Would you turn to 1 Timothy chapter
3? I've entitled this message, A
Bishop Must Be. Let's read these first seven
verses of 1 Timothy chapter 3. This is a true saying, if a man
desire, long for actually, the office of a bishop, he desireth
a good work. A bishop then 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 of 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 know not how to
rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of
God? Not a novice, a new convert, 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
the reproach and the snare of the devil. Now look down in verse
15 of this same chapter, if I tarry long that thou may know how thou
oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Now here he speaks of the church of the living God. And he's not
talking about a building. He's talking about people gathered
together. church of the living God and he calls it the pillar
and the ground of the truth. Now the church. Turn with me
to Acts chapter 20 for a moment. Acts chapter 20. Paul is speaking to the Ephesian
elders and he says regarding the church in verse 28, take
heed therefore unto yourselves and all and to all the flock. over which the Holy Ghost hath
made you overseers, or bishops, to feed the church of God, which
he hath purchased with his own blood. Now here the church is
called a flock, a flock. Believers are quite often called
sheep, aren't they? Christ laid down his life for
the sheep. Now sheep are in flocks, and
sheep need a shepherd. Sheep are gregarious animals,
they must be in flocks, and they need a shepherd. Now Christ is
the good shepherd that layeth down his life for the sheep.
He's called that great shepherd, and he's called the chief shepherd
of the sheep, and he has under-shepherds. called pastor's teachers, the
pastor teacher. Did you notice in verse, that
passage of scripture, it says, feed the church of God over which
the Holy Ghost has made you overseer. If I am a pastor, if I am a God
called pastor, God put me in this position as pastor of this
church. The overseer, the guide of this
flock. Now, there are two things that
are outstanding about sheep. Now these two things are just
always true with regard to sheep. They go astray very easily. Very
easily. You know, David, the man after
God's own heart said, seek thy servant, for I've gone astray
like a lost sheep. I can't even find my way back
and I need you to seek me and find me. Sheep easily go astray. And when they get lost, they
get lost. They can't find their way back.
How many times have you heard of dogs or cats that get dumped
off somewhere and somehow they make it back? Maybe hundreds
of miles. It won't happen with a sheep. Once a sheep just gets
further and further away, sheep are easily led astray. And don't you know that so with
regard to you? You know, we sing that song, prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it prone to leave
the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, take and
seal it, seal it from my courts above. Now the second outstanding
characteristic about a sheep is they follow. They follow. They don't have to be driven.
You drive goats. You get behind goats, you drive
them. You get them in the direction you want them to go. Sheep follow. I mean, they'll follow the shepherd
right off. If a shepherd jumps off the cliff,
they'll follow him with them. That's the way sheep is. It's
their nature to follow. Sheep follow. Now, they follow the great shepherd.
And they follow the under-shepherd that God has given them, the
pastor-teacher. Now, in Ephesians chapter 4,
verse 12, Paul says that the pastor-teacher is given for the
perfecting, for the maturing of the saints. I want to be mature,
don't you? I want to be perfected. And for
the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body
of Christ. Now listen to these names the
Bible gives to a pastor. First, there's the pastor or
the shepherd. Shepherd, pastor, same thing. It's the same word.
But what does a shepherd do? He leads. He feeds. And he protects against wolves.
That's his purpose. He first leads the flock. He
feeds the flock with the word of God. And he protects the flock
from wolves. He's called a bishop or an overseer
or a guide. He's called an elder. That has
something to do with spiritual maturity, an elder. He may be
a young man and still be an elder. He's called an angel or a messenger. In other words, when I hear my
pastor speak, I'm hearing a message from God for me, a message from
the living God, a messenger. And he's called a teacher. I
want to look at some scriptures with regard to the pastor. Would
you turn with me to 1 Peter 3? Or I mean, 1 Peter chapter 5. Peter says, he's speaking to
the elders at this time. The elders which are among you,
I exhort to him also an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,
feed. The flock of God. Be a shepherd
to the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof. Not by constraint, not because
you're being forced to, but willingly. Not for a paycheck, not for filthy
lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's
heritage. Elder rule is what they call
it, you know, where you got to report and the elder tells you
what to do, what to buy, where to go. That's so not of God. Neither is being lords over God's
heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief
shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resists the
proud and he gives grace to the humble. Turn to 1 Thessalonians
5. Verse 12. And we beseech you, brethren,
to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the
Lord. That's what a bishop is, an overseer. And admonish you, and to esteem
them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at
peace among yourselves. Look in Hebrews chapter 13. The writer to the Hebrews says
in verse 7, Remember them which have the rule over you. And I
don't think that's kind of an unfortunate translation in a
way, because my marginal reading says, them who are your guides.
People have taken this and abused it. Pastor rule, you've got to
obey. Remember them that are your guides,
that point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, that preach the Word
of God to you, that feed you. Remember them that have the rule
over you and have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith
follow, considering the end of their conversation. What is the
end of their conversation? Jesus Christ the same. yesterday,
today, and forever. That's the end of their conversation.
Look in verse 17 of Hebrews chapter 13. It says, obey them that have
the rule over you. And here's, this word obey is
literally be persuaded. Be persuaded. It's not like he's
giving you a command and order and you do what he said. No,
be persuaded. that by them that are your guides,
that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves. For they
watch for your souls as they that must give an account, account
before God, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief,
for this is unprofitable for you." Now, Paul said, with regard
to this thing of a pastor or a shepherd, Paul said, follow
me as I follow Christ. Follow me, as I follow Christ. And I say the same thing. Follow
me, as I follow Christ. God has made me a guide. Follow me, as I follow Christ. Now, if I am following Christ,
and you're not following me, You're not following Christ.
Now, I want you to think about that statement. If I'm following
Christ and you're not following me, you're not following Christ.
Now, are you trying to make a pope of yourself? No, not at all.
I'm giving what the scripture says. The Lord said, he that
receiveth you receiveth me. And he that despises, and that
word despise doesn't mean you just hate him, it means you dismiss
him. You dismiss him, just set him aside. He that sets aside
you, sets aside me. Now that's how important this
thing is. If I'm following Christ, you
are to follow me as I follow Christ. Now that's what a real
pastor is. He's someone you can follow. Sheep need to be in a flock.
And they need a shepherd. And you know whether or not I'm
following Christ. If I am, follow me. Be persuaded
by me. Remember me. Know me. Now, for
a man to be followed, we're talking about this thing about following
a man. He's got to be a certain way or I'm not going to follow
him. I mean, just because I, follow me. I wouldn't follow
somebody just because they said, follow me. He's gonna have to
be a certain way. And Paul tells us exactly how
that man must be, who is to be a guide and who is to be followed. The bishop is to be, a bishop
must be. Now I've made this statement
before several times and I like this statement. For me to follow
a man, for me to listen to a man, there's three things that have
to be in place. First, that man's got to have
the message of the gospel. He's got to have God's message,
a God-sent, God-called preacher with the message of sovereign
grace, the message of the scripture. He's got to have the message. Secondly, and this is just as
important, he's got to live what he believes. And if he doesn't
live what he believes, I don't care how accurate his theology
is, I'm not interested. I'm not going to listen to him.
And thirdly, that man has to have my interest. at his heart, my best interest.
I don't want to be part of somebody's program. I don't want to be part
of somebody's ministry. I want that man to have my best
interests at his heart when he's speaking to me, when he's preaching
to me. I want him to be seeking my good. And if he's not, if
he doesn't have my best interest at heart, I'm selfish. If you
don't have my best interest, I'm not interested in you. That's
the way that person is. But that's what's needed to hear. a man. So let's see what Paul
says about this passage of Scripture. Turn back to 1 Timothy chapter
3. Paul says in verse 1, this is
a true saying. If a man desire the office of
a bishop, He desireth a good work. So we see this is a God-ordained
office. If a man desire the office of
a bishop, he desires a good work. And there's a special call in
this. I must be called to this. It's something God, if a man
is gonna be a preacher, he must be called to it. And this call
is first seen in this desire, this longing. If a man longs
to be a bishop, it's a fire in his heart that won't go away.
If he longs to be a bishop, he desires and longs for a good
work. There must be a longing. It begins
right there. It begins with a desire, and
if you can be happy to not be a bishop, you ought not be one.
There has to be a fire in somebody's gut to where they desire this,
and they desire it greatly, and they become consumed with it.
You know, I've heard preachers talk about how they were trying
to avoid the call. You know, God was calling me,
and I was resisting, you know, and so... I don't believe that
for a second. If God calls somebody to preach,
they want to preach. That's what they want to do.
They want to give themselves to the ministry. They want to
be a bishop. They want to be a pastor. That
is their desire. Now, it's a good work. First of all, beloved, it's a
work. It's a great work, and it's a
difficult work, and it's an arduous work. It's a laborious work,
a work that requires your heart and soul. You're giving yourself
wholly to it. It's a work. I mean, you just
think of, I'm gonna look at some scriptures, but you think of
the effort that's needed simply to preach, prepare messages over
and over again for them to be fresh. You're asking God the
spirit to make it fresh, to make it powerful. You've got a limited,
the Bible's a big book, but you've got a limited subject, don't
you? You got one subject, and you're to bring that subject
over and over again in freshness and the power of the Holy Spirit,
that's not easy. It takes the power of God. It
takes God's mercy and God's grace. And when you listen, I got to
thinking about this. There's a few of you that have
heard me 5,000 times, 5,000 times preaching. That's a lot of times
to listen to somebody that many times. Well, that takes the Spirit
of God to enable somebody to do that. When you're in this
thing of preaching and hearing, be polite listeners. You're preaching
a message, it's hard enough, don't fall asleep. Don't fall
asleep. Maybe I put you to sleep, but
don't fall asleep. Please, I mean, you don't know how chilling that
can be. Pay attention. Pay attention. Pay attention.
Don't be wandering off because you don't know how. Henry Mahan
put it this way. I love this statement. He was
talking about liberty. You've heard preachers talk about
having liberty preach. He said, he said, liberty's relative.
Truth is eternal. Liberty is relative. All somebody's
got to do is look at me the wrong way and I lose my liberty. And
I've found that so many times. So be a polite listener of the
gospel. Let me show you some scriptures.
Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4. We're going to stay in Timothy
for these. 1 Timothy chapter 4. Paul says to Timothy, let no
man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believer.
in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,
in purity. Verse 13, till I come, give attendance,
give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect
not the gift that's in thee, which was given thee by prophecy
with the laying on of hands. Meditate upon these things. Give
thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine. Continue in them,
for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that
hear thee. Look down in chapter 5, verse
17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double
honor, especially they who labor. It's a work. They labor in the
word and doctrine. For the scriptures say, thou
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And the
laborer is worthy of his reward against an elder. Receive not
an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Don't don't
receive it by one person. It has to be two or three witnesses
who has seen this. Now it's a turn to Second Timothy,
chapter two, verse three. Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, no man that woreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life, that it may please him
who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Look in 2 Timothy chapter 4,
verse 12. I'm giving you the wrong one. Well, I can't read my writing,
but it was a good one. My writing's getting worse. As
a matter of fact, I looked at my notes from when I preached
on this 20 years ago, 1992, and my writing was so good. And I
can't even read it now, but that's a lot of note writing, I guess. But at any rate, it's a good
work. There's no higher calling, what a privilege, what a blessing
to be enabled by God to preach the gospel. It's a good work. Now look at
the requirements, back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. This is a true saying, if a man
desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. So first
of all, a bishop then must be blameless. He must be. This is a necessary qualification.
If he's not blameless, he cannot be a bishop or a pastor. He's
become disqualified. He must be blameless. Does that
mean sinless? I'm one of you. You know how
sinful you are? That's how sinful I am. I'm one
of you. That certainly does not mean
sinless. You know, Blateless. If you want to criticize, if
you want to find fault, there's plenty of things to criticize.
Anybody that wants to criticize me, they can find plenty of,
I give them plenty of ammunition is what I'm trying to say. Don't
do that. Don't do that. You know, I've
seen in the church in Ashland where I grew up in, this church,
I've seen when people start going in a bad direction, they become
hypercritical of the preacher. I've seen that so many times.
The preacher must be blameless. That doesn't mean sinless. That
doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes. It doesn't mean he
doesn't... I've made plenty of them, you know that. Doesn't
mean he thinks for... Blameless means without scandal.
Without a scandal. without a scandal. He's got to
be a faithful man, no glaring moral failures. A bishop then
must be blameless. And then next it says the husband
of one wife. Now, first of all, a bishop needs
to be a husband. I don't believe an unmarried man has any business
being a pastor. If he's unmarried, he should
not pastor. He must be the husband of one
wife. It says that's necessary. And
verse 5 bears this out. For if a man know not how to
rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of
God? So obviously the man has to be a husband, a family man,
he should be. And when it's talking about the
husband of one wife, that means he's not a polygamist. That's
what it means, he's not a polygamist. You know, that was big back then.
Men had five, six, seven wives, and you couldn't do that to be
a pastor. It's wrong, you shouldn't do
it anyway, but it was a big issue back then. There was a lot of
polygamy going on in these Greek cultures, and different cultures,
not Jewish. Well, the Jews had it, too, in
the Old Testament, quite a bit. But the point is, he's to have
one wife. A lot of people think, well,
if you've been divorced, you can't be a pastor. I think it's interesting how
people will say, You know, it's almost like you've got a good
testimony, you'd be a good pastor if you were a drug addict or
a drug pusher or some horrible, wicked thing that you used to
do. Boy, he's got a powerful testimony. But if somebody's
divorced, oh no, he can't do it. Not really. Not really. Now, I hate divorce. I'm against it all the way through.
The Bible is. But if a man was unconverted
and got a divorce and all of a sudden the Lord saves him and
he wants to preach, no, you've been divorced. No, I don't believe
that for a second. But he's to be the husband of one wife. He's
not to be a polygamist. Next, it says vigilant. Vigilant. That means temperate, not intoxicated. Not intoxicated. Now if I'm just
talking about wine and alcohol, he can't be intoxicated with
this world. You know when you're intoxicated, you're influenced. Everything you see is influenced
by that. And you can't be intoxicated with this world, with ambition,
with pride. You can't get out on tangents.
You can't become intoxicated with your hobbies. I've seen
preachers do that. They become so intoxicated with something
they're doing. Know there to be a temperate
man, a vigilant man. If not, and that also includes
eating and drinking. Temperate. Next he says, sober. Look back in our text, vigilant,
sober. That means sensible. Sound minded. He's got some wisdom. He's got
some good sense. He's sound minded. Paul said
in 2 Timothy 1, he said, God has not given us the spirit of
fear, but of faith, of love, and of a sound mind. Sensible, stable, a sound mind. Now, let me say this. People
have issues. People have problems. People
have problems with emotional problems, depression, all the
different things people go through. Maybe they've had an abusive
background. You don't know what all people have gone through.
And they have issues. There's no doubt about that.
People have issues. The pastor can't. He can't. If he's somebody with a bunch
of issues that makes him emotionally unstable, he doesn't have any
business being a pastor. He must be sober. Next it says,
he must be of good behavior. And that word is translated in
the previous chapter, modest. He must be modest. He can't be
a self-willed, self-promoting person. He must be modest. And then next, it says in verse
2, he must be given to hospitality. He loves men. He opens his home
to men. He loves men and women. He loves
the people he preaches to. He's given to hospitality. He
finds that an honor and a joy. And if he's not given to hospitality,
God never called him to preach. That is a requirement. A bishop
must be given to hospitality in that sense. Scott Richardson
used to say this. I always like this statement.
He said, we're in the people business. And we are. We're in the people
business. So a bishop must be given to
hospitality. And next, the last thing it says
in verse 2 is he's got to be apt to teach. He's got to be
able to teach so that when you hear Him, you understand what
He's saying. When you hear me preach, you understand that the
Bible's the Word of God. You understand that God is God.
You understand that men are unable to save themselves. You understand
that God elected a people. You understand that Christ died
for the elect. You understand that the grace
of the Holy Spirit is invincible and irresistible. You understand
that God's people persevere all the way to the end. You understand
that Christ is all in salvation. You understand what I'm saying.
Philip said, do you understand what you're reading? He said,
how can I except some man should guide me. You understand apt
to teach. Now, if a man's not apt to teach,
God never called him to be a bishop. I'm sure of that. He's to be,
he's to apt to teach. He's to be able to preach. Verse
three, It says, not given to wine. Now, we've already talked
about the necessity of temperance, but my marginal reading says,
not ready to quarrel and offer wrong as one in wine. You've been around a drunk that
when they get, they get mean. They get mean. They want to fight.
They want to become contentious. Pastor cannot be that way. He can't be one looking for a
fight. As a matter of fact, he uses four or five descriptions
of that. Not giving to wine, no striker. Somebody that's ready
to strike out and hit people. Next he says he can't be greedy
a filthy lucre. Paul said, I've coveted no man's
gold or silver or apparel. And if this is a man's MO, if
he's greedy of filthy lucre, he's going to tailor his message
in order to accommodate that every time. He can't be, if somebody's
got a money problem, they have no business being a pastor. He can't be greedy of filthy
lucre. Next he says, but patient in
verse three, patient. patient. Now that word patient
is gentle and approachable. It's sometimes translated moderation.
It's sometimes translated gentleness and kindness. He's gentle and
approachable. It means he doesn't hold people
to the letter of the law. He doesn't hold people's feet
to the fire. I love the way Vine says he has a humane way of looking
at things. He looks at the facts behind
the case. He doesn't just hear something and dismiss people.
No, he understands the weakness of the flesh. He understands
the sinfulness of himself and other people, and he's not going
to hold people, he's not going to hold their feet to the fire.
He's going to have a humane view, a peaceable view, and he's going
to be approachable. Next it says, Not a brawler, not a brawler,
a contentious man. When I've seen preachers like
this, I know they're not God called preachers. And he says, not covetous,
not covetous. Remember what the writer of the
Hebrew said, let your conversation be without covetousness. and
be content with such things as you have." Now, how in the world
can that be? The only way that can be is if you really believe
you have all things in Christ. If you believe you have all in
Christ, you're not coveting. What is there to covet? I have
everything. Now, a preacher must not be covetous in that sense. He says in verse 4, "...one that
ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with
all gravity." It can be seen in his children's attitude toward
him. They respect him. That's what that means. They
respect him. He rules well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity. Verse 5, For
if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take
care of the church of God? Now this is what a bishop is
called to do, to take care of the Church of God. Let me show
you another way this word is used. Turn with me to Luke chapter
10. This will let us know what it
means to take care. Verse 30, And Jesus answering said, A certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,
which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down
a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the
place, came and looked on him, and he passed by on the other
side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went
to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and
set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took
care of him." There it is. He took care of him. That's what
is involved in this thing of taking care of the church of
God. And then it says in verse six,
not a novice. not a novice, not a new convert,
because here's what would happen with a new convert, he'd be lifted
up with pride. He would think, look how the
Lord's using me, look what I am. And may the Lord, the Lord knows
how to keep his preachers down. He knows how to keep his people
down as far as pride, but he knows, You know, somebody, I
don't know how many times people said, well, I don't want to make
you proud, but I said, don't worry about it. Lord knows how
to let me know just what I am. But a novice would be lifted
up with pride, and that would just, he couldn't preach that
way. Not a novice, unless being lifted
up with pride, he'd fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without.
lest he fall into the reproach and stare of the devil. He must
even be respected by unbelievers. They may hate his gospel, but
they're gonna respect him for what kind of man he is. That's
what that's talking about. He must have a good reputation
for those that are without. His life and integrity has to
command respect. Now, is there any doubt that
I have a hard job? a very difficult job. It's a calling. I'm not doing
this for a paycheck. It's a calling, but it's a hard
job with a hard responsibility. Now, if I am a pastor after God's
own heart, and that's what he said, he'd supply his church
with pastors after his own heart. If I am a pastor after God's
own heart, follow me. Pray for me. I remember what
Paul said. He said, pray for me that utterance
might be given to me, that I might make known the mystery of the
gospel in all boldness. Pray for me that I'll be enabled
to do that. Remember me. Don't forget about
me. Esteem me highly and count me worthy of double honor. That's
what the scripture says to do. Be persuaded by me and submit
yourselves to me. And if I'm not this, if I'm not
a pastor after God's own heart, if I were you, I'd find somebody
who is. I would, because this is so important. This thing of
following a man. I'm not gonna follow a man who's
not following the Lord Jesus Christ. But if somebody's following
the Lord Jesus Christ, I can follow that man. And I can do
so easily. And let me say this also. I've
talked about how difficult it is to be a pastor. It's also
wonderful. It's a great blessing for my
life to be tied up with your life. People that I love, that
I dearly love, that I'm so thankful. Thankful that the Lord has caused
me to be the pastor of this place, to have this relationship with
you, you people that I love. I wouldn't go anywhere else for
any reason. I know that. I've proved that. I would not go anywhere else.
This is where I want to be, and I'm so thankful to be able to
pastor this church. But this is what a bishop must
be, and if I do not fit that description, I should not be
a bishop or a pastor. A bishop must be. And more than
anything else, a bishop must preach the gospel. That's why
we meet together, to hear the gospel preached. Let's pray together.