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Good morning.

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We are going to continue our study of 1 Timothy chapter 3, so I encourage you to get your
Bibles out and turn over to that passage, 1 Timothy chapter 3, as we continue our study of

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the qualifications of elders and the role of the eldership within the body of Christ.

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We're gonna begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our study.

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Our gracious God, Father and giver of all good and perfect gifts, we come before you
grateful for the safety that we've had through the storms that have rolled by.

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We pray also for those who have not had the safety that we have been blessed with.

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We pray that you will give them the ability to recover from

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the effects of the storm.

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We pray that you will bless those who are endeavoring to help with the recovery from the
storms.

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We pray that you be with those who are working to provide aid to those who are in need.

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Lord, we are mindful of the struggles that exist in this life, some of them natural, some
of them manmade.

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We pray that you will help us as we all face the difficulties of this life.

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And then we might be mindful that while the difficulties of this life do present
challenges to us, that your word and your will and the grace that is provided through the

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salvation that is found in your Son is truly the thing that overcomes this life and gives
us assurance into the next.

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Lord, we pray that you be with this congregation as we prepare for the evangelism seminar.

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starting next week.

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We pray that we will have our minds set on the work that is before us, that we will be
receptive to being trained to teach others, to evangelize better, to be more effective in

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the things that we do.

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We pray that we might be diligent in applying these things within the congregation, within
our own lives, that we might be more

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faithful to you but also that we might be able to reach those who are lost and looking for
the truth.

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All this we pray and ask in Jesus name, amen.

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In 1 Timothy 3, Paul writes concerning elders.

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What was the very first thing that Paul said needed to be true in order for a man to be an
elder?

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He needed to what?

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desire the work.

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He needed to be one who had his mind set on this work and understood that and understands
that it is a work, it is a good work.

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But in order for someone to do the work, in order for someone to hold the

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position of an elder within the church.

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Paul says there's some qualifications that you have to meet.

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You'll notice that many of these qualifications are negatives.

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Many of these things are things that this individual cannot be this.

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He cannot have this characteristic.

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But then there are some of these characteristics that are positive attributes.

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He must be this.

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So we've examined a few of those as we've gone through verse two.

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We'll notice as well that verse two says, a bishop must then be blameless, the husband of
one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach.

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We noticed last week the sober-minded, temperate, and of good behavior qualifications, and
as we go beyond those, the next one that we run into is hospitable.

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Does this mean that the elder, in order to be qualified to be an elder, is someone who
needs to make sure that he's had every family member in the congregation over for dinner

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at least twice every year?

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Is that kind of the qualification?

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Is that what we're talking about?

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No.

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What is hospi- hospitality, let me get it in the right form.

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Hospitality in the-

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biblical sense.

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Where do we see examples of it where we could understand what this really means?

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Okay, here's a great example, the Good Samaritan.

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When you have Jesus's account of the Good Samaritan, there's here is a man who is
traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, he leaves Jerusalem, goes to Jericho while he's on

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the way, what happens to him?

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He's met by robbers, he's beaten, he's robbed, all of the things that he has are stolen
and he's left for dead.

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When the priest comes by on his way to Jerusalem and sees the man there on the side of the
road, what, according to Jesus' account, does the priest do?

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crosses to the other side and continues on.

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Now.

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What would have happened to the priest had the priest helped the man?

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Think about the priest's role.

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He would have been ceremonially unclean.

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Because if this man has been beaten and left for dead, and as we find throughout the
remainder of the text, the man had wounds and things that result from the attack.

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If the priest had touched those open wounds, if the blood of the individual had gotten on
the priest, if bodily fluids from the individual had gotten on the priest, he would have

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been unclean.

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Well, what if he's traveling to Jerusalem and it's the Sabbath day and he's got
responsibilities to take...

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Did Jesus give the priest an out because he was a priest?

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Did he give the priest an out because the law would have declared the priest unclean and
unable to function in the priesthood?

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No.

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So a Levite comes along, and the Levite sees the man.

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What does the Levite do?

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Levi passes by on the other side.

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And then a Samaritan comes by.

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Why do you think Jesus is talking about a Samaritan?

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Okay, he's not a Jew.

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Say again.

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Alright, the Jews couldn't stand the Samaritans.

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What was the question that was asked of Jesus that resulted in Jesus giving this account?

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Who is my neighbor?

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The lawyer had asked Jesus, who is my neighbor?

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And Jesus replies by telling the people standing there and the lawyer who asked the
question about this event, and he says, the good Samaritan comes by, he finds the man, he

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binds him up, he wraps him up, he puts him on his own donkey, and he carries him to the
inn.

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There he provides for the man by making sure that the innkeeper will take care of him and
assures the innkeeper that whatever cost the innkeeper incurs in order to provide for this

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man, he will cover it the next time he comes through.

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Now, draw out of the things that the Samaritan did, what is hospitality as seen in this
passage?

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All right?

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Providing for or taking care of a stranger.

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Somebody had something else.

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Alright, taking care of a person in need.

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So you have a stranger who is in need.

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Alright, what else?

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Only dealing with spiritual issues?

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Physical issues pertain to hospitality.

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What else?

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All right?

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So he was considering not just the immediate need of binding the individual up, not
letting him die on the side of the road, but also bearing the cost of providing for what

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the individual needs and looking ahead to the future cost of what this individual would
need in order to recover, in order to return back to a normal state.

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And he bore that cost as well.

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What else did he do?

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there as he finds the individual.

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What did he do?

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He had compassion.

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He bandaged his wounds, he took care of those physical needs.

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All right?

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So that's where my brain was going.

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He was riding his donkey.

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And he got off of his donkey.

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He put the man up on his donkey.

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He walked and allowed the other man to ride.

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So he inconvenienced himself so that the other man could endure the journey.

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to go to the inn in order to be taken care of.

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All of these things are pieces of a picture of hospitality.

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And Paul is telling Timothy, when you look at the man who is being considered to be an
elder, is this the type of thing that this man would do?

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Is this the type of character that this man embodies?

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Or is the character of the priest or the Levite who sees a person in need and goes around
on the other side because they cannot be inconvenienced with the need of a brother?

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But consider that the Samaritan wasn't a brother to the man who was beaten.

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See, the man who was beaten was a Jew.

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The Levite was his brother.

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The priest was his brother.

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The Samaritan wasn't.

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Samaritan wasn't a Jew.

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Samaritan was from a nation that that man's nation hated.

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Yet the Samaritan is the one who showed compassion.

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The Samaritan is the one who was acting as a neighbor to the man.

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As you consider this, consider that not only did the Samaritan do all of the things that
we described, the Samaritan set aside social norms and social hate that existed between

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two nations in order to do all of those things.

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He looked at an individual who was a stranger, he looked at an individual who was not of
his nationality, he looked at an individual who very well may have hated him in another

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scenario, and treated him like a brother.

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That's a picture of hospitality.

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What's another picture from the Old or New Testament?

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Abraham.

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So there's a number of different things that could be drawn into this.

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One of the ones that comes to mind immediately is when Abraham is there in the court of,
or the tent, that's what I'm trying to say, there in the tent in the heat of the day and

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he sees three men journeying.

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What does Abraham do when he sees the three men who are journeying?

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All right, the text specifically says that he runs to meet them.

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He goes to them quickly.

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Now, you might think, oh, I mean, some good, ambitious individual might get out and run to
meet.

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Bear in mind, Abraham's over 85 years old.

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Matter of fact, he's 99 years old when he runs to meet them.

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99-year-old man running to meet these men who are journeying by.

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Why do you think he went out to them?

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Just your conjecture, not looking for what the passage says because the passage doesn't
tell us, but why do think he went out to them instead of allowing them to come to him?

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All right?

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Desire to offer them hospitality?

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The desire to make sure they knew that they could stop there?

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You know, if you ever go hiking or out somewhere in the outdoors and you see somebody
else's camp as you're going along the path, do you immediately assume that you're welcome

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to come sit down with their camp?

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Probably not.

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Unless they come and say, hey, come on over, have a seat, here's a cup of coffee.

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He invited them in.

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You ever wonder why there's more people who've never stepped foot inside of a church
building and sat down at a worship service?

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Maybe it's because they've never been invited.

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They don't just assume, well, there's a building.

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I there's a lot of buildings in Memphis.

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I don't just walk into all of them.

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Why?

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I don't know if I have any business being there.

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And other people might not want me there.

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So Abraham runs out to meet them.

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What does he do after he greets them?

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Alright, so as Eddie pointed out, everything that the passage talks of him doing, he does
in haste.

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He runs to meet them.

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He goes to quickly prepare the food.

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He goes to make sure that the preparations are made.

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And then he stands by and serves them.

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He does all of this so as to not inconvenience them, yet to provide for them.

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So Abraham is in consideration of their needs, but also their own desires, their own need
to go, they weren't coming to him in Abraham's mind, though in sense they were, but they

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were going past him to somewhere else.

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So he provided for what they needed, he pleaded with them to accept his hospitality, and
then as the food is provided,

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and it is brought out for them to eat as they are eating, Abraham is standing by as a
servant to serve them.

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They're eating, he's standing by.

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There was a quote that I heard this last week and apparently it comes out of the Marine
Corps, but this individual who was a former Marine, she said,

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You know, in the Marines we understand something, that leaders eat last, but leaders
always eat.

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She was talking about the fact that you have to take care of yourself if you're going to
actually provide for others.

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But Abraham stands by as they are eating.

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And all of these events transpire because Abraham has a character of hospitality.

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This has never given the impression that this just happened to be the only time Abraham
ever did this.

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Now if you go over to the book of Hebrews and you look there in Hebrews chapter 1 about
the reference, and I believe it references this particular occasion, that there are times

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in which individuals unknowingly entertained angels.

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Abraham didn't make this choice because he knew there was something special about these
three men.

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Abraham did what it was Abraham's practice to do.

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And God knew it was Abraham's practice to do it.

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And God would use that occasion to be able to tell Abraham concerning the fact that within
a year, he and Sarah would have a child.

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But also to inform him concerning why the angels were headed to Sodom.

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Hospitality involves things like food.

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It does.

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It goes way beyond that.

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It goes to providing for needs.

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It goes to providing for needs that someone will not even ask for, but you know it's a
need.

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It goes to doing things for others, not asking for anything in return.

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to the company.

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Absolutely, so the idea of a lover of people, a lover of hospitality as seen over in
Titus, bear in mind that one of the things that a hospitable person who has this

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characteristic is part of their mindset is that they understand we are created by God.

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You know, there's the line from the Declaration of Independence that all men

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are created equal.

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But do all men have an equal distribution of this world's goods?

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Do all men have an equal distribution of this world's resources?

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No.

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And yet, this, that's an expectation that the individual who meets this qualification
doesn't care if someone's rich or poor.

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He doesn't care if they're Jew or Gentile.

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Rather, He is one who exhibits the love of men toward them.

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It really goes back to what was the second greatest commandment in the law according to
Christ.

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thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Which, by the way, was the reason why the lawyer
had asked, well, who is my neighbor?

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Because Jesus had said this is the second greatest commandment in the law.

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And the lawyer wanted to know, well, who do I have to do that to?

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And Jesus makes it clear in the account of the Good Samaritan, you have to do it to
anyone.

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who you come near who is in that scenario.

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But then he says, not only must an elder or one who's being considered for this position
be one who is hospitable, one who is sober minded, one who is of good behavior, but he

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must be able, or the King James says apt, to teach.

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The term here doesn't mean one who gives public lessons, okay?

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That's not just the idea behind this.

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This is one who is diligent in teaching.

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There is a need for elders to teach.

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There is a need in a leadership role because remember, the function of an elder is the
function of a shepherd.

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How did the Old Testament shepherds lead their sheep?

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with their voice.

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The sheep heard their voice and followed them.

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Jesus and Paul have already made it clear that if you're going to be a shepherd, your
voice must be heard in the congregation.

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But Paul is making it clear this individual must be able and prone and habitually one who
is a teacher of others.

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Here's a man.

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who sees someone who's destitute.

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and out of the compassion of their heart, they provide the food and the raiment that the
person needs.

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because they have a loving heart.

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but they never bothered to tell them anything about how to be a Christian.

220
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So they've provided their earthly needs, but ignored their greatest need.

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Have they truly shown the hospitality and brought out the characteristics of a godly
elder?

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No, because they left them spiritually destitute while physically provided for.

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When Jesus taught, did he always teach in public?

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No.

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Did Jesus often teach in private?

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Yes.

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Were the lessons that Jesus taught in public the most important ones and the lessons he
taught in private the least important ones?

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No, not at all.

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You go read John chapter 14, 15, 16, those are all in private.

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Those are all with the disciples in the upper room.

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The passage where Jesus says, a new commandment I give you that you love as I have loved
you, that is a private teaching where we find that recorded.

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The emphasis of being a shepherd is this person must be publicly in front of the
congregation.

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The emphasis of this person must be apt to teach is this person must have made it a
pattern of life that they are a teacher of others,

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and that they will do so wherever the opportunity is found.

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A reluctance to teach from a man who is holding the position of an elder is a problem.

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An inability to teach is an even greater problem.

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Turn back to the book of Ezra.

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In Ezra chapter 7 and verse 8, Ezra is coming to Jerusalem.

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And as Ezra records it, we read in verse 8, and Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month,
which was in the seventh year of the king.

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On the first day of the first month, he began his journey from Babylon.

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And on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem.

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according to the good hand of his God upon him.

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00:26:36,919 --> 00:26:50,635
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach
statutes and ordinances in Israel."

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This passage encapsulates what an elder should have been doing to prepare himself for the
role of an elder.

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Because the first thing that Ezra did is he prepared his heart to do it.

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00:27:11,853 --> 00:27:21,393
He set his mind, his decision-making process, and his affections on God and the people.

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Ezra didn't prepare his heart to teach so that Ezra could be lifted up in front of the
people.

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00:27:29,535 --> 00:27:35,616
Ezra prepared his heart to teach because the people needed a shepherd.

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00:27:36,597 --> 00:27:41,898
They needed someone who could tell them the laws and the ordinances of God.

250
00:27:43,233 --> 00:27:52,521
And Ezra's going to fulfill that role, but Ezra didn't wait until it was time to fulfill
the role to start getting ready for the role.

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had Ezra waited until it was time to actually become a teacher to start learning how to
become a teacher, Ezra wouldn't have been able to fulfill the role.

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We need in the body of Christ more men who are not aiming to be full-time employed
preachers of the gospel,

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but are diligently preparing themselves to be elders in the church.

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00:28:24,141 --> 00:28:28,696
Because I'll be honest with you, in all my years growing up and all the congregations I've
been in,

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been in a lot of congregations and I've been in a lot of places in this country and other
places.

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And the thing that the church is needing the most are prepared and qualified elders, not
preachers.

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A prepared and qualified elder and a prepared and qualified eldership can create a
preacher.

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They can raise a preacher.

259
00:28:57,215 --> 00:28:59,597
They can teach someone to preach.

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00:29:00,845 --> 00:29:07,828
But it takes a whole lot longer to prepare a man for an eldership position.

261
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And if his heart has not been set on that, if his heart has not been set on preparing
himself to be able to teach, to be able to function, to be able to serve, long before it's

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ever time to do it, he won't be.

263
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You do not find elders

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00:29:30,785 --> 00:29:35,847
who decided a year or two ago that they'd like to be an elder.

265
00:29:35,888 --> 00:29:37,188
Doesn't happen.

266
00:29:37,629 --> 00:29:48,895
You find elders among men who decided two decades before that the church needed good
shepherds.

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And they prepared themselves to fill that role.

268
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Paul says that this one who is going to be an elder

269
00:30:00,909 --> 00:30:03,649
is one who is going to be hospitable.

270
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He is one who is able and apt to teach.

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He is not given to wine.

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00:30:12,069 --> 00:30:21,489
Now, in the text, the not given to wine phrase does not have the word wine anywhere in it.

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This is an occasion where the translators tried to give you a meaning

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instead of a direct translation, okay?

275
00:30:34,296 --> 00:30:40,360
The word here in the Greek is literally not a brawler.

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00:30:41,621 --> 00:30:51,067
Not someone who is involved in carousing and drunkenness and brawling and fighting.

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00:30:51,067 --> 00:30:59,553
He is not of a character of an individual who is embodying that type of person.

278
00:31:00,619 --> 00:31:03,911
The word wine isn't in this passage.

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If it were, it would be appropriate because that is part of what the word carries with it.

280
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One who is a drunkard and as a result is a brawler.

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But the reason why it's important to recognize that is because people will come to verse
three and they'll say, the elder is not given to wine.

282
00:31:26,447 --> 00:31:29,909
And then they'll come down to verse eight and they'll read,

283
00:31:29,909 --> 00:31:36,308
The deacon is not given too much wine and they'll say, see, this is a difference of
degree.

284
00:31:38,175 --> 00:31:44,351
No, it's not a difference of degree because the word wine's not in verse three.

285
00:31:45,173 --> 00:31:47,915
This is the characteristic of a brawler.

286
00:31:48,176 --> 00:32:00,628
This is the characteristic of one who is not given to a character of life that is the
embodiment of one who is a drunkard, a brawler, a carouser.

287
00:32:04,929 --> 00:32:17,614
Furthermore, and we'll deal with this more when we get to Deacons, but the qualification
of not giving too much wine has some discussion that needs to happen around it.

288
00:32:18,034 --> 00:32:25,937
For instance, when Paul gives the instructions to not be overly evil,

289
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What do you think he means?

290
00:32:29,737 --> 00:32:33,057
means just only be evil a little bit, right?

291
00:32:33,997 --> 00:32:38,277
Keep your evil to a minimum and God will be fine with it.

292
00:32:38,277 --> 00:32:40,217
Just be casual.

293
00:32:40,217 --> 00:32:44,417
I tell you what, be socially evil, right?

294
00:32:44,417 --> 00:32:49,277
As long as you're just socially evil, God's fine.

295
00:32:49,697 --> 00:32:51,657
Just don't be overly evil.

296
00:32:52,097 --> 00:32:54,049
No, that's not what the passage means.

297
00:32:54,049 --> 00:32:56,150
That's not what the context carries with it.

298
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The context of both of these passages is the character of an elder, the character of a
deacon is that they are not overcome with wine.

299
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They are not ones who participate in alcoholic beverages.

300
00:33:13,634 --> 00:33:19,796
They are those who have their heart and mind set on spiritual things.

301
00:33:20,276 --> 00:33:23,457
And their entire character demonstrates it.

302
00:33:23,999 --> 00:33:26,470
Now, go further with this.

303
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He says he is not, and as it's translated in the New King James, not given to wine.

304
00:33:37,875 --> 00:33:50,821
As the passage is translated, the emphasis is this man has not given himself over to the
lust of the flesh.

305
00:33:51,853 --> 00:34:03,833
This is an individual who has done the opposite of this if we were to go through the
passage and we were to consider some of these knots.

306
00:34:04,573 --> 00:34:07,853
All right, let's do this for a moment just as a mental exercise.

307
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The next one is not violent.

308
00:34:11,433 --> 00:34:17,933
Do we think that the meaning of that is this man is only moderately violent?

309
00:34:19,721 --> 00:34:29,266
Or do we mean here's violent, a violent individual and this person is the polar opposite
of that?

310
00:34:29,907 --> 00:34:38,271
As you consider the negatives, this is not Paul saying don't be an extreme violent person.

311
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He's saying this person could not be characterized as a violent person.

312
00:34:46,556 --> 00:34:47,947
Consider further.

313
00:34:47,947 --> 00:34:50,538
He says, not greedy for money.

314
00:34:51,290 --> 00:34:58,986
well, this man is moderately greedy, but he does keep it tamped down.

315
00:34:58,986 --> 00:35:08,173
You know, he won't beat you and rob you and steal from you, but he might not necessarily
make the transaction work out in your best interest.

316
00:35:09,775 --> 00:35:12,016
Is that the character of an elder?

317
00:35:12,998 --> 00:35:13,958
No.

318
00:35:14,279 --> 00:35:17,141
You see, with all of these negatives,

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Paul is saying the polar opposite of the negative is the picture of the elder.

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00:35:25,477 --> 00:35:41,712
And as we find this picture of one who is given to wine, his life has been handed over and
is controlled by the lusts, the desires of the flesh.

321
00:35:42,477 --> 00:35:47,917
He has given his thought process over to intoxication.

322
00:35:48,137 --> 00:35:53,757
He has given his decision-making process over to the flesh.

323
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Paul says, no, no, no, no, no.

324
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The elder is the polar opposite of that.

325
00:35:59,277 --> 00:36:03,577
He is one who has already been described as temperate.

326
00:36:03,577 --> 00:36:07,057
He is one who has already been described as sober-minded.

327
00:36:07,057 --> 00:36:09,917
He is one who would never

328
00:36:10,119 --> 00:36:15,184
give his mind over to the flesh.

329
00:36:15,367 --> 00:36:17,311
Turn over to the book of Ephesians.

330
00:36:31,757 --> 00:36:47,320
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 13, Paul as he is writing to the church at Ephesus says, see
then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.

331
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,645
What does the word circumspectly mean?

332
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All right, carefully considering is the idea that you, we were to visualize this, if you
were to walk down a beach and you turn around and you look at your footprints in the sand

333
00:37:12,716 --> 00:37:26,165
and you study the path that you walked, this is an individual who looks at his steps in
character and in life and examines them.

334
00:37:26,227 --> 00:37:31,061
so as to see whether or not they match what God would have him to do.

335
00:37:31,762 --> 00:37:42,151
He is one who is self-aware of his actions, who is moderating and controlling his actions.

336
00:37:42,151 --> 00:37:44,113
He is not a fool.

337
00:37:44,113 --> 00:37:46,795
He is a wise person.

338
00:37:47,617 --> 00:37:52,580
But he then says, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

339
00:37:53,035 --> 00:37:58,832
Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

340
00:37:58,832 --> 00:38:02,636
You have a series of parallels here.

341
00:38:03,667 --> 00:38:07,439
In contrast, you have someone who walks circumspectly.

342
00:38:07,439 --> 00:38:10,021
Contrast of that is he's a fool.

343
00:38:10,021 --> 00:38:13,462
Or the contrasting individual is a fool.

344
00:38:13,643 --> 00:38:15,123
This person is wise.

345
00:38:15,123 --> 00:38:25,109
You have the one who is not being unwise, but rather, contrast of that, the one who knows
the will of the Lord.

346
00:38:25,453 --> 00:38:35,673
Here is an individual who has trained himself, who has nurtured in himself the knowledge
of what would God have me to do.

347
00:38:36,273 --> 00:38:40,113
And he is called a wise person.

348
00:38:40,341 --> 00:38:43,084
because he is contrasted with an unwise person.

349
00:38:43,084 --> 00:38:50,570
So notice he says, that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the
time because the days are evil.

350
00:38:50,570 --> 00:38:54,234
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

351
00:38:54,234 --> 00:39:03,201
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

352
00:39:03,662 --> 00:39:07,185
Paul continues his contrast.

353
00:39:08,447 --> 00:39:21,587
And in continuing the contrast, he said, circumspect, unwise, knows the will of the Lord.

354
00:39:22,128 --> 00:39:24,169
What was the one in this passage?

355
00:39:27,807 --> 00:39:32,016
Drunk with wine, filled with the spirit.

356
00:39:33,965 --> 00:39:37,227
Can you be a fool and a wise person at the same time?

357
00:39:38,648 --> 00:39:40,669
No, you cannot.

358
00:39:41,530 --> 00:39:46,252
Can you be a circumspect person and a fool at the same time?

359
00:39:47,833 --> 00:39:49,634
No, you can't.

360
00:39:50,595 --> 00:39:54,197
Can you be drunk with wine and filled with the spirit at the same time?

361
00:39:55,438 --> 00:39:57,379
No, you can't.

362
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:00,973
Paul has set diam...

363
00:40:00,973 --> 00:40:05,216
diametrically opposed physicians three points in a row.

364
00:40:06,097 --> 00:40:16,264
And he says the person who's given himself over to wine, he is diametrically opposed to
being filled with the Spirit of God.

365
00:40:17,385 --> 00:40:27,913
So much so that you see in this picture that the more the man is filled with wine, the
less the Spirit is involved in his life.

366
00:40:29,621 --> 00:40:31,162
It's a direction.

367
00:40:31,642 --> 00:40:36,665
Here's an individual who says, like the direction of alcohol.

368
00:40:37,005 --> 00:40:39,686
Then he's headed the opposite direction of God.

369
00:40:40,847 --> 00:40:51,193
Now notice he says, do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with
the spirit speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and

370
00:40:51,193 --> 00:40:53,534
making melody in your heart to the Lord.

371
00:40:54,855 --> 00:40:59,277
There should be an appreciation that the polar eye

372
00:40:59,277 --> 00:41:06,348
opposite of one who gives themselves over to alcohol is one who worships God.

373
00:41:11,307 --> 00:41:21,124
There are way too many people in the religious world, and unfortunately there are some
within the body of Christ, who will argue you can drink Saturday night and show up at

374
00:41:21,124 --> 00:41:22,856
worship on Sunday morning.

375
00:41:24,661 --> 00:41:28,166
You can party on Friday night and be at worship on Sunday morning.

376
00:41:29,028 --> 00:41:31,170
And everything's just grand.

377
00:41:31,993 --> 00:41:34,235
Scripture says not a chance in the world.

378
00:41:34,837 --> 00:41:40,583
As a matter of fact, you'll all the way back to Leviticus chapter 10, and we'll close
here, but Leviticus chapter 10.

379
00:41:42,513 --> 00:41:56,592
as the Old Testament Tabernacle is consecrated and set in order and the very first worship
service of the Old Testament Tabernacle is occurring.

380
00:41:58,785 --> 00:42:05,933
Fire comes down from heaven and kills Nadab and Abihu, two of the sons of Aaron, two of
the priests.

381
00:42:08,223 --> 00:42:16,532
I was asked recently, because I made a comment in a conversation that the reason they were
killed is because they were drunk.

382
00:42:18,317 --> 00:42:21,501
And somebody said, I read it and I don't know where that is.

383
00:42:21,522 --> 00:42:25,086
I didn't see that, you know, in the text.

384
00:42:25,086 --> 00:42:26,467
I said, it's there.

385
00:42:27,530 --> 00:42:29,732
You gotta pay attention to what happens.

386
00:42:30,254 --> 00:42:33,197
Fire comes down from heaven and kills Nate Abinabaihu.

387
00:42:35,039 --> 00:42:40,204
And then Aaron and Moses stand back.

388
00:42:41,995 --> 00:42:49,098
and then instruction is given for the cousins of the brothers to come and carry their
bodies away.

389
00:42:51,497 --> 00:42:56,342
And Moses tells Aaron and his brothers, you do not mourn.

390
00:42:56,823 --> 00:42:58,925
You do not tear your clothes.

391
00:42:59,046 --> 00:43:02,129
You are consecrated before the people.

392
00:43:02,129 --> 00:43:07,294
You allow all the rest of the people to mourn the loss of your two brothers.

393
00:43:07,595 --> 00:43:13,011
But you don't do it because you are standing consecrated before the Lord.

394
00:43:15,507 --> 00:43:19,392
and then around verse eight or nine

395
00:43:21,098 --> 00:43:39,779
Moses, sorry, in the text, the Lord speaks directly to Aaron and the Lord tells Aaron that
no priest is to touch wine nor strong drink when he is in the service of the tabernacle,

396
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:46,984
that he might know the difference between that which is holy and that which is common.

397
00:43:49,664 --> 00:43:51,805
What's that tell us about what just happened?

398
00:43:52,606 --> 00:44:02,592
Nate Abedimahue offered fire that was profane or common instead of the fire that was
supposed to be offered which was holy.

399
00:44:03,974 --> 00:44:19,572
And God speaks from heaven to Aaron on that occasion and says, do not drink wine as priest
because you will not be able to discern between that which is holy.

400
00:44:19,572 --> 00:44:21,335
and that which is common.

401
00:44:22,681 --> 00:44:27,531
You have a direct point being made.

402
00:44:29,490 --> 00:44:37,187
as much as you have alcohol in you, you are diminished in your ability to serve God.

403
00:44:37,988 --> 00:44:39,869
And it's a direct correlation.

404
00:44:40,731 --> 00:44:49,618
So, an elder, would he ever desire to do anything that would diminish his ability to serve
God?

405
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:52,661
No, it's not in his character.

406
00:44:53,383 --> 00:44:55,274
It's not in his mindset.

407
00:44:56,222 --> 00:44:59,094
And so we see the picture here of an elder.

408
00:44:59,094 --> 00:45:00,094
That's all the time we have.

409
00:45:00,094 --> 00:45:02,246
Thank you for your attention and we'll be dismissed.

410
00:45:02,246 --> 00:45:09,140
We'll carry on with this not next week because Rob will be here for our evangelism
seminar, but we'll be picking it up the week after.

411
00:45:09,140 --> 00:45:10,250
Thank you very much.