In his sermon titled 'What Elders Must Be: Willing to Yield (Pt7)', Peter Allison explores the qualifications outlined in 1 Timothy chapter 3, focusing on the attributes required of a bishop. He emphasizes the importance of being not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not covetous. These requirements are grouped into two main categories: conflict management and relationship with money. Allison explains that these qualities are crucial to preventing the misuse of the office for personal gain or pleasure. The sermon highlights the necessary contrasts between vices and virtues, such as being gentle instead of violent and maintaining freedom from the love of money. Through scriptural references and historical examples, Allison underscores the importance of self-control and peaceable leadership in the church, stressing that leaders must be willing to yield and prioritize the well-being of their congregation over personal interests.

The scripture reading today is 1 Timothy chapter 3. Last week we looked at not giving to wine, and this morning we hope to complete the remaining five requirements given here in verse 3. But I'd like to read the complete section covering all seventeen requirements. 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 wine, 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 Jehovah bring His judgments of old to mind and comfort us with them. Father in heaven, we ask that You would open our hearts and minds to receive Your Word with meekness, to profit from it, to lay it up in our hearts that we might not sin against You. And I ask that You would sanctify my sinful lips this morning, that they may rightly and fully proclaim your word and not merely the ideas of men. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Well, for a couple of weeks now, I had thought at the beginning of the week that we would be able to finish all the remaining requirements in verse 3 and one message actually in verse 2. But in each case by the end of the week, That was proven wrong. However, now this week, I trust that we will look at all of these requirements in verse 3. Not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous. These five remaining categories, or requirements I should say, these five remaining requirements cover two general categories arising from using the office for personal gain or personal pleasure of some sort.

One category relates to conflict and the other category really concerns our relation to money. So conflict and what causes conflict, and our relation to money. And So we're going to look at these requirements under these two categories, which is not exactly in the order that they are given here in verse 3. Verse 3 actually has six requirements, and there is an order to it. There are three things that the overseer must not be, contrasted with three things that he must be.

And these two sets of three requirements that are being contrasted are separated by the word but That shows us that there is a contrast of some sort but due to the inherent limitations of Translating one language into another language this contrast is not as obvious in English as it is in Greek. And this is further compounded by most modern translations translating a Greek text that's missing one of these requirements. So if you have a modern translation other than the New King James, most others, You only have five, which of course disrupts the symmetry of three and three. The one that's missing is not violent. But each of these were each of the first three words in Greek, as in English, is a vice that is preceded by not.

Not given to wine. And We looked last week at what is involved in that. It's not drinking. But it's far more than just not being a drunkard. It's not lingering by it.

It's not depending on it. Not given to wine. Not violent. Not greedy for money. Now in the Greek, the second three words that follow the but are all virtuous character qualities.

But in our English translation you'll notice that two of those words in the second set of three are also vices that are preceded by a not. And not quarrelsome and not covetous. Which of course makes the but a little out of place, doesn't it? If a sentence continues a list of things an elder must not be, we would expect an and or an or to continue that. For example, it makes sense to us to say an elder must not be violent but peaceable.

But it doesn't make a lot of sense to say an elder must not be violent but not vicious. We would expect an and or or an elder must not be violent or vicious. And so if we are to maintain this positive and negative aspect of this list of requirements, we could rephrase it this way. Not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. And I think those preserve the contrast.

Now, not given to wine is contrasted with gentle. Not violent is contrasted with peaceable. Not greedy for money is contrasted with freedom from the love of money. Do you see how that goes? Now the contrast with the latter two is obvious.

The contrast between not given to wine and gentle is not as certain or clear. But there is, I think, a contrast there. The first category relates to conflict. Not violent, but gentle and peaceable. The Apostle James asks in James 4, where do wars and fights come from?

What causes conflict? Whether it's siblings battling something, or adults battling something with bigger weapons and more money. James says, do they not come from your desires for pleasure? That's the source of conflicts, he's saying. They come from our desire for pleasure, for gain, for benefit.

Your desire for pleasure that warns your members. You lust. You desire something. That's what lust is. It's a desire for something generally that's wrong.

That we're not allowed to have. It's not ours to have. You desire this and you can't have it. And because you desire something that you can't have, you then murder and covet, and you cannot obtain it, he says. You fight and war.

Yet you do not have because you do not ask, or you ask and you do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your pleasures." So James points to the desire for our own pleasure, the desire for our gain as the source of conflict and wars and fights. And so that's what these words here, these requirements are addressing. The word violent there, not violent, refers to a pugnacious person, a bully. A pugnacious person is someone who is inclined to fighting. They're quarrelsome.

They are quick to engage in combat, either literally, physically, or metaphorically, or legally, or verbally. In the New Testament, this word is only used in describing requirements for elders and deacons. And so, It's literally somebody who is striking. Somebody who likes to use force. And it indicates a lack of self-control.

This kind of pugnaciousness, this kind of violence, is what is behind domestic violence. Where people, and it's usually men, but not always, physically assault their wives or their children or other family members or other people. And that's why the King James translates this as a striker. Not somebody who strikes with their hands or their feet. This, the Bible says, is someone who is weak.

Weak, not strong. Weak. It's somebody who lacks self-control. You don't want somebody who is weak and lacking in self-control to be a leader. You want leaders who are strong.

Proverbs 25-28 says, "...Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls." You don't want to live in a city broken down without walls. You don't want to be protected by a shepherd who is like a city broken down without walls. He's not going to be able to defend anything. He won't be able to defend from the wolf and the attack because he's weak. A striker is somebody who is quick to anger.

Their anger rises in a flash and they strike out in anger. Proverbs 16, 32 says, He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and He who rules His own spirit than He who takes a city." In other words, if you can take a city but you can't rule your own spirit, you're weak. You're weak. Jesus equates this kind of unrighteous anger with murder itself. In Matthew 5, He says, I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council, the Sanhedrin, the judgment. But whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire." You know, he hasn't even gotten to striking with your fists yet. It's just words. The words that are arising out of this anger, this uncontrolled anger. Because why is they angry?

Because there's something that they want that they're not getting. It might be respect. It might be recognition. It might be advancement. It might be anything that they want to consume on their own flesh that they're not getting resulting in anger.

And so being swift to anger like this, being unable to exercise self-control is disqualifying for elders. An overseer is not to be a harsh man, not to revile people. Somebody who is pugnacious. He's not to be Somebody who makes people suffer for doing good, which is what happens when overseers are pugnacious. And so anybody who makes others endure this kind of unnecessary grief, lacks very important qualification for an office of overseer.

An overseer must not get tough or rough, even when people oppose the truth, tough in an aggressive way. Now, that doesn't mean there is never a time for anger. There are times when we must strike, but never striking in anger or as a result of losing control. It's only where God commands this. Civil magistrates must inflict punishment.

Exodus 21 in the latter half of that chapter lists a number of places where civil magistrates by the command of God must strike the evildoer. Parents are commanded to use the rod in Proverbs 23 and several places. So there are lawful places where those in authority, whether it's parents or rulers of any kind, do need to exercise that authority. But it's only where God specifically commands it, and it's never in anger or for personal gain or as a result of personal, lack of personal pleasure. Because you're not personally getting something.

And so instead, the contrast here is Instead, elders must be gentle. Not pugnacious, not strikers, but gentle. And this word gentle is a very difficult word. Gentle in this word means not insisting on every right. It means yielding, willing to overlook, not insisting that every jot in the title of the law be exacted in some kind of justice.

It's being kind and being compassionate and being able to overlook things. It is the spirit behind Jesus' admonition in Matthew 5. He says in verse 25, "'Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hands you over to the officer and you'll be thrown into prison." See, an exacting insistence on every jaw of the law indicates someone who has either forgotten the great debt that they have been forgiven or who has never been forgiven of any great debt by Jesus, who is not forgiven. See that this gentle, this word gentle is referring to the spirit that recognizes We've been forgiven a lot. We've been forgiving a debt, a massive debt that we could never repay, and it then can look with compassion on others and not exact every jot and tittle of justice.

It recognizes that even if we are maybe 80% right or 90% right or 95% right, there's still 5% where we're at fault. And so that's this idea of agreeing with your adversary quickly, recognize the 5% instead of pressing forward for exact justice and getting your 5%. Or the other way where you're mostly wrong but a little bit right, and you're pressing for that little bit where you're right. That's what it's talking about. Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice is all about this very point.

Remember the creditor Shylock who insists upon the exact repayment of the loan and is unwilling to yield at all even if it means that this person is going to die. And this is also, of course, the point of Jesus' parable, the unforgiving servant. He's been forgiven much. But then he goes out in Matthew 18.28, seeing one of his fellow servants, Jesus said, who owed him just a little debt, something that could be repaid, a couple months' wages, versus what he'd been forgiven, which was many lifetimes of wages that he was in debt. He found this one who owed him a little bit of money.

He laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me what you owe. That's the spirit that this is saying. An overseer must be gentle, must not have that kind of exacting spirit. And this is also what James says in James 3, "...Who is wise and understanding among you, let him show by good conduct that his Works are done in the meekness of wisdom, but if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your heart, this selfish ambition, this desire for your own benefit, for your own pleasure, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic, for where envy and self-seeking exist.

Here's what happens. Confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, peaceable, gentle, that's the same word we're using here, gentle, willing to yield. You think of this word gentle as being somebody who is willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

An elder must be gentle, must be willing to yield, must not be one who exacts every last drop and tittle of the law for themselves. See, elders that do that, elders that press every little injustice against them, especially, they hurt the church and they create unnecessary conflict. It's a hard word to translate adequately. Trench says, The fact remains that we have no words in English which are full equivalents of the Greek. The sense of equity and fairness which is so strong in them is more or less wanting or lacking in all which we offer in exchange.

In other words, we don't have a good word to translate this one word that's gentle. Gentle is probably the best translation of it, but it includes this idea of equity and fairness and being willing to yield. Yet we don't often connect directly with gentleness. In May 12, 2008, the Houston Chronicle published an article on a church dispute, a news article covering a church dispute. It begins, A judge's decision this month to ban two fired pastors from returning to the church and order them to pay nearly $60, 000 in lawyer fees and court costs is the latest development in a bitter feud at this one church.

I won't name it. It still exists in Houston. In less than a year, the church has weathered four lawsuits and two failed mediation attempts. Needless to say, one side, which seems to comprise the elder board and their faction, is very pleased with the ruling. And the other side, which is comprised of the pastors, excommunicated deacons and their faction, is not at all pleased, threatening that this legal and spiritual battle is far from over.

And these people that lost this round actually compared their situation to a prize fight. They said they had round one, we had round two, they had round three, and now we're in round four. The article goes on to say the church split happened the previous summer when a dispute over who controlled their finances degenerated into a power struggle after a group of the congregation demanded that the elders turn over all financial records for inspection. It says that this disagreement led to shouting and shoving matches that disrupted worship services as church members vied for control of the pulpit. Police were called to clear the sanctuary several times.

One man suffered a broken leg, and another woman wound up in the hospital with a neck injury. When asked the obvious question why the excommunicated faction and the pastors don't just move on and start their own church, their lawyer said his clients reject the suggestion that they should just start their own church and move on. That's not what this is about. They have been part of this church for 30 years, and you don't just walk away from that. So they are preparing their appeals and their counterclaims.

And this is exactly, exactly what Paul says elders must not be. Because it leads to that. It's hard to believe. But there it is. Right in our own city.

Right among a church that professes Jesus Christ, they're playing this out in front of unbelieving judges. What a disgrace. And of course, the church is wrecked. I think it's still wrecked. I went on their website and looked, and there's really nothing there.

They have a building. They have a very big building. And the reason, one reason I know about this is because it was right when we were looking for a building and that was one building we were looking into and inquiring about. And I ran into this. They still have a nice building, but I don't think they have a church there.

Paul says they must be not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome. That was peaceable. They must be not violent, but gentle, peaceable. Now this word peaceable here is the root word there is what's used for physical combat, especially military fighting. And the military aspect of this word is predominates outside the New Testament, but in the New Testament, it's also used for verbal arguments.

John 6, the Jews quarreled among themselves saying, how can this man give his flesh to eat? It's a verbal fight. Or in 2 Timothy 2, avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. Again, this is that word, the root word. It's used of legal disputes about the law, Titus 3.9, avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings, that's this word, striving about the law for they are unprofitable and useless.

And it's something that is required of all saints, just as all of these requirements are. We are to be peaceable and gentle, showing all humility to all men, Paul said in Titus 3. But this is especially important for those who would be overseers and shepherds of Christ's church. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, 23, Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. But a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition." So often conflict arises from pride, and the desire to be recognized or the desire to be right.

But in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God will grant them repentance so that they might know the truth. See, a man that lacks this peaceable character will continually find fault with people, continually pick apart what people say and do. We'll always have a bone of contention with someone. And you're going to find it hard to be able to teach hard to shepherd. There will always be disputes and grievances and quarrels.

Always finding something that's not right. It makes for a very unhappy situation. Now this doesn't mean that Elders must be Casper milk toast, always bowing to everyone's wishes. When Geneva decided to become Protestant in Switzerland, it wasn't because they loved the Reformed faith and wanted to be under faithful preaching of God's Word entirely. Actually, their morality was abysmal.

And John McNeil says, Geneva abounded in taverns and houses of dissipated and immoral pleasures. I mean, it was more of a political thing of being free from the Roman Catholic Church. He goes on to say, even contemporary opponents of the Reformation readily accused the Roman Catholic priests and monks of scandalous conduct. And while that conduct was resented by the people, it was also imitated by them. Geneva social life was often characterized by intemperance, obscenity, and unashamed immorality.

An attempt was made in 1546 to replace the taverns by centers of innocent entertainment, abbeys, where they were to watch over people that they didn't drink excessively or they didn't play cards too long or didn't sing irreverent songs. But they were boycotted and abandoned within a couple of months. So Calvin and the church there was opposed by a group of people in the city called Libertines. And they came from a number of Genevaan families, and they vigorously opposed Calvin and the Consistory, especially in their attempts to bring Christian order and conduct and character to the citizens of Geneva. And one of these men, Filibert Berthelaer, whom Bisa described, Theodore Bisa described as a man of most consummate impotence, who actually served as a defense attorney for Michael Servetus, if you're familiar with that trial.

And it was during this trial, it's a very famous trial, and it's one Calvin is often strongly criticized, I think, improperly criticized for. But it's during this trial, this excommunicated man, who is somebody of consummate impotence, obtained surreptitiously letters of absolution on official letterhead from officials in the Geneva Senate who believed they had a right to control who was admitted to the Lord's table and who was not, that they had that right and not their consistory. And so though Calvin vehemently argued against their right of civil magistrates to inflict church censors, he was overruled. And so the next Lord's Day, September 3, 1553, these libertines strutted into St. Pierre's Cathedral, that's the main cathedral, one of three or four, where Calvin was preaching.

They strutted in with their hands resting on their swords. They took their seats near the Lord's table. They were ready to impose their will on this. And Calvin preached a sermon which according to Biza, he spoke at some length of the despisers of the sacred mysteries. And after which he exclaimed in the words of Chrysostom, I will die sooner than this hand shall stretch forth the sacred things of the Lord to those who have been judged despisers.

Then he descended from the pulpit, stood resolutely behind the Lord's table, and refused to serve any despisers of sacred mysteries. He said, these hands you may crush, these arms you may lop off, my life you may take, my blood is yours, you may shed it, but you shall never force Me to give holy things to the profane and dishonor the table of My God." That's the necessary defense of what is right and of the holy things of the Lord. So this is not saying that you have to be yielding to everybody and do what everybody wants in order to keep the peace. There are times when those who resist must be opposed. And one of the requirements of an overseer is that they have to be able to refute those who contradict.

Paul here is forbidding in elders that which comes from the desire for personal gain and benefit and pleasure." Now the last second category here is is that which deals with our relation to money. Not fond of shameful or disgraceful gain. It says, not greedy for money. Not greedy for money. Shameful gain is what's acquired in a dishonest or unfair way.

And politicians have long been known for being lovers of shameful gain in the markets, right? Just recently or a few years ago, a number of enterprising entrepreneurs developed an app that would allow ordinary people like you and I to trade like politicians who are Somehow have these incredibly Profitable stock portfolios that outperform even the even the professional hedge funds And there's a number of examples which I'm sure you're all familiar with of how they make these trades just right in the nick of time before some law passes or some bill is introduced that makes that company very profitable. If any of us did those kind of trades, we'd be investigated for insider trading. And so this diminishes the respect not only of that person, but of the office itself. Now, it's bad enough when politicians, civil magistrates, engage in or are fond of shameful gain.

But it's orders of magnitude worse when church overseers and shepherds are also fond of this shameful game. And there's a whole industry led by celebrity pastors that engage in shameful game. And we've all read their shameful headlines. They even have a name. It's called usually televangelists.

And it's a pejorative because of their fondness for shameful gain. It brings dishonor on them and upon the church. It's a discredit to the Church of Christ that you have these people who are so fond of shameful gain. Now, it's not just financial gain, but I think this is also any shameful desire for power, for honor, for praise, for prestige. In other words, Peter says in 1 Peter 5, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, Not for some personal benefit.

It's just the opposite. A shepherd is to sacrifice for the well-being of the flock. And of course, so not fond of shorting gain. Not greedy for money. And that's contrasted then with the last one, free from the love of money.

It's a compound word, which is one word is to have affection for, to consider someone a friend. You get phileo, we probably recognize that as one of the words for love, right? And the word for silver. A love of silver. Free from the love of silver.

Silver is what you use for money. All intelligent economies use silver for money. And that's what Hebrews 13 says. Let your conduct Be without covetousness. Let your conduct be free from the love of silver.

Be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you." This love of money. Paul said this love of money. Didn't say money. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

Not all evil, the root of all kinds, all types of evil. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and elders must be free from the love of money. We all must be free, but especially elders. Paul warned Timothy of this. He said, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many souls.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and patience. The love of money destroys an elder and destroys the church and brings great ruin. The love of money pierces people through with many sorrows. May God give us that peaceable, forgiving character and freedom from the love of money. And may He give us shepherds who are examples to us in both of these things.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for the sufficiency of Your Word. We thank You for its clarity, for its specificity. In all of the pitfalls of our fallen nature, that we desire our own pleasure, desire money and the pleasure that it brings. And we ask, Lord, for Your grace to put to death, to mortify this part of our flesh, that we might instead be those who are peaceable and willing to yield, gentle, Not insisting upon our own rights, but willing to forgive, where they have been trampled on. Willing to leave in your hands this rendering of justice.

Willing to commit it to you and to live at peace. We ask also that our treasure might be in heaven, and that our hearts might be there and not here upon earth, and that our love might be of you and of our treasure in heaven, and not this sober which is passing away, which can be corrupted, which can be stolen by thieves. Lord, we thank you that those things that we have committed to you are secure and endure into eternity. That no thief, no moth, no corruption can ever remove, remove from us. We ask in Jesus name, Amen.