Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Turn with me in your Bibles to I Timothy 3.

This morning we’ll continue our study in Preparing for a Pastor, looking specifically at what the qualifications for the office of pastor are.

Last week, we began looking at the minimum qualifications in I Timothy, and we focused specifically on how the list of qualifications in I Timothy really represent more of a minimum than they do a list of qualities that make for the ideal pastor.

We also talked about how the consistent witness of Scripture shows that the office of pastor is restricted to men.

Now, it may seem a bit unnecessary to spend an entire sermon on those things, but I think in this day and age, where all things traditional are under attack and questioned—even within the church—it’s important for us to look at what the Bible teaches and unwaveringly affirm it.

FCF:

That’s going to be important again today as we look at the rest of the qualifications listed in I Timothy 3.

Even though these are the minimum standards for a pastor, that doesn’t mean they’re low standards.

In fact, the standards that the Bible sets for the moral character of a pastor are almost absurdly high.

But there’s a good reason for it, as we’ll see.

Scripture Introduction:

Prayer for Illumination

Transition:

A pastor is like a miter saw.

As a woodworker, this miter saw is one of the most often used tools in my shop.

It’s really useful for making short, precise cuts that would be very difficult to make safely on a table saw and it’s a whole lot faster (and usually more precise) than hand-sawing a board.

But that all depends upon how well it’s set up.

A while back, I decided to try to make a picture frame with 45 degree mitered corners, like this one (show example).

It looked simple enough.

Four boards, eight 45 degree cuts—easy peasy, right?

But, as I made my cuts and lined up the pieces, I discovered that there were gaps between the edges once I got them all arranged.

And, the edges seemed to have a slight angle to them in another direction so that when they were joined together, they didn’t sit flush.

“Maybe I didn’t have the saw set properly at 45 degrees,” I thought.

But, I checked and quickly realized that wasn’t the problem.

I scratched my head and stared at the wood and miter saw, wondering what had gone wrong.

I was stumped.

So, I did what any good woodworker in the 21st century does—I YouTube’d it.

I quickly found a video on making good miter cuts and to my horror, I discovered a whole slew of issues I never realized that I had to account for.

See, tools like this usually aren’t square from the factory—or in this case, from the garage sale down the street.

The fence has to be squared against the base.

The blade has to be squared against the fence (and mine wasn’t).

The blade has to be squared against the table.

The blade has to be a good quality blade, with lots of good, sharp teeth (mine wasn’t).

When you cut, your cutting stroke should be smooth and slow so that you don’t bend the board as you’re cutting it (mine wasn’t).

The blade itself has to be straight and true (I recently bought one that was bent and didn’t realize it until I put it on my table saw and saw it wobbling).

If you’re using a table extension, it has to be flush with the saw’s built in table (mine wasn’t).

Now, you might be like me and look at the saw and think, “yeah, that’s good enough.”

But the problem is that these little errors get compounded upon one another.

The errors propagate all throughout whatever you’re building so that no matter how hard you try, the end result is just off.

Main Idea:

A Pastor is like a miter saw.

He’s called to rightly divide the word of truth:

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV 1900)

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

To do that properly, he has to be squared with God’s Word.

If he’s not, those little errors, the little places in his life where he’s not squared with God and his Word, will get propagated throughout what he’s building and the resulting church will just be off.

So this morning, we’re going to look at three things:

What is the standard by which we measure a pastor—and ourselves!

How we should handle it when our pastor’s life (or our own!) is out of square.

The Square for a Pastor and all Believers.

(vv.

1-7)

A Pastor must have a godly desire for the ministry.

(v. 1)

That doesn’t mean that all that’s required is a desire for the ministry.

The office of pastor is not something someone aspires to by themselves—it requires a calling from God.

Paul was called by God on the road to Damascus, and he was very aware of that calling in his letters:

Acts 9:15 (ESV)

15 But the Lord said to him (Ananias), “Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

1 Corinthians 1:1 (ESV)

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

Old Testament prophets were called by God to their ministry:

Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

While the calling of being a pastor isn’t something you can take upon yourself, still...

Those whom God calls, he grants a godly desire for the ministry.

1 Timothy 3:1 (ESV)

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

When God calls a man into the ministry, he gives him a burning desire to do that ministry.

When God calls you into ministry, what once was undesirable suddenly becomes irresistible.

Men with a deathly fear of public speaking find themselves drawn inexplicably to the pulpit.

God plants a fire in your bones to minister to others.

A compulsion—you have to preach and tell others about God and what Christ has done for you.

People often talk about running from the call to ministry.

Typically, that happens when someone isn’t really sure yet.

They think God might be calling them, but they aren’t sure.

God rarely uses a megaphone—the call usually comes in a whisper.

So it’s easy to miss if you’re not listening.

But when God’s calling becomes clear, there’s no running from it.

God changes your heart so that the desire for the ministry overwhelms you.

My calling came on a Wednesday night revival service when I was 14.

It came after a period of time in my life when I had been distant from God, living in sin.

I was in a relationship that I knew displeased God and my parents, but I had sinfully refused to break it off.

God mercifully brought conviction in my life and I repented and began restoring my relationship with God and my parents.

And it was during that summer, at a revival service that I hadn’t even planned to attend, when God called out “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” when I answered, “Here I am, send me!”

My church was having a business meeting that night and I had decided to skip it because, well, business meetings are boring and I was 14.

So, when my grandma called and invited me to go to the revival service at a nearby church, I initially declined.

But, I came under conviction about skipping church, so I called her back and told her I would go.

Going into that service, I planned to become a doctor when I grew up.

But my heart was inclined towards God and my conscience was tender.

Spiritually, I had both ears open and listening.

I can’t tell you how I knew what God wanted me to do.

It was just as if when Bro. Albert read that verse God was speaking it directly to me.

The burden for ministry flooded my heart and I couldn’t do anything but submit to that call, though I briefly tried.

I stood there during the invitation gripping the pew in front of me until my knuckles were white and I was about to pass out.

The call caught me by surprise, though it doesn’t always (or even usually) happen like that.

For most guys, it’s a slowly growing realization.

But for me, it was sudden, unexpected, and strong.