In the sermon 'Elders: What Must They Be (Part 3)' by Peter Allison, the focus is on the qualifications of elders as outlined in 1st Timothy 3, particularly the traits of being temperate and sober-minded. Allison stresses the importance of vigilance in these roles, drawing a parallel between the responsibilities of an overseer and those of a shepherd. He illustrates vigilance through a story involving police officers in Belfast and emphasizes that true vigilance requires active observation and registration of details. The sermon explains that temperance is not merely about abstaining from wine but involves self-control and a clear, rational mindset. Vigilance is deemed a core competency for overseers, as they must protect the flock from both external and internal threats. Allison highlights that being watchful and prudent is essential for the spiritual health of both the overseers and the church community. By comparing elders to shepherds, he underscores the necessity of being alert to dangers and caring for the flock, drawing from biblical examples like David and Moses. Personal vigilance over one’s spiritual life and a corporate vigilance over the church are both vital, as the failure to exercise such vigilance can lead to personal and communal spiritual decline.

Please turn in your scriptures to 1st Timothy chapter 3. We've been working through the qualifications that the scriptures provide for, prescribed for elders, what overseers must be. And this morning we'll be considering the next two in sequence, temperate and sober-minded. But I'll read the complete section covering all 17 of these requirements beginning in verse 1. 1st Timothy 3.

This is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, Able to teach, not given to whine. Not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous. One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?

Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. May God give us understanding to keep His law and obey it with our whole heart. Gracious Father in heaven, grant to us the spirit of illumination, For in You is hid all wisdom and knowledge, and You are the Spirit of revelation. We ask that You would show us this morning the wonderful truths of Your Word, and that You might impress them upon us by the work of Your Holy Spirit.

And please sanctify my sinful lips that they might proclaim Your Word faithfully and fully through Jesus Christ. Amen. Through Jesus Christ, Amen. The BBC, the British broadcasting company, recently posted a video footage of two police officers driving down a road in Belfast, Ireland. And as they pass this older gentleman sitting on a bench at a bus stop along the side of the road, the riding officer suddenly tells the driver to stop.

And he gets out of the patrol vehicle, walks over to this gentleman and sits down beside him, and begins a conversation introducing himself and asking the gentleman what his name was. And his partner, the driver, comes over and is there talking with this man, engaging him in conversation, neighborly conversation. It becomes apparent that this man has dementia. And on checking with their dispatch, radioing in, they learned that he has been missing since earlier that morning. And at this point, the driver, the driving officer, was like, how did you know?

And the riding officer says, look. And at that point, the camera zooms in on this gentleman's feet. And there you see that on one foot he has a nice black dress shoe, and on the other foot he has a green plaid bathroom slipper. And then it's obvious. But see, suspecting somebody's cognitive facilities, faculties, based on these sorts of irregularities, that's easy.

But it's all too easy to see these types of things and have them pass right through our field of vision without actually seeing them and recognizing their implications. See, that takes vigilance. It's all too easy for them to pass through our subconscious field of view without consciously recognizing what that means and then taking the appropriate actions. See, it's the actual observation and the registration of these things in our conscious mind that requires this vigilance on the part of the observer. And I think this captures so beautifully, this is the epitome of what temperate means in this passage.

It is paired with sober-minded. Temperate, sober-minded. A closely related word. And we'll be looking at these two words and what they are saying this morning. But I'd like to take a minute before we jump into that so you can see where we're getting the idea that this word temperate means vigilant.

Because if you look up temperate in a dictionary, and even if you look the Greek word up in a dictionary, in a Greek dictionary, the common meaning of this word temperate is holding no wine. It's the opposite of intoxication, which is to be filled with wine instead of with the spirit. In a more general or figurative sense, it also means to the opposite of fuzziness or indecision, like somebody that's filled with wine would have. It means a clear mind, thinking clearly, thinking correctly, thinking rationally, something that people that are filled with wine don't do very well. You see, someone who is temperate restrains their own conduct by constraints that they have put upon themselves rather than constraints that somebody else has put on them.

And self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit, which of course is something every Christian should develop. But this word temperate is never used in this broad sense in the New Testament. And if we want to understand what words mean, we look at how they are used and the context in which they are used. That's how you create dictionaries. And in the New Testament, this word temperate is used for a very specific type of self-control.

The self-control that produces vigilance or careful attention to one's duties and responsibilities. That's how it's used in the New Testament. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 5, Paul summed up Timothy's responsibilities as a shepherd with this, but you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. That word watchful is the verb form of the same word translated temperate in our text. That word that elders must have.

We have the same thing in 1 Peter 4, 7, where the Apostle Peter instructed all Christians to be serious and watchful in your prayers, because the end of all things was at hand. That word watchful is again the same word as in our text. Or in 1 Thessalonians 5, 6 where Paul says, Let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober, Be vigilant. That word sober is the same word. Sober is actually the verb form of the word for temperate.

And this is why if you look in most older translations of the Bible, like the Geneva Bible or the bishops Bible or the King James Bible Webster's Bible the one that wrote the dictionary or The the Young's literal translation any of these older ones they all translate this word temperate as either watchful or vigilant. Be vigilant. I think the King James says be vigilant. And I think we have a further confirmation that Paul has vigilance in view here when he says temperate and sober-minded. Because, and not primarily talking about an elder's relationship to alcohol, because alcohol is specifically, or wine is specifically mentioned later on in this list of qualifications, down a little bit farther down.

And so I think it's more unlikely that Paul would be mentioning the same thing at two different places when it would seem that he has vigilance in view in this first case. And so in addition to this qualification that the elders must be temperate or vigilant, watchful, is the closely related idea of being sober-minded. The Greek dictionary defines the word for sober-minded as being in control of oneself. Prudent, thoughtful, self-controlled, It's an avoidance of extremes and careful consideration of responsible action. To be sober-minded, we might say, is to be intent on the what and the how and the when of doing what should be done.

To be intent on the what, what we should do, how we should do it, and when we should do it. And so these two words are paired together here. They're very closely related. They're paired together in a number of other places in the New Testament as well. And some translations even interchange these two words in the translations.

For example, Titus 2 says that older men should be sober and temperate. Sober and temperate. The Greek words are the same, in the same word order. In Timothy 3, it's to be temperate and sober-minded, but they translate the exact two words interchangeably as sober and temperate in Titus 2. And so I think that's another indication that they would interchange the translations like that.

It's another indication of just how closely these two concepts are related together. It's also somewhat confusing if you're trying to distinguish the nuances between these two words when they interchange the translation like that. But it does show that they are close in meaning. So we are looking at them together this morning. Because this vigilance, this watchfulness, is just being thoughtful and self-controlled in thinking and speaking and in acting.

This is very critical. It's critical. It's a core competency for the work of an overseer. Now, why do we say that? Well, overseers are commanded to Shepherd the flock of God.

There's several places. Peter exhorted the elders in 1 Peter 5, if you remember a few weeks ago. He said, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers. And Paul's closing exhortation to the elders of the Ephesian church at Miletus in Acts 20 was to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Shepherd.

And so when we consider or think about the work of a shepherd, I think the need for vigilance and watchfulness is readily apparent. And when God says that we are like sheep or when He calls people shepherds, God wants us to compare ourselves to what sheep are like and to look at the work of a shepherd. Because when He says shepherd, the flock, he's saying that your work is going to resemble the work of a shepherd. And so these word pictures are very effective ways to communicate. For example, when God said that He would give Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, we can understand what he's saying there by thinking about what it means to have a plenteous supply of milk and of honey.

It means hard work in caring for bees and milking animals, but it's work that provides rich and nutritious food. Bread is a staple, but when we have it with milk and honey, that's a luxury. Good milk, that is, not the stuff they sell in stores today. And so when we think about a shepherd's work, it's obvious then why vigilance and watchfulness are necessary. They're a must-have qualification.

It's the work of a shepherd to watch for enemies and dangers of all sorts. Predators like lions and bears or wolves are a constant threat. David, Remember, had to deal with those threats. And these predators don't announce their presence, do they? They are very crafty at concealing their presence and attacking when you least expect it.

They're crafty. They sneak up on the prey. Then there are airborne predators to keep watch for, eagles that can swoop in and pick up a small lamb and carry it off. There are bandits and robbers that wanted to prey on isolated shepherds and their flocks. And so they needed to be vigilant and to watch out for these things, as well as watching out for ravines and outcrops and other places that predators could hide, either two-legged or Four-legged.

And in addition to these external dangers, shepherds needed to keep watch over internal dangers as well. The shepherd needs to be vigilant for signs of distress in individual sheep, particularly lambs, to heat stress, to signs of illness, to failure to thrive, to signs of poor nutrition, to limping or lame sheep. You know, oftentimes these sheep don't come on their own and say, hey, I'm limping. They depend on the shepherd to watch. Vigilance.

A vigilant shepherd will spot a problem, a little problem, before it becomes big and a life-threatening one. A shepherd also has to keep vigilant watch for missing sheep. Or sheep that get lost or separated or stuck. They're missing. He has to go looking for them.

He has to be on watch for that. So not only watching for what is in front of him, but watching for what's not in front of him that should be there. A shepherd needs to keep watch over a sheep that would wander into dangerous areas where they're not safe. Shepherds need to be vigilant in the search and identification of food, of green pastures, of water, because it's their responsibility to feed the sheep. And so that requires looking out.

And it requires seeking out those places that are appropriate. Right? And shepherds take their flocks wherever they need to go. They look, they're always on the lookout, always watching for suitable places to feed the flock. You see, a big part of a shepherd's work is simply watching, vigilance.

And so vigilance and a sound mind then are these core vital essential competencies for an overseer because those things are an essential or vital component of a shepherd's work. In fact, vigilance is such an obvious qualification for shepherds that we even find this theme in nursery rhymes. Little children, right? Like little Bo Peep or little boy Blue, come blow your horn. The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.

But where's the boy who looks after the sheep? He's under the haystack, fast asleep. There's a shepherd who is not vigilant. He's failed in his core mission. I think This is often why God trained many of the men he called the lead Israel by first making them shepherds of sheep.

Remember Abraham and all his family were shepherds. Moses, raised as a prince in Pharaoh's house with all of the learning of Egypt, had to serve 40 years as a shepherd of sheep in the desert before he was qualified and ready to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. David was trained as a shepherd before he ever became king in Israel. And God used that skill. He used the training that he got as a shepherd being able to kill lions and bears in preparing him to fight Goliath.

It was the skills he's learned as a shepherd defending the flock, keeping watch over the flock that he used to slay Goliath. Remember, he didn't need the sword of Saul. He didn't need his armor. What he needed were his shepherd's tools, the sling and five smooth stones. Now, These shepherds under shepherds, when we look at their work, the first thing that they must do is keep watch over themselves.

Just as everyone in Christ's flock must keep watch over themselves. But you see, shepherds, elders, overseers, need to keep special watch over themselves with respect to their calling as shepherds. Because those who don't keep watch over themselves and over their families are not qualified to keep watch over God's church, Christ's church. And so, overseers need to keep watch, vigilance, over their own walk and devotion to Jesus Christ. And that's a daily exercise.

That's a daily vigilance, a daily watching. Have prayers become repetitive or distant or lacking power? Is the reading of the word perfunctory producing minimal effects? Is there awe at the majesty of God? Or are we reading the word without any awe at His mercy and His majesty?

Is there no gratitude for His grace? Is there no longing and hunger to know more of Christ? Is the time of prayer and the reading getting cut short more and more? I mean, these are things that an overseer must keep watch over in his own life. Is there a daily self-denial?

Denial of ourselves taking up the cross and following Christ. You see, taking up the cross is not when afflictions come upon us from outside. It's when we willingly sacrifice for the sake of Christ and His gospel. But it's not just a willingness to do so. It is something that's actually being done.

Is it actually being done? Is there a sacrifice of time or of rights or a position or reputation or or privileges or comforts? Or even of our lives for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Christ and his gospel. Six times, you know, Jesus says in the gospels, Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Another so the area of self-denial is an area that shepherds must keep watch over themselves.

Shepherds also need vigilance in their own life that they are not acting out of the fear of man. There's a difference between the wisdom of knowing what to say and the right time to say it, and the fear of man. There's a difference between the wisdom of knowing what to say and when to say it, and the fear of man. So there is vigilance needed that the fear of man does not creep in mass as wisdom as to when not to say something. Vigilance is also needed not to be conformed to this world, not to let the feudal thinking of this age displace the wisdom of the Word.

Of the world. Of the Word, I mean. Not to allow the pleasures of the world to become more central in our life than Christ and the means of grace. That takes vigilance. It takes watchfulness.

It takes deliberation. It takes the ability to think clearly about when and how these works should be done. And of course, vigilances needed to be on continual guardless pride creep in. I think this is particularly true. For anyone who has gained significant knowledge in the Scriptures, that is not matched by equal growth in every other area of sanctification.

See, knowledge is important, but knowledge by itself puffs up. Knowledge without this other sanctifying graces that are necessary is a problem that leads to pride. Now, pride is ubiquitous to fallen people. We all deal with it. No one is immune.

But pride is also very deceptive. And it's highly adept at concealing itself under a variety of different masks. Sometimes they don't even look like pride initially. Feelings of inferiority or inadequacy compared to others is a mask often covering pride. Prayerlessness might be another indicator of spiritual pride, thinking that we can do what we need to do without God's help.

Forgetting that Jesus said, without Me you can do Nothing. Without prayer, we are powerless. We can only work in the arm of the flesh. It's an issue because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. And so un-mortified pride in an overseer, in a shepherd, brings God's resistance to their work.

And that's a fearful thing. A shepherd also needs to be vigilant that his own family is not neglected. And a shepherd needs to have vigilance not to allow the business of the labors to supplant the need for rest. It takes a watchfulness, a personal vigilance. When Jesus saw that the disciples didn't even have time to eat, he said, come aside by yourself to a deserted place for a while.

Take a rest. You need to eat. He said, for there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in a boat by themselves. So there needs also to be watchfulness, lest there be a lack of devotion to their calling.

You see, this is important because failure to exercise this personal vigilance impacts not just that person, that overseer, it also harms the entire flock church of Jesus Christ. You see, in a couple of ways, shepherds are to be an example. Overseers are to be an example, both in exercising vigilance over themselves, and they are to be an example in every other area of the Christian life. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4.12, Let no one despise your youth, But be an example to the believers. Be an example in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.

So an overseer who is not vigilant over his own soul will leave God's people without an example. And there will not only be an example of what personal vigilance is, but that lack of personal vigilance will lead to failures in other areas, resulting in a failure to be an example in all the other areas as well. See, they must be. Overseers must be examples. Paul said to the Philippians, Brethren, join in following my example.

And he said to the second Thessalonians 3, For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. So Paul's saying we didn't take money, not because it wasn't our right to get it, but in order that we might be an example. They needed that example of working, Because that was a problem. People weren't working in that church. So Paul had to say, if you don't work, you don't eat.

Or 1 Peter 5, the passage we looked at a few weeks ago. There were to be examples, He said, to the flock, not lording it over them. But secondly, so one, it deprives Christ's people of the example that they are to follow, but secondly, it can lead to the church itself being scattered. And this is a far even more grievous result. God said of Israel in Jeremiah 10, For the shepherds have become dull-hearted.

That means brutish, stupid, not in their right mind. They've become dull-hearted. It's the opposite of sober-minded which is prudent and thoughtful. These shepherds have become brutish and have not sought the Lord, therefore that they shall not prosper." Ok, that's the impact on them individually. But then God says, "...and all of their flocks shall be scattered." The church itself is harmed.

The church that Jesus Christ has gathered to himself is scattered by shepherds that are not vigilant. And This was Jesus' assessment of the church under the Jewish elders in the New Testament, Israel. He said they were scattered as sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9 records Jesus going to the cities and the villages, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them because he said these are sheep that have been scattered like they have no shepherd.

You see, this was a consequence of the dull-hearted shepherd. Shepherds who failed to exercise vigilance over themselves for long sustained times. So elders need vigilance, need to be vigilant and watchful because to watch over themselves. But they also need to exercise vigilance over the flock. They need to exercise what we might call corporate vigilance.

And actually the very title of overseer or Bishop means watching over. One commentator said, Bishop translates episkopos, the Greek word, which is derived from the family of Greek words referring to guardianship, oversight, inspection, accountability, looking after a complex process in a comprehensive sense. Episcopos implies vigilance far more than hierarchy. See, the word itself comes from a class of words, a family of words that are related to visitation. In fact, that's how the word is used in the New Testament.

Visitation, episcopae is visitation. As well as office. So we tend to think of it in church government as a hierarchy, but what they're saying is this word really means more about vigilance, watchfulness. Isaiah 56, 10, God describes the failed leaders of Israel as blind watchmen and shepherds who are not keeping watch. And shortly after God called Ezekiel, He said to him, Ezekiel 3, 17, He said, Son of man, remember, they speak into a prophet, somebody he's called to be his messenger.

He says, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked man from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity. But his blood, God said, I would require it of your hand Ezekiel's hand yet if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul." Calvin said, what Ezekiel heard, what we just read, belongs to all teachers of the church, namely that they are divinely appointed and placed as watchtowers. Placed as on watchtowers.

That they may keep watch for the common safety of all. It was the duty of those who have been appointed from the beginning ministers of the heavenly doctrine to be watchmen. And then he says, for we know that the word bishop means the same as watchmen. The New Testament repeats this exact same principle in Hebrews 13, where it says, Elders are those who watch out for our souls as those who must give an account. Let them do so with joy, not with grief.

But we have this command directly given in the New Testament to overseers. Paul's closing exhortation to the elders in the Ephesian church in Acts 20, 28 was, Therefore, in light of all the things He's just been telling them, take heed to yourselves and to the flock. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock of which He has made you overseers. Of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the Church of God Which he purchased with his own blood Take heed to yourselves that's in other words exercise personal vigilance. And corporate vigilance.

Both. Paul goes on then to explain why elders need to exercise a corporate vigilance. He goes on in the next verse, For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch.

Therefore, watch. And remember that for three years, I did not cease to warn everyone, day and night, with tears." Paul points to his own example of watchfulness when He was there. So Paul is saying here that when overseers are vigilant, There will be a two-fold aspect to their work. There will be an inward watch, and there will be an outward watch, an inward watch, an inward focused watch, and an outward focused watch. The outward focus in keeping vigilant for wolves, they must recognize the errors that are without.

And teach the truth, refuting doctrine. Errors that are not, let's say, present in those who are before them. Errors in others. They must keep watch for those errors so that they can warn them. They must recognize the prevailing sins of the culture and warn against those sins.

They must bring out from the Scriptures what the Bible has to say about the current culture and what it does or doesn't do. In Mark 8, 15, Jesus warned his disciples about doctrinal errors around them, saying, Take heed, beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And in Luke 20, Jesus said, in the hearing of all the people through His disciples, He said, "'Beware of the scribes who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplace, the best seats in the synagogue, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for pretense make long prayers.'" And Paul warned the church at Philippi, Philippians 3, Beware of dogs, beware of evildoers, beware of the mutilation. And so this outward vigilance is primarily carried out in the work of preaching and teaching, in the teaching ministry. And so faithful preaching, faithful diligence and oversight in this corporate sense, and it's outward focused, will result in preaching that doesn't hesitate to warn of wolves and predators.

Jesus called the Jewish leaders blind guides, serpents, and whitewashed tombs. He identified these things. He warned the disciples and the people about these wolves. And these wolves can arise from within or without of the church, Paul said. But secondly, there's to be an inward focus in keeping vigilant watch over the flock.

The overseer, Paul said, must also recognize those who have been led astray by false doctrine or into alluring sins and must seek to restore them. And so this is the private ministry of overseers, of shepherds. Speaking of his three year stay at Ephesus, in Acts 20, Paul reminded the current elders of the church, these men that he had trained, who had watched him for three years. He said, I kept back nothing that was helpful, nothing, But proclaimed it to you and taught publicly, there's the outward focus. And, from house to house, that's the private focus.

The seeking to instruct people that have been or are in danger of being led astray into heresies or into sins. So watching is vital. It's a core competency for any overseer. And a failure in these areas has impact not just in the life of that elder or that overseer, Not just in him being cast away, but in his works being destroyed and in the church ultimately being scattered. We see in closing, I would point out that this same requirement is given to all believers individually.

We were all as individual as believers as disciples of Christ to be vigilant. After instructing the Ephesian church to put on the whole armor of God. Paul concludes in verse 18 with the exhortation to pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and be watchful to this end, watchful to what end, what purpose, watchful that we are diligent to put on the armor of God watchful in in praying and in supplicating to the spirit and in supplication for the saints were to watch ourselves second John eight look to yourselves what are watch yourselves that you do not lose the things we work for, but that we might receive a full reward. 1 Peter 4, 7, But the end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious. That's the word sober-minded in our text.

Be serious and watchful in your prayers. 1 Peter 5, 8, Be sober. That's the word that we've looked at. Temperate. Be sober.

Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom you may devour. Titus 2 speaks to older men to be sober, vigilant. That's the same word that's temperate in our text. Be sober, vigilant, watchful, reverent, temperate, sound in the faith.

And 1 Peter 1 gives yet another instruction for us to watch in all these areas. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober or vigilant and watchful, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. May God enable us, by His grace, to keep diligent watch over ourselves and over all that He has put into our care. Father in heaven, we know that on our own strength we would fall asleep like your disciples who could not keep watch for one hour. Without your grace, we are those who are fast asleep when we ought to be watching.

Without your grace, Lord, we wander. We ask that you would give us this diligence to keep watch, to watch and to pray, to be vigilant for the enemies around us, for we are soldiers in a war. We are engaged in a battle, and you have given us all the resources that we need. Your armor, and your spirit, and every spiritual blessing in Christ. Lord, may we be watchful, diligent in using these, in availing ourselves of them.

We ask this In Jesus' name, Amen.