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Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to 1 Timothy chapter 3.

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1 Timothy chapter 3 is where we'll be taking our study from this morning as we get into
the qualifications of elders.

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So let's begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get started in our study.

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Our dear Lord, God and Father of mankind, we come before you grateful for the day that
you've given to us and the life that we have.

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the blessings and the opportunities that we have to worship and to praise your name, to
glorify you for truly you are worthy of that glory.

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We pray that you will be with us as we go through this period of study.

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May the things that we say and do be those things which are right in your sight.

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May we be encouraged and edified by the letters that the Spirit gave through the apostles
to the first century church that we might know how to live, how to work, and how to remain

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steadfast and faithful in your body.

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Lord, we pray for the work of the church throughout the world that they have boldness and
open doors of opportunity to preach the gospel, but also that they have willingness

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and we have willingness to teach and preach the truth.

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

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Ahem.

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What's the first description of elders that we noticed in our study?

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Shepherds.

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In 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul doesn't use directly the word shepherd.

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What term of description does Paul use for this role in the first century church according
to 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1?

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Bishop.

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And what did we say bishop means?

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Overseer, okay?

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The idea and probably the closest English term by way of description that we could use is
superintendent.

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Someone who watches over the work of others, okay?

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but overseer is one of the terms used to describe elders.

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you could, and we use the term elder to describe elders.

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What, and we'll get into this more as we get into the qualifications, but what does the
term elder mean?

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Well, but the word itself.

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All right, have you ever seen someone who's a Mormon walk up to your door and they have
elder so and so when they're 17 years old?

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They're not using the word right, okay?

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Elder by definition means older, okay?

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It's part of the description which connects not to their role but to their

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age, their position as a result of age.

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So to have a man who is 20 be an elder, he better be an elder over a group of people who
are all 12.

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At that point he's the elder, all right?

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When Jesus used the term the elder brother, what did we come to surmise about that?

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that of the two brothers, he was the older one.

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It didn't necessarily mean he was walking around with gray hair.

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It meant he was older, okay?

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So the term in and of itself is descriptive of an attribute of elders.

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They are to be those who are older.

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We'll see that somewhat in the text.

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Now, of course, that will eventually lead someone to say,

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But how old do you have to be?

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Deal with that when we get to it.

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so overseer, bishop.

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Shepherd, one who leads, guards, protects, cares for, nourishes, feeds the flock.

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elder, one who is older.

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Okay?

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So these are all descriptions of the same position.

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What about the term pastor?

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Okay, it is an elder, not a preacher, but the term pastor is just the same term for
shepherd.

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That's what a pastor is.

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It's a word that means shepherd, which in a sense, hold on for a minute, in a sense is the
work of a minister and a preacher that which...

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Shepherds, a flock, guides, leads, teaches, cares for.

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Yes, but it also happens to be the role of ministering to the flock, right?

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Do we use the word ministers for a preacher?

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All right, but in the Greek, the word minister is deacon.

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The word deacon means servant or minister.

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So is a preacher a deacon?

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No, not by way of role.

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But do they serve and minister to the flock?

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Yes.

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Are some of the roles and responsibilities and functions of a preacher those roles and
responsibility and functions which will shepherd a flock?

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Yes, but not with the authority of the role of an elder.

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Okay?

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and this is, I'm bringing this up for reason.

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What was the role of the elder by way of the term bishop?

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The term bishop means to oversee the work of others.

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If the bishop is overseeing the work, does that imply that someone else is doing the work?

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Yes.

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So when someone is overseeing a shepherd, then there is a shepherd who is under them who
is shepherding, right?

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Right?

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Shake your head this way.

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It's right, all right?

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If there is a chief shepherd, and there is, Jesus, are there shepherds who are shepherding
under the chief shepherd?

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Have you ever seen the pictures of a child playing all by himself?

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And the mother comes and says, sweetheart, what are you playing?

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Indians?

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Who are you?

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I'm the chief?

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He's playing by himself.

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Chief over what?

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All right?

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There are no more Indians.

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He's not chief over it.

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So in order for there to be a chief shepherd, there must be shepherds beneath the
shepherd.

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In order for shepherds to be overseers in regards to shepherding, there would have to be
someone under them who is doing what?

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The work.

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But does the worker have the same authority, role, and responsibility as the shepherd, the
chief shepherd, or the elders in this case, the bishops?

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The overseer has the greater responsibility, though there can be those under him who are
doing the work.

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This is important because sometimes

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Someone will use a term and they mean the role, but when they really should be using it,
they should be talking about the action, okay?

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Let's differentiate this just a little bit more.

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Are there some words that define a role in the noun sense in English and some words, the
same word is a verb, means you're doing an action?

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Okay, so for the role, who is a shepherd in the structure of the church of God?

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The noun sense of the word.

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An elder.

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Is a preacher a shepherd in the church in the noun sense of the word of role?

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No, not unless he is both a preacher and an elder.

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Do we have any biblical examples of someone who is both a preacher and an elder?

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Yes, we have at least three.

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Anybody name a few of them?

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not Paul, Peter, John, and James the brother of Christ.

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James was an elder in Jerusalem.

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James was also clearly a minister and a preacher and the writer of the book of James.

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So James the brother of Jesus would become an elder, would also be a minister.

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a teacher fits in across all of them, okay?

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I bring this up because...

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If someone says, hey, Pastor Aaron,

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Am I a pastor by way of the noun role?

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in the body of Christ here in Collierville?

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Am I an elder?

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No.

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Do I, to a degree, by way of teaching and instruction, feed and shepherd the flock by way
of leading the flock in Collierville?

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Yes.

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So in the verb sense of pastoring or shepherding or leading and feeding, I'm...

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kind of like the hireling sense of a pastor in the sense that I'm the guy who the shepherd
says, go take the feed over there and feed that part of the flock that food.

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That guy's not the shepherd by way of roller authority.

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He's the one going and handing out the food, right?

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He's not the shepherd, but he is.

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helping the shepherd fulfill the role, okay?

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I only bring this up because sometimes we get in very nuanced arguments with people about
words that they don't have a clue what we're talking about.

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Because they've always heard the word used the wrong way.

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And they have no definition in their mind about the difference between a role and
authority.

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and a work and carrying out the work.

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So, when an elder in a body of Christ has a deacon whose role is to go and make sure the
widows are being fed,

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Is that feeding of the widows and caring for the widows part of the role and
responsibility of a shepherd?

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Yes.

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And are they fulfilling that by acting out that role through the work of the deacon?

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Yes.

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But who's making sure that the widows get fed?

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The elder or the deacon?

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The deacon is.

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He's taking on the responsibility, reporting back to the elder.

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The elder is overseeing the work.

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Turn to Acts chapter 6.

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We'll get into chapter 3 verse 2 in a minute.

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Acts chapter 6.

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Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, verse 1, there arose a
complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the

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daily distribution.

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Then the twelve...twelve who?

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Apostles, okay?

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So the apostles are currently leading the church in the first century in Jerusalem.

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All the church basically is in Jerusalem at this point in time.

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The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we
should leave the word of God and serve tables.

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What are they saying?

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when they say it is not desirable.

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Okay, it is not in the best interests of the Church.

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They're not saying, you know what, we've never really envisioned ourselves as those who
wait on people.

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No, that's not it.

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They're not talking about their own desire for it.

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They're talking about what is desirable for accomplishing the work of the Church.

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It's not desirable, it's not good, it is not appropriate that the 12 of us

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who are the apostles of Christ leave off the work of being apostles to go wait tables.

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It's not appropriate.

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So they say, therefore brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation,
full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

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What if they had said, you know what, it's not appropriate for us

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as apostles to be waiting tables, so you know what?

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We're just not going to fix the problem.

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Would they have been properly shepherding the church?

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No, they would have become like those shepherds that Ezekiel accused, that they are only
interested in one thing and they don't take care of the poor and the needy and the lame

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and the sick and the hungry.

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They're neglecting their responsibility, not fulfilling it.

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So they have to provide for the need, but do they have to do it themselves?

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No, okay.

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One of the roles of a shepherd, talking about actual sheep, is to feed the sheep.

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Does that mean the shepherd has to feed each sheep by hand?

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No, what can the shepherd do?

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He could delegate.

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He could lead them into pastures where there's food that they could graze upon.

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He could do all sorts of things without feeding them by hand.

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Now, as you'll notice here, verse 4 says, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer
and to the ministry of the Word.

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There are some things that only we can do in the way they need to be done.

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So we're gonna focus on that and we're gonna delegate this work to these individuals who
you, the assembly of the church in Jerusalem, bring forward.

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We're going to appoint them to the work.

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So notice what happens.

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Yeah.

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Right.

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So the idea is it's not reasonable.

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It's not appropriate.

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Now, he says, or we read in verse 5, and the saying pleased the whole multitude.

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And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and
Prochorus, and Nicanor, Teman, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they

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set

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before the apostles and when they had prayed they laid hands on them then the word of God
spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of

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the priests were obedient to the faith."

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In this passage, you will find the apostles delegating responsibility.

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Now, they set qualifications for the men who would fulfill the responsibility because they
needed these men to be able to take this over and handle it and do it right.

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So they had to be men who were full of faith.

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They had to meet qualifications, but they handed the responsibility over to those men

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and what happened as a result.

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you look at the verses that we just ended with and consider it in the context to be a
result of solving this problem, then the result was then the Word of God spread and the

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number of the disciples multiplied.

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What would have happened, potentially, had the apostles stopped preaching the Word and
started feeding people at tables?

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the Church would not have multiplied because the thing they needed to be doing, they
weren't doing.

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Now, the reason why this is so important...

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is because in too many congregations, you've got elders that are spending an abundance of
their time taking care of the building, mowing the lawn.

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Making sure that the widows are taken care of.

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Making sure that the benevolence is taking place.

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Are any of those things bad things?

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Are any of those things things that elders should not do if they have the ability and the
availability to do them?

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No, there's nothing bad about them doing them unless, of course, they're not then
shepherding.

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They're not actually doing the work of overseeing because they're so busy doing the work
of manual labor.

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Now, those two things, the manual labor and the overseeing, can definitely be joined at
the hip.

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Can you oversee something you never actually pay any attention to or never have any
involvement in?

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No.

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What if Michael over here is responsible for an elevator and making sure the elevator gets
built right and it's found out he's never actually looked at the elevator?

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that'd be bad.

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Well, he just trusted his guys to do it right.

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He's been sitting back at the houses doing other things.

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He sweeped the shop floor back at the warehouse.

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Well, the shop floor needed to be swept, not in replacement of making sure the elevator
was right.

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You've got oversight.

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You've got to lay eyes on it.

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Now, as we go through this, what we're trying to draw out is what is the role of an
overseer?

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And why does that matter to a degree when you meet someone, especially from a
denominational background, where everybody and their brother is some sort of pastor?

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and they don't know what the word means.

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And they don't differentiate the work of helping a flock with the role and responsibility
and authority of an elder.

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Then you have other churches who they flop the terms and the deacons get the role and
responsibility of elders and elders are under the deacons.

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It's like, have you not read this book?

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But when you're talking with someone, when you're studying with someone, when you're
having a casual conversation with someone, and they use the wrong term, and this happens,

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it never happens to me more than at funeral homes, because you never know what you're
gonna get called when you walk into a funeral home by the directors of the funeral home.

221
00:22:58,424 --> 00:23:02,057
You're gonna get called any sort of thing if you're a preacher.

222
00:23:02,643 --> 00:23:07,974
I've been called Reverend, I've been called Pastor, and it depends on which part of the
country you're in.

223
00:23:07,974 --> 00:23:11,059
You're gonna get called one thing more than another depending on where you are.

224
00:23:14,027 --> 00:23:21,193
But do I need to stop every time someone calls me the wrong thing, which I'm not, and
correct them?

225
00:23:23,723 --> 00:23:27,895
Would it be helpful for their Bible knowledge if I did?

226
00:23:29,096 --> 00:23:32,328
Maybe, but it might be the last conversation I have with them.

227
00:23:32,328 --> 00:23:35,540
Was it the most important thing I could talk to them about?

228
00:23:36,401 --> 00:23:37,321
No.

229
00:23:38,482 --> 00:23:50,129
There's a point in time where when you know something is the right way and someone
describes it the wrong way, you don't have to correct everybody who describes it the wrong

230
00:23:50,129 --> 00:23:50,769
way.

231
00:23:51,571 --> 00:23:56,504
until you first address all of the bigger issues they may have.

232
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Which is part of the reason why as you're studying the Bible with someone, I did have a
reason for bringing all this up.

233
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When you're studying the Bible with someone, especially in a personal Bible study, it is
very important we get closer to our evangelism training next month.

234
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It is incredibly important.

235
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It's something I love that Rob

236
00:24:20,196 --> 00:24:21,806
really highlights.

237
00:24:23,703 --> 00:24:26,764
that you don't chase rabbits.

238
00:24:28,715 --> 00:24:44,499
Because the most important thing for a person who's lost is not to understand the
difference between a reverend and a pastor and an elder and a bishop and a presbyter.

239
00:24:44,499 --> 00:24:46,931
That's whole nother word we haven't gotten into yet.

240
00:24:48,813 --> 00:24:51,973
That's not their most important issue, is it?

241
00:24:52,653 --> 00:24:55,733
For a person who's lost, what is their most important issue?

242
00:24:57,761 --> 00:25:01,191
They're lost and they need to be saved.

243
00:25:03,361 --> 00:25:21,467
So when you're studying with someone, when you're talking with someone, and your goal is
to get them to open up the Word of God and actually read it and actually understand it for

244
00:25:21,467 --> 00:25:23,868
themselves, guess what?

245
00:25:23,868 --> 00:25:27,429
You can let a whole lot of topics wait.

246
00:25:32,541 --> 00:25:37,769
If they're willing to open it up and study for themselves, they'll eventually teach
themselves.

247
00:25:38,392 --> 00:25:46,515
They'll eventually apply the learning that they have and they'll start understanding the
difference between this term and another term and another term.

248
00:25:48,193 --> 00:26:02,104
but until you can get them in the book and get them to start studying for themselves and
get them into Christ where they both have grace and salvation, all the effort talking to

249
00:26:02,104 --> 00:26:13,653
them about the proper way to worship, all the effort talking to them about the proper
structure of the church and correcting all of their misunderstandings.

250
00:26:13,653 --> 00:26:15,915
I'm not talking about informing them about what the Bible says.

251
00:26:15,915 --> 00:26:17,938
I'm talking about trying to correct every

252
00:26:17,938 --> 00:26:20,542
misconception that they have.

253
00:26:22,999 --> 00:26:34,729
would have been better spent talking to them about being saved, would have been better
spent talking to them about how they need to change their life to conform to God, and how

254
00:26:34,729 --> 00:26:40,103
they need to open God's Word and actually allow it to measure their lives.

255
00:26:40,885 --> 00:26:41,725
Because guess what?

256
00:26:41,725 --> 00:26:51,133
When you show someone how to use a ruler, and then you show someone how to use a measuring
tape,

257
00:26:51,765 --> 00:26:54,046
Is there only one thing they can measure?

258
00:26:55,546 --> 00:26:57,427
no, they can measure all sorts of things with it.

259
00:26:57,427 --> 00:26:59,427
Because you taught them how to use the device.

260
00:26:59,427 --> 00:27:01,128
You taught them how to use the ruler.

261
00:27:01,708 --> 00:27:06,109
So they can use the measuring tape and measure a church building.

262
00:27:06,269 --> 00:27:09,390
And they can use the measuring tape and measure a piece of furniture.

263
00:27:09,390 --> 00:27:13,071
They can use the measuring tape and measure an object in their car.

264
00:27:13,071 --> 00:27:15,992
They can use the measuring tape and measure something they're building.

265
00:27:15,992 --> 00:27:16,412
Why?

266
00:27:16,412 --> 00:27:18,813
Because you taught them how to use the measuring tape.

267
00:27:19,777 --> 00:27:22,429
What if you measure everything for them and never tell them how it's done?

268
00:27:24,011 --> 00:27:26,522
Now they need you to measure everything.

269
00:27:27,843 --> 00:27:45,673
So as we go through this, elders oversee and they hand off responsibility in many of the
things that they do to those who enact that work.

270
00:27:46,154 --> 00:27:47,554
They delegate.

271
00:27:48,695 --> 00:27:52,377
So that their focus can be on what?

272
00:27:56,141 --> 00:28:00,801
So they can sit in the boardroom and have lots of meetings and talk about things.

273
00:28:01,201 --> 00:28:23,421
No, so that their focus can be on the flock and shepherding the flock and caring for the
flock and making sure that the flock is healthy and has what it needs, okay?

274
00:28:23,421 --> 00:28:24,557
By the way,

275
00:28:24,557 --> 00:28:30,137
They have a special role and responsibility in protecting the flock.

276
00:28:31,117 --> 00:28:33,117
That's why they're shepherds.

277
00:28:33,117 --> 00:28:33,837
Okay?

278
00:28:33,837 --> 00:28:47,297
So, back in 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul says, this is a faithful saying, if a man desires
the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.

279
00:28:47,297 --> 00:28:48,197
There's work involved.

280
00:28:48,197 --> 00:28:49,897
We've talked about that already.

281
00:28:49,897 --> 00:28:53,989
A bishop then must be, so now...

282
00:28:55,255 --> 00:29:03,751
Paul's going to talk about qualifications for the role of an overseer.

283
00:29:04,512 --> 00:29:11,447
But when he gets into the bishop must be, he's already talked about one of the
qualifications before he got there.

284
00:29:11,447 --> 00:29:12,467
What was it?

285
00:29:15,455 --> 00:29:20,088
Alright, the desire for the work.

286
00:29:20,910 --> 00:29:28,376
The very first qualification for an elder is they must desire the work.

287
00:29:29,777 --> 00:29:39,145
This should never be something that somebody's arm is twisted behind their back and
wrenched to the point of breaking before they're willing to actually agree to do it.

288
00:29:41,153 --> 00:29:44,855
They must desire the work.

289
00:29:45,415 --> 00:29:50,418
Furthermore, he says, they must be certain things.

290
00:29:50,418 --> 00:29:58,182
So there must be an active desire on one side, but there also must be a state of being on
the other.

291
00:29:58,543 --> 00:30:04,245
He says a bishop then must be blameless.

292
00:30:05,587 --> 00:30:07,968
What does it mean to be blameless?

293
00:30:08,508 --> 00:30:10,039
Just raw definition.

294
00:30:10,039 --> 00:30:11,499
What does the term mean?

295
00:30:14,315 --> 00:30:17,045
I don't think so.

296
00:30:20,371 --> 00:30:25,567
If we just break it down, there's blame and less, what does the term mean?

297
00:30:29,511 --> 00:30:33,303
without blame, okay?

298
00:30:33,303 --> 00:30:35,583
So with the word less on the end of it means.

299
00:30:35,784 --> 00:30:51,070
Without blame, they must be those who someone as was just pointing out, bring an
accusation, an individual can't bring an accusation against them and then be found guilty

300
00:30:51,070 --> 00:30:53,011
of that, okay?

301
00:30:53,011 --> 00:30:58,989
Now, what, in the context, the idea of this is,

302
00:30:58,989 --> 00:31:03,589
if someone has been defrauding people.

303
00:31:04,049 --> 00:31:11,209
So let's say there's a man in the church whose role and responsibility is to go check the
water meters.

304
00:31:11,989 --> 00:31:23,205
So he goes around town and he checks the water meters and every water meter he looks at he
marks it up 10 % and then he gets paid the 10 % markup.

305
00:31:25,013 --> 00:31:26,694
Is he defrauding people?

306
00:31:27,595 --> 00:31:29,095
Is he blameless?

307
00:31:29,776 --> 00:31:31,317
No, he's exact opposite.

308
00:31:31,317 --> 00:31:38,182
He is someone that someone could bring an accusation against and be found guilty.

309
00:31:39,243 --> 00:31:42,505
So this has to do with character.

310
00:31:42,905 --> 00:31:54,263
This has to do with someone who is of such character that someone could not bring an
honest, right accusation against their

311
00:31:54,263 --> 00:31:55,433
character.

312
00:31:57,141 --> 00:31:58,685
when Jesus...

313
00:31:59,531 --> 00:32:00,447
go ahead.

314
00:32:07,661 --> 00:32:08,742
Absolutely.

315
00:32:08,742 --> 00:32:17,088
So notice this is not, they must be blameless in their actions toward the assembly or the
body of Christ.

316
00:32:17,528 --> 00:32:21,811
No, this is they must be blameless.

317
00:32:22,561 --> 00:32:23,173
All right?

318
00:32:23,173 --> 00:32:27,295
Now Jesus is the example of this.

319
00:32:28,016 --> 00:32:34,463
When Jesus was brought before Pilate and Pilate...

320
00:32:34,463 --> 00:32:41,373
was told by the chief priests and the elders all the various things that they accused
Jesus of.

321
00:32:43,969 --> 00:32:56,872
Then Pilate goes and questions Jesus, and Pilate has Jesus scourged, and then comes back
and says, I find no fault in him.

322
00:33:00,321 --> 00:33:03,942
That is blameless.

323
00:33:05,003 --> 00:33:16,568
Someone can look at and examine the life of this individual and the description here
doesn't mean sinlessly perfect.

324
00:33:17,528 --> 00:33:25,111
It means I can examine their life and their character and I can't find any fault in them.

325
00:33:25,111 --> 00:33:29,533
Now, you turn over to Jesus's scenario and He was what?

326
00:33:31,935 --> 00:33:33,126
Sinless.

327
00:33:33,509 --> 00:33:36,606
There's a difference between sinless and blameless.

328
00:33:36,606 --> 00:33:38,840
Okay?

329
00:33:39,763 --> 00:33:41,045
How do I know?

330
00:33:44,926 --> 00:33:46,440
Not a trick question.

331
00:33:48,129 --> 00:33:51,294
How do I know there's a difference between sinless and blameless?

332
00:33:54,037 --> 00:33:55,878
Okay, they're two different things.

333
00:33:55,878 --> 00:33:58,370
How many sinless people have ever walked the earth?

334
00:33:58,370 --> 00:34:01,477
All right.

335
00:34:01,682 --> 00:34:06,345
Jesus, nobody else, okay?

336
00:34:07,827 --> 00:34:11,979
And yet, every elder is commanded to be blameless.

337
00:34:12,151 --> 00:34:23,529
Okay, so I know that sinless and blameless aren't the same thing because there's only one
person who's ever been sinless and there's a whole category of people who are called to be

338
00:34:23,529 --> 00:34:24,870
blameless.

339
00:34:26,691 --> 00:34:40,361
So how do we understand and how do we differentiate someone who perhaps has sinned and
isn't perfect and yet is blameless?

340
00:34:43,723 --> 00:34:45,719
How would we differentiate that?

341
00:34:47,370 --> 00:34:48,331
Okay.

342
00:34:58,461 --> 00:35:02,085
All right, that's one of the things that I think is really critical.

343
00:35:03,107 --> 00:35:16,161
As Naomi just pointed out, they don't claim to be without sin, but when they sin, they
correct the thing they did wrong.

344
00:35:16,715 --> 00:35:23,489
They improve on the thing that they did wrong and they discontinue the wrong that they've
done.

345
00:35:23,489 --> 00:35:32,634
They repent and correct their lives on a continual basis to conform to God's Word.

346
00:35:33,495 --> 00:35:40,858
So they might do something that's wrong, but when they're made aware of the fact that they
did something that was wrong, what are they going to do?

347
00:35:41,319 --> 00:35:44,981
They're not going to make a lifestyle of the thing that they did that was wrong.

348
00:35:45,165 --> 00:35:47,845
They're not going to go, you know what, that thing that I did was wrong.

349
00:35:47,845 --> 00:35:49,184
That was really profitable.

350
00:35:49,184 --> 00:35:51,045
I think I'm going do that again.

351
00:35:51,905 --> 00:35:55,065
I'm going to do it again and again and again and again.

352
00:35:55,065 --> 00:35:57,665
You know what, let's build a whole business around it.

353
00:35:58,325 --> 00:36:00,785
That person's not blameless.

354
00:36:01,725 --> 00:36:11,965
When someone comes to the person who is blameless and they say, you said you were going to
sell me 40 pounds of butter.

355
00:36:11,965 --> 00:36:14,965
You sold me 38 pounds of butter.

356
00:36:15,625 --> 00:36:17,526
and charged me for 40.

357
00:36:17,526 --> 00:36:19,806
You want to know what the blameless guy's going to do?

358
00:36:20,107 --> 00:36:25,609
He's not going to stand up and holler and say, you can't blame me for that, that was the
guy who was checking you out.

359
00:36:26,770 --> 00:36:29,631
No, he's going to say, let me go get you those two pounds of butter.

360
00:36:30,751 --> 00:36:31,532
Why?

361
00:36:31,532 --> 00:36:42,976
Because his character is such that he will correct things that are wrong, he will do
things that are right, and he will not continue in the wrong.

362
00:36:44,377 --> 00:36:45,237
Now...

363
00:36:47,553 --> 00:37:10,532
What if you have an individual who made an entire lifetime of choices in the community
where he defrauded people on a daily basis in the community and then he hears the gospel

364
00:37:11,013 --> 00:37:15,857
and suddenly changes his life, becomes obedient to the gospel,

365
00:37:17,205 --> 00:37:20,734
and a few years later the church wants to make him an elder.

366
00:37:23,009 --> 00:37:24,284
What's the problem?

367
00:37:26,059 --> 00:37:28,402
What's his reputation on the outside?

368
00:37:31,425 --> 00:37:39,097
Here, let me give you a biblical example, not of the elder part, but of the defrauding
part.

369
00:37:39,097 --> 00:37:42,091
What if in Samaria,

370
00:37:43,955 --> 00:37:57,041
Simon the sorcerer had been put forward as one to take on the role of being an elder after
he's been converted and been part of the church in Samaria for some time.

371
00:37:58,743 --> 00:38:01,832
What do all the people in Samaria remember about Simon?

372
00:38:04,373 --> 00:38:10,541
that he defrauded them by claiming he was a sorcerer and had all these great powers.

373
00:38:12,779 --> 00:38:28,534
When someone's character and lifestyle for a large part of their lives is to be one which
is in opposition to blameless, but rather to be blamed, he's gonna have a hard time

374
00:38:28,534 --> 00:38:29,944
correcting that.

375
00:38:29,944 --> 00:38:38,657
It's gonna take some great deal of time to correct that in view of others in order to
truly be blameless.

376
00:38:40,383 --> 00:38:46,935
Not saying He's not repented and had His sins washed away, but that's not the term.

377
00:38:47,455 --> 00:38:50,206
The term here is not without sin.

378
00:38:50,206 --> 00:38:52,396
The term here is blameless.

379
00:38:52,396 --> 00:38:54,197
It has to do with character.

380
00:38:54,197 --> 00:38:58,978
It has to do with His actions inside and outside of the Church.

381
00:38:59,578 --> 00:39:09,401
And, by the way, before we're done, there's even going to be a requirement that they must
have a good reputation of those who are outside the Church.

382
00:39:11,275 --> 00:39:18,301
Would Simon's reputation of those outside the church in the community of Samaria have been
a good reputation?

383
00:39:20,287 --> 00:39:22,689
not once it was proved that he wasn't what he claimed to be.

384
00:39:22,689 --> 00:39:24,781
Okay?

385
00:39:24,781 --> 00:39:34,069
So, when you're looking at these responsibilities, when you're looking at these roles,
when you're looking at these qualifications, it's important to understand them.

386
00:39:34,790 --> 00:39:39,514
It's also important to put them within their contextual limits.

387
00:39:40,836 --> 00:39:47,401
So blameless in the context of Christ means sinless.

388
00:39:48,459 --> 00:39:53,196
blameless in the context of human beings doesn't mean sinless, does it?

389
00:39:53,998 --> 00:39:56,541
Because then, who would qualify?

390
00:39:58,189 --> 00:39:59,310
No one.

391
00:40:00,071 --> 00:40:07,637
Would you consider Moses in his role leading the people of Israel to have been blameless?

392
00:40:11,799 --> 00:40:14,014
I didn't say sinless, I blameless.

393
00:40:15,861 --> 00:40:25,804
Matter fact, in the Old Testament, Moses in Deuteronomy will rehearse over and over and
over again with Israel how he was blameless.

394
00:40:26,844 --> 00:40:29,245
He didn't cause them to stray from God.

395
00:40:29,245 --> 00:40:31,285
He didn't cause them to rebel against God.

396
00:40:31,285 --> 00:40:41,068
There's only one occasion in all of the 40 years leading Israel where you could apply any
blame to Moses.

397
00:40:41,068 --> 00:40:42,148
And what is it?

398
00:40:43,328 --> 00:40:45,805
When he smites the rock instead of speaking to it.

399
00:40:45,805 --> 00:40:47,985
one occasion in 40 years.

400
00:40:49,675 --> 00:40:59,483
And there's a point at which in the book of Numbers, I think Numbers chapter 14 or 16,
where Moses asked God to kill him because he's so tired of dealing with his people.

401
00:41:00,487 --> 00:41:02,099
Like, could you kill me now?

402
00:41:08,727 --> 00:41:11,019
So, let clarify the question.

403
00:41:11,019 --> 00:41:20,687
During his time leading Israel from, yes, yes, so going back, you go back to the early
life of Moses, you can find some blame there.

404
00:41:20,687 --> 00:41:29,794
But by the time he's 80 years old and leading Israel and God's calling him to go, you find
a man whose character is blameless.

405
00:41:30,155 --> 00:41:32,647
Moses didn't accept pay from the people.

406
00:41:32,647 --> 00:41:34,518
He didn't take anything from them.

407
00:41:34,518 --> 00:41:35,628
He didn't take their flocks.

408
00:41:35,628 --> 00:41:36,580
He didn't take their herds.

409
00:41:36,580 --> 00:41:38,101
He was leading them.

410
00:41:39,639 --> 00:41:42,521
but he wasn't enriching himself from it.

411
00:41:42,521 --> 00:41:45,452
He wasn't abusing his position.

412
00:41:45,452 --> 00:41:50,455
He wasn't doing anything other than trying to lead them in the path of God.

413
00:41:50,855 --> 00:41:55,128
That's a picture of blameless, okay?

414
00:41:55,128 --> 00:42:07,895
So when you're trying to evaluate, does this person have the character of a Moses, of a
Peter, of a James?

415
00:42:07,895 --> 00:42:14,837
Were there things that James did that we could say, hmm, maybe not everything that James
did was the right choice?

416
00:42:16,365 --> 00:42:17,766
How about Barnabas?

417
00:42:17,766 --> 00:42:22,670
Could Barnabas be one who you say, not every choice that Barnabas made was a right choice?

418
00:42:23,471 --> 00:42:27,674
Yeah, because Barnabas separated himself away from the Gentiles when the Jews came.

419
00:42:27,674 --> 00:42:31,417
They're in the book of Galatians as recorded by Paul, but Peter did too.

420
00:42:33,077 --> 00:42:34,498
And Paul has to withstand them.

421
00:42:34,498 --> 00:42:37,189
Does that mean Peter's never qualified to be an elder again?

422
00:42:37,189 --> 00:42:39,180
No.

423
00:42:39,541 --> 00:42:55,129
So blameless has to do with character of life, correcting when wrong is done, repenting
and restoring someone when you've injured them or done something against them, and not

424
00:42:55,129 --> 00:43:02,052
continuing in a way that is beneficial for you and harmful for others.

425
00:43:02,839 --> 00:43:04,009
Thank you for your time and attention.

426
00:43:04,009 --> 00:43:05,084
We'll be dismissed.