

00:47:08,655 --> 00:47:10,905

Secondly, we said, don't allow

ourselves, don't allow yourself

00:47:10,905 --> 00:47:12,495

to cause unnecessary controversy.

00:47:12,825 --> 00:47:14,595

A godly man is not contentious.

00:47:14,595 --> 00:47:15,645

He's not a brawler.

00:47:15,645 --> 00:47:16,875

He's not looking for a fight.

00:47:17,085 --> 00:47:17,745

He's peaceable.

00:47:17,745 --> 00:47:18,345

He is gentle.

00:47:18,495 --> 00:47:20,295

He corrects his opponents with gentleness.

00:47:20,295 --> 00:47:23,805

And lastly, we said, we don't wanna

let money make our decisions for us.

00:47:23,805 --> 00:47:24,585

We don't love money.

00:47:24,585 --> 00:47:27,015

A godly leader is a kind

of person who is generous.

00:47:27,405 --> 00:47:28,005

Generous.

00:47:28,035 --> 00:47:29,265

He's open with his house.

00:47:29,265 --> 00:47:30,645

That's what we talked about, hospitality.

00:47:30,855 --> 00:47:33,315

He's open with his heart,

he's open with his pocketbook.

00:47:34,095 --> 00:47:35,175

He's not frivolous.

00:47:35,235 --> 00:47:35,805

He's generous.

00:47:36,805 --> 00:47:39,775

This is what Godly leadership looks

like, not only by way of positive,

00:47:39,775 --> 00:47:40,855

but by the way of negatives.

00:47:41,845 --> 00:47:44,665

With that said, let's wrap up our

time and start with small groups.

00:47:45,325 --> 00:47:48,625

God, we thank you for giving us clear

indications in your word of what we

00:47:48,625 --> 00:47:50,185

should be looking for in our pastors.

00:47:50,785 --> 00:47:53,815

Um, I don't expect all of us

to be at Compass North Texas

00:47:53,815 --> 00:47:54,715

for the rest of our lives.

00:47:54,805 --> 00:47:57,145

Expect that many of us will

part ways for different reasons.

00:47:57,265 --> 00:48:00,175

And so I pray that these discussions

that we've had about the kind of

00:48:00,175 --> 00:48:03,325

man that should be a pastor in our

lives is, is clear and evident.

00:48:04,240 --> 00:48:06,100

We don't wanna lower the bar

where you have heightened it.

00:48:07,100 --> 00:48:11,240

On the other hand, Lord, we want men like

that so that we can follow their example.

00:48:11,870 --> 00:48:15,440

We wanna be those kinds of men

who are not ignatious, who are

00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:19,460

not frivolous, who are not, uh,

fighters who aren't stingy or greedy.

00:48:19,460 --> 00:48:21,920

We wanna follow men who

exemplify what your word says.

00:48:22,675 --> 00:48:28,800

Lord, that bar is high and I don't want

any of us to truncate or blunt the impact.

00:48:29,295 --> 00:48:31,035

By justifying ungodly behavior.

00:48:31,035 --> 00:48:32,865

So please, Lord, in our

hearts right now, search us.

00:48:33,865 --> 00:48:36,025

And if there's any part of us

that's pushing back on this

00:48:36,025 --> 00:48:38,305

sermon, pushing back on your word.

00:48:38,335 --> 00:48:43,355

More importantly, please help us Lord, to

see ourselves as you see us, to genuinely

00:48:43,355 --> 00:48:46,625

question whether or not there is room

in our lives to grow in these areas.

00:48:46,625 --> 00:48:48,965

And of course, if we're honest with

ourselves, Lord, there's plenty of room.

00:48:49,505 --> 00:48:53,975

Help us to think carefully about these

areas and to put them into practice today.

00:48:54,245 --> 00:48:57,185

Whatever that looks like,

help us to take continued.

00:48:57,815 --> 00:49:01,595

Steps toward growth and holiness,

however small they might be this morning.

00:49:02,595 --> 00:49:05,295

To that end, Lord, we pray that you

would help us to become more like Jesus.

00:49:05,295 --> 00:49:06,165

That's what we're here for.

00:49:06,525 --> 00:49:07,515

We wanna be like Jesus.

00:49:07,515 --> 00:49:08,235

We wanna honor him.

00:49:08,235 --> 00:49:09,045

We wanna love him.

00:49:09,615 --> 00:49:12,435

Help us to grow in our longing

for His glory and His honor

00:49:13,215 --> 00:49:14,655

as evidenced in our lives.

00:49:14,955 --> 00:49:16,395

We ask all of this in Jesus' name.

00:49:16,845 --> 00:49:17,175

Amen.