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Amen so we're continuing on we're actually be wrapping up the series we've been going through the last several weeks entitled distinctive doctrines we're going through that Baptist acronym of course we're ending in the letter T today which stands for the two offices which we believe is Baptist that there are two offices within the local church that of the pastor and of the deacon so we're gonna preach about that this morning and if you would keep something in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and we're gonna just go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 4 1st Corinthians chapter 4 of course in chapter 12 we read about the fact that we are a body of believers that there are many different components just as our human body has a has many different parts so is the local church you know local church is made up by many different people we all have different roles to fulfill within the local church and two of those roles that are distinct in the body are that of the pastor and of the deacon and it's always important I think to kind of point out the fact that just because there are certain people that are put in places of leadership it doesn't make anybody else less important everybody has a role to play everybody has something to do within the local church I mean after all what is the point of having a pastor or even a deacon it's to serve as examples to the believers that those that would come and be part of that church could look to those individuals and say this is how the Christian life is to be lived so we should never think that just because we're not fulfilling one of these two offices that somehow we're a second-class Christian or you know we're not in full-time ministry you know that our Christian life is full time you know we do all things unto the glory of God you know whether it's in your job whether it's in your family you know you're always living the Christian life it's not just because you're put on staff or you lead a church that all of a sudden now you've you've you know now you're more accountable for being right with God you know we all have that we all have an important role to fulfill now if you would look there in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 it says in these things brethren I have transfigured to myself and to Apollos for your sakes they might learn not to think of men above that which is written that none of you be puffed up for one against another for who make a theta differ from another or what hast thou that did thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou has hadst not received it so you know we should always think of men you know not above that which is written but in the same token you know we also should consider what is written you know and and the specifically I'm gonna focus on the office of a pastorate and it's it's a it's a subject I think a lot of people take for granted it's a position that some a lot of people are downplaying a lot you know when you get into the home church movement and things like this and we need to be careful not to do that and that's why this is an important topic you say why why should we even address this topic why should we even talk about pastors and deacons because it is something that is being brought under attack today you know it is something that some people will be very dismissive about and it's not good but I want us to see right out of the right out of the gate is the fact that we all serve to the same end whether you're a pastor whether you're a deacon whether you're a church member whatever you are within the local church we're all working towards the same goal we all have the same thing in mind at least we ought to go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and look at verse 1 where we see this it says in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 1 now concerning spiritual gifts brethren I would have you ignorant you know that you were Gentiles carried away under these these dumb idols even as you were led wherefore I give unto you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost now there are diversities of gifts but the same spirit and there are different differences of administrations but the same Lord and there are diversities of operations but it is the same God which worketh in all all in all so yeah there are different diversities right we might have different gifts one from another there might be different and administrations you know one of us might serve a certain role within the local church and another another role but it's the same God he goes on and says but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all and that is the goal of the local church to build up the local church to edify the local church and to reach the lost so we're all called to serve to the same goal we're all called also to serve within our own capacity look there in verse 27 it says in verse 27 now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular and God had set some in the church first apostles secondarily prophets thirdly teachers after that miracles and gifts of healings helps governments diversities of tongues are all apostles are all prophets are all teachers are all workers of miracles have all the gifts of healing do all speak with tongues do all interpret but covet earnestly the best gifts and yet I show unto you a more excellent way and if you recall he ends there and then moves on into into chapter 13 which is the famous chapter about charity and makes the point that you know the greatest gift that any of us could possess is that of charity or what you know we would call today love that we would love one another so it's very important to understand that you know there are there is a rank and file order to a local church that there is a there is an order given to that there are those that are put in authority but we all serve to the same end and we should never be puffed up one for against another and we should understand that we're all serving to the same end which is love to love one another and to also love the lost to go out and preach the gospel to them that's why we do what we do now we've got to talk about this doctrine of the ought to offices the pastors and the deacons and always want to start out by defining terms okay and sometimes you can get a little bit of confusion when it comes to this term of a pastor and if you would turn over to Titus chapter 1 Titus chapter 1 because there's more than one name for the role of a pastor okay there's more than one name you have elder you have Bishop and you have pastor or you could also call it an overseer which basically means the same thing now if you come across these terms in the Bible elder Bishop pastor overseer these are all referring to the same office these are always serving to the cert referring to the same person it's not like there's the office of this an office of a bishop an office of an elder in office it's all the same guy and you say well why is that important why do we have to cover this well it's important because of the fact that it makes us distinct as Baptist that's what the series is called Baptist distinctives you know there's a lot of other churches out there in denominations they'll have a multi you know they'll have all kinds of different offices in their church you know you can think of the the Catholic or Anglican systems that are out there I mean they've got a Pope they've got Cardinals they've got you know so on and so forth it goes right down the line and they have all these different offices but when we go to the scripture which we allow to be our final authority in everything that we say and do in our practice in this church we find that there are only two offices that of the pastor which is also referred to as the elder the bishop or the overseer and that of the deacon as well so that's why it's important because that makes us distinct it makes us who we are as Baptists now these are descriptions of the office these are not distinct offices themselves just these these terms are all used interchangeably we see that in first Corinthians Titus chapter 1 excuse me look at verse 5 it says for this cause I left the increase that thou should have set in order the things that are wanting and ordained elders in every city so he's saying he's saying a bit ordained an elder what's he referring to he's referring to bishops or pastors you see that in verse 6 where he says if any been blameless the husband of one wife having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly for a bishop must be blameless so he says there again he's referring to the same person right and he calls him an elder in verse 5 and then he goes on to verse 7 and calls him a bishop so he says for a bishop must be must be blameless as the steward of God and not self willed not soon angry now I know I've already gone through first Timothy and some this might be repetitive to those that have been coming as we've been on Thursday nights as we're going through first Timothy but it's kind of you can't really go talk about deacons and elders and pastors without talking about the fact that there are qualifications that are very specific for these offices and you know we see several of them right there you know yeah he first of all it has to be ordained it's somebody else has to ordain that man into that position and that man has to meet these qualifications he says if any be blameless the husband of one wife you know and let me emphasize the husband of one wife so there is no such thing as female church leadership you won't find it scripture I know it's out there I know it's out in the world but you know we let the Bible define for us what we believe and the Bible says you have to be the husband of one wife in order to be a bishop so if you ever run across one at the door and you know and they say oh you know I'm we do we all the time I run into a lot on the reservations when we go so any out there and say oh my aunt's a pastor I never say it but I've always tempted to say oh how you know it is her is her wife behaving well you know is she the husband of one wife you know because I mean is that not the qualification is it not clear as day in Scripture you know we could turn to other passages in first Timothy and see the same qualifications give now I don't want to go off on that because like I said we were talked about that going through first Timothy but go over to Acts chapter 20 we're defining these terms of elder bishop and pastor and we see in Scripture that elder bishop and pastor are terms that are all used interchangeably look at Acts chapter 20 verse 17 and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church so here we have Paul going in his journey on his journeys he's going he's headed back towards Jerusalem and when he gets to Miletus he sent to Ephesus and who does he call he calls the elders of the church now that doesn't mean he just called all the old people he called here the pastors or what they call here in this passage the overseers look at verse 28 and this is him charging them and he says take heed therefore into yourselves into all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God which he had purchased with his own blood so in verse 17 he calls them the elders and then in verse 28 he calls them the overseers so we can see how these verses or these terms are being used interchangeably Ephesians go to Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 I'll read to you from Ephesians 4 it says and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers so we see there again this term being used pastors and that's referring to the office of a pastor at the office of an elder the office of a bishop these are all the same thing Philippians chapter 1 verse 1 the Bible says Paul and Timotheus the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and the deacons so we see again these two offices are being mentioned the bishop and the deacon now he uses the term elder because of the fact that you know there it should denote something about that man that is fulfilling the role of a pastor why doesn't he just always call them pastor why doesn't he just always call them any one of these terms because each one of these terms denotes a certain characteristic that that man should possess and he says there that he calls them elder because of the fact that pastors should be experienced Christians and we see that first Timothy 3 again if you it recalled from our teachings on Thursday night it says this is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop he desire at the good work a bishop then must then be blameless and if says in verse 6 the qualifications of a bishop not a novice what does that mean it's not somebody who's new to the faith don't take the guy that just got saved and put him behind a pulpit to teach the Word of God he should be somebody that is experienced that has lived the Christian life has been through the ups and downs of the Christian life that has gone through the trials and tribulations and proven himself to be faithful that's the person that should be the pastor or as it refers to as the elder someone who has gained some spiritual maturity he is a spiritual elder because here's the thing I say why is that important because the fact that it takes experience to minister to other people you have to go through those things so that when other people go through them you know what they're going through or to deal with problems within a church you have to have seen that be dealt with you have to have you know experience in order to minister to others that should just go without saying and really what it helps avoid when you're not putting a novice behind the pulpit you're putting somebody who was a spiritual elder is the fact that you're avoiding the sin of pride because that is the warning that we're given there he says he should not be a novice less being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil so that's one of the dangers of putting a novice behind the pulpit as the pastor is because of the fact that that position whether you like it or not does come with a certain degree of honor I mean people look up to the pastor at least they should they should be respecting him they should be treating him as such you know and if he's not a seasoned individual if he's not somebody who's you know understands that he's receiving that at that respect because of the office that he's in and because he's earned it that could go to his head you know that's it's a possibility that could go to a person said pretty quick and they could start to think too highly of themselves so it's important that he be not a novice because of the fact that you it takes experience to minister others he should be an elder because of the fact that he won't be caught up in this sin of pride now what about the so that kind of covers the characteristic of an elder right these are the three terms that we see elder pastor or overseer and bishop so let's take a look at Bishop go ahead go ahead and turn over to Hebrews chapter 13 now that's the term that he used there in Philippians 1 where it said that with them that with the bishops and deacons so he calls them bishops in that in that one but what does Bishop denote what does it mean to be a bishop well Bishop is just simply means one that rules and this speaks to the fact that a pastor should be one that rules in the house of God you know we don't believe in a committee run Church you know we don't we don't follow that that pattern we don't see that in Scripture you know we're not gonna have a vote every time we decide to replace the carpet and see what color it's gonna be or what kind of chairs we're gonna get and you know and this is the kind of thing that churches get real caught up in they get caught up in the building they caught up and voting on everything and having their business meetings and things like that and really the real work of Christ goes undone you know and in case you can't tell we're not real focused on buildings around here right I think this is a pretty nice one those of you that when our old location think this is a really nice one right you you realize that we've stepped up and we should have you know I'm not against having a nice building and being comfortable but that's not the focus here you know and that's why we're not going to just sit around and vote on things as a church body that's where we're gonna point a man as the pastor and say lead us in the work of Christ you know send us out to go preach the gospel and that's why you know there first to the pastor as a bishop because of the fact it should be somebody that is ruling in the house of God and now again it those you know just to be clear those that's where it begins and ends that that authority begins and ends at the church door you know and I've been in ministries in the past where the pastor seems to think that he can you know his his uh his authority could even extend into your home and there's been ministries like that where they think hey if you're gonna before you buy a car you should probably come talk to me about it you know silly things like that and he gets blown weight out of out of control and you know but that's not to take away from the fact that a bishop is one who rules but it has to stay within the church walls you know we don't want we don't want to be you know if we're ever in the office of a bishop be one that is going to start meddling in everybody's lives you know here's the great thing about it if you just get up and preach the whole counsel of God you don't have to meddle in people's lives if they come to church like they should and they hear the preaching the Word of God it'll straighten them out for you you have to sit around trying to figure out what everyone's problem is and what you need to fix in their life we just need to focus on ourselves and preach the Word of God and everything else just falls into place so but the bishop is one that rules make no doubt about it you know he should be ruling in the house of God what he says goes in the house of God is what goes now it needs to line up with Scripture obviously and you know we should respect that as a ruler yes and because here's the thing somebody has to be the boss I mean think about in any other situation in life think about at your work does your boss come to work every day and take a vote on what what you guys are gonna do hey are we gonna go to work today guys you know the owner of the company is gonna show up and let the employees decide which jobs they're gonna do and which jobs are if they're gonna work at all no somebody has to lead that thing someone has to grab the bull by the horns and lead it and give it direction you know it has to be that way in our in our in our homes and our places of business where we work it has to be like that in the house of God we have to have somebody ruling and pointing us in the right direction us and leading us the way we ought to go now look there in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 it says remember them which have the rule over you so the Bible is real clear that there are people within the house of God that have the rule over you now again I'll say it again that's within the house of God okay doesn't extend outside those walls who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation so there are those that rule over us within the house of God and it's it stops at those you know at the church walls it doesn't go into our personal lives and things like that you know the preaching the Word of God will do that for us now I will say you know there are certain sins that if it's that are going on you know then yeah the pastor has to step in and deal with it certain sins or heresies that might get preached but really what we want to focus in on here is the fact that we don't want to forget or disregard leadership in the church we don't want to become forgetful of the fact that it's there and we don't want to disregard it he says remember them you know we should be mindful of the fact that there is leadership within the house of God don't forget it don't be dismissive of it and a lot of people that they do that you know and they they come into church and they just you know no one's gonna tell them what to do they're they've got everything already figured out they already know everything there is to know and the pastor can't tell those people anything you know he can't teach him anything and what they are is they're they're forgetting the fact that God has put some in positions to rule in the house of God now it goes down there in verse 17 you know it's not just the fact that we shouldn't forget that they're there and be mindful of them he also says in verse 17 obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you so not only should we not forget the fact that there's rulership that there are bishops that there are our elders that there are pastors in the church we shouldn't be dismissive of that fact but we should also obey them you know we should listen to what they have to say and if if the pastor gets up and says hey thus this is the way it is here in church then that's the way it is you know if he says this is how we're gonna do things in this church and I expect everybody to be on the same page in this area then that's the way it is because that's him ruling over the house of God we ought to obey them in that capacity and here's the thing every local church has its own way of doing things you know where we do things here like we do things in Phoenix because this is faithful word Baptist Church we pattern our services after them you know I'm the deacon here I'm not the pastor you know pastor is pastor Anderson and we do things the way he wants things done here because he's the pastor you know not at liberty just because we're an hour away to start doing things however we want you know we have to do things the way the man of God has deemed them to be done in the house of God we need to obey them to have the rule over us you know take heed to what is taught and submit to the decisions that are made now one area that this kind of comes to mind is you know unfortunately seeing people creep into churches just like the Bible tells us will happen in parallel in the last days perilous times shall come that men will you know certain men are crept in unawares and we've seen this happen where people creep in unawares and they start to preach heresies or they they they start siding with those that would you know want to discredit our pastor or talk down to on our pastor or publicly you know revile our pastor that's happened you know and and the pastors had to get up and lay down the law and mark people and say you know have nothing to do with these people and give them perfectly biblical sound reasons why those people are to be disregarded and yet then you'll have other people come down on their side and side with them over their own pastor and it's not right and you know they're not obeying them which had the rule over them and it's not that the pastors up here ruling just because you know he's got something to prove you know it says there submit yourselves for they watch for your souls why is the pastor getting up and ruling and reigning in the house of God and demanding that people obey what is taught because he's watching for your souls you know he's watching for you as they that must give an account you know the pastor is held to a higher degree of accountability before God for the I mean he's got a greater responsibility he's watching for the souls of a multitude of people but here's the thing it says obey them that they may do it with joy give that account with joy and not with grief right well how does that end though for that isn't profitable for you and when people want to disobey the pastor and disregard the pastor they can do that that's fine but it's going to be unprofitable for them not for the pastor because he's not in it for himself he's in there to protect and guide and lead the flock and to teach and build up the body of Christ so if we obey if we remember it's going to be profitable for us to remember those that have the rule over us look at verse 24 you know he's talking about how we ought to be we behave ourselves towards the pastor it says salute all them that have the rule over you and all Saints says salute them you know it'd be a good idea to probably greet the pastor when he walks in to shake his hand to saying hello hi pastor and he used that word pastor you know that's and I understand everybody not everybody that comes into church that they're new to church they've never been in church they sometimes they'll say they won't call the pastor pastor they'll call him by his first name you know and here's the thing you gotta you gotta give people space to grow whenever I hear somebody do that say you know because pastor has a big online following and people visit and they've got they're not church themselves they never been in church they'll come and say well Steve here like well maybe he is maybe isn't but I and I don't go hey it's pastor buddy you know and strain them out but I'll subtly say well pastor Anderson you know is or isn't here you know then I'll immediately respond by saying pastor Anderson and usually people pick up on that once they hear that a few times once they hear everybody addressing the pastor as pastor Anderson or whoever the pastor is you know they'll pick up on that because there's the thing what's that what's one of the ways that people like to kind of passively aggressive elite you know in a passive-aggressive manner attack the pastor by leaving off that title I mean well we ran into a guy out stolen in the other day you know you're eating he's gonna work his way into my sermons you know and I told I was very polite I told him where we're from and and gave him after the tribulation the DVD and he flipped it over and he saw pastor Anderson's picture he said wait a minute you're associated with Anderson with Steve didn't address him as pastor that's a passive-aggressive attack you know in any way and you could do that and not just in the password in any way you know of just dropping a title that somebody has is warranted to somebody and on the pastor is a warranted title you know you don't just become a pastor because you go to a Bible college for four years and someone gives you a piece of paper you become a pastor because you meet all those qualifications which are very stringent and and and they're not easy to obtain so you know we should use that term pastor because it's warranted you know salute them to have the rule over you we should show respect you know by saluting them and addressing them properly now you know as as deacon you know I've kind of had to talk and think about this too because I people would ask like well what do we call you now now that you're the deacon you know I got ordained deacon eight months ago and and or nine months ago whatever it was and and I was just like whatever you like nothing really changed but you know what I thought to myself know that there is something you know they people should probably address me as either deacon or brother and I took some getting used to because of the fact that I'm not used to that you know and I'm I'm not one like well you know actually it's uh like I feel like I need to be but you know lift it up in that way or something like that but what happens is is people the way they address you is the way they'll treat you you know and whether I like it or not you know being as the deacon here it does you know I'm an example to the flock and and it should be respected to some degree I'm not saying you know it's anything that you know people have to you know kiss the ring or thing like that but you know people will call me deacon I'll say hey you know you can just call me brother and I call a lot of people brother I call you know everyone here brother unless you're a sister you know and I say you can just call me brother Corbin and but some guys will insist they'll say no it's deacon now like well fine you know call me deacon I try to meet them halfway you know if you insist on calling me deacon you can just call me brother wrestle that's a little you know a little more formal you know you can just call me brother Corbin you know but when it comes to the pastor you know if somebody calls me by my first name I just let it roll off my bag it's not like it gets me gets my feathers all ruffled but I'll tell you what if somebody calls my pastor Steve like if you you know and to the online listeners out there that are going to email the church or call me voicemails if you want to have a better chance of actually getting a response don't start out your by addressing the pastor is Steve you know if I hear him say hey is Steve available no he's not I don't even know who you're talking about y'all just go get some random guy named Steve you know like here's Steve you know was that was that who you're referring to because I don't know because he didn't use the pastor so you know even little things like that you say well that's a little thing yeah but that could turn into something big when people stop giving people the respect and the uh and the honor that is due unto them for the position that they hold as a pastor you know that can lead to bigger things for now they just feel like well everyone we're all equal here and there is no ruler here and we can all just do whatever we want no the Bible says that they are the bishop that they are to rule in the house of God and that we are to obey them and remember them and salute them so we've talked about the fact that the Bible uses these terms interchangeably he uses elder he uses bishop and another one he uses is pastor or overseer which is basically the same thing now again I'll point out there in verse 17 it says that they watch for your souls and this speaks to the fact uh the or speaks to the characteristic of a pastor I mean that's what a pastor is you think of a pastor is somebody who would lead a flock he would pastor a flock of sheep he'd be out on a pastor somewhere it's his job to be an overseer you know he'd be up on the hill and he'd be making looking out for danger leading them to the proper pastures into water and things like that and that's what a pastor does that's his duty to God's people is that they are to watch for their souls you know he's watching out for them and he's to be leading them uh you know to spiritual waters and to spiritual meat and to be protecting them from spiritual dangers so um go ahead and turn over to acts uh I think we were already there but go back to acts chapter 20 actually we were there already go to first peter five first peter five the Bible says in Jeremiah 3 and this is a term that the Bible uses when describing the man of God is pastor he says in Jeremiah 3 and I will give you pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding so again just like a pastor would lead of actual physical flock of sheep to a green pasture and feed them God likens you know the man of God unto a pastor because he feeds them with knowledge and understanding Paul told them in acts 20 he told the elders of Ephesus take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the holy ghost hath made you overseers now it's an overseer it's the same thing as a pastor you get that idea somebody looking out over the flock and managing it and and guiding it and leading it man he had made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood so just like a fish a physical uh herd or a physical sheep would need nourishment and water we're the same way spiritually you know we as God's people we I mean they say well that's kind of degrading to liken us unto animals well Jesus said you know my little flock that's what he called us he says you know he likened us unto sheep often in the bible you know so it's of course we're speaking spiritually here and he's saying you know we need spiritual nourishment just like that animal needs to find a proper grazing area to get the nourishment that he needs he needs to find water to drink for the nourishment that he needs we need that spiritually you know and that should tell us something about church that it's important that it's not just a hobby that it's not just something that we do or when we feel like it that it's something that we should you know we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is the bible says that we should be in here because we need to get fed spiritually now could you feed yourself spiritually outside of church yeah but you know what you need more than that you know there are things that you need to be taught from the word of God have things explained to you and and you know that happens with the preaching of the word of God so you're there in first peter chapter five look at verse one he says there are the elders which are among you who also am an elder so here's using that term elder again and a witness of the suffering of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof right so there's that idea of an overseer again not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither as being lords of over God's heritage but being examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd shall appear you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away so a pastor is a pastor because he's a shepherd but he's the under shepherd right we have the the the chief shepherd mentioned here right and it's it's the pastor's duty as the under shepherd of the sheep chief shepherd to oversee the flock he's been given the oversight thereof and pastors you know they are likened unto pastors they use that term because they have a duty to protect the flock not only to feed the flock not only to teach doctrine and to encourage and to exhort with the word of God but also to protect the flock by taking the oversight thereof and that's why one of the qualifications of a pastor is that he be vigilant you know that he what does that mean to be watchful to be aware of what's taking place to be alert to danger you know the pastor has a duty to protect the flock you know not just from physical danger you know i think we all here can probably do a fair our fair share of that on our own right but also spiritually you know to identify a wolf that has crept in to call out heresy when it's there to call out you know those that need to be called out there's a time and place for it you know but uh that's the that's the job that he's been given to protect the flock you know and we need this more than ever i mean we we've always needed it but i mean the day and age that we're living if you were here thursday night we talked about it about the fact that we're living in perilous times because men are lovers of their own selves and there are all these attributes that are associated with them and they creep in to churches they target churches you know these people that the pedophiles why do you think all these these scandals take place in all these churches and it used to just be oh it's just the roman catholic church is just shuffling these pedophiles around now it's taking place even independent baptist churches we have these perverts creeping in that want to just harm innocent people they want to harm children they want to take advantage of of weaker vessels and and it's it's wrong and they need to be called out and they need to be purged from the flock and the pastor has a duty to protect people from them and that's why they have to be vigilant so you know the pastorate when we read first peter chapter five you know if we haven't caught on to it already it's not a position to be entered into lightly you know a pastor isn't just something well i feel like i should do that or maybe maybe one day i'll do that or yeah i guess i'll give it a try no it's a very important job that's why it the bible's showing us it warrants so much respect and honor and that we should be obeying and saluting and remembering these people because it's a very important position that they have because they've been given literally the oversight the protection of the flock spiritually they have that duty it's not to be entered into lightly and it's interesting it says there that they are to feed the flock of god which is among them taking the oversight thereof not by constraint not by constraint you know you should go into the pastorate because you want to you know and and we're living you know and and believe me we need more pastors i mean there's people that are that are wanting good churches started everywhere i mean they're yeah they have churches in their town but they're they're they're preaching heresy or they're not doing the works or they you know they want a good solid baptist church in their town we're getting contacted by them all the time you know and the temptation is for just start sending out whoever you know but we can't do that we can't just send out whoever they have to be somebody that meets the qualifications and one of the things is they should not be doing it out of constraint even if there was a guy let's say he met all the qualifications he was approved he could be ordained and sent out you know that guy should want it you should want to do it it should not be done by constraint not just like well you know these people want a church there and i guess i should just do it because no you know i have to i mean obviously that's a great motive to go out and want to help people and to and to provide a church for somebody but it should be something that you still at the end of the day desire to do you know don't let your wife twist your arm into being a pastor that never happens that happens where the wife want just wants the husband to be a pastor he's just got to be the pastor that happens and what is that that's constraint you know it's somebody constraining you into that position so don't enter it lightly just don't do it because you know it you know i yes it needs to happen yes people are needed but don't you should still want to do it at the end of the day don't do it out of constraint neither do it for filthy lucre he says and this is a big one this is a big one because there's a lot of people that go into the pastorate for one thing money because there's money to be made in the pastorate if you want to start preaching lies and heresy and start rubbing backs and tickling ears and just telling people what they want to hear you can build a big church and we can build a big church if we want to just compromise on the word of god you know and uh and we can make a lot of money and uh that's not but that's no reason to go in the pastorate if you're going into it for money you know you're in it for the wrong reason you know and the pastor should not be one who has an abundance of wealth who's just you know rolling in dough you know and and we could go on and on about that but that should not be a motivation we should not do it by constraint we should not do it for filthy lucre that's not to say a pastor shouldn't earn a living as a pastor again this is another topic that probably needs to be preached on the idea that the pastorate is a paid position that doesn't mean he's to sit there and fleece the flock and get filthy rich you know he should he should take what he needs to survive you know and the rest of that money that if there's anything left over would go back into the work of god it would go back into paying rent you know you know pay the rent and lead a you know go up and uh lead a missions trip somewhere use that money uh rather than just spending it on a you know another vehicle or a bigger house or whatever you know that money could go back into the work of god so he says there don't do it by constraint don't do it for filthy lucre and be of a ready mind you know be alert and aware of the position you know if you go to the pastorate what you're getting yourself into now i don't i'm not obviously again not the pastor i don't even fully understand what all is involved with being a pastor completely because i'm not i've never done it and i don't think anyone will really know completely what it's like to be a pastor without having been a pastor but there's some things that you could probably get an idea of well okay if i'm a pastor it means this if i'm a pastor it means this you should be ready for that should be of a ready mind and and be prepared for the uh what comes with that position not just prepared to fulfill that position but also prepared you know for what comes with that position the good and the bad you know and being ready to teach the word of god and to preach the word of god and this all goes back to them being an elder right one who's experienced so really that kind of covers uh the pastorate and i do want to kind of hear at the end just kind of touch on the deacons the bible doesn't go on and on a lot about deacons but uh you know being a deacon myself you know i i'd be a little remiss to not mention it so we're going to talk about it for a little bit here go over to first timothy chapter three verse eight so what is the deacon well you know really a deacon is basically the same thing as a pastor without the authority i mean am i not doing basically the same thing right now that pastor does coming down here three times a week preaching the word of god taking the oversight of a flock and feeding the flock that's what i'm doing that's what a pastor does but you know what i don't have the authority to just decide well you know what this is how we're going to do things here in tucson because i'm not the pastor so the deacon a lot of ways is likened unto the pastor but he doesn't have the authority in the house of god to make just make calls now there are certain things that you know i don't have to go to pastor anderson about every little thing you know about this color carpet that color carpet you know obviously some things he just wants hey just figure it out and get it done you know doesn't want to have to hold my hand over every little thing and trust you to have the wisdom and the discernment but you know when it comes to big decisions or if there's problems in the church those have to be brought to his attention you know i can't just make decisions as the deacon so they play the same role as a pastor but without the authority and that's why the deacons have the same qualifications as a pastor let's look at those again verse first symphony three verse eight likewise must the deacons be grave not double-tongued not given to much wine not greedy of filthy lucre again don't be getting into it for the money holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience and let these also first be proved then let them use the office of a deacon so again kind of likening it onto somebody who should be an elder somebody who should have been in church for a while you know let them first be proved let them be found faithful and then use the office of a deacon being found blameless even so must their wives be grave not slander sober faithful in all things so there's even qualifications for the deacon's wife and again goes back to the fact that a deacon is a man the bible couldn't be any clearer about this kind of thing ruling their children in their own house as well so again you can see how it should be somebody that knows how to rule just like a pastor would somebody has their children in subjection because it goes on and says for they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase themselves to a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in christ jesus so we see here that they are to be you know in the same position they have the same qualifications of a pastor but they don't have that same authority and they are really what they're there to do is to help the work of god and they're there to help the pastor i won't have us go back there to first corinthians chapter 12 but when he gave those lists of diversities you know of offices and administrations and one of those things he listed was helps and governments and i believe that's something you could apply to the office of a deacon he's somebody who's there to help in the work of christ he's someone who's there to govern or administer in the work of christ you know take some of the load off of the pastor so that he can focus on you know more important things or bigger things or just more in general you know for example when i came on as deacon you know the the the native american soul winning had kind of fallen off a little bit was something we really wanted to fire back up getting out knocking the doors on every uh every door and every Indian reservation in the state of Arizona and beyond but uh you know that takes somebody leading that somebody has to spend the time making the maps you know gathering uh the folks that want to go leading it physically going up there booking the rooms getting the meals paying for everything driving the van and driving the van and driving the van did i mention driving the van so you know someone has to do that you know and the pastor if he does that well then this other things are going to get left off you know so that was one of the things he gave to me he said look here's my here's the big vision figure out the details how to get it done you know he's got the macro vision i handle the micro vision i've actually only covered can do that so that's kind of what a deacon's there to do he's there to help and you know and we see that in the book of acts where they appointed deacons you know with steven and those that it was the daily ministration that was their responsibility so that the apostles be given unto the word of god into fasting and prayer so they wouldn't be pulled away from their duties to do more menial tasks and really that's what the deacon's there to do you know write cut write the the rent check and uh you know order the new chairs and get the new hymnals all those little things we don't think about them until you're actually in that position you know we as i was a church member for you know 17 years before i became a deacon and there was a lot of things i i found out real quick that i just kind of took for granted that the chairs just showed up that somehow the hymnals were just replaced magically you know that the light bulbs got replaced and all these little things that the place just cleaned itself up and it was just it was a miracle right no there's people there just they're actually doing that work and a lot of that work is done by staff you know a lot of that is done by deacons and others so you know it's not it's not i don't want to say it's a less important position but it's it's definitely has importance but it's not to the degree of the pastor can a church function without a deacon sure can't but it can get more done with one you know it frees up the pastor he's a help he's a government and and uh they are there to help him you know and yeah it could probably the church could go without a deacon but it's not a position that should be undervalued either and uh you know it's an important thing and you know this isn't a this isn't anything i've run into but i've talked to others who are either gone into the being a deacon or or being considered to be a deacon and they it's like if they're not being if they're because there's such a need for pastors people are treating some people are saying well if you're just going to be the deacon like it's a cop-out or something like oh you're just you know you could be a pastor but you're just going to be in the deacon you know just the deacon and what that is that's an that's an attitude of somebody who's undervaluing that position it's an important position it's needed it gets more done in the house of god i mean i think this plant down here in tucson's gone a lot better since we've had one guy coming down as a deacon and not not just because it's me because it's you know corbin but because there's one guy that's been appointed to do that and there's probably other guys we could have you know pointed to do that and it could things could have gone just as well or perhaps even better but the point i'm making is because we have a deacon because we have somebody that position more is getting done more doors are getting knocked on the Indian reservations more doors are getting knocked the gospel is being preached more in the city of tucson because there is a deacon more people are getting fed the word of god so we don't want to undervalue it and just feel like just because a guy goes into that position that somehow you know he's copped out on some other bigger calling that position is is important and it needs to be fulfilled and as churches get bigger you know there's more of a need for that and uh and you know that's just that's just the way it goes so we should not despise those individuals and i honestly again i'm not i don't feel like anyone's ever done that to me despise me for not being a pastor being a deacon but there i have heard of it being out there there people can get that kind of an attitude where they kind of try well this guy you know he just wants this cush position as the deacon you know come give it a shot you know first of all meet the qualifications and tell me how cush it is and then actually do the work because i i haven't found that cush position yet you know where i you know where there's you know five hours you know driving one way and then coming down here first thing in the morning i'm not complaining i'm glad to do it i love my job it's great but it's not cush you know it's not the easiest thing in the world and you know what neither are any of your jobs you know there's other men here that go out work hard jobs ladies too that go out i wouldn't call your job a cush position you know so but here's the thing is there is there a little bit of that stigma is that warranted a little bit yeah because of the fact that some people do take advantage of that because pastors can get lazy if they allow themselves because the deacons can become lazy and just kind of you know rest on their laurels and just kind of collect a check and not really do the work and those churches become lukewarm they become lame the people get lame and eventually they wither up and die and that's what happens so that's not what we want here we want to fulfill these positions as pastors and deacons so that we can serve the people and so that we can serve christ ultimately as a body you know we want we want deacons we want bishops not to just uh serve some ceremonial role for us so that we can go to church and play church and feel like we're spiritual but to actually get something done for christ that's why we want these positions made that's why i was made deacon so that something could get done for christ and that's why we have a pastor that's why we go to church so that we can accomplish something for christ and and get something done so we all have important part to play you know whether you're a bishop an elder you know whether you're the deacon whether you're a church member in the pew you know we're all serving to the same end you know to glorify god to reach the lost and to do all things to his honor to his glory so let's do that let's all fulfill the positions that we have and you know and if there's some in the room men in the room that would desire the office of a bishop or to be the deacon will strive to meet those qualifications you know put it out there as a goal to achieve you know it's needed in the house of god uh it's needed all across this country it's needed everywhere so let's let's uh don't undervalue that position consider it something to strive for something to attain unto and let's thank god for the pastor that we have and and and and you know and honor him and understand that yes we have a head but we all make up that body so that we can all do that great work let's go ahead and pray