Guardians of the Truth: The Sacred Duty of Elder Qualification

• Elder Qualifications [00:52:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Titus 1:5-9, focusing on the phrase 'above reproach' as the defining qualification for elders, broken down into household, character, and doctrine.
• Biblical Leadership and Accountability [00:48:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Ezekiel 33, the pastor illustrates the role of the 'watchman' who bears responsibility for warning God's people, linking this Old Testament concept to New Testament elders.
• Family Dedication [00:19:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the theology behind family dedication, distinguishing it from baby dedication by emphasizing public commitments from parents and the congregation to instruct children in the gospel.
• Elder Qualifications [00:52:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines the three areas an elder must be above reproach: household, character, and doctrine, using a bait-and-switch rhetorical device to debunk the idea that partial qualification is sufficient.
• Apostolic Tradition vs. Scripture [00:57:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues against the Roman Catholic view of tradition, asserting that the 'tradition' Paul refers to is the written Scripture (the 27 books of the NT), not a separate oral tradition from popes.
• Conviction and Steadfastness [01:05:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between intellectual knowledge of doctrine and 'conviction,' defined as truth embedded in the soul, using the Marine Corps rope climb as an illustration of holding firm under pressure.
• Elder Qualifications and Steadfastness [01:08:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines conviction as a truth embedded in the soul, citing Calvin to emphasize that elders must possess steadfastness to persevere against spiritual opposition.
• Theological Role of Elders and Apologetics [01:10:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that elders must hold fast to apostolic doctrine to teach and defend the faith against modern secularism, Islam, Mormonism, and other attacks on the deity of Christ.
• Juvenileization of Christianity [01:14:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor critiques the trend of churches adopting youth culture and minimalistic theology to attract crowds, contrasting it with the church's responsibility to teach the 'whole counsel of God' and the catechism.
• Creeds and Confessions [01:17:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor affirms the authority of orthodox creeds (like the Nicene Creed) as subordinate to Scripture, rejecting the idea that 'the Bible is our only creed' as a cover for doctrinal compromise.
• Connection Between Doctrine and Ethics [01:19:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that sound doctrine is foundational to Christian ethics and experience, citing 1 Timothy 1:10 to show that immorality is contrary to sound doctrine, and warning against liberal theology's separation of ethics from the atonement.
• Elders as Watchmen [01:23:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the plurality of elders as necessary guardians who act as 'watchmen on the wall' to warn against insubordinate deceivers and empty talkers.
• Elder Qualifications [01:24:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that elders must be chosen who convictionally believe the truth, stating it is better for pulpits to be empty than to have unqualified men teaching.
• Deepening Knowledge of Sound Doctrine [01:25:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to move beyond just reading the Bible to understanding what it means through studying confessions, creeds, and systematic theology.
• Convictional Faith and Steadfastness [01:28:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that doctrine must become part of our souls, using biblical commands to 'hold fast' and historical examples of martyrdom to illustrate steadfastness in truth.

• Sermon Illustration [00:18:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his father being killed in a plane crash when he was two years old, and how his mother taught him the Word of God, connecting this to the honor due to mothers.
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a humorous exchange with a deacon named Derek Sammons, who joked that the title 'Guardians of Orthodoxy' sounded like 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' which the pastor used to pivot to the biblical image of a watchman.
• Sermon Illustration [00:59:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the history of Texas A&M's 'yell leaders' and 'midnight yell practice,' explaining how the tradition began with upperclassmen wearing janitor's ducks to entertain dates, illustrating the concept of handed-down traditions.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the illustration of the Marine Corps obstacle course, specifically the final 20-22 foot rope climb, to explain that an elder must 'hold firm' to the truth under pressure, just as a recruit must not let go of the rope.
• Sermon Illustration [01:09:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a house standing against big bad winds and hurricanes to illustrate steadfastness in truth, referencing the nursery rhyme of the big bad wolf blowing down the house.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references sociologist Berger's book on the 'juvenileization of Christianity,' noting how churches began mimicking youth group styles (praise teams, light messages) to avoid empty pews, leading to doctrinal minimalism.
• Sermon Illustration [01:20:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of 'bark on a tree' to describe how the ethics of the Christian life are inextricably wedded to the truth of doctrine.
• Sermon Illustration [01:23:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the biblical role of elders as 'watchmen on the wall' with the pop-culture reference of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' to emphasize their duty to guard orthodoxy.
• Sermon Illustration [01:26:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts visiting the Master's Seminary and receiving advice from admissions head Ray Merringer to study systematic theology to understand theological categories. He also shares a personal anecdote about visiting Oxford and seeing the black 'X' on Broad Street, which marks the site where Hugh Latimer, Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer were burned at the stake. He details the history of Thomas Cranmer, his initial recantation under pressure from 'Bloody Mary,' and his final, powerful recantation from the pulpit where he burned his right hand first in the fire to reaffirm his Protestant faith.

• Pastoral Charge [00:22:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > Parents to verbally affirm their commitment to godly parenting.
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > Parents to verbally affirm entrusting their child to God.
• Pastoral Charge [00:23:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > Parents to verbally affirm their commitment to dedicate their child to the Lord.
• Pastoral Charge [00:23:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Congregation to verbally affirm their commitment to pray and model faith for the children.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Underline the phrase 'as taught' in the Bible text.
• Pastoral Charge [00:56:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the reference 2 Timothy 2:2.
• Pastoral Charge [01:25:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for qualified elders and maintain a standard of qualification over filling positions quickly.
• Pastoral Charge [01:26:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Read the church's doctrinal statement on the new website and verify the scripture references.
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Verbally and actively reject any heresy that enters the church.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:04:20] Good morning. Welcome to worship at the King's Chapel. It is so good to be here to worship with you all this morning. Let's begin our time in the throne of grace and let's pray. Dear Lord, we come before you first thankful for your steadfast love and your mercy that you have extended to us, Lord. God, we want our sins, but we've been made alive in Christ.
[00:10:19] Jesus. We were far from you, but we have been brought near through the cross of Christ. And Lord, we come before you this morning acknowledging your sovereignty, your greatness, your power and might. Lord, you have no rival. And God, this morning we ask that you would bless our time of
[00:10:41] worship. Lord, we ask that you would grow us in our delight for your word. And Lord, we thank you once again and we pray all this in Christ's name. Amen. This morning our call to worship comes from
[00:10:58] Psalm 150. Psalm 150 starting in verse 1. Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with trumpet sound. Praise him with lute and harp. Praise him with tambourine
[00:11:22] and dance. Praise him with strings and pipe. Praise him with sounding cymbals. Praise him with loud clashing cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. This is God's word. Well, this morning, let's go ahead and stand and begin by singing
[00:11:40] all creatures of our God and King. Family dedication, I invite you to go ahead and come up to the platform and for everyone else, remain standing and greet those around you.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:16:08] We'll go ahead and take your seats. We're on a limited timetable right now.
[00:17:41] First, what a wonderful day to celebrate Mother's Day, is it not? One of the unique aspects when you study the Old Testament is how the Hebrews placed a premium on not just the father but the
[00:18:03] mother in the life of the children. So this was unheard of in ancient cultures for the mother to be esteemed. But Proverbs 1.8, for example, says, hear my son your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching. So both the father and the mother are prioritized in the Christian
[00:18:28] family. And personally speaking, my own father, as you know, was killed when I was two years old in a plane crash. And it was my mother who taught me the Word of God and instructed me in the gospel
[00:18:40] from an early age. And so I know, mothers, that's your intent and your heart for your children. So we honor that today, and we endeavor to do that. Now, what we're doing today, sometimes churches
[00:18:53] refer this to what we're doing as baby dedication. Well, we're not doing baby dedication, although we are in a way, but we're doing family dedications because what we're doing is the families, the parents, are making resolutions. They're making commitments, and we as a congregation
[00:19:16] are making commitments to come alongside these families to instruct these children in the gospel and to know and fear the Lord.
[00:19:25] So we are making these resolutions publicly and together as families.
[00:19:32] Now what I want to do is have each of the families be introduced.
[00:19:37] So I'll have each husband and father introduce the family.
[00:19:41] We'll start down here at the end and go across.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:19:46] Hi, this is Rachel, Gloria, Evan, our son Martin.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:20:14] We are the Colt.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:20:22] Good morning, we're the Sam Williams and Jane here, doing business as Jane.
[00:20:32] We are the Burke family. I'm Samuel, this is my wife, Hope, and our daughter, Ella, who is 14 months old.
[00:20:42] Hi, we've got Grayson, Anna, and...

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:21:04] What did y'all do before you came up here? Amazing.
[00:21:09] Okay, so the first few resolutions are for the parents, so I'll give you the resolution, and then parents simply respond with we do and then the last resolution will be for the entire congregation and and with that prompt will you congregation say we will all right parents
[00:21:31] in the presence of our heavenly father you parents have come today to present your children unto the lord the faith with which you have placed in the promises of god must grow as you fully honor god
[00:21:44] by embracing his promises, by faith for your child.
[00:21:50] The individual commitments you have made privately to the Lord, your child, and to each other, you now proclaim publicly in an act of worship and dedication.
[00:21:59] Do you come today to commit yourselves to be godly parents whose lives will reflect the glorious joy of knowing the Lord God through Jesus Christ, his son?
[00:22:10] If so, please say, we do.
[00:22:12] Do you come, parents, to place this child that you are holding in the strong, loving, and secure arms of your eternal Father, entrusting your child both to his care and his service?
[00:22:29] If so, please say, we do.
[00:22:35] Finally, also for parents, the prayer of Hannah for her son Samuel gives an illustration of the extent of the way that we are to dedicate our children to the Lord.
[00:22:45] Hannah prayed I prayed for this child and the Lord granted me what I asked of him So now I give him to the Lord for his whole life. He will be given over to the Lord
[00:22:57] Is this the commitment you are making in the dedication of your child unto the Lord?
[00:23:03] If so, please say it is now for the congregation congregation will you endeavor by the grace of God to pray for these parents and their children and to live your lives before God in such a way that these young ones will see the power
[00:23:22] and glory of the Lord in your walk with him if you will please say we will let's go to the Lord in prayer Heavenly Father we do dedicate these families to the Lord we acknowledge Lord that
[00:23:42] unless you build the house, we labor in vain who build it. Lord, we acknowledge that salvation is a supernatural miracle and work of God, but yet, Lord, we pray for that work in the lives
[00:23:53] of all of these children, that all of these children would be born again, would come one day to hear the gospel, to believe the gospel, repent of their sins, and trust Christ in faith. We pray,
[00:24:04] Lord, for their siblings. We pray, Lord, for the entire family. We pray, Lord, that your blessing would be upon them in this dark and crooked world in which the family is being attacked.
[00:24:13] Lord, may these families shine like lights in the heavens. Lord, use these families to picture the gospel to a lost and dying world. Bless them, keep them, use them for your honor and your glory. Amen. Now, for each family, we have a beginner's Bible and another gift
[00:24:38] along with the certificate. So, families, as you go back to your seats, Kim and Kenny are going to

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:24:45] come and give you the gifts. Amen. Well, it is Christ who will work in us and sustain us to the end. In light of that great truth, let's stand together and join as we sing, yet not I, but
[00:25:15] through Christ in me.

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:26:51] Pastor of Discipleship here, and I really welcome you this Mother's Day.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:10] We're going to take a look at the Heidelberg Catechism as we do each week.
[00:31:17] And for those of you joining us maybe for the first time, the Catechism gives us an opportunity to really learn as we read it, as we recite it week to week, to learn the spiritual
[00:31:26] truths that are found in Scripture, and that helps us develop a deeper faith and also to worship and praise our loving Father. So I'm going to read the questions, questions 50 through 52.
[00:31:41] You have an insert in your bulletin. You can read them there. You can read them on the screen behind me. So as I said, I'll read the question. You follow with the response.
[00:31:48] why the next words and is seated at the right hand of God because Christ ascended to heaven to show that he is head of this church and one through whom the father rules all things
[00:32:06] how does this glory of Christ our head benefit us first through his holy spirit he pours out gifts from Heaven upon His members. Second, by His power, He defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies. How does Christ return to judge the living and the dead, comfort you?
[00:32:33] In all distress and persecution, with uplifted head, I confidently await, very judged, the Christ will cast all his enemies and mine into everlasting salvation, but will take me to himself.
[00:33:06] Very good. Well, I want to direct your attention again to the bulletin, if you will. Take a look.
[00:33:12] Of course, this is a busy day. You've already seen it. What a wonderful way to start our day, our worship together. And I do want to, again, welcome mothers today and wish you a happy
[00:33:23] Mother's Day. But you can see from our bulletin, today is not the only busy day of the month of May. We are absolutely packed full, and so a number of these things are listed in your bulletin,
[00:33:36] so I'm not going to read them, but I do want to call your attention to just a few of them that are happening within the next week. One, I just want to announce a very special announcement
[00:33:47] today, our website has gone live. So the King's Chapel, if you go to thekingschapel.com, you will find a brand new shiny website there waiting for you. The other thing that you'll find as you get
[00:34:00] there, the very first time you go, there's a pop-up window that says, hooray, you're here, and then asks you to sign up for a giveaway. We'd love for you to go and check out the website. And
[00:34:11] as an incentive, we'd like for you to sign up for a special giveaway from Chapel Books. So if you sign up you'll be in a drawing which will be announced at the end of this month so the 31st
[00:34:22] of this month we'll select three names and you'll win a wonderful chapel books bookstore bag and you'll have a mug and some books and and a nice gift card to go with it so do that go and visit
[00:34:37] today look through it we think you'll find it very helpful it's got sermons it's got notes it's got events everything that you could possibly want and more so go see the website today secondly just a
[00:34:49] couple of things happening or a few things happening this week can kids kings kids park play date that's a hard thing to say but it's easy thing to do thursday may 14th 10 through 11 30 a.m you can register online men we'd like to see you again this saturday we have a men's
[00:35:07] workday scheduled come at 8 30 we'll feed you with biscuits and coffee get you fired up and and then we've got some good work to do but also encourage we encourage men to bring their sons
[00:35:20] and their grandsons it's a great time of fellowship and a great time to work together it's a great day starting point next sunday at 9 a.m for those interested in learning more about the king's
[00:35:31] chapel and how to become part of this growing family and then finally we have a reception to celebrate staff members we mentioned this of course last week these staff members that are preparing to be set out sent out to study and serve in new ministries all of these things if
[00:35:48] you'll go to the brand new website and register for these things we'll get your head count and when you'll we'd love for you to come and take part in those well that's the announcements I'm
[00:35:58] going to pray for us here in a minute, but before I do that, I'll invite the ushers and the deacons to come forward for our tithes and offerings, and then I'll invite you to bow your heads and hearts
[00:36:07] with me as we go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and for the opportunity to come together as your children. Lord, thank you for the cross. Thank you for
[00:36:24] Jesus offering his life as a perfect sacrifice and a perfect substitute for us so that we might have forgiveness and newness of life. Thank you for calling us into your presence today, Lord. We thank you for the time set apart to worship you. Lord, bless our service today and lead us by your
[00:36:45] Holy Spirit, not just today, but every moment of our lives. Speak to us clearly today through your word as preached. Father, help us to praise you in spirit and in truth. Lord, renew our minds
[00:36:59] with your truth and convict us in our hearts. Draw us closer to Christ and allow us to see Jesus is worthy of being followed and that he is the only one who truly satisfies in life.
[00:37:14] With grateful hearts, we come to you in prayer on this Mother's Day, and we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Is the faithfulness of the Lord, amen? His word is true. There is none

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:41:41] above him none before him he is the ancient of days let's stand and sing together would you bow

[00:47:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:47:08] with me in prayer lord may this book live may it live in us do your work now in the power of your holy spirit i pray lord that you would speak through me as we open your word in christ's name
[00:47:25] amen i invite you to open your bibles to the book of ezekiel throwing you a curveball right at the beginning. We're going to go to Titus, but I first want to read a portion from Ezekiel 33.
[00:47:42] I asked one of our deacons this morning, Derek Sammons, the title of the message is Elders, Guardians of Orthodoxy. I said, what comes to your mind with that title? And he looked at me and he said, Guardians of the Galaxy. I said, close, but the biblical picture is that of a
[00:48:05] watchman. And it's here in Ezekiel. And I'm reading this because this idea is picked up in the New Testament. Ezekiel 33 verse 1, the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, speak to your people and say to them, if I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land
[00:48:27] take a man from among them and make him their watchman. And if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of
[00:48:42] the trumpet does not take warning and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning. His blood shall be upon
[00:48:55] himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet so that the people are not warned, and the sword
[00:49:10] comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house
[00:49:31] of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
[00:49:42] If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall not die in his iniquity, but his blood I
[00:49:54] will require at your hand but if you warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way that person shall die in his iniquity but you will have delivered your soul so the mark
[00:50:16] that Yahweh is instructing Ezekiel about about leadership is that he has a responsibility to speak God's truth to God's people. And when you study the book of Ezekiel, you realize that one of the reasons why God pronounces judgment on Judah—remember, Ezekiel is already in exile in
[00:50:37] Babylon, and he is prophesying to the Jews who are in Babylon, and he is pronouncing judgment—and he pronounces judgment. If you go back and you read Ezekiel 22, he says it's because the prophets do not prophesy in the name of the Lord. The princes, the kingly line, does not rule justly,
[00:50:58] and the priests take bribes and do all sorts of terrible things. And he says the people are following the example of the leadership, and therefore I am bringing judgment on Judah. And of course we know what happened in history. The Babylonians came, 586 BC, the walls were torn down,
[00:51:18] the temple was torn down, and everybody followed Ezekiel eventually into exile in Babylon.
[00:51:27] So you fast forward to the New Testament, and you have this picture of the watchman, this guardian that is put in place over the church, and that guardian holds the office of overseer, sometimes called an elder. So turn with me to Titus chapter 1. We've been studying
[00:51:52] this section, verses 5 to 9, and we've looked at the office of elder and overseer, and we've begun studying the requirements of this office, and we noticed that there is one key phrase that defines
[00:52:07] every aspect of the qualification of this man, and that is that he is above reproach.
[00:52:14] That phrase defines every aspect of his qualification, that he is not perfect, we need to delineate that, but blameless. In other words, there is no spurious charge that can be made against his life. Now, he must be above reproach, we also noticed, in three
[00:52:36] areas. The first is his household, and we studied this. The second is his character. You see that in verses 7 and 8. There's five negatives and six positives in which his character is understood.
[00:52:55] and then verse 9 he must also be above reproach in his doctrine in his teaching and it's important I think that we understand that he must be above reproach in all three categories so what happens
[00:53:17] for example if you have a man his character's pretty good he knows a lot of theology but his household is a royal mess what do you do with that person you put that man in the office of elder
[00:53:32] no you do not because he fails that first qualification of having the right household that is above reproach so what do you do with a man also if you have a godly household he has
[00:53:47] good, upright character, but he's not as strong on doctrine so that he can give reproof and teach God's people. Do you install that man into the office of elder? No, you do not. You see, an elder
[00:54:07] must fulfill the requirements being above reproach in all three categories, the household, his character and sound doctrine and teaching. So this morning we're going to look at verse 9. We're going to study this, and I want to do it the old Puritan way. The old Puritan sermons, they all
[00:54:29] preached with the same exact outline. Every Puritan sermon, it made it very simple. So first, the exegesis. Let's go through. Let's study the exegesis of the passage. Secondly, you have the theological deductions or implications that come from the exegesis. And then third,
[00:54:51] you have the application or what the Puritans would call its uses. All right? So that's what we're going to do this morning. First, let's look at the exegesis. Look at verse 9. I'm just going
[00:55:04] to make two observations for you. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Now these are the two observations. The first observation is that an elder must have
[00:55:31] comprehensive knowledge of apostolic doctrine. Notice that last phrase at the end of the first clause, as taught. Underline that phrase. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word, as taught.
[00:55:51] That's a very important phrase. In the original text, it literally says, according, kata, to the teaching. And Paul uses the word the, the definitive article in front of the word teaching, according to the teaching, not a teaching, not a nonspecific teaching,
[00:56:18] but he says you must hold firm to the trustworthy word according to the teaching. And what Paul is referring to is the body of teaching that was handed down to Christ and the apostles to the
[00:56:36] church. So for example, jot this reference down, 2 Timothy 2.2, Paul says, what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others
[00:56:50] also. What Paul and his apostolic brothers and the evangelists were doing is they would go to different cities and they would teach a body of doctrine. Remember Paul, he would just teach all the time it was eat sleep preach and make tents but wherever he would go he would be teaching when
[00:57:13] he was in Ephesus every day Luke records he was in this hall of Tyrannus every single day so he'd make his tents and he would go teach what was he teaching well there was an oral tradition
[00:57:26] from Christ and the apostles that they would go and they would instruct the people in.
[00:57:35] And I want to show you this because I think it's very important to understand that there was this tradition that they would pass down. Now stay with me here because some people confuse this.
[00:57:47] Our Roman Catholic friends say that there's a tradition that's on the same level as Scripture.
[00:57:56] I'm going to argue that the tradition is Scripture.
[00:57:59] It is what the apostles have given us.
[00:58:02] But Paul uses this word tradition, okay?
[00:58:07] It's the word paradosis, and this word means the content of instruction that has been handed down.
[00:58:18] So, for example, let me give you these references.
[00:58:21] This is 2 Thessalonians 2.15.
[00:58:24] he says so then brothers stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us either by our spoken word or letter second Thessalonians 3 6 he says now we command you brothers in this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from any brother
[00:58:43] who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us 1 Corinthians 11 2 he says now I command you excuse me now I commend you because you remember
[00:58:57] me and everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you again these traditions are an apostolic word that Paul would come and he would say these are the doctrines These are the ethics that our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles are handing down to you.
[00:59:25] It's a body of spoken truth.
[00:59:29] When I was at Texas A&M, Texas A&M is a university of tradition.
[00:59:34] If you know anything about Texas, you know this.
[00:59:38] And the saying that we have about Texas A&M is that from the outside looking in, you can't understand it.
[00:59:44] and from the inside looking out you can't explain it something that you have to to go through and at Texas A&M we don't have cheerleaders we have yell leaders we don't do cheers no no no the school
[00:59:57] was an all-male military college up until the 1960s so there were no cheerleaders there were yell leaders three seniors two juniors elected by the student body every year and they would lead the entire student body in yells every Friday night before a home football game. At midnight,
[01:00:17] we have what's called midnight yell practice, where the entire student body comes out, fills all three decks of the student section, and practices the yells. And we talk a little trash about the team that we're playing the next day. Always found it funny. People would always
[01:00:33] asked, what time does midnight yell practice start? Midnight. Well, the yell leaders, the way, this is going too long, but the way the tradition began is the guys would have dates come into town and they, at first they said, look, we want some underclassmen to go down on the field and
[01:00:59] entertain our dates. And so they found some white janitor's ducks in a closet underneath Kyle Field.
[01:01:04] They put those on, and they went out on Kyle Field, and it was a big hit with the ladies.
[01:01:09] And so the next week when they came back from Baylor and Texas Tech and TCU and all these places, the upperclassmen said, it's going to be the upperclassmen this week who do it.
[01:01:18] And so that's really how the tradition began in 1907.
[01:01:21] But anyway, where this is going, the Yale leaders in their white uniform have a book, a big white book in the back pocket.
[01:01:35] and everybody always asks what's in that book and nobody knows even kenny the other day he said what's in that book i said i can't tell you what's in that book it's a secret and i can't tell you
[01:01:55] either i ended up being a yell eater so i know what's in the book but i can't tell you fully but let me say this let me say i'm going to give you some inside baseball it's the traditions
[01:02:10] It's the traditions of Tex A&M Now, trust me I didn't give away the secret But the traditions are there They are words that are handed down So let me keep going here Paul doesn't just call it the traditions
[01:02:30] He calls it in 1 Timothy 4, 6 The words of the faith And the good doctrine He says if you put these things before the brothers you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus being trained in the words of the faith and of the good
[01:02:47] doctrine that you have followed. He also calls them sound words, hygieno logos. I use that Greek word because that's where we get our word hygiene, which means healthy, healthy words. He says in 1 Timothy 6.3. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words
[01:03:12] of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he uses the same expression in 2 Timothy 1.13. He says, follow the pattern of the sound words, these sound words that you've heard from me. He calls it sound doctrine in Titus 2.1. If you look over at verse 1 of Titus 2, he
[01:03:32] He says, but as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine, 2 Timothy 4.3.
[01:03:37] He says, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.
[01:03:43] Now, the point that I am making is that Paul, in his mind, had a body of truth that he was passing down to the evangelist, Timothy and Titus, and the expectation is that they would
[01:03:59] hand it also to the churches, not changing it, not altering it, not adding to it, not taking away, and then that the elders are to know and understand that teaching. Jude calls it the faith that's once for all delivered to the saints. Now, our Roman Catholic friends argue that this
[01:04:22] teaching is separate from scripture that there's this you have scripture and then you have a tradition and the tradition is handed down from various popes to various priests and cardinals throughout history and that functions alongside scripture here's the problem with that you can't
[01:04:45] prove that and traditions have been known this is what martin luther was saying in the reformation is you have various traditions that contradict one another. So how do we know what the traditions and the teachings are? Answer, the apostles wrote it down for us. The 27 books of the New Testament.
[01:05:07] So John says at the end of Revelation, do not add a word to this, otherwise a curse be upon you.
[01:05:12] When John dies, the canon is closed. So we know what the traditions are, what the sound teaching is because it is recorded for us in Scripture. So, Paul's point in verse 9 is that the elder
[01:05:26] must understand this teaching that has been handed down from the apostles. Are we clear so far? But is that enough? Is it just that he must understand what has been taught? No.
[01:05:41] Second observation, there must be a conviction regarding apostolic doctrine. Notice this phrase. It's a long phrase, but it's important. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught.
[01:06:01] In other words, it's not just that he knows this intellectually. You know, James says, even the demons believe the truths of Christianity and shudder. It's not enough to know the truth intellectually and be a coffeehouse debater what Paul says is that he must hold firm to the truth
[01:06:22] I used the illustration a few weeks ago at the in the Marine Corps and the obstacle course it's over a hundred yards long different things that you you uh poles that you flip over and logs
[01:06:34] that you run down and all these things and at the very end what's waiting for you as your upper body has gotten tired is a 20 to 22 foot rope. And you go climb that rope and your time stops when you
[01:06:49] hit the log at the very top with your hand. And my point with this is that when you begin climbing the rope, especially when you get high up on that rope, you do not let go. Bad things happen when
[01:07:05] you let go of the rope. So you hold firm to the rope. And what Paul's saying is that the elder is to be a man who holds firm to the truth. Now, how do you hold firm to the truth? Because we're
[01:07:28] talking about something that's unseen. We're talking about the elder's soul. And what we're talking about is what's called conviction. Conviction. A conviction is when the truth becomes part of your soul, part of your DNA, right? And we all have various convictions about
[01:07:51] the truth. We might believe the same things, but we all might not be willing to die for the same things. A conviction is a truth that you're willing to stake your life on. No, no, no. I
[01:08:06] believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I will not recant that. You can take my life. I'm taking that to the bank. That's a conviction. A conviction is when the truth becomes embedded into your very
[01:08:22] soul and spirit. Listen to this quote from Calvin. This is an amazing quote. He says, the apostle affirms that no one is fit to direct God's church unless he is competent to teach.
[01:08:41] But to that he also adds the quality of steadfastness. He calls conviction steadfastness.
[01:08:49] It's important. That's a great adjective, isn't it? Steadfastness. A man must not be fickle, and however much the winds and hurricanes may blow from all directions, he must persevere in what he knows is from God. Isn't that a great picture? Steadfastness in the midst of prevailing winds,
[01:09:13] hurricanes, and forced gales. Satan wants to blow over the church. He wants to blow it over.
[01:09:20] there was a nursery rhyme about that right the the big bad wolf comes and blows well what keeps the house standing is not just believing the truth we can all sign a paper doctrinal statement
[01:09:34] what will keep the house standing are people who believe the truth in their heart and elders who believe the truth in their heart conviction so there's the exegesis that is the qualification the doctrinal qualification that the elders believe know the truth but then it becomes
[01:09:57] a conviction in their heart so much so then he adds so that they can teach sound doctrine or refute those who contradict it so now let's move to our theological deductions what deductions can we make from this? I'm going to give you four. First, the qualification and therefore the role
[01:10:24] of an elder is theological. It's theological. It is not just that he have upstanding character and a godly family he must also hold fast in his convictions to apostolic doctrine to the degree that he can teach the faith and he can also defend the faith and if necessary refute those
[01:10:55] who contradict it in our day and age apologetics is more important than it ever has been because our world has become so secular and so godless. And we're seeing today the rise of Islam and people making all sorts of attacks against the deity of Christ. We're seeing Mormonism
[01:11:22] advance, people attacking the deity of Christ. So we must more than ever, as Dr. Bill Roach talked about a few weeks ago, know our faith and also be able to defend the faith.
[01:11:39] So important. Listen, one of the great Reformed commentators in the New Testament is a man, he's with the Lord now, named William Hendrickson. He said this, this is a great quote. He says, every overseer must be able by means of his sound teaching to incline will and heart to the joyful
[01:12:03] service of God and to expose the errors of those who rebel that is to withstand these opponents if at all possible bringing them to an acknowledgement of their error and to repentance and at least convincing believers that these adversaries are wrong what he's saying is
[01:12:23] sometimes you're debating a doctrine and you're refuting somebody and and you say well what's the point you know you're not going to be able to convince that person that might be true but i'm also trying to convince everybody else who's watching and listening so sometimes you need to
[01:12:42] give a rebuke to the atheists and the agnostic or the Muslim or the Mormon or whoever because they are poisoning the well with immature Christians, and we need to be able to protect them. Second deduction. So the first, the qualification and role of an elder is theological.
[01:13:02] Second, and this is just obvious, isn't it? The church has a responsibility then to teach sound doctrine. This is obvious. This is what Paul's talking about, that the elder has theological wherewithal to teach correct doctrine and protect the flock. The church has a
[01:13:27] responsibility to teach what's called the whole counsel of God. Now, we begin with the precious truth of the gospel, the good news. And if you're visiting here this morning, we want you to know and understand the gospel and it's the good news that God in his mercy worked in history to save
[01:13:47] sinners and sent his only son Jesus Christ into the world to live a perfect righteous life die on the cross in your place for your sins and because he was perfect he was raised from the dead that all who believe in his name might have the forgiveness of sins then he
[01:14:04] ascended to the right hand of the father where he rules and reigns and he waits the day where he will return, He will judge the living and the dead, make all things new, and usher all of His
[01:14:14] church into His glorious kingdom. So that's the general outline of the gospel message. And of course, it builds on that and expands on that. But the church has a responsibility to teach these things. And sadly, what has happened in the evangelical church is what some have called
[01:14:41] the juvenileization of Christianity. There was a fellow named Berger who wrote a book by that title, and it just caught me. And he wasn't a theologian, he was a sociologist of sorts who went and studied churches across America. And he noticed something that was happening in churches
[01:15:04] across America. And he noticed what was happening is, is over the period of the 90s to the 2010s, the churches were beginning to look more and more like youth groups. In other words, what the youth groups were doing in the 90s, fast forward 25 years, and that's what the
[01:15:28] quote-unquote big church was doing. That's what we used to call it when I was a kid, you know, what do we do in big church? Anybody with me on that? What do you do in the main worship service?
[01:15:39] And over time, they said, well, this is working with the youth. You know, let's just have a praise team, a simple 30-minute message. Make it very light. Let's not take them deep into expository preaching. After all, that's not what students can understand. By the way,
[01:15:57] high school students can understand way more than American evangelicalism has given them credit for but churches begin over time to adopt youth culture and what happened with that is they said well if we teach the whole counsel of God and we ask our people to know and understand doctrine
[01:16:22] the pews are going to be empty that's not what we want and so they begin to dumb everything down And sadly, this was a phenomenon that Berger noticed all across America.
[01:16:37] American Christianity was juvenileized where theology became very minimalistic.
[01:16:46] And so what we're trying to do here at the King's Chapel in an age of doctrinal minimalism is we are trying to be doctrinally maximist, right?
[01:16:59] Like, we want to up this to the highest degree, and that's why we're doing the catechism on Sunday morning, is we're trying to get to the doctrines. With Adventure Club on Wednesday night, we're trying to teach the kids doctrine, where they begin to understand this. You know,
[01:17:13] in the early church, before you could be baptized, you would go through a process called catechesis, and they would teach you this apostolic doctrine before you would even be baptized.
[01:17:24] eyes. So this is very important that the church teach doctrine. And let me say a word here about creeds and confessions. Now, creeds and confessions, we believe, are not as the same level as Scripture, right? Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone is our highest authority. But that doesn't
[01:17:53] mean that creeds and confessions are unimportant. Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon, they taught Scripture alone, but then what did they do? They put together the Augsburg Confession. They said, but this is what we teach. And somewhere along the way, Baptists begin to say, we have no creed
[01:18:11] but the Bible. And that was what a lot of moderate and liberal Baptists said in order to find wiggle room for their squishy doctrine. So it's important, even though we hold the Sola Scriptura, to not abandon the orthodox creeds and confessions of the faith. Now, we hold those as subordinate
[01:18:30] authorities underneath Scripture. So it's not that they don't have any authority, but my goodness, does anybody here want to depart from the Nicene Creed? I mean, I'm not trying to reinvent the doctrine of Christ? Are we trying to revisit Chalcedon and discuss again the two natures of
[01:18:52] Christ? No, no, no, no. We stand on the orthodox creeds and confessions of the faith, the apostles creed. Amen and amen. Because we believe that's what Scripture teaches. So it's important that we understand these things. And then the elders obviously should know the church's creeds and
[01:19:12] confessions and be able to defend them doctrinally third deduction and and again these are just obvious if you begin to think about what Paul's saying sound doctrine is fundamental to living the Christian life you say why is this so important why is Paul making such a big deal about this
[01:19:35] about these requirements for elders why is it so important it's because sound doctrine is foundational to the Christian life. Hear that. Because, listen, sound doctrine, truth is not just abstract. Truth comes from the character of God. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth,
[01:19:58] and the life. Jesus is the essence of truth. God is the essence of truth. The truth that is revealed in Scripture gives us insight into who God is. And so when you depart from the truth,
[01:20:12] you are departing from God. So the ethics of the Christian life are wedded together to the truth like bark on a tree. And what modern liberalism has done in the 1910s all the way up to today,
[01:20:29] and I'm talking about liberal theology, is they said we can just take the teachings of Christ divorced from the atonement of Christ. And what happened with liberal theology? They said, well, you know we can have the ethics well what did they do on the ethics go drive by they all have
[01:20:47] rainbow flags out in front now they departed from the ethics you can't hold to the ethics without the doctrine let me show you this this is uh first timothy turn over to first timothy chapter one you
[01:21:02] got to see this uh and there's numerous verses where this is taught i'm just going to show you this one. So this is the way that the apostles think. This is 1 Timothy 1.10, and Paul's talking
[01:21:17] about various sins. He says the sexually immoral, okay, fornication, adultery, all of that. He says men who practice homosexuality, we know all about that. He talks about enslavers, those who capture people in order to enslave them, liars, perjurers, and then notice this last prepositional phrase,
[01:21:38] and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. In other words, the immorality and the breaking of God's law is contrary to the truth. And so when you depart from the truth, when a church departs from the truth, you're inevitably going to compromise the ethics of
[01:22:01] Christianity, the ethics of God. And by the way, the same is true of spiritual experience.
[01:22:08] the right experience of God always follows the right doctrine of God now just because you have the right doctrine of God doesn't mean you have the right experience you can also have what's called dead orthodoxy where you dot all the i's and cross all the t's but it's callous and cold
[01:22:26] but the truth is necessary for the right experience Jesus said father sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. Sanctification comes from truth. That's why it's so important.
[01:22:50] Fourth deduction, a plurality of elders is necessary to watch as guardians over the people.
[01:23:02] Again, this gets back to where we started, doesn't it? That the role of an elder is to be a watchman on the wall, so to speak. You know, if you turn back to Titus, Paul immediately goes into why he's
[01:23:16] saying this, and he talks about those who are attacking the truth. Verse 10, he says, for there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. Now, we're not really dealing with the circumcision party Judaizers today.
[01:23:36] that's not a big deal in our church, but there are many deceivers and many empty talkers and many who are insubordinate to the apostles in the American church. And so the elders must be watchmen on the wall, not just guardians of the galaxy, guardians of orthodoxy.
[01:24:02] remember what we read earlier you son of man i've made a watchman for the house of israel whenever you hear a word from my mouth you shall give them warning for me all right that's the
[01:24:17] theological deductions finally what are the uses what are we to do with this what's the application i'm going to give you four excuse me three applications first elders must be chosen who are men who convictionally believe the truth men who
[01:24:46] convictionally believe the truth that's who is to serve in the office of elder if the man doesn't convictionally believe the truth Paul would not lay hands on that man in our shepherd society group we were we've been reading Albert Martin and Albert Martin was making comments on
[01:25:08] on this. And he said, better for pulpits to be empty than for pulpits to be disqualified.
[01:25:17] Better for the pulpit to be empty. Hey, there's nobody qualified. And we're out there praying that God would raise up a qualified man than to put up an unqualified man to teach the Word of
[01:25:30] God. We have to have that mindset. It doesn't matter if we don't elect another elder for 10 years if no one's qualified. That's the mindset we have to have. Second, we must all press into deepening our knowledge of sound doctrine. It's one thing to study what the Bible
[01:25:53] says, but you need to begin asking, what does the Bible mean? And there's a difference there. We must come to the point of doctrine, where you understand truth. And one of the ways to do that
[01:26:08] is to study the confessions of the faith, to study the early creeds, and to look at how doctrine is articulated. By the way, our new website's up. The church's doctrinal statement is on the new
[01:26:22] website. Go read through the doctrinal statement. Say, what do we believe? And there's lots of scripture references there, and you can look them up. It's good and healthy, and maybe this might seem a little seminarian, but to study theology. I remember I went and visited the Master's
[01:26:45] Seminary, and I met with a fellow named Ray Merringer, who was the head of admissions.
[01:26:50] This is when I was in college, and I told him that I felt called to ministry, and we talked about a number of things, but I asked him, I said, what should I be doing to prepare for ministry?
[01:27:02] He said, well, begin studying your Bible, just reading through your Bible all the time. And then he said, you need to begin reading systematic theology. You need to begin to understand theological words, categories, and how they're defined. And that's important. And I would give
[01:27:19] give you the same suggestion. Don't just, like reading the Bible, yes and amen. Also begin to ask, what does it mean and what has the historic Protestant church taught about what it means?
[01:27:33] Let's not just be inventors of theology. That's not what I'm trying to do. I have nothing new to give you. I am simply a purveyor of the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
[01:27:46] What Spurgeon was preaching at the Met tab, that's what we're doing here, right?
[01:27:52] So third, so we're prayerfully choosing elders who are convictionally about the truth.
[01:28:02] We're all pressing into sound doctrine.
[01:28:05] And third, we're praying that the doctrine becomes part of our souls.
[01:28:09] We don't just want convictional elders.
[01:28:11] we want convictional church members that we're all to be convictional about doctrine if a heretic comes in here I want everybody in here to say over my dead body are we buying into that everybody that this church is a doctrinal Alamo you Texans get that or maybe you that saw the
[01:28:36] movie, right? Remember Billy Bob Thornton, Davy Crockett? Listen to what Paul says. 1 Thessalonians 5.21, hold fast to what is good. So it's not just the elders who hold fast. You hold fast to what
[01:28:51] is good. 2 Timothy 1.13, follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says to the churches. Only hold fast
[01:29:03] what you have until I come, Revelation 2, 25. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown. Hold fast, Christian, to your confession. And then Paul uses the example
[01:29:23] of Christ as one who held fast. He says to Timothy, this is how he closes 1 Timothy, he says, I charge you, Timothy, in the presence of God who gives life to all things and of Christ Jesus,
[01:29:35] who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession. And he says this to Timothy, keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of Jesus Christ.
[01:29:49] Ladies and gentlemen, that's what we are called to do, to keep the commandment unstained and from reproach, and tell the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? A few years ago, I visited Oxford. And if you've ever been to Oxford, you go around, you see the different colleges,
[01:30:17] and there's a street right between all the shopping area and the school called Broad Street.
[01:30:27] and you walk down Broad Street and right in the middle of Broad Street there is a it's a cobblestone brick street there's a black x just cars are going driving over people walking past it black x right in the middle of Broad Street in Oxford and that x is there is the reason for
[01:30:46] that x being there is because that is where Hugh Latimer and Ridley and Thomas Cranmer were burned at the stake? Were they sealed their belief in blood? Why were they burned at the stake?
[01:31:04] Well, you go through the whole history. I'm not going to walk you through the whole history of the English Reformation, but you remember Henry VIII, big fella, wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragorn, and Thomas Cranmer was his bishop. And so he had Thomas Cranmer,
[01:31:24] maybe not the most noble thing he did, basically write up a divorce, and the Pope said, you can't get divorced. And Henry VIII said, no, I'm getting divorced, and I'm forming my own church. And so he had Thomas Cranmer essentially forge the doctrine of this new church, the Church
[01:31:44] of England, what we call today. Now, Cranmer, here's the thing with Cranmer, he was convictionally a Protestant. He was not a Roman Catholic. God, in His grace and His mercy, saved him.
[01:32:00] And the theology of Cranmer became the theology of the Reformed 39 articles that J.C. Ryle and Packer and these great Anglicans extolled. Cranmer wrote the first two books of common prayer, just theological titan, and was an advocate for the Reformation. So Henry VIII dies,
[01:32:25] his son Edward VI, the boy king, becomes king, and Cranmer, he unleashes Cranmer, and Cranmer is bringing Reformation to all the churches of England. Well, then something tragic happens. Edward VI dies suddenly, and his half-sister Mary, who was the daughter of Catherine
[01:32:50] of Aragorn, became the queen. And her right to the throne was dependent on the Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism. And so she announced that England was no longer Protestant, but was Catholic.
[01:33:07] and we know her today as Bloody Mary because she inaugurated a reign of terror in which she killed Protestant pastors all over the country, two of which at the very beginning of this reign of
[01:33:24] terror were Latimer and Ridley in Oxford, had him burned at the stake. Now what did she do with Cranmer. She made him watch his friends be burned at the stake, threw him in prison, and then engaged
[01:33:41] in psychological warfare against him, depriving him food and all sorts of things, till he would recant his Protestant beliefs. And sadly, he got to the point mentally, this happens, and even our heroes have feet of clay. He signed a document renouncing his Protestant beliefs. Well, Bloody
[01:34:09] Mary wanted him to publicly come and recant, and so at St. Mary's Church at Oxford, they had him come, get up in the pulpit, where he was to give an official recantation. And he gets up in the
[01:34:22] pulpit, and he says, I do not recant. In fact, because he says, I know I'm going to be executed for this, the very hand that I signed my recantation will be the first that is published.
[01:34:38] And he holds up his right hand. And then he says, I renounce the authority of the Pope.
[01:34:46] I uphold the true gospel of Jesus Christ, that salvation is by faith alone and Christ alone, by grace alone, all of that. And literally, they go and they grab him from the pulpit.
[01:34:58] They march him to where that cross is at the stake, and they begin to burn the fire. And true to his word, he held out his hand into the fire and let it be burned first. I recall that story
[01:35:18] for you because I think that's the picture of conviction. I think that's the picture that Calvin is talking about of steadfastness. Yes, he didn't do it perfectly. He stumbled. We all stumble in many ways. But in the end, the Holy Spirit did something in his soul. The Holy Spirit convicted
[01:35:40] him of those convictions that he held. And he said, I cannot recant. I cannot, before God, do that.
[01:35:48] And friends, that's what we're praying for, for us at the King's Chapel. We don't want to just be coffeehouse debaters. We want to believe the truth of Jesus Christ for all that we are. Amen?
[01:36:04] Heavenly Father, Lord, may this be true. May this be true of us. We want to be people of the truth and not just know the truth intellectually, but have the truth tattooed on our eyeballs,
[01:36:22] in our souls, in our consciences, that we would stand with Christ come hell or high water.
[01:36:32] Lord, do this work in the power of your Holy Spirit.
[01:36:35] Lord, if there's going to be a reformation and revival, do it here and do it in our hearts.
[01:36:41] Fan the truth into flame so that it becomes a strong conviction.
[01:36:47] Lord, may we be a doctrinal people and most importantly, may that doctrine be fanned into flame and to love, that we would love the truth and that we would love Christ with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
[01:37:02] We pray this in Christ's name, amen.
[01:37:06] Now I invite you to stand.
[01:37:07] Let's sing with all of our hearts, praise to Christ.

[01:37:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:37:10] We're gonna sing, he will hold me fast, amen.

[01:41:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:41:10] And he holds us with the convictions, doesn't he?
[01:41:12] The Holy Spirit works that in our hearts.
[01:41:15] Let's lift our hands, give him praise.
[01:41:18] Give God praise.
[01:41:20] praise God from him and through him and to him to Christ are all things to him be the glory forever and ever worlds without end amen