The High Calling of Teaching | Sermon 05/08/2022

Apologia Utah

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If you would please turn with me in your Bibles to James chapter 3, we're on a new chapter.

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Praise God. James chapter 3, we're going to be only in verses 1 and 2.

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The title of this sermon today, church, is The High Calling of Teaching.

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The High Calling of Teaching. Starting in verse 1 of chapter 3, hear now the words of the living and one true

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God. Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

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For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body as well.

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Thus ending the reading of God's holy and inspired word, let's pray quickly, church. Father, would you please be with us today?

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Would you help us to understand, Lord, what this passage means and how it applies for us today in the church?

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Lord, would you please help us as your people to narrow in on it, to be focused in on what you want us to see,

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Lord? God, I thank you for the ability, Lord, to be able to proclaim your word here in this place in freedom.

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God, would you please speak through me that I might decrease and you would increase? I pray this all in Jesus' name, amen.

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When we think of teachers, some of us undoubtedly think of our favorite teachers from grade school, maybe an influential professor from college.

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Maybe you had a Sunday school teacher that greatly impacted you as a child or growing up, maybe even used in your conversion.

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When I thought of teachers, I couldn't help but think of the late Dr. R .C.

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Sproul. This godly man wrote over 100 books. He taught at numerous colleges and seminaries.

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He taught at Reform Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He was a chief architect in the 1978

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Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. That was huge, 1978. And he started what we know to be the theological powerhouse today,

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Ligonier Ministries. Just fantastic resource, praise God for that. This brother spent decades with his feet under a desk, training, studying, learning the word of God, learning it inside and out, honestly.

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To the point where it's been said he could literally grab a pew Bible on his way up.

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He had studied for decades, and by the end of his life, he could grab a pew Bible and just speak so eloquently about the word of God.

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Just amazing. In our Apologia South Phoenix reach group before we moved here, in fact, we were going through one of Sproul's teaching series called

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From Dust to Glory. You got to check that out. From Dust to Glory, you can get the DVDs as well, and that covers major biblical events all the way from Genesis to Revelation.

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So if you're a person who's like, I just don't know how to wrap my mind around when the two kingdoms of Israel split, and the exile, and the captivity, and then this and that, really

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Dust to Glory would be a great resource for you. We were going over that.

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But if you've watched any lesson from R .C. Sproul, the brother is truly old school.

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I think me and Daniel were talking about this one time, R .C. has a big old chalkboard behind him.

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He's got his glasses hanging on his lip like a professor, and he's pretty much covered in chalk dust.

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Just an amazing teacher. He was electric in a way.

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He brought the Word of God to life in many ways. He made it come alive.

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But most importantly, he believed every single word that God had written. Every single word that God had spoken,

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R .C. believed it. He lived it. He lived it as well.

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God used R .C. Sproul in the lives of so many people, likely thousands and thousands of people, a reach that we probably will never be able to quantify.

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He had great influence. But he understood he had to be careful with that influence.

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Then there are those of the completely opposite side of the teaching spectrum, more accurately those in a completely different category, and that would be false teachers.

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One such person came to my mind as I was preparing this that greatly fits that title of false teacher, and that is

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Jim Jones. Jim Jones. He decided to enter into ministry after graduating from college.

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Jones was a charismatic man. He claimed to have psychic powers. He could foretell the future, he'd say.

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He could miraculously heal people with a touch, he'd say. In 1955,

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Jones established a Pentecostal church that later became known as the

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People's Temple. Jones became obsessed with power as he recognized the influence that he had on people.

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He made them eventually call him the prophet. They couldn't call him anything else. They'd say, call me the prophet.

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And it wasn't a deep devotion to God or a deep devotion to God's Word that made him desire to teach and lead in ministry.

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It was his sinful political influence and desire and convictions, and that was mostly

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Marxism. Marxism and socialism. He taught that if you were born into his church, his socialist revolution, then you were born sinless, that you didn't need

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Christ if you were born into his church. Little by little, Jim Jones didn't point people to Christ through his teachings.

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In fact, he said that he was a reincarnation of Christ. He was saying he was

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Christ, along with Buddha and Gandhi and Lenin. In the midst of numerous controversies and even an arrest for molestation, in 1977,

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Jones had learned the San Francisco Chronicle was about to publish an expose on him in the

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People's Temple. It was all about to be opened wide, and he knew he had to get out of Dodge.

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He knew he had to get out of there. And so, along with hundreds of Jim Jones followers, they moved to a compound he named

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Jonestown in Guyana, South America. I mean, this guy persuaded people to leave their jobs, long -standing careers, their homes, their family, everything against all judgment, all sound judgment, and they gave him millions and millions of dollars that he even used personally.

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They gave him everything. But little by little, the U .S. Embassy in Guyana had been receiving reports that people in Jonestown were being subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

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So a U .S. congressman, Leo Ryan, and a delegation from the United States went down to visit

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Jonestown, the compound, and the congressman was quickly met by a

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People's Temple member with a knife. I mean, they were like, nope, we're done, and they went running for the plane.

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They're literally running away for their lives, and Jones' armed guards catch up with them and slaughter a

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U .S. congressman and everyone else with them, including the pilot. Everyone was dead.

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So Jones had already been prepping his people to do these mass suicide drills, and he convinced them it was finally time to commit what he called a revolutionary act.

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They were going to take their lives. The people consumed a lethal combination of potassium cyanide and sedatives with a fruit drink flavor aid, and this is where the phrase drinking the

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Kool -Aid comes from. Drink the Kool -Aid. The death toll at Jonestown was an astounding 909 people.

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909 people, three of four of which were children. I mean,

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I remember when Coltish did the first episode on Jim Jones, and I heard the audio tape of when they did this.

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I don't even recommend it. I mean, it is one of the most horrific things

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I've ever listened to in my life, hearing what these people were going through. Now, I gave you two examples of completely different teachers.

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The fact is, one man feared God while the other man believed he was

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God. Our Lord is supremely concerned with how men and women use teaching authority to influence other image bearers.

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He is especially concerned with how men use His Word to teach

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His own children. And while our verses today are really at the beginning of a discourse on the tongue, on the misuse and use of the mouth,

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I wanted us to look more deeply into the verses 1 and 2 regarding teaching.

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So we're going to be thinking about what is a teacher? What are the qualifications of a teacher?

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The temptations for a teacher? And why is there, as He says, stricter judgment for them?

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Let's consider that now in our text, starting in verse 1 again. He says, "'Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.'"

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Geneste is in the imperative here. Geneste in the Greek, become. James is very serious about this, so he commands, "'Let not many become teachers.'"

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Did James have something against teachers? Did he not see that there was a great need for them?

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And there's even a great need for them today? Of course not. But who has been some of the teachers

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James had likely seen in his day? He saw the scribes. He saw the

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Pharisees, the rabbis. They loved to sit on the seat of Moses, and they made their phylacteries broad, they say.

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The Word says that is. Oh, how they loved to be called teacher or rabbi.

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Rabbi. Rabbi. They wanted everyone to recognize who they were in the marketplace.

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To be recognized for some sort of prestige. It was expected in those days for the people to hold them in high regard.

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To even care for rabbis, sometimes above their own family, was ordered.

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These men loved to showcase their intelligence. There were so many temptations for these teachers, which we'll get into in just about a bit here.

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The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians about teachers. He said in 1 Corinthians 12 .28,

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And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles.

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Then the gift of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues. You see, it says

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God appointed these roles. Nothing here is arbitrary.

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God is concerned with how His church functions.

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And teachers are pretty high on the list here. Ephesians 4 .11

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-12 says, And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ.

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Once again, we see God appointed in the Corinthians. Now God gave in Ephesians.

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He gave teachers to the equipping of God's people for the work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ.

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So it would be safe to say then, without these roles, the church wouldn't have the ordained means to grow in Christ.

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We're not meant to do this Christian life alone. There's a reason there are roles here.

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It's not just me alone in my bedroom with Jesus. That's a great devotional or study time, but we see roles in the church because we're supposed to be together.

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There are supposed to be pastors. There are supposed to be shepherds and teachers. In fact, he says teachers are to be used in such a way to give men and women more knowledge of the

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Son of God. To help bring them to maturity. In Paul's letter to Timothy, Paul says that he is a preacher, that he's an apostle, and a teacher.

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So we see there from that that it's capable for a man to have multiple roles within the church.

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Multiple God -appointed roles. The Great Commission, which is a declaration to all believers, is a call to disciple and teach all peoples of the world in the ways and doctrines of Christ.

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And although I recognize there are many fine female teachers out there who

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God has used no doubt, whether in a more formal capacity to other women in the church, or to their children, or in some sort of vocation, for the purposes of this sermon,

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I will be speaking about teachers more in the preacher and pastor position that is of course exclusively male according to the

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Word of God. Now if I were to ask you, who was the greatest teacher that had ever lived?

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Some of us may sit there a little puzzled, but the typical Sunday school answer will suffice today.

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Jesus. Just go ahead and call out Jesus, someone. That'll work.

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Thank you. Jesus is the greatest teacher that has ever lived. That still lives.

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I'm sorry. All throughout the Gospels, it says

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Jesus was going all over the land teaching and preaching the Gospel of the

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Kingdom in the synagogues, cities, mountainsides, you name it. They're literally multiplying bread and fish in the wilderness, and He's teaching there.

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Jesus will teach anywhere. In the Sermon on the Mount, the very beginning of Matthew 5 says, and He opened

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His mouth and began to teach. Immediately, Sermon on the Mount, He began to teach.

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Who is better fit to open their mouth and teach than the One who created all things?

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The One who is literally truth embodied according to John 14. Jesus is the truth in bodily form.

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And so anything He says is truth. There are over 60 instances in the

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Gospels that either reference Jesus as a teacher or teaching in some capacity.

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And that's just using a concordance and finding the word teaching. Literally the whole time, basically,

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Jesus Christ is teaching in the Gospels. His whole earthly ministry was wrapped up in it.

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Teaching the apostles. Teaching the disciples. And eventually, it goes down to elders taking the baton and who would teach

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God's people. And today, thousands of miles away from Israel and thousands of years later, here we are and we're learning the words of Jesus Christ.

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Truly remarkable. Now that's influence.

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That's power. That's supernatural power. The teachings of Jesus are in northern

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Utah and started in Israel. It's unfathomable.

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That's influence. And God Almighty should have influence.

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Let every mouth be shut when the Lord speaks. Jesus said He teaches from the

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Father in John 7 and 8. It stands to say, again, that a teacher is one who teaches truth.

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If you're a real teacher, you teach truth. Otherwise, you're a false teacher. That's the reality of the

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Word of God. They teach fact. A teacher always demonstrates the lesson is from God, due to God, and for the glory of God.

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That even includes things like mathematics, logic, rhetoric, science. One day, teachers will stand before the holy

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God and they'll give an account for not giving God the glory for the Pythagorean theorem. The quadratic formula, differentiation, integrals, all that favorite stuff.

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That's all pointing to the glory of God. Now, can anyone become a teacher or preacher?

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Are there qualifications? I think there are. By precept and by principle.

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And there's different types of teachers. We'll go into that a little bit. Think about it.

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If teachers will face greater judgment in the future, then let's commit to higher scrutiny now.

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Commit to higher scrutiny now. Where could you go wrong? Maybe you feel led to teach. Scrutinize yourself.

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Examine yourself. Let other men examine you. It would be better now than later.

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Is what it's saying. You should ask yourself some of these things.

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I'm sorry, these are just some examples. Am I well learned enough to teach others and am continuing to learn myself?

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Has God called me to teach? Is my life free from habitual sins?

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Do I have a passion for God's Word that puts my nose in this book every day?

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Essentially, is one morally, intellectually, and spiritually qualified? Those are important things.

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The overseer requirements that are in 1 Timothy 3, they also lay a great foundation of what a teacher should look like morally.

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Because really, the overseer qualifications in 1 Timothy, the pastoral epistles, are simply things that any mature believer

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I believe should arrive to one day. They're to be an elder for sure, but we're not to divorce ourselves from those qualifications and go, eh, that's just for the pastor to become like that.

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No, we are all to attain to those things even though we may not eventually be called into ministry.

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A man who is not morally above reproach is not fit to teach others.

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That's the reality. Otherwise, it would be hypocrisy. The angry man should not teach people to abstain from anger.

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The lustful man should not teach those to flee youthful lusts. The jealous man should not be the one to give lessons on sin of jealousy and envy.

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The anxious man can't employ his own lesson in his life to trust God and not give in to anxiety.

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It doesn't mean you're going to be perfect. It doesn't mean you're going to have lapses of these things sometimes. But if that is the sin you're walking through, we are not to be hypocrites and try to teach on them.

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You see, before a blacksmith can teach his trade, he must first master it to some degree.

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Right? No apprentice attaches himself to a man who is just as unlearned and unqualified and unexperienced as himself.

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He won't become a tradesman. He won't learn. In other words, a preacher or teacher of the

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Word must also be a doer of the Word, if I can borrow something from James.

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The teacher or preacher must also be a doer of the Word. I for one think actually things like full -time missionaries,

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I think full -time missionaries honestly should meet all elder qualifications. Because I believe a biblical missionary is one who is like Paul who goes out and he shares the

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Gospel and the end goal, the end result will be a planting of a church in a place where he's shared the

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Gospel, and therefore, who's going to be the first elder? Who's qualified enough to lead it for a time until they raise local elders up?

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And that's going to be the missionary. There's many, many prominent men who agree with that.

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I was just listening to Paul Washer talk about that. Missionaries should be elder qualified people.

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Bible study leaders, I don't think necessarily need to be elder qualified, but they too should be mature in the faith in some sense, mature in their walk, knowledgeable about God's Word.

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This passage should be a warning to all people considering influencing others with the Bible. That should scare potential teachers a bit.

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It scares me still. It says in the book of Ezra that God's hand was upon Ezra.

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It says in chapter 7 that Ezra set his heart to study the law of the Lord. Get this, to practice it.

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That's what it says. In Ezra 7, he studied the Word of the Lord and it says to practice it and to teach it to other people.

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To practice it and to teach it to other people. It was on Ezra's heart to study the

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Word. To do the Word and teach other people to do the same. Amazing example.

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There are too many men who are teaching the Bible today and their heart is not set on those things like Ezra.

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Their hearts are not in it. Get out of it then, I would say.

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Don't teach. Shut that book. You mean to tell me you only study and read the

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Bible when it's your turn to teach? Get out of it. You're not qualified.

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You're not ready. Don't do it. Repent. Set your heart on it.

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Ezra reveals what a true teacher is. They are those who have set their heart on God and His law.

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They study it. Not just for knowledge, even though that's definitely part of it, but first and foremost, it says so he can practice what it says.

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If a preacher or teacher is just studying to teach, then they're not a real teacher. That's hard, but I believe that.

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If someone's just studying just to teach a lesson, and they're not living and doing the

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Word, then they're not a real teacher. Because every week, if these sermons are not hitting me and my preparation in between the eyes before I get to this pulpit, then

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I'm no authority to teach this. If my preparation doesn't hit me square in the eyes, convicts me of sin, and causes me to course correct and change my walk, then who am

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I being up here? I'd be just someone who distributes information with no power.

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Many men don't even teach themselves. They don't even teach their families, but they want all eyes on them.

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They want the opportunity. Look at me. They don't even teach their families.

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They don't even teach themselves. They want you to hang on their every word. And we are in a time where there are so many of these reformed guys who know the terms and they watch all the right guys, but they aren't even in the

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Word of God. They can tell you the best Votibacham sermon they've ever listened to, but they don't even know the

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Word of God. Switch it up. Change it. Get in the Word.

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Forget about the Votibacham sermons for a time. I'll just say it, if you're not even in the

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Word, then you truly don't know the Word. Right? Because we can watch sermons.

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We can watch these things and act like we know what we're talking about, but we don't really know what we're talking about until we've been in this book for a good while.

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For a good time. Pretty soon, the tag lines from the

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Paul Washer and MacArthur sermons will wear out. People will see right through that. I know.

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I know because I used to act like that. I used to do that. But you can't wing this.

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You can't wing it on this. Teaching takes careful preparation and devotion.

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The word doctrine has the root word didasco in it, which is the same root word for teachers or teaching.

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Titus 1 .9 says, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

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Keep that in mind. He says, in accordance with the teaching. Then 2

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John 9 says, anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have

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God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the

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Father and the Son. So what I want you to hear out of that is he says, the teaching.

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These verses demonstrate there is the teaching. Not a teaching, but a singular, correct teaching about Christ in His Word.

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There is not many ideas that are right in this Word. There is one correct teaching according to these.

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A teacher is not qualified if they do not know the teaching and how to articulate it.

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Because if you don't know the teaching, then you wouldn't know the false doctrines that we are called to refute.

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Did you hear that? How can Titus do what

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Paul charged him to do to preach with sound doctrine? He's like, okay, I got that.

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But if he doesn't know sound doctrine, then he can't refute those who contradict. Those who bring counterfeits.

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The only way you know a counterfeit is by knowing the truth inside and out. That's what's going on here.

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Teachers give the truth and they strike down that which is false. We've talked a bit about what are some of the temptations for teachers and preachers, but what are they?

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Let's go into that a little more. Jesus says they simply want to be seen by men. Acknowledged by men.

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They want to be given the big boy seats at the parties, in synagogue, in the marketplace.

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But what's crazy is, our Lord, He is

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God, and they want men to acknowledge them. Our God sees all that we do, and they don't want to please

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God. They want to please men and receive the pleasure of men. Every week

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I have to preach as if I'm considering like I have an audience of one in many ways, our

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Lord. I don't preach and teach to the needs of the people. These are simple byproducts.

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I preach and teach what God has spoken and commanded first and foremost because of Him, not because of His people.

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You might go, Wade, whoa, I thought you were a shepherd. But look, the amazing thing is, is if it's for God first, if I preach

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God's Word first for Him and regard Him first, then the needs of the people will follow.

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They'll follow. But if I'm regarding the people first, then I do you a disservice and I'm not actually going to hit on the things that God needs for you to hear and learn.

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Does that make sense? You know, that's not to say, for instance, there's some guys who when 9 -11 happened, they just continued on their sermon series.

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Look, I think there might be a moment if we had great loss or when COVID happened and we needed to talk about it,

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I might preach on something regarding that. That's not to say I can't do that. But there's a difference.

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I don't try to make a map of all the needs of the people here and preach in such a way that I hit

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Sally and Johnny and everyone else. I'm going to preach what the text says and let the Holy Spirit of God do the rest.

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He's going to convict some of you more than the others. And He's going to work on some of you more than the others.

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God is not pleased if I consider the people first.

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I would be held to account and the people would not be edified. To teach you, I must teach as if God is grading every sermon, every lesson.

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Paul tells Timothy, teachers should not become conceited. The root word for conceited there is tufo in the

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Greek. It means not to be filled with pride. The root word there is literally smoke.

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Don't get puffed up is what that word means. Don't get filled with smoke. Smoke rises.

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Don't exalt yourself and rise above others and look down upon them when the reality is you're just filled with hot air.

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My pastor at Levine Baptist Church ten years ago gave me some advice. No, maybe seven years ago when

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I first started to preach. He said the worst thing you could do when someone tells you good sermon is believe them.

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Not that they're lying. And it doesn't mean that you can't give your pastor feedback or even the pastor receive feedback.

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What he's trying to show me is the temptation for the pastor, for the orator, for the preacher to think that he was the cause of the good sermon.

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It was all my preparation. It was all my words. No. No. God will bring that kind of man low real quick.

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What he meant was don't think you're the one responsible for it. It's God's Word.

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It's His material. The Holy Spirit uses me and works through me here.

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It's all to the glory of God. It's all by His Spirit. It's all by His power. God speaks through men who have humility.

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Weak men. God uses weak men who are strong in Christ. God cannot use the man who thinks he's stronger than God.

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He needs weak men. And He might just crush some of you to get you there. The humble get used by God.

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The proud get set aside. Another temptation is that teachers and preachers can stop teaching what

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God desires and teach what man desires. Paul touches on this with Timothy.

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He says this amazing charge. I mean, this is so valuable.

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This is so strong. He says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus Who is to judge the living and the dead and by His appearing and His kingdom preach the

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Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.

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This is so serious for Paul. He says it like a vow in that way. I solemnly charge you in the presence of our

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God. Preach the Word. But here's what I'm getting at. He says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

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Sound teaching. But wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.

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And they will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. So, a temptation for the teacher is to teach to carnal men.

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To make lessons and sermons for the carnal man. To cater for the carnal man.

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That's not to say we shouldn't give the Gospel or things like that. It's that when we exposit

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God's Word, we don't dumb it down. We don't water it down. We don't remove some hard language because we don't want so -and -so in the back to feel bad or anything like that.

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We don't water it down. We don't add to it. We don't remove from it.

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Because there are people who are out there and they want their ears tickled. They want to come in here and they want to TED Talk.

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And they want to feel good. And they want to leave. And then by Friday, they'll feel bad, so they'll drink a little bit on Friday and Saturday and Sunday.

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They'll feel good again because they'll get their TED Talk again. That's not the church.

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That's not the preaching of the Word of God. They want lessons that will tickle their ears and not make them feel bad.

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They turn away from the truth. We don't tell people what they want to hear. We tell them what they need to hear.

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And get this, what they need to hear is what God wants them to know. Amen? There are so many things a teacher can be tempted with.

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Fearing man. Desiring power. Wanting influence for self -gain.

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Men who want money. They want adulteries. They want exploitation of the weaker minded.

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And spreading of novel ideas that are not found in Scripture. There are so many temptations.

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Those are just a few. 2 Peter 2 is literally one of the largest discourses on false teachers.

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Read 2 Peter 2 later, ok? The whole thing from start to finish is about false teachers.

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Incredible. Here are a couple snippets. But false prophets also arose among the people just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the

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Master who brought them. You see that? False teachers introduce destructive heresies.

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Things that are taking away from the one true God. Bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

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Many will follow their sensuality. You hear that? How many cults are sex cults?

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I mean, it's over half. So many of them. Many will follow their sensuality.

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And because of them, the way of the truth will be maligned. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words.

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They will use false words. Talk about the mouth, the tongue. Their judgment from long ago is not idle.

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And their destruction is not asleep. Peter calls them unreasoning animals.

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They take pleasure to revel in the daytime. They carouse, having eyes full of adulteries that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls.

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They have hearts trained in greed. Prosperity Gospel, Word of Faith, they have hearts trained in greed.

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Accursed children. They forsake the way. The teaching. They forsake the way and follow the way of Balaam.

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Balaam. They follow after Balaam. You know, Jesus charges some of the churches in Revelation.

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He's saying, some of you are following other teachers. You're not following Me, the Teacher. He charges them and He says, you're following the way of Balaam.

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You're following the way of the Nicolaitans. You're following the way of Jezebel. How many warnings does

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Jesus give in the Revelation to say, you are a people who stray from the teaching to getting ears tickled.

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A righteous teacher recognizes only the authority of the Eternal Teacher, God Almighty. James says, let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such, we'll incur a stricter judgment.

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What does he mean by incur a stricter judgment? What he's not trying to do is discourage individuals from becoming teachers and preachers.

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He's not trying to discourage them. Remember, the

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New Testament shows that that is a righteous endeavor. Paul says in 1 Timothy 3, that is a good thing if you want to do that, if you aspire, that is a good thing.

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So what is he saying? Well, hopefully, he is discouraging those who would enter into that role in a nonchalant, flippant, careless sort of way.

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Do they feel the weight of their influence? Do they feel the immense weight of the

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Holy Scriptures? Do you tremble at God's Word? Do you plead with God to keep you from error?

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Do you beg God to teach His people to do what you can't do, essentially? That's what the man of God, that's what the teacher does.

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I can't teach anyone here. I need God to teach His people here. Every week, every week,

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I've prayed before this service asking God that He would speak through me, that He would teach

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His people. Every week. Every week, I need Him to do something here. If He doesn't do something here, nothing will be done.

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Every week, I need Him. Every week. You know, there's so much precise care and preservation of ancient documents.

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I was watching kind of a documentary on it once. They wear these special gloves.

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They use special tools. They have special lighting. They have special transport methods for ancient documents.

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The worker who handles such documents, they are meticulous in their process.

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And I saw even the Declaration of Independence is sealed in a bronze case. It's got bulletproof glass and a special filter in the glass to reduce

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UV and light degradation. And not even that, they suck out all the oxygen out of the case and they put into it humidified helium so as to take away any possibility for erosion.

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But then, men will pick up these holy Scriptures and toss it around not even realizing the sword they carry can pierce them.

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These folks handled those things with so much care, and then we have men who get zealous and excited and they think they can handle this sword, which is sharp, two -edged, can pierce both through body, soul, spirit, bone, and marrow.

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The writer of the Hebrews says, he says, "'Add thou not to these words, lest I rebuke you, and you be found a liar.'"

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The one who adds or takes away from His Word in teaching, will face the one who spoke it.

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That's the reality. The one who adds or takes away. There are people in this very city right now who are adding and taking away from this

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Word, and they will give an answer for that. And he says, "'I will rebuke you, you will be found a liar.'"

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Jesus says in the last chapter of the Revelation, He says all liars will have their part in a lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone.

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It's serious. Add thou not to these words. Don't take away from these words.

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We handle a holy item, my friends, just like the priests and Levites who handle the

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Ark of the Covenant. The key is don't be presumptuous. Don't do what

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Uzzah did, who as R .C. Sproul said, thought his hands were less filthy than the earth below the

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Ark, and he grabbed the Ark as it fell, and he died. He was killed on the spot.

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He's handling holy items. Don't handle it the wrong way. Don't handle this

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Word in a way that it was not meant to be handled. And that's why teachers will be judged with higher scrutiny.

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They are touching holy things. And if you're not comfortable with that, then don't do it.

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That's okay. Don't do it then. James puts incur or receive in the first person plural to show he includes himself in this category of people.

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When it says we, that's literally a part of the Word. He lumps himself in with that.

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He knows he will incur stricter judgment himself based off of what he's doing. You see, teachers are leaders.

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So he's not above what he is commanding. And teachers and leaders are responsible for the spiritual well -being of God's people.

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They'll be held to account for that. We're talking about dealing with souls here, the matters of heaven and hell here.

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And too many men have plenty of passion, but they have not enough caution. God has entrusted

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His bride to elders, pastors, preachers, and teachers. When the

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Master returns, will He find that we treated His bride right in the instructions that He left us spotless and unblemished?

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Complete and in the fullness of our Lord? Or will the Master return and found that we have put blush on the church's face and we put red on her lips and we changed off her modest dress and gave her a sensual dress and changed the way she looks for the carnal man?

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Will the Master found that we changed what His bride looks like to inflate the imagination?

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Will He return and find that we whored her out? We won them by changing the bride and her teaching.

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Many churches have in our day and age. You see, every time

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Israel tried to help God by doing things their way, by doing a sacrifice when they weren't supposed to do a sacrifice, doing this when

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God not commanded, every time they tried to help God, it only brought defeat and judgment to them.

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Do we learn? Do we learn? No new inventions needed.

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God has prescribed a way. So God has called teachers to greater knowledge as well, so as to teach.

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But here's the thing, greater knowledge means greater accountability, which means greater responsibility.

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Okay? Greater responsibility, increased accountability. Jesus says it this way, of whom much is given, much is required.

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The more you know of Scripture, the more you are indebted to it. Hebrews 13 .17

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says, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.

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Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. So far, you guys are letting me do this with joy.

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Praise God. That verse goes right in line with our passage.

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As those who will give an account. Men who watch over your souls. Teachers will give an account to God for how they shepherded and cared for God's flock.

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I will give an account. Because the reality is, church, my judgment won't be before all of you.

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My judgment will be before God. And that's how I have to think about this role. I won't stand before you on the final day.

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I'll stand before God on the final day and I'll have to give an account. So I preach and teach for God and by God's standards to God's people.

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So moving on, let's go to verse 2. I'm going to be quick here because I'll be touching on bridling the tongue next week in verses 3 -12.

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So verse 2, For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body as well.

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So, we see thus far James' call to enter into the ministry of teaching with insincere motives is something that he condemns.

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Be like Ezra. Study the Word. Live the Word. Then teach the Word. And we talked about the various temptations a teacher might have.

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But one temptation I didn't mention directly knowing we would get there was the temptation with the tongue.

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You see, the preacher's constant use of the tongue exposes him to the potential of more sin with it.

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The more you use it, the more potential you might sin with it. Although verse 2 seems a little bit unrelated to verse 1,

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James uses the word gar in the Greek which is for, because, or thus, therefore connecting verses 1 and 2.

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So, these two verses could be said like this, don't think to become teachers in a careless way, brothers, as we receive stricter judgment because of the necessity for us to speak more and the tongue can surely make any man stumble.

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That could be one paraphrase. Even though James is a pastor, he is sympathetic to these

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Jewish Christians. He says, for we all stumble in many ways. He puts stumble again in the first person plural.

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He is the potential, he's saying, for stumbling as well. He doesn't put himself above them again.

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Teachers are capable of stumbling in their words. The hope is that they get back up and they don't make a habit of stumbling.

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I think it shows much humility when a pastor is willing to come back and correct something that they've said wrong.

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I think that's really important. If I were to become aware of something that I said incorrectly up here, and it was wise enough and important enough to correct,

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I would mention it the very next Sunday. I would say, guys, I preached last Sunday on this.

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You might remember that. It turns out what I said here was incorrect and that was wrong for me to do that.

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I think a pastor should be willing to say that. They should be willing to do that. Or maybe it's more serious and an inappropriate comment is made.

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Praise God for the one who can own up to their stumbling. The fact is, words can escape our mouths before we properly consider them, right?

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That is why a teacher must be learned up on the proper uses of the mouth. That Jesus says every careless word will be judged.

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That the teacher's words should be seasoned with salt. They should give grace to those who hear it and be edified by it.

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You know, right now, there's been this slogan in the church.

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Maybe not. Maybe it's not that official. But you hear it a lot. People say, speak the truth in love.

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Speak the truth in love. And that actually comes from a verse. That is a good thing. That is a good thing.

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That comes from Ephesians 4. Many of us don't realize it, but we can forget the context is speaking about spiritual maturity and growing in Christ.

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We are not to be spiritually immature and easily deceived, but speaking the truth in love to one another.

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Training each other in the truth of the Gospel and His commandments. God has called the minister to correct, rebuke, and admonish, but his motivation must always be love.

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It must always be love. All I say at this pulpit must come from a place of love.

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Love for God and love for neighbor. Love for God and love for you all.

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So often today, people twist the Scriptures and think the rebuking, the correcting, and the admonishing is part of an unbridled tongue.

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An uncontrollable tongue. That it's not loving. No, they just want the man of God to shut his mouth so that they can continue in their sin.

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That's what they want. Speaking the truth in love is not so much about having a gentle demeanor.

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And that's kind of what we started to think it was. If you read Ephesians 4, look for that.

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Speaking the truth in love. And you will not see that that's what they're talking about. Although, often a gentle demeanor is very prudent and very good to use in a

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Gospel conversation. However, sometimes God calls us for a heightened demeanor.

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Sometimes we should. But really, it's about truth and love going hand in hand.

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Truth is never devoid of love. And love is never devoid of truth.

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The teacher sins with his mouth when he gives falsehood. When a teacher speaks falsehood, he's not actually loving.

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He's not actually loving. So when we say speak the truth of God's Word, speak the truth in love, it means love them enough to give them the truth.

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It's kind of the way to say it. James is not saying if one can simply control the tongue in perfection, then they could be a perfect person, because the only perfect person to ever walk upon this earth is

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Jesus Christ. The word perfect often means complete. When a man learns by God's grace to bridle the tongue, he is a mature man.

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He is complete. The same completion in James 1 -4 when perseverance in trials leads to perfection, completion, and maturity.

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Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Meaning what is inside of a man will come out of a man.

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And that's what it means. To lead to maturity so that the inside is mature and what comes out is mature.

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He then can control the flesh so as to not sin in other areas. The preacher opens his mouth.

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God puts a hot coal upon it, consecrates his unclean lips before a sermon, and he speaks in such a way.

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He speaks only what God desires him to speak and anything else is presumptuous and would be caused to stumble.

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And although Christ was the final prophet and the apostolic writers were used to finish the canon of Scripture in almost a similar manner, not the same way, but similar, preachers and teachers only say what

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God has said. Preachers and teachers only say what God has said. For us, it's nothing new and it should be not anything that's ever skewed.

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Those kind of rhymes, so let's say that. Never anything new or skewed from the preacher or teacher.

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Okay? Because it's the living, active, and holy words of God.

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So church, let us praise God that He has left the instruction manual for teachers.

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He has left us the very content and words that teachers are to use.

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That they are to speak. And He has given His very example of what it looks like in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.

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So this ability to teach, some men here have taught before here.

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Just remember that. This is such a privilege. This is such an honor. It's very heavy.

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Such an honor to wield the sword of God. But if we're going to wield such a weapon or apply the medicinal balm, we better know how to use it.

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That is why not many should become teachers. That's what he's saying.

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And that's why I still get nervous before every Sunday, not because I fear you all, but because I fear

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God. I still get a little bit nervous before every time. Because I know what

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I'm about to handle. I know what God has done in you. And I know what He's continuing to do in you.

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And I want that to be right. I want it to be biblical. I don't ever want to lead this church into error.

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I know all future elders that we have here will think the same thing. Let us pray that God brings

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His church more godly and self -sacrificing men. Men who aren't looking to be elevated, but looking to see our

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Lord elevated. Men who want their name forgotten and Christ's name remembered.

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Let us also pray that God would impress the heaviness of teaching upon men who are running so fast towards ministry that they won't even look in the mirror to see if they line up.

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They're running so quick. I did that, like I said, in many ways, but I praise

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God, I had men in my life to correct me. I had men in my life to pour into me, show me what

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God's Word says, correct, rebuke me, showing me the truth in love.

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Because a self -directed man, a self -appointed man, no matter how well -intentioned for Christ, is a dangerous man.

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It's a dangerous man. Amen. Uzzah had the best intentions to handle the ark, but he lost his life for handling what is holy in a way that God never commanded.

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May all prospective and current teachers and preachers take heed to what happened to Uzzah.

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But beloved, our great example is our great Teacher Jesus Christ.

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Amen. Jesus Christ is the reason that we even get to have this discussion. Beyond His impeccable rhetoric and devices of logic wielding truth and His form of argumentation amazing, beyond all that, the example of Jesus is that a teacher is not above His disciples.

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Christ suffered and died and extinguished the holy wrath that was meant for us upon His own body.

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And He rose again. He demonstrated for us that a teacher's lesson doesn't stay in the realm of words, but it acts.

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It acts. And He acted for us. May we also conform our lives to that of the great

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Teacher Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Let's pray. Father, please bless the message that went out.

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Lord, thank You for this Word. Thank You, God, that You have not left us without this

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Word. God, we thank You that You have instituted apostles and evangelists and preachers and teachers and pastors and shepherds and elders for the sake of Your church and building up in the body, becoming mature in Christ.

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God, help us in this culture today not take these things so lightly.

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Let men feel the heaviness of this Word again. Let me feel the heaviness of this

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Word again. Let us fear You, God, in such a way that we would tremble as we enter the pulpit or the seat of the

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Teacher. God, please raise up in this nation men who are selfless, men who adore

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Jesus Christ, men who are so much connected to the truth, so devoted to the truth,

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Lord. Please raise up more godly teachers and preachers,