Godly leadership (1 Timothy 3:1-7))

Evening 1 Timothy Series  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Announcement (JW)

Call to Worship

Hymn

Prayer of Praise and Confession

-Immortal, invisible, god only wise
-You call all the earth to praise you and to declare your glory.
-And you need not us for this declaration, for in your omnipotent power, the rocks may declare your awesome and wonderful works
-We gather as a witness to declare your immutable work in our lives
-For we know our sin
-We know that we are tempted to our idols and love our sins
-We also fail to master the virtues that you have called us to master.
-we see little gains in being above reproach in our own lives
-We are tempted towards various sins in thought word and dead.
-We have not be the spouses you have called us to be and sin against the people we love habitually.
-We fail to uphold the truth of God and are silent to declare his rule
-We love ourselves more than we love you
-We are selfish and deserving of great judgement
-But Christ came that we might live
-and in him their is not darkness at all that we might know the true light.
-Spare us of our sins

Offering

Pastoral Prayer

Civil Realm

-We pray for our government and the upcoming election in our land
-We pray for the most good to be brought about by this election.
-may you lay upon the hearts of all our leaders the solemn truth that their rule is always accountable. Not only from us, but also to you!

Salvation of Sinners

-We pray for our children that they grow in understanding.
-May our testimony here be of children that truly love you
-may our children love you in such a manner that even their children know you as the true and living God.

Mission of the Church

-we pray for our ministry centers.
-Keep them faithful in their approach that Christ might be proclaimed
-keep this church faithful in its witness to Christ
-May the gospel go forth regularly and faithfully

Sanctification

-We pray for our families of all size. that we might all grow in a knowledge of the truth in obedience.
-Give our husbands discipline in their leading and our wives the humility to follow godly leadership.
-expel all perversions of your divinely ordained order in our family structures.

Sick and needy

-we pray for Dinie Stone
-We prayer for Francesca Finch
-We pray for the effected by the pandemic.

Sermon Text Introduction

This evening we continue our series in 1 Timothy on the churches calling. Last week, we sought to navigate a difficult text for contemporary Christians. this week is a bit easier and thus less controversial. And it deals with the expectation of good spiritual leadership.

3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,

5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Here ends our New Testament Lesson and this is the Word of God.

Sermon Introduction

In a democracy, we can often see where the culture is by the men and women we elect. For there is some semblance of truth in the idea that our elected officials reflect the culture of the nation. The same is often true in the church of Christ. A spiritually healthy church often yields spiritually healthy leadership. An unhealthy church often has unqualified men placed in position of leadership or authority. These men are of course nominated by the congregation and approved by the congregation! For we do not need to look far for the effects and results of ungodly leadership. We often see this in dying denominations. Look to the PCUSA. The once great denomination with the great Princeton Theological Seminary. Is left a husk of what it used to be. Every year, this denomination loses anywhere between 60,000- 10,000 members. In the 1985, they had over 3 million members. Now, they sit around 1.3 million members. What has happened in 35 years? In the 20th century, godly leadership was abrogated. They turned from Christ to theological liberalism. And this liberalism has been a cancer ever since. This denomination is so sad, that it not only produces ungodly leadership, but it also purges godliness from their midst.
You might look at this text and believe that this is a text only for the pastor, elders, and maybe deacons, but this is a text for all of us. For a text like this has two very helpful insights for the average church goer. First, You need to know this text because, it helps you nominate godly men to elder and deacon. Second, we are called to mimic our leaders in godliness. Paul says in another epistle, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” So the words Paul has for elders are vital for the whole church of Ephesus. For these are characteristics that every believer in the Lord Jesus christ ought to strive for. For this is a guide for holiness for you and me! My hope is that your desire for a godly life, will lead to a desire to maintain godly leadership within our church.
Proposition: Desire the Godly Life.

The Godly life Requires self-Mastery (1-3)

3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

-We begin with the pursuit of office. Paul calls pastors oveerseers. Those who lead us are called to be those who offer the congregation care, charge, or even foresight.
-Those who aspire to this office. Or those who strive and desire to be elders in Christ’s church desire a noble task.
-Elders in your church should be men that actually want to be elders.
-one of the first things asked in seminary to the men preparing for ministry for determining their calling, was do you want to be a pastor.

Expectations for leadership in the Christian faith

-However, just because you want or desire something, does not mean that you are qualified.
-We just witness the Launch of SpaceX. I might desire to be an astronaut, but I am certainly not qualified to be one and honestly will never be one!
-Just because you aspire to be in the office of overseer, does not mean that you are qualified to be an overseer.
-The qualification are thus laid out i the text.
-Above Reproach: Your elders are to be men that have an irreproachable character. They must leave no doubt in regards to their Christian life. I think this is two-fold. This is about personal self-Discipline and their ability to relate/care/ and teach the flock of God. To put it simply, this is observable conduct. This is truly a summary of all that is to follow.
-husband of one wife: your elders are to be husbands of one wife. This is talking in regards to adultery. In my humble opinion, this is not in reference to the marital status of your elders. Paul was not married, and yet he was an overseer in Christ Church. Instead this is talking about sexual purity. That the men that lead the church must be devoted to their wife in marriage. This is analogous to the command “You shall not commit adultery.” This is a man faithful to his wedding vows!
-George Knight states this, “One must look back over his life from the time of his conversion to ascertain his marital and sexual fidelity in having been the husband of one wife.”
-Sober minded and self-controled, respectable, and hospitable: I don’t need to overly develop these texts attributes, but they clearly work together. This is having mastery over the self as Knight argues in his commentary. We can think of David after he flees jerusalem after Absolam usurps his authority. He receives the curses from a man on his way. The king could have had him killed by his officers, but instead he shows restraint and self-control. We are reminded of Galatians, “But the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”
Hear the Story of E. Stanley Jones, the missionary-statesman, he said, “

At the schoolhouse I was invited to stay with a man and his wife, and when I arrived I saw there was one bed. The husband said, “You take the far side.” Then he got in, and then his wife. In the morning we reversed the process. I turned my face to the wall as they dressed, and they stepped out while I dressed. That was real hospitality! I have slept in palaces, but the hospitality of that one-bed-home is the most memorable and the most appreciated.

The open home is a great trademark in christian leadership.
-Teacher: The summation of these attributes are connected in the elders ability to teach. What are your elders to teach you. Well, probably everything in regards to experiential religion. But i think the apostle specifically has these characteristics in mind. Our elders are to teach the people to live how they live as they are obedient to Christ.
-Not a drunkard: They are not to be drunks. or better understood as they must not be alcoholics. We tend to romanticize drinking in our own age, just turn on the TV. Alcoholism is rampant, but the Christian elder is to control himself with alcohol. It is wise to remember that alcohol itself is not a sin as Paul encourages timothy to have some wine in the midst of a strenous meeting. It is the alcoholism that is denied here. Christian leaders are to control themselves in this regard.
-not violent of quarrelsome: They are not to be abrasive, but gentle it talk and conduct. He is not to be a giver of blows as this word literally means. He is to be humble and careing.
-Not a lover of money: Our attitude for money is also import to a godly life. Os Guinness has a remarkable and funny quote.

If a man is drunk on wine, you’ll throw him out. But if he is drunk on money, you’ll make him a deacon.

-This is not about rich and poor, it is about priorities and idols. For the man that loves money, struggles to serve our God.
-The elder must be mastered by God and teach others to be mastered by God. You may not notice this at first, but these have at least some connection to the ten commandments. These are not some extraordinary stipulations put on elders alone. These are things that all Christians are to Grow in. The difference is that our elders must be masters in these areas. No not perfect, but strikingly mature.
-For obedience in these various areas are a picture of a godly life.

The Godly Life requires home-Mastery (4-5)

4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,

5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

-This leader is not only mature in their own lives, but they also lead their families well too.
-We talked about this a bit last week. But the men in our homes are given a unique calling before God in caring for their families.
-Men have lived with the mentality that the mother is to manage the household well. For many men in our church, this manage is sometimes is interpreted as make money or run a business.
-Husbands are not the mediators for their families, Christ alone is, but Husband nurture faith and growth in holiness. As our rules will be held accountable before a holy God for the manner by which they rules us. So husbands will be held accountable for the manner by Which they led their families.
-For if a man cannot manage his own family well, how will he have any success is managing the family of God well.
-Does this mean that everyone in his household is a believer? I do not think so, but I do think that this is tied closely to children under his charge or roof. That for the children in our homes have a special relation to us and certain obediences are required.
-But this does require submissive conduct in the home as he grow in wisdom and stature. For we seek to raise our chidlren in a manner that they represent Christ well in obedience.
-John Macarthur handed in his resignation letter at one time, because his son turned from the faith. I believe his board of elders acted rightly by denying him the resignation. For Johny Mac lead his home well!
-But we need men in this area now more than ever. We need to challenge men in this regard, for If we let men abrogate all responsibility and then nominate them for office. we will be like the PCUSA in 35 years.
Proposition: Desire the Godly Life.

The Godly Life requires social-mastery (6-7)

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

In this last section, when i say social mastery, I am referring to our relationships with insiders and outsiders. The insiders our to be weary in nominating new believers to the office of overseer. and to Outsiders they must have an impeccable reputation

The warning of a Recent Convert

This is not really in reference to age, rather spiritual maturity.
-We all remember the sad story of Joshua Harris who apostatize last summer. He was a leading figure in the New calvinism movement and wrote the book “why I kissed dating goodbye.” Well, in his early 20’s he rose to a senior pastor position in a very large church. He had no seminary education, and a lot of self-confidence. As I would have in my early 20’s. He wrote a very popular book and his fame skyrocketed him into high leadership. And he was not spiritually mature enough to navigate those waters. Many in that movement should have heeded this warning. This new coverts were given much more than they could chew, and they choked on their own vanity. We must be careful, and take inventory of those who are over us! For like harris, if we raise up new converts to high position they may become full of conceit. Or my favorite translation, full of hot hair.
I was made a deacon at the church I was reared at when I was 18 or 19. And in the Dutch Reformed church, the Elders and deacons met monthly together to deliberate on many things. I was a Christian for maybe four years, with little biblical knowledge, but I was a student at Moody Bible Institute. I can recall a couple handful of times of be full of hot air. My cage stage calvinism made me unbearable to many. Though, my deep reformed convictions remain, growth in maturity has lead me to understand that i was susceptible to arrogance and selfish!

He also must be highly regarded by outsiders.

A good reputations could be better translated as a “Beautiful witness.” We end where we begin. Being above reproach with outsiders. Kent Hughes, the great Pastor of College church in Wheaton said this,

And indeed he will if his reputation is “above reproach,” if his self-mastery is evidenced by his being “temperate, self-controlled, respectable,” if in his ministry he is “hospitable, able to teach,” if his temperance is evidenced by his “not [being] given to drunkenness,” if his temperament is “not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,” if in respect to his money he is “not a lover of money,” if his family is in order, if his maturity is established. Such a life will have a beautiful symmetry that adorns the gospel.

Our leadership is a microcosm of our church here. If we have lawless unbelievers in leadership, that is a testimony to the unbelief in our own community. And pastor Hughes concludes. If our elders exhibit these graces with this witness in their lives, then their church will surely follow. I am reminded of the example of my own pastor who sought to instill the same grace in me that God gave to him. I still long to pastorally to care for other in the way that he cared for me. I aspire to be like Pastor Andy. Charlie Wingard, and Dr. Thompson. All men that have had long faithful ministries to the Lord Jesus christ. And now we call you to seek Christ as you follow the lead of your shepherd.
That is what timothy seeks to do here in this epistle by learning under Paul. He seeks to follow his example as he follows Christ.
Proposition: Desire the Godly Life.

Conclusion

And our call to you, is to practice these graces daily and strive to be like those that God has put over you as they reflect Christ. Are our leaders perfect, by no means. But Our hope is that we can grow in holiness as we follow godly leaders. This is a great text for us this evening as our church seeks to raise up men to fill this noble role of Overseeer. To set a most holy example to our congregation. That we might all grow in the riches of his grace. For this text is for each of us as we seek to live out these Christian virtues in our every day lives! let us pray.

Hymn

Benediction

Go in his grace and in his peace
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