Let us turn to God's Word in
the New Testament Scriptures in the First Epistle to Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Our text is found in the first
verse. 1 Timothy 3.1 This is a true saying, If a man desire
the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 1 Timothy 3.1. This is a true saying. If a man desire the office of
a bishop, he desireth a good work. I mentioned last Lord's
Day evening that there are five of these true and faithful sayings
in the Scriptures. And of course last Lord's Day
evening we were considering the words that we have in the opening
chapter here. the first of such sayings. There at verse 15 in chapter
1, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom
I am chief. There are five such sayings in
total. And the Lord willing, I do want
us to consider each of them over the coming couple of weeks. As
I say, we have one here in the opening chapter at verse 15.
We have this one that we've read this morning for our text. God
willing, we'll go on this evening to look at the third one in chapter
4 at verses 8 and 9. And then we also find faithful
and true sayings in 2 Timothy 2, 11-13, and then in Titus 3,
4-8, and we hope that we might look at those other verses on
the next Lord's Day. But let me just briefly, before
we come to the text this morning, remind some of you, and some
were not here of course last week, but just to say a little
with regards to what we were saying on the last Lord's Day
concerning those words in chapter 1 at verse 15, the faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. And we thought of the Gospel
that gospel that is provided for the chief of sinners. And in that statement that we
have in that 15th verse we in a way have the very sum and substance
of what that gospel is. It is of course the gospel of
the grace of God. In the previous 14th verse the
Apostle speaks of the grace of our Lord exceeding abundant. The grace of our Lord, He says,
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. And so we said a little with
regards to that sovereign grace of God that is there demonstrated
in the Gospel. where sin abounds, grace does
so much more abound. And we see it, of course, in
the gift of the only begotten Son of God. All thanks be to
God for that unspeakable gift. He didn't withhold His Son, but
He gave up His Son even for the salvation of the sinful sons
of men. But we spoke more particularly
of that gospel in terms of the faithfulness of God. It's a faithful
saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And how we do see so much of
God's faithfulness in the gospel. What is the gospel? It's the
promise of God. In fact, the Greek words for
Gospel and promise are very similar in sound. In some ways we can
say they're synonyms. The gospel is promise. And all
the promises of God in the Lord Jesus Christ are yea and amen. How faithful God is then. He
is faithful to his promises. Because all those promises he
has now confirmed with an oath. When he gave promise to Abram,
because he could swear by no greater, we're told how he swore
by himself, saying in blessing, I will bless the Abram, the father
of all the faithful, the father of all them that believe. And
there to Abram, the promise is confirmed with God's oath. He swore by himself. He staked,
as it were, himself upon the accomplishment of the word that
he had promised. Oh, he has magnified his word,
says the psalmist, above all his name, the promise of God,
the oath of God. And then also, of course, with
regards to the Gospel, we have everything confirmed by the death
of the Lord Jesus, the shedding of his precious blood. He's not only the mediator of
the covenants, he's the testator of the testament. And the testament,
we're told in Hebrews 9, is a force after men have died. And Christ
the testator has died. He has shed his precious blood,
he has given his life, and now his testament stands. Oh, the
Gospel bears my spirit up, a faithful and unchanging God, lays the
foundation of my hope in oaths and promises and blood, says
Isaac Watts in the hymn 83. What remarkable words we have
in so many of the hymns that we sing, what great truths, what
great doctrine, what rich theologian. even in the verses that we sing,
and we certainly see it there in what says with regards to
the Gospel, that is worthy of all acceptation, the faithful
saying, it is this Gospel that bears the sinner up, because
it's promise, it's oath, It's sealed with the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we said something with
regards to that gospel as a faithful saying last Lord's Day evening. But also we spoke a little of
the worthiness of it. It's worthy of all acceptation. There's great worth in the gospel. And yet this gospel is for the
most unworthy of sinners. Now, that was the case very much
with Paul. As he says here in the context
in this opening chapter, verse 13, he was before the blasphemer,
the persecutor injurious, but he obtained mercy. Oh, he says
he did it all ignorantly in unbelief. It's not saying that there were
extenuating circumstances, that he wasn't such a great sinner
because what he did was in ignorance. No. The ignorance is not an excuse. The ignorance was in unbelief.
The awful sin of unbelief. He was guilty of it. He was a
great sinner. He speaks of himself, doesn't
he, here as the chief of sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, Paul says, of whom I am chief. All the experience that the great
sinner comes to, that man who feels that there's no hope for
him. His sins are so real, so terrible. And yet, where sin
abounds, Christ does so much more abound. Why? Because it's the glorious Gospel.
As we are told there at verse 11, the glorious gospel, Paul
says, of the blessed God, was committed unto me, and I thank
Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted
me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Well, having said
something with regards to the gospel last Lord's Day evening,
I want now to say something with regards to the gospel minister.
As Paul says there in chapter 1, he was such himself. He found
mercy. He was put into the ministry.
And then here in the Word today, I really want us to look at for
a while this morning, the beginning of the third chapter. We have
another true saying. They are faithful sayings, they
are true sayings. Here is the second, a true saying.
If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work and so to consider these words with the Lord's help first
of all to say something with regard to the office that is
being spoken of and the word used is the word Bishop literally
it means an overseer I suppose the word Bishop is so loaded
because we're familiar with the Church of England and it's an
Episcopalian church it's governed by bishops and so bishop is very
much a loaded term but really the basic meaning of the word
is simply an overseer and it's that word that's used by Paul
in Acts chapter 20 when he is addressing the elders at Ephesus
and the charge that he gives them there in verse 28 of that
chapter take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers it's the same word that's rendered
bishop in our text made you overseers to feed the church of God which
he hath purchased with his own blood and observe the various
The words that are being used there, there to feed the flock
and the word that is rendered feed is simply the verbal form
of the word that is elsewhere rendered as a pastor. So these
overseers are also pastors. Interestingly there, they're
also referred to previously as as the elders back in verse 17
in Acts 20 he comes from Miletus to Ephesus and calls the elders of the church
it is from Miletus he is sent to Ephesus and called the elders
the word there is Presbyteros from where we get our English
word Presbyterian Church is governed by elders, the elders of the
Church, and then here in verse 28 of Acts 20, they're spoken
of as the overseers, the bishops, and they feed, they pastor the
Church of God. So these terms clearly are all
interchangeable. They're all interchangeable terms,
and The office of these men is that
of ministering to the church and feeding the church. We saw it in that portion that
we were reading back in Acts 34 that the shepherds or the
pastors and in Israel there in the Old Testament there was a
threefold office there were men who were raised up to attend
to God's ancient people. There was the office of the priest,
there was the office of the prophets, and there was the office also
of the princes or the kings. And of course there they're being
very much rebuked because they're not attending to the needs of
the Lord's people as they ought. And then we come to the end of
that portion that we read in that 34th chapter where God gives
the great promise concerning the one who he will raise up
to be the true shepherd of his people, their true pastor, even
the Lord Jesus Christ. I will set up one shepherd over
them and he shall feed them, even my servant David. David,
of course, long since gone to his resting place is equal ministering
many, many, many years after David's life. But here is the
promise that God will raise up another David, David's greater
son. He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, and
I, the Lord, will be their God. And my servant David, a prince
among them, I, the Lord, have spoken it. And so when we come
to the New Testament, it's interesting that there in 1st Peter chapter
2 and verse 25 we read of the Lord Jesus as the shepherd and
overseer of your souls the shepherd and the bishop of your souls and he is the one of course that
these men who have the office of the gospel ministry are to
look to and he is the one who is the great pattern of that
ministry that they are to exercise. But looking at these words that
we have in the text, if a man desired the office of a bishop,
of an overseer, the word overseer, it's actually a word that's derived
from the word for a watchman. He's an overseer in the sense
that he is watching. He's a watchman. He's watching
over the souls of the people. And of course we didn't just
read that portion in the 34th of Ezekiel. We also read those
opening words in chapter 33. Those opening 9 verses that we
were reading earlier. Speaking of the watchmen. And
what does it say there at verse 7? So thou, O son of man, I have
set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore thou
shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. There is part and parcel of the
ministry that thou art to exercise, that thou art to give warning,
that thou art to sound alarms. And it's interesting to compare
scripture with scripture because when we do that we begin to understand
the significance of some of these terms that are being used with
regards to the ministry of the man who is called to preach the
gospel and to minister in the things of God. He is to be an
elder, he is to be a pastor, a shepherd, is to be an overseer,
a watchman. And not only in Ezekiel 33 do
we read of the work in terms of him watching, but we have
an interesting couple of verses also in the prophecy of Isaiah,
in Isaiah 62. And there in verses 6 and 7, we find these words, I have said,
Watch men upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their
peace, day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord
keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish, until
he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. So we discover something
more with regards to their office, what they are called to, those
that make mention of the Lord. We read there at verse 6. Hold
not their peace, day nor night, that to make mention of the Lord.
And of course we know that the great subject matter of the ministry
of these men is the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul's determination.
As he says to the Corinthians, to No, no man, but the Lord Jesus. He would preach the person and
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would make mention of the
Lord. That was a subject matter of
his ministry. It's that message that we see
him so concerned with, with regards to what he says in the opening
chapter. There, as we said last week, he's speaking of his own
call to the ministry. What is the ministry? It's that
that we had in that text that we were considering, that 15th
verse, the faithful and true saying, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. And so to the Corinthians, his
determination to know nothing amongst them saved Jesus Christ,
and him crucified. But it's interesting what we
see there in that 62nd chapter of Isaiah, because besides what
we read in the text, we see that the margin gives us an alternative
reading. I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day nor
night. Ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence. But then, the margin suggests
this alternative reading, ye that are the Lord's remembrances.
Ye that are the Lord's remembrances keep not silence and give him
no rest, till he establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise in
the earth. So, it's not only that they are
those who are making mention of the Lord, they are the Lord's
remembrances, and they come before Him and they give Him no rest. Not only to preach them this
message to the people, they are to pray to the Lord God. Acts chapter 6, the apostles'
determination, remember, was that they would give themselves
continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. In
Acts 6 we know that there had been some disputing with regards
to the ministration to the widows. And it seems that the apostles
at that time were the only functionaries in the church, they were doing
everything. And now there's these disputes concerning the distribution
of funds to the widows. And so we have the appointment
of those men who are to attend to these things, the deacon's
office. so that the apostles can give themselves simply to
prayer, it says, and to the ministry of the Word. And that's what
we really see there in that portion in Isaiah 62. There's both making mention of
the Lord, but there's also that of coming before the Lord, giving
Him no rest. reminding him the Lord's remembrances
as they plead concerning the ministry of the Word. Here then
we see something of the office of these men, which is a true
saying. If a man desire the office of
a bishop, he desireth a good work. Now, it's interesting the
words that we have here. Twice we have the word desire.
A man desires the office. He desires a good work. But in
fact, although it's the same word in our English version,
it's two different words that are being used. They are very
similar with regards to their meaning, but there is a distinction
in the two words. They both have the idea of desire.
The first one literally means to reach forth. to stretch out
and to grasp after desiring in that sense so longing for a thing
that you reach out and you try to grasp older things but then
the other words the end of the verse desires a good work literally
has the meaning to set the heart on the thing and to covet the
thing to have such an intense desire for it. We see then something of the
strength of the desire that's being spoken of in that two different
words are being used and yet it's it's there in scripture
because the Holy Spirit through Paul is indicating the the ardency
of the desire of this man for the office. This is a true saying
If a man desire, if he's reaching forth, stretching out and grasping
after the office of a bishop, he is desiring, he's coveting,
he's setting his heart on a good work. Now, we might think that
coveting and grasping after could so easily suggest the sin of
pride. But that is not so. What is being indicated here
is not that this man is seeking something out of the pride of
his own heart, but there's an inward compulsion in the man. That's why he desires this office.
It's the work of the Spirit in his heart. Did we not see it
in a certain sense in the language of the Prophet Jeremiah? There he is, he's the Lord's
messenger with the Lord's message and his ministry is really in
many ways despised. There are many false prophets
who are contradicting him and the people would sooner hear
the message of the false prophets. than the words that Jeremiah
is speaking because he's minuting at a time of great judgment God's
judgments are abroad and he's telling the people why it is
that God is dealing with his people in such contrary ways
and he wants to forbear he doesn't want to be conveying such a message
to the people and so in Jeremiah 20 and verse 9 he says, I will
not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name but his
word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and
I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay. Although he
wants to give over as it were and he will no longer convey
this message to the people but the word was in his heart the
word was shut up in his bones and he could not but speak the
word well that's the sort of idea that we have here in the
text this morning the man is so desirous of the office being
so burnt into his soul that he must give himself to such a work.
It's interesting because in the Book of Common Prayer I suppose it's little used in the
Church of England today of course it was in many ways a product
from the Reformation although the Puritans found much in that
Book of Common Prayer that they took exception to, we know that,
and in 1662 it was the cause of so many of them leaving the
ministry of the Church of England. But there's much in that book
that goes back to the days of the reformers and you're probably
aware that much of it is actually from Bishop Cranmer. The Codex for example in the
main were written by Archbishop Cranmer who of course was a martyr
at the time of the reformation but in the in the book of common
prayer there's the service for the ordination of ministers and
the the bishop does put this question to the ordinant do you
trust you are inwardly moved by the holy ghost to take up
his office the man is asked quite straight by the bishop are you
moved by the holy spirit well that's what we have here this
desire is the work of the Spirit. The man is under a certain compulsion. What he is doing, he is doing
as one who has been made willing by the Holy Ghost. That sense of compulsion. And again, look at the language
that we have in the first epistle of Peter. And there in 1 Peter
chapter 5 Verse 2, we have this exhortation,
he's speaking to the elders, and he says, "...feed the flock
of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by
constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready
mind, not as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensembles
to the flock." It's interesting how, in these opening words,
these first three verses in this fifth chapter we have these three
words again the elders which are among you I exhort in verse
one and then this word feed from which the the word pastor is
derived and then again the word oversight from which the word
bishop is derived feed the flock of God which is among you taking
the oversight thereof he said not by constraint but but willingly
or they are those, you see, who are made willing. Thy people
shall be willing is the promise given to Christ in the day of
thy power. Where there is the efficacious
grace in the soul of the sinner, of course, he's made willing
to come to Christ and to trust in Christ. We believe in that
efficacious grace of the Holy Ghost in the conversion of the
sinner. how he is so drawn to the Lord Jesus. There's a certain
compulsion in his soul, it's the work of the Spirit making
him willing. He doesn't come against his will,
he feels the constraint of the Spirit of God upon him. And so too with regards to a
man who's called to the work of the ministry. And that was
very much the case with regards to the Apostle. In a sense, it
seems that his call by grace and his call to the work of the
ministry are both bound up together. Remember how he relates something
of his experience, writing in the opening chapter of the Epistle
to the Galatians. He says there at verse 15, When
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach
Him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood. So he's speaking here of his
being called by the grace of God, and then he goes on immediately
to speak of how he was made a minister. God's Son was revealed in him
in order that he might preach him among the heathen. He's made a minister even at
the same time as he's being called by the grace of God. Now, that
is most unusual, but it reminds us that The same compelling grace
that is there when the sinner is converted, when he's brought
to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, is that that he's also at work
when a man is compelled to take up the office of the ministry
of the Word of God. Well, that's the sort of desire
that we read of then. If a man desire the office of
a bishop, he desireth a good work. This desire is not selfish,
coveting. It's not something that is a
manifestation of pride. It's none of those things. What
does he go on to say later in the chapter? Verse 6, not a novice, not a
novice. Less being lifted up with pride. he fall into the condemnation
of the devil. Or the apostle is concerned that
the man is not being compelled by any pride or any real covetousness
in his heart. No, this man is to know nothing
of any self-sufficiency. He must venture as one who feels
a deep sense of need. That was how Paul felt. Oh yes,
he was a man who was certainly called by the grace of God but
how he felt to stand continually in need of the prayers of the
people of God even when he exhorts the churches with regards to
their duties. He says to the Hebrews there
in chapter 13 Verse 17, Obey them that have the rule over
you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as
they that must give account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Pray
for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things,
willing to live honestly. So, as he reminds the people
of their duty so he also desires very much that they would remember
him and pray for him and we see it time and time again as he
writes in all these epistles at the end of the second epistle
to the Thessalonians finally brethren pray for us he says
pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course
and be glorified, even as it is with you. He needs their praying. He's so conscious then of his
own inadequacies. Again, when he writes to the
Ephesians, we see something very similar. He deals with the matter
of the believer's armour, the Gospel armour there, in Ephesians
6, verse 13, following. and then after mentioning the
various parts of that armour he says, praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there
unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and
for me and for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may
open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.
For we once said to pray that he might be able to preach the
mystery of the gospel To the Colossians he says something
very similar. He speaks here in Colossians
4 of his need for prayer to make known the mystery of Christ.
The mystery of the gospel is the mystery of Christ. How can
a man speak adequately of the Lord Jesus Christ left to himself?
How can a man open up that great mystery of godliness? That God
was manifest in the flesh and justified in the Spirit, and
seen of angels, and preached unto the Gentiles, and believed
in the world." He's not then here saying that there's anything
of pride in this desire. But it's a man who's made willing
by the efficacious work of the Holy Spirit in his soul. What are these men? Well, they're
but men at the end of the day. They are not angels. They are
sinners saved by the grace of God. Poor dependents, continually
upon that grace of God. Paul says not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. We cannot even begin to think,
let alone to speak. All our sufficiency comes from
God. we have this treasure. He says in earthen vessels that
the excellency of power may be of gods and not of men. All the office then that he's
speaking of here. But let us turn briefly in the
second place to say a little with regards to the work. He
desires the office of a bishop, an overseer or a pastor a preacher
but he says he's also desiring a good work it's a work it's
not a sinecure he's not in the office to make profits who is the great pattern? the
Lord Jesus Christ that one who is the shepherd
and the bishop of your souls, the pastor the overseer of your
souls. He is the pattern. And what do
we see in the Lord Jesus? Why we see how He is on earth
to serve. He comes not to be ministered
unto but to minister and to give His life for ransom for many. What is his meat? What is it
that sustains him throughout his life? My meat, he says, is
to do the will of him who has sent me. And to finish his work
is a man sent on a mission. He is the servant of the Lord.
I must work the works of him that sent me whilst it is day.
The night cometh, he says, when no man can work. And how Paul sees himself, you
see, as one who is looking to that pattern. We then as workers
together with him, he says. Workers together with the Lord
Jesus. And how he speaks, how he speaks
of Timothy as one like himself who would give himself to this
great work of the ministry of the Word of God. He commends
him to the Thessalonians. There in 1 Thessalonians 3 and
verse 2 he says he sent Timotheus our brother and minister of God
and our fellow Libra in the gospel of Christ. Our fellow Libra in the gospel
of Christ. That's how he commends Timothy.
What is this Libra? What is this work? Well, it's to be the feeding
of the flock. Should not the shepherds feed
the flock? Asks the Lord there in Ezekiel
34. That's to be those who are shepherding
the flock. They're laboring for the goods
of the flock of Christ. In that lovely first letter to
the Thessalonians, such a tender epistle, 1 Thessalonians, we
see something of the Apostles great pastoral heart, his concern
for these people. And how kindly he ministers to
them. What does he say? There in the second chapter of 1 Thessalonians,
in verse 7, we were gentle among you he says. We were gentle among
you. even as a nurse cherishes her
children so being affectionately desirous of you we were willing
to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only but our
own souls because you were dear unto us for you remember brethren
our labour and travail for labouring night and day because we would
not be chargeable unto any of you we preached unto you the
gospel of God now this man was so willing to give himself wholeheartedly laboring for the flock of God
to the Galatians he says my little children of whom I travail in
birth again until Christ be formed in you oh he travails in birth
again he says he is so concerned for them he cost him Of course,
the figure he's using there is the travail of a woman in childbirth. She has to give herself so to
this that this child might come forth from the womb, and the
pangs of childbirth. This is what Paul feels in his
ministry to these various churches that under God he had been responsible
for first establishing. And we have the account, of course,
of all those journeys he's making in the Acts of the Apostles.
and he's a pattern. He's a pattern to them that believe.
Many a time we've referred to those words that we have here
in chapter 1 verse 16. He's a pattern of long-suffering to them which will hereafter
believe on Christ to life everlasting. He's the pattern believer. He's
also the pattern of the gospel minister. and how he gives himself even
with regards to the new birth really the new birth we know
is a sovereign work of the spirit of God Christ says verily, verily,
except a man is born again or born from a barb as it said in
the margin he cannot see the kingdom of God it's a sovereign
work of God and yet there is the necessity of that ministry
of the Word, and this is how Paul is laboring. He's laboring
in the Word day and night. So it's not just laboring for
the flock, but it's also this idea of laboring in the words. And he speaks of it, what that
labor is, in chapter 5. And verse 17, that the elders
that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they
who labor. labor in the word and doctrine. And again, the word that he's
using there is one that has reference really to those who are day laborers. Those who will be laboring in
the fields and feeling the heat and the fatigue of the day. That's
the image that he's using. The true gospel minister then
is to grow weary. weary in the work, yes, but not
weary of the work, but is to give himself to that work. Study
to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. If he's going
to rightly divide the word of truth, he's got to labour in
it, he's got to study it, he's got to understand it, that he
might then expound and explain it. Remember the words that we have
in Ecclesiastes. And the subtitle of that book,
of course, is The Preacher. Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher. And there, when we come to the
end of Ecclesiastes, the last chapter, and there at verse 9. Ecclesiastes 12, 9, and moreover,
Because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge.
Yea, he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out
acceptable words. The margin says words of delight.
And that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
The words of the wise are as goads. and as nails fastened
by the masters of assemblies which are given from one shepherd."
And who is the one shepherd? Why, that's the Lord Jesus, the
shepherd and bishop of your soul, says Peter. Now that shepherd
must be the great subject matter of all the preaching really.
We preach Christ and Him crucified that was the Apostles determination
to set forth Christ in his person all the mystery of godliness
God manifest in the flesh the God man and the mystery of his
dying Christ crucified how could he die? there was no
seed of sin in him He was holy, he was harmless, he was undefiled,
he was separate from sinners. Why? He died as a substitute.
He died in the sinner's room and in the sinner's stead. Paul
then here is speaking of that work of the minister of the gospel,
as he has spoken of the gospel as a faithful saying, so here
he says this is a true saying. If a man desires the office of
a bishop, he desires a good work. And then he goes on really to
speak of the qualifications. The bishop there must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given
to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker,
not greedy, a filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous,
one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity. For if a man No, not how to rule
his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not
a novice. Lest, being lifted up with pride,
he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must
have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into
reproach and the snare of the devil. Well, we've no time now
to go through the qualifications, but I think we might look at
them some other time maybe on a Thursday evening but what I
want to do as I said earlier at the moment is simply to consider
these five faithful and true sayings and so if the Lord will
we'll move on later to look at the words that we have in chapter
4 and there in verses 8 and 9 really but the Lord bless What's been
said, I trust there's some profit in it for us all. This is a true
saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work. The Lord bless his word.