Leadership among God's people is essential for the healthy functioning of the church, as outlined in Ephesians 4. The sermon contrasts harmful leadership models like Nicolaitanism (rule by the people) and Laodiceanism (spiritual democracy where individuals do as they please) with the God-ordained model of godly rule and discipline. It emphasizes the importance of servant leadership, highlighting the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers as vital for spreading the gospel, building up believers, and illuminating God's word. The message concludes by stressing the qualifications for elders, who are chosen by the Holy Spirit and possess spiritual maturity, capacity, and authority, urging believers to pray for and support such leaders.
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Verse one. Now therefore, my son, and shall be with me, shall be with thee? During these evenings and mornings, if you have the opportunity of the ministry of the word, you have a looking of some of the difficult final statements of the Apostle Paul. More particularly, his extra time for the end of the rite. The first time we were looking at a passage appealed to the Passion of God, a wonderful church and an connection with the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, anant for his work. The second time we were seeing the word of God, the second Timothy, and the finite gratification through Timothy, where he uses our wonderful outline of so-called outline of the word of God.
The third time we were seeing about the heart of God. My lovely statement in the first of us was generally concerning the local church. Just as you characterize, the company of God's people gather together to carry out compassion and principle. So my last time, you had the opportunity to speak in, to speak about the unity of the body of Christ. One thing that has been connected through this believer is that I am now a vessel that God has committed to you and the need and he is always responsible for what he knew of it. the unity of the spirit. It has not been committed to it. And therefore, in the passage of the Rented Gallery in Ephesians chapter four, on the commencement of that chapter, he gives us a outline of a sevenfold unity.
This is what we will take in advance the last time we have the opportunity. I have a message in order, the line of truth that I want to speak about, which is greatly as I possibly can, and that is leadership among the people of God. The truth is is something that was lived on the mind and heart of the Apostle before he was taken home. It is something he was always interested in. His leadership was always under the boundaries of leading the people of God. And the Lord was ready. On Monday, the Lord was ready for the end. And the Lord was that he and Paul was going to lay on the couch. He stood here on the three walls before the earth of God.
He was going to be able to live that life. And he fell here on the earth of God. I'm going to say that one of the best means among God's people is that there's a believer. Believe, praise, praise, praise, and praise the people of God. So I'm going to speak about it tonight in a three-fold way. First of all, leadership on the word of God. On that occasion, right, leadership is a shared desire. First of all, the word of God, and I'm going to remind you that I'm going to talk about it tonight. In chapter four, to this one, to see the truth, the foundation will depend on the earth.
If we could find it there, that also, on the earth, and that is what times are we going to need it. Moreover, it will take us a whole different time for the foundation day. We don't really have a foundation today, but I don't want to have a thought when we have a new sense of the word. I think that's an important thing for you to be trying to hear. The gift of God, these were formed in Israel. We find one person in the New Testament, and I have a kind of day, and we believe that long, long ago they have passed away. Now, my day was the same great gift they had handed us from the pastor, from teacher, from the teacher's firm, God works for the day, in very modern works.
And I want to say for a little while the night of our leadership in the word of God, on the principle we've gone by the pontial call, and on the foreword of God's children carried on. And then in the first Sunday of chapter eight, we read, we read, we read, we read, we read, we read, we read, we read, we read. in the first edition of chapter three, and also in the first edition of Titus. Now, I have no idea at all what is said in this part of the country concerning the ownership or oversight among the attendees.
I'm perfectly ignorant of the conditions in this part. On anything I say tonight, if it may come from somebody's code, or somebody may not altogether agree with what we say. Please don't think that I must hear the mind to try to put anybody right or try to correct them. But with the help of God's mind, I would like to point out that one of the great complexities today in the name which we live is leadership in this two-fold way. First of all, in the work of God, on second life, in the Church of God. Our brothers have been giving us in a delightful way. The truth that we find in Revelation, two and three, in the assembly.
He has been dealing with it in a devotional way. I believe that that is something that should be emphasized today. But at the same time, I do believe that in the seven churches we get a panoramic outline of the Church of God from Pentecost right onto the present time. This, like all the things, is easy to mine in many parts of the professing church today. And there are some good, good sense of an interpretation, I think. I saw in a magazine not so very long ago a man speaking in a very cynical way about that interpretation. So it's not my purpose to deal with that tonight. But I do believe that in the seven churches of Asia, commencing with emphasis and ending at Leo the CX, I believe that there we get a panoramic outline from the divine standpoint of the church of the present dispensation.
So it has some points of that at the beginning of Nicolaus Nyssa. That was one thing that afflicted the church at the beginning, Nicolaitanism. And I build a point about this Nicolaitanism. The word means the conqueror of the people. It's what we have to develop in the hierarchy that we see coming to a hand in the Church of Rome, with the Pope at the top, on the high street, on the bottom. That is insolaitanism. That is putting a task, a priestly task, between the people of God and God Himself. You know, there's only one mediator between God and man, and that is the man Christ Jesus.
But at the commencement of the Church's history, one thing would have clicked with the Church. It came in the latter part of the first century with a man who's described in the third epistle of John. His name is Diocletus. And he, I believe, was the first New Galatian. And from that time on that principle develops and develops and develops until we see its full culmination in the professing church today. So it's something that afflicted the early church with Nicolaeanism. So at the end of the picture it's Laodiceanism. Notice the other strings of pendulum. So if you look at the two words in the mini, you'll find that Nicolaeanism is about one string of pendulum and Laodiceanism is about the other.
Here we find the people ruling. At the beginning, it's the ruler of the people. But Leo the Cianism, it's right, the very antithesis of what we find in Nicolaitanism. If the other string is the pendulum, here, it's spiritual democracy. Here, it's the people ruling. So that everybody's doing just exactly what they like in their own eyes. That would be the end. You know, if all of a friend is this kind of thing, it's developing everywhere today. Not only do you find it in the world, But unfortunately, sometimes it's creeping into the church. Are those of us who are trying to carry on, in all sincerity, and often in much weakness, new national and principles, one thing that we find today creeping into the church is this idea, I'll do what I like, I'll go where I like, I'll say what I like, I'll do just whatever I please, and it's not this business but my own.
That's the kind of language that sometimes people use today. Unfortunately, some people get the idea that the Church of God is a spirit of democracy, although it turns out that it is not. The Church of God is not a democracy. It's a theocracy on this rule in the New Testament concerning the Church of God. On principles are made on, sensibly by the Apostle Paul at the end of the testimony, her, our Church of God should be carried on, on how that there is godly rule. But there is godly discipline among the people of God. All that we need to do is to turn over the Old Testament to find an example of mine.
You'll find it on the Book of Junction. You'll remember it was the book of the third generation. And in that book we find that God raises up emergency men. You find a theory that departures from God, seven or eight of them altogether. On each successive occasion, when God's people try to go out A deliverer was raised up, emergency man. But then things went down, on down, on down. And then at the end of the book, there's a little appendix, for we get five chapters. And then those five chapters, at the end of the book of Judges, we get a little expression, five times. And that expression is, every man did that which was right in his own eye.
There was no king in Israel. No king in Israel, and everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. Now this is the spirit of the world a day, an unfortunate day sometime, that he entered the church of God. Just before I left the country while I was born, the last time I was over there, he had come home from Africa, and we landed there in ten months and then we had the right birth. One day I was standing on the deck of a bus, Charlie bus, going to visit a friend. On the conductor of the bus he was standing on the little platform smoking a cigarette. waiting for the time to go. Over there they have a driver and a conductor as well. I stepped into the bus and I just sat inside the door and I heard all of what was going on.
The conductor was standing there smoking, talking to a friend. An inspector was standing on the sidewalk. And from the time came to go, the inspector blew a whistle. And the conductor never even lifted his eyes or turned his head. He just went on smoking a cigarette. After a few moments the inspector came over. And he put his head inside the bus, and he said, look, he said, time to get going. And that man on the most insolent way, he turned around to the inspector and said, what are you talking about? He said, I'll go when I'm good and ready. And he did it. You know what the inspector did? He turned on the fuel, and he walked away with a little inside. He did perfectly well that if he had taken any action and discipline against that man, the whole bus company would have come out in strife and simply with him.
and he just simply turns on the seal and walks away. Now that's democracy and operation. And I want to say that that church is all fortune that they sometimes is creeping into the church of God. Now I don't know anything at all about conditions in this part of the country. But I do know that at the end, Leotisianism, that is the rule of the people, will come in like a dark lard among the people of God. It's mechanism at the beginning. but it's made of the Zionism out there. So I would like very briefly to outline the principles that we find in the Word of God concerning, rule, and discipline, first of all, in the work of God, and then, secondly, in the Church of God.
The Apostle Paul was very much exercised about these things as a spiritual man. He would look down through the ages and see what would happen. On his letter and record here, the divine principles of how the work of God should be carried on. Now I've often looked at the Epistle to the Ecclesian, that lovely passage concerning unity among the people of God. And I want you to notice that this lovely passage that we have read here tonight seems to be an appendix to that divine unity that we find at the beginning. Then he speaks of the Lord Jesus growing up, growing up the heavenly, speaks of the ascended Christ. And I said, the one who went up was the same one who first, who came down.
He came down. And then he ascended on high. And then he gave gifts to men. You know, I believe today that one of the great needs among the people of God is just a servant of Christ. I'm not what you call an old man, although I suppose some of the folk have put me among the apostles tonight. But I'm not just that altogether that old. But at least I can move back to forty-five years of Christian service and testimony. And I can move back to the time when I was a young person, who were men moving around this country, preaching the gospel and ministering the word. And to me, all this country thinks today is to go over, man, to carry on the word of God on this beloved land.
One after another, they have been taken off. And I would do thank God that God is carrying on this word. I want you to run out of your order to... Now how you see a little bit of a, the only way to meet, or carry on with the work of God, is that we are clear of what we find here. The only thing we find here is the carrying on that work is the fifth of me. And every way is up to carry on with us. Now if we meet up here, it is the source of all gifts. Where does it come from? Where is the source of gifts? In the angels and the angels and the angels, where are we at the cross? Oh, thank God they have a gift. He's not going on. The same one who came on. He carried captivity supper.
And he's brought up to the throne. On sitting upon the throne tonight, he has a hand of faith. The head of the church is the Son of Brin, Israel too, among his people. Now, I think I should emphasize the fact today that there are no promises on profit. You know, there's something that's committed to this country these nights. I've been rather amazed at times here. And again, I don't know whether I should avoid using them or not. I think I should mention the name. It's called the Honourable People, or the Hunter headquarters over in London, in London. So there's some fine, fine, gawky people connected with that organization, at Honourable Over in London, and to have shared their work life around the world, particularly in China, and in some other parts as well.
And one of the things these people do need to care about is today. and that the Hathi authorities are committing apostolic gifts from one to another by the laying on of hands, and believe that we have apostles among us today. So I find that kind of thing, I do not do, and I've got some difficulty and trouble in some part, but the love of saying that there are no pastors among us today. So there's a twofold qualification pertaining to a Muslim apostle. On one one was that he must have seen the Lord, he's in the face. They must have seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh. On the second day, he must have been a witness on the resurrection. Now that's the twofold qualification for an apostle that we get in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
And I think that that rules out anyone amongst the day. We don't have apostles amongst the day. Neither do we have new passages of the prophets. The canon of Holy Scripture has been completed. And we no longer have not amongst the day. in the anthropology into the world. These were one day in view. But all thanks God, the one who grew up, the one who came down, and then went up to the throne, he attended hell. He did this day, and he did the trip of the evangelist, of the pastor, of the teacher. No, just today, I will say we have to work here in Piedmont. I won't call John Barnett anybody.
I think it is true personal. You know, the way I've designed the work up here in my mind is this. Over thirty years ago, I happened to be in the Chancellor of Ontario, not in Canada, and I became my first in the Earl of America again, and I moved in the home of Chancellor of Ontario. And there was a young man at the time who was just in very, very distant cities, and the two of us kept in the same debt that time. And he was at the meeting today, and he's gone, and I don't know, I don't make any apology for mentioning the name. So Peter was next to a rose. And they had just been saved. And he was absolutely bubbling over. Because God put it with a joyous foundation.
And he was telling me that God had laid it upon his heart to come down here to look hard at the end of the page of the Bible. And he said, Brother, go ahead and God bless you. You know, the light was still coming in this. He came to the window at five o'clock in the morning. He talked for a whole night long. And mind you, it didn't really pass away. he finds and prays one another in the things of God. While his name is Wilson, on my name is Wilson too, there's absolutely no relationship there from a human standpoint, but during the very years, we have been tied up together in the arms of prayer. We all know what has happened. God laid his hand upon the evangelist. Now that evangelist God has widely used in this part of the center.
I can look into the faces of many here tonight on the mission of man's name. all this big joy in driving us to our hearts. See, I've said that here. He's first of all an angel. And then the second one is a pastor. I don't know whether my mother's mother, Duncan Pitt, whether this person can be written like or not. I don't want to inherit from it, but I think we'll have to do it on this side. I'm certain he's going to appear with a new testament, a new chapter in the Bible. And then the teacher... And when you think of her brother, and her God has developed this into the kingdom of the world, it's okay, this God will stay immune to it on the path, on the teachers.
Where did they come from? They ascended heaven. They ascended heaven. And where do you get the three names? They evangelist, on the pastor, on the teacher. And God brings them up these names, including them for them, on the Holy Ghost and the Spirit. Now I could occupy all my time tonight by doing an example of some different parts of the world how this is operated. So it's a good word to do. About the three words. I'm evangelist. What does that mean? Well, the word that I always associate with my mind with an evangelist is mobility. He's good as a word. The evangelist is by the word. He evangelized. He goes forth with the gospel. And that was after his sphere is in little concern.
On what character are the things of sensibility? On their feature, his sphere adopted on operations is in the whole body of Christ. He's in fact is given through the bottom of the whole body of Christ on his, especially, qualification is ability. Mobility, civility, and ability. On the three men working together in cooperation set forth by the Holy Ghost is the divine principle for the carry-on of the work of God. I never think of the word evangelist, but my mind always travels right to the land where we have spent most of our years and most of our life. And there's a word that we use over there for a pioneer.
And by the way, this word evangelist, it doesn't simply mean a pioneer. Our Lord's writer, a trailblazer, a man who goes into the world and takes the gospel with him and God blesses him, he is a pioneer. Some of our languages over in Africa, we have developed some difficulty in getting a real word to define a certain idea. Now, in this word pioneer, the word that we use in all language in Africa is adjudicata. Adjudicata. What does that word mean? You know, in our early days in Africa, we used to get up five o'clock in the morning, and before dawn, we used to get out on the head of our caravan, on the head of our men carrying our laws.
under the wine season, about six months, has not a drop of grain falls. Under tall elephant grass, it's about ten feet high. Under the top of each stalk of grass, there's a cup of seed about the tip of her hand, and it's absolutely fat-related with yours. He can get out of ten, about half-month time in the morning, and if you go out along the path, the path is just about nine inches broad, And as you go along, your elbows rub against the grass as you're going along. And every cent you take, you're drenched with you from head to foot. Now, the Africans are pretty smart. And what they do is they get a little, what?
Poor little shivering pannon, maybe about ten years of age, and he's just a little rag. It's the only thing he has, just a little cord, a little string down his waist, and a piece of tail that will hang from the string, or maybe a monkey's skin. On the gentle little fellow, a stick about eighteen inches long, and the pusher might have chained first thing in the morning. And the poor little fella shivering from hand to foot, he goes out holding the stick like this. And as he goes along, he pushes the grass. On every step he takes, every step that he pushes the grass, he gets shard of the dew from hand to foot. And in a few moments, he drenched from hand to foot with a dew, to call him a dew dryer, on a converter that has been used for a pioneer.
The man who was out, first of all, to field labor, the man who got and drips away for the rest, and who opens it up, that is the pioneer. And I suppose we have all heard tripling's word, some evil, some of the most thrilling words that ever have been written in the English language, those words that tripling on the pioneer. Remember what he said? There's a legion that never was lifted. It carries no power nor strength, but split in a thousand detachments. is breaking the rope in the ring. I'm glad for the pioneer, and I would like to say tonight, let's take over Hats now. Hats off for the pioneers. Dear Andrew, you know, this is a man I believe today that's the foundation gift in the church of God today on May God risen up in heaven and right here in the evening.
There are some young men in our meeting here this evening, and oh, beloved friend, I want to speak to your heart. I believe that the greatest gift in the church today is a man who does not. Creating the gospel of the grace of God is work at far, far more valuable than working on the stock exchange or in commerce or any other kind. It's the most honorable time in the world today, the evangelist, the pioneer, the man that goes forth with the evangelist, and then the pastor. Now, I want you to notice that between the pastor and the teacher, there's a little conjunction here, the conjunction and, pastors and teachers. And I think that the difference here is that very often the two gifts are combined in one person.
That may not be so always. But very often it is, you find often a pastor or the teacher. So the two gifts are combined in the one person. And therefore, we have the little conjunction here. Now what is the pastor? Well, he just simply shepherds. And here again is a gift that's so badly needed everywhere today. As we move in and out among the people of God, what is needed, not so much male who can talk, know anybody with a well-informed mind, who is rebel in the books, and who is a well-informed mind and a good memory, and who is a bit of an expert, can go up and talk.
Doesn't cost very much to do there. But beloved friends, to give our ministry that both of you have any help to the people of God, whether it's the answer or the teacher is who to call something, And I believe that the most important gift today is the man with a pastoral drift, that was in the heart among the homes of God's people, the man with a loving, shepherded heart, and the man who seeks to bind up the wounds of those that have been wounded in the battle of life, to heal the broken heart, and bring back those that have drifted on gone astray. You know, if we move in another among God's people the day we come to that the young people, the young people that have drifted away that no longer comes in needing... You know that I could quote Jesus tonight that I know, and I could give names of young people that I know that haven't been in the meeting for six months.
And I'm not talking about this area because I know nothing whatever about this area or conditions here. But I know of conditions in some places where a young man or a young woman hasn't been at the meeting for six months, and a lot of souls have asked for an awareness. No one has ever thought it worth their quiet. So go and lock the door and find out what they're doing or what the reason is, why they're not in need. Oh, beloved friends, the need there is for the pastor's, the pastor's gift of aid. The man with the shepherd's heart, the man who has worked after the strain of the wound and the sick, the man who will visit the hospital, who will visit the home, not so much shopping on the platform, but the man who knows something of this gift of the shepherd's heart and the heart of love, to go out after those that have strayed.
And then the future is a tremendous need for this today. Another day, consecutive opening up of the Word of God. You know, I understand that in this part, it has been evangelism that has been spread out until the present time. Now that's good. That's excellent. And we know that there has been many times when we're done. But beloved friends, we do need a day among the ascended among the last people of each year. The man ruled with him not to open up the word of God until he true people of God. So it must be done consecutively, it must be done systematically, and it must be done in such a way that young people are led on in the ways that he enticed.
How do you see this? And where can we find them in cooperation, in any particular section of the country, there is where God is coming in and blessing among the people. And God knows its life why. and prayer day after day that God will raise up hand on this thing among his beloved people today. The unfortunate thing is that by often the day, God is laying his hand on people outside of ourselves. And in other parts, on his name is hand on men from denominations and whose name is in this actual world. May God exercise her heart so that we too may see men with an evangelistic gift laid back. Men with a pastoral gift on also...
Man is a gift of a teacher to throw illumination on the Word of God and lead the people on when the shepherd pound of God's conscious Word. Last year, I had the opportunity of paying a visit to the gate of the Latin Republic from St. Mary. The principle that we find here, such as we find it here in Piedmont, we've got it exemplified down there as well. I spent a little while in Brazil. And do you know that in one area in Brazil, in the legal ghost areas, there are about two hundred assemblies that have been planted there within the past fifty years? And I'd like to mention the end that the brethren were being responsible for that.
Again, we get exactly the same principle. It has been the combination of the amangling, of the pastor, and the teaching. On two hundred assemblies have been planted in an area with a long piece of field in Geneva in Brazil. I've already found a mission today. I already knew anything, whatever about it. I went from there and found your Argentina. And I spent some time there. Do you know that there are two hundred and fifty assemblies, New Testament churches today in Argentina? And on the trip of the city of Buenos Aires, there are between sixty and seventy assemblies in that city today, all in fellowship with each other. And again, exactly the same principle has been intensified It has been the evangelist on the pastor, on the teacher, on the combination of these three gifts that God has lent in the spread of the gospel in that time.
I don't want to occupy any more time in talking about this, but beloved brethren, I do want to exercise every heartful night that we may get upon our faces before God in these difficult days that these types of men, these gifts may be weaves among us to carry on this wonderful, wonderful work. The evangelist. When I go to the gospel, the pastor is building up the people of God on the future, illuminating God's word and teaching the people the substance of the New Testament. Now, what we find in the work of John, we find exactly the same principle in the ascenders of God. You know, there's some people today who say, it's not necessary to have a new assignment.
I have read John Nelson Garvey. I've had a tremendous lot of health problems. And I certainly wouldn't want to say anything at all as far as you know I am. But Mr. Darryl, he believes, to see that we have no apostles or more apostolic delegates today, to lay their hands on people that we, therefore, we cannot have elders in the assembly. He believes that it was necessary to have an apostle or an apostolic delegate to lay his hands upon elderly brethren and make them overseers or make them elders. And therefore, seeing we both have the apostles... Therefore we don't have oversight. You need to tell me that God would leave this church town here for nineteen hundred years.
Is only the first generation of Christians where you have leadership? Where you would have the elders? Well, I don't believe that. I believe that today God will live on man to exercise leadership among these men and to exercise oversight. Now this is a subject you could occupy in a long time on. I'm not going to do that. I'm certainly not going to abuse my privilege tonight by going all the time. But I just want to say this, that there are three words that describe the person. And first of all, the word is an elder. And the second one is a shepherd. And the third one is an overstate. Now, those three words are not synonymous.
They're not synonymous here. What does it mean? An elder speaks of spiritual maturity. And a shepherd, it speaks of spiritual capacity. and an overseer who speaks of spiritual authority. These are the three words that describe the same person, but it shows us three different phases of this work. Someone might say, where are we to get out of today? In a new word, an abandonment goes in, reaches a gospel, and a number of souls get dead. How do you know who's going to be an elder? Or is it possible to have an oversight to have an eldership right at the very beginning? Well, I don't think it's possible to have them right at the beginning. But there's one thing we have seen exemplifying in our labors in Africa.
It seems again, again, and again. We've lived with a new tribe. We've been among the people who the gospel never have been, and we've preached the gospel, and some souls get there. And over a period of maybe five or ten, sometimes fifteen years, you go back again on anybody with any spiritual discernment at all. They don't need to be lettered. They don't need to be scholarly. for anything of the kind. All they need is a little bit of strength and discernment on the group of that company of people to see how things are going on. And it's just as plain as the mother-in-earth day, through the eldership day. God has raised a lot in the meantime. You know, who is the elder?
The apostle tells them himself, it's the Holy Ghost. You cannot do it on an eighth chapter twenty. He speaks of the elders of the church in Ephesus and says, over whom the Holy Ghost has made you overseen. It's the Holy Spirit that does it. And in voice and art among the people of God, behold the men that are doing the right. Are their qualifications fine? And if we were to read First Timothy chapter three, and also the first chapter of the Epistle of Titus, we would find fifteen qualifications for an elder. It's a very high standard. This year, mine of them had to do with his first encounter. And four of them have to do with the semantic life.
Not only does God look into the man's own heart, his own character, his life. But he also, he looks into the phone. And there are four of those phone readings that have to do with the phone. And then there's one that has to do with the world. A man who has no testimony at all in the world, he certainly is not able to take care of the Church of God. He must have a good testimony concerning both that are required. Well, not that one of them must. he must have a good testimony our time. On that note, the last, the fifteenth, on the last, on the corner of the neighborhood, the local church, he must be asked to teach. That's perfectly evident. That a man who knows nothing but every Protestantity principle, or knows nothing but every Protestantity gathering, or the principles that we find concerning a New Testament church and a New Testament, he certainly could not be a leader in an assembly.
So there are the fifteen qualifications for an elder. Mine of them is one personal character. Now this one word there is just like a mirror or a standard, like a yardstick. And that word is blame. You say, has there anybody like that one today blame them? Well, now the word that you there comes to use there, it means something that you couldn't take a hold of, a handle that you could take a hold of. That is a man who never has been accused of being a liar. And I told him, I didn't see a man who is praying that. I don't mean to say that he's praying, but I know some of my beloved prayer men.
And you know, if anybody were to think about it for a little while, if it's just something they could not point their fingers to a personal character, straight up and down, go on in vain, squirted a man. That's a lovely qualification. And then there's some other things more practical there. We need to find being sober. And that is nothing to do with taking strong drinks. and being intoxicated, he does mention that a little bit further than. But when he speaks about a man being sober, it has to do with his mind. And I think that he's a well balanced man. He doesn't mean to extremes in either way, but shooting off at one extreme one day and shooting off to another extreme another day. He's a man of a sober temperament.
A man which well balanced in the hands of God. And then another thing, not even the wine, And one thing that we find a good deal of, and the social world of the day is social, isn't it? I don't know whether there's any of that kind of thing down here or not. But we found a lot of it over in Africa. I spent a year in Portugal learning the Portuguese language. And one thing I had learned when I was there, believe it or not. Three times a day when I sat at the table with always a glass of wine sat beside my table. Always. It was a custom of the country. I understand they do the same thing in Italy. They do it in France. They do it in Spain. I'm looking at certain regions in Belgium.
They do the same thing. Many of these countries in Europe, every day is the tip of the table to take the liquor, intoxicating liquor, or wine, and they drink it as a tooth. You know, I believe that any man who is an elder or a leader among the people of God should be very careful about how he behaves himself, eating the things of that kind. I know some people say, well, after all, in part, you know, the Romans do. But the point is this, that when I went over to Antwerp and started a work among people over there, I found that all the sort of discipline was drinking, drunkenness and intoxication, on a mind with esteem, sitting in an efficient house, drinking, on my African brother would look through the window and I would say, well, it's perfectly all right for me, but it's not all right for you.
I wonder what he would think. We were talking today about consistency. And I think that anything at all we may think is legitimate. But anything that we may think is legitimate, if it's going to mar our testimony, so that people could point the finger at it. I don't know what it is. A predator came from. It's not in any... You mustn't do this, or you mustn't do that, or you mustn't do the other thing. But anything that could soil my testimony, that people could point the finger at me and say, look at that man, he's a leader. He's a man who's supposed to be an example. And yet he's on this and he's on that. Well, he don't say other things. It's better to refrain from it. So these are the qualifications for an elder. First of all, he's followed by the Holy Ghost.
And then began his qualification. And then began his imagination. He got that first Peter five. The first the Thessalonians five. And I think it's verse twelve. Know then the deliverer among you. Know then the deliverer among you. And know the sheep. They know the hand that feeds them. They certainly do. And after a little while, it wouldn't take very much spiritual discernment to tell the man that a real New Testament elder in every sense of the word. You know, there are certain things that have to be handled in an assembly. And I don't believe that everybody should be aware of everything connected with it. Sometimes there are started cases of discipline come up.
And I believe that in every New Testament church there should be men, leaders, on kind, godly men. Men that the Holy Ghost has raised up that are able to deal with these things. They investigate and of the point that they're true. They have to form a judgment about it. And then after they have formed a judgment about it, then in a delicate way. And in delicate language they inform the assembly of what has happened. But if you find an assembly with no but light at all, for on every man oversight, for everybody knows what's going on. I don't believe that that is the New Testament principle at all. I believe that Godly men, elders, leaders, should handle these things on them.
And in the assembly, what has happened on them. This is, it takes place on a big stage of the privilege of the whole assembly. Mark, I don't want to say anything more about this, John James, but just to say this, we close it. Not only will the elder be recognized, but he also will have a wonderful reward. One of the great needs today among the people of God is elder, mature, spiritual, God in men, moving in another month to heal this gospel with. May God increase their number. I see one in a number of gray hairs here tonight, men that have gone over the sixty-five mark. And you know, here, let's remember, when a man becomes sixty-five, he has to retire.
And sometimes I wonder, am I all through? And you know, some people get the idea. When I get sixty-five, I'm finished. On the field so discouraged, beloved friend, that you're sixty-five and you have the privilege of having work. I want to tell you that your work has only begun. I believe that the most important part of a man's life is between sixty-five and eighty. You may not agree with me, but the world certainly wouldn't. The world is fine little use for these senior citizens. But a man who has lived so sixty-five as accumulated little knowledge, and a little practical experience, and a little practical wisdom on a country of some value, nor is the time of good is in the Christ.
May good lay it upon your heart, brother. If you're an elderly man, on behalf of fire, give yourself to this lovely work of shepherding, of believing, and guiding.