Three Words of Admonition

Introduction: The Necessity of Admonition in God's Word

0:04 Now I urge you to follow again this morning as I read a few verses out of 2 Timothy chapter 3 as the background and framework for the ministry of the Word of God again this morning.

0:24 Timothy, Paul's spiritual son, the young man whom Paul mentored and to whom he gave many serious responsibilities as an apostolic representative, particularly in his labors at Ephesus. And as Paul knows that shortly his head will plop into a basket, his spirit will wing its way into the immediate presence of Christ, is discharging his burdens to Timothy, his passions with respect to this younger man who will carry the torch of gospel light and truth. When Paul goes home and he writes to this young man in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 14, But abide in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them. And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture. Scripture is inspired of God.

1:36 Literally all scripture is God breathed and is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction or training which is in righteousness in order that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. Let us again pray and ask. For God's help in the ministry of the word. Our Father, we thank you for these God breathed words.

2:15 We thank you that what scripture says, you say. And we praise you that we come this morning able to hold in our hands Bibles in our own language. Translations that communicate your words in words that we can grasp. And yet we know that apart from the ministry of the Spirit, we are able to hold in our hands Bibles in our own language.

2:38 We will not understand them as we ought. We will not embrace them in faith and obedience. And so once again we pray that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon preacher and listener together. That your words may have their transforming influence upon all of our lives.

2:58 Hear us and answer us we plead in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

3:10 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

3:10 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

3:11 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

3:12 Amen. Amen. Amen. God-breathed words found in our Bibles, those that we will consider this morning, constitute the second of two messages on the theme, crucial words of consolation and admonition at this time in our life together as a church.

Review of Consolation and the Context of Current Church Changes

3:35 For the sake of any who may not have been with us last Lord's Day, let me take a few minutes to explain the significance of that title and then to review briefly what we considered from God-breathed Scripture last Lord's Day. On January 8th, at a special congregational meeting, the resignation of one of your elders was read to you, and then at our annual business meeting on January 25th, I announced to you my plans in the will of God, to phase out my role as your resident pastor within the next two to three years and to relocate in Michigan, not to retire, but in order to concentrate my remaining years, whatever they may be, on other facets of ministerial, familial, and personal stewardships. Both of these announcements came as a complete surprise to most of you, except those of us who are not. except those of us who are not. except those of us who are not.

4:39 But I want to remind you that we are not in leadership role as elders and as deacons. And my pattern over the years as one of your pastors and one who has had a primary place of responsibility in public ministry has been that whenever we face an unusual situation of fundamental change in ministry, the embarking upon a new ministry, any kind of internal crisis, was to go to God-breathed Scripture was to go to God-breathed Scripture and seek from the Word of God to give perspectives that would help us as the Lord's people to view those changes or those crises in a biblical way and to react in a godly way. And that pattern is what has principally moved me to consider that it would be good at this time to bring at least these two messages that I am calling crucial words of consolation, that I am calling crucial words of consolation, and admonition at this time in our life together. Last week, I sought to bring before you three words of consolation, all of them beginning with the verbs in the imperative, remember and believe. First, remember and believe that God our Father remains on His throne of unrivaled and undisturbed sovereignty. Whatever transpires in our midst,

6:09 God's throne, remains unrivaled and undisturbed. Secondly, remember and believe that Jesus Christ abides with His people in the unfailing sufficiency of His grace. And thirdly, remember and believe that the Holy Spirit is still active in equipping men with the graces and gifts essential for competent pastoral leadership. And if we, by grace, in total, internalize these directives, they will indeed be directives leading to consolation as we grasp the wonderful truth that the whole triune Godhead is committed to our well-being and to our spiritual prosperity as a church. And as we grasp that and internalize it, then we will have a disposition of quiet peace and confidence in our triune God. The promise of Isaiah 26.3 will be our experience.

7:14 Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee because he trusts in thee. Furthermore, we will have a fresh impetus to praise and to prayer. It's amazing that when any crisis comes into our lives, if we don't respond biblically, how quickly the nerve of praise is cut. The nerve of complaining and crying out to God is not cut, but so often, praise is cut.

7:43 And that ought not to be, for we are told in everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And then thirdly, if we internalize these things, they will be a call to mutual exhortation. After Paul gives instruction to the Thessalonians about what will really happen to their departed saints at the coming of the Lord, he then concludes by saying, remembering and believing these things, wherefore exhort, comfort one another with these words. And on any given day, Brother Jones may be living in the delightful reality of these things and Brother Smith may not be.

8:27 And at that point, Brother Smith needs Brother Jones to remind him afresh with these words by which consolation will come to the heart of the people of God. So much then for that brief explanation of the title and that brief review of what we considered last Lord's Day. Now this morning, I want to speak to you on some crucial words of admonition or warning, whichever term you prefer, at this time in our life together. Some crucial words of admonition or of warning.

The Biblical Mandate for Admonition and Warning

9:02 And before considering three such words of admonition or warning, I want to say something about the Mississippi. There is a necessity for admonition and warning in the life of the child of God. There was a time when I would not have felt this was necessary, but I believe it is and so I'm going to do it. Why am I doing this, having considered the words of consolation?

9:27 Why am I moving to words of admonition and warning? Well, for the simple reason that such words are needed. There are many in our day who feel that the Christian life can be lived individually and corporately on the stuff of consolation, comfort, and encouragement alone. And therefore, the only task of those who minister the word is to draw out consolation, comfort, and encouragement.

9:56 This is all that is needed, some think, and by many it's all that is desired, and by many more it's all that is received. And the moment the word admonition and warning are sounded, there is a knee-jerk reaction. Uh-oh, here we go with negative stuff. Well, I trust none of you sitting here has been infected with that perspective.

10:23 For the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that they are given not only to comfort and to console and to encourage us, but to warn us. In Psalm 19, that wonderful psalm that celebrates God's two books, the books of self-disclosure. There is the book of nature, natural revelation, verses 1 to 6. But then there is the book of special revelation, beginning in verse 7.

10:53 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

11:09 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb.

11:24 But then the next verse says this. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned. And in the keeping of them, in their sweetness and in their warnings, there is great reward. You see, the psalmist found no disjunction of soul contemplating the consolatory, the sweet-tasting portions of the Word and those portions that are warnings that he might know the blessedness of the life of righteousness.

12:05 Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, after summarizing large blocks of Old Testament history, the apostle says in verse 11, Now these things happened unto them, that is, the wilderness generation, by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. Here, a large block of Scripture that covers the wilderness warnings, the Holy Ghost says, they were written not primarily for our consolation and our comfort and our encouragement, but our admonition. And if they were written for admonition and a preacher preaches them with any other end in view, he is mishandling the Word of the living God. Or take Paul's word in Colossians, chapter 1, where he is describing his ministry. And he says, It is a ministry of proclaiming Christ. Verse 28, Whom we proclaim, but how does he proclaim Him?

13:14 Admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect or mature in Christ. He says, We preach Christ admonishing along with teaching. The apostle did not know a manner of teaching that was not marked with admonition as well as instruction. And when he says in Colossians 3.16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, and with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. As the word of Christ dwells in us richly, it will come out of us as we interact one with another, not only with instruction, with encouragement, but with admonition and with warning. And then of course, the passage I read in your hearing at the outset of the message, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof. That's divine scolding.

14:21 God, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And then in His final charge of passage, I often read and pray through as I did this Lord's Day morning in the earlier hours. His final word, the word to Timothy. Preach the word.

14:49 2 Timothy 4.2 Be urgent in season and out of season, when you feel like it and when you don't. Exhort, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. Timothy could not be true to his commission without reproving, without rebuking, as well as exhorting and comforting with longsuffering as his spirit and teaching as the method.

15:21 So then, you ask, Pastor, why do you feel you've got to follow up the three words of consolation with three words of admonition and warning? And I answer without embarrassment because I'm determined to be a Bible preacher. And I say to you people, the day you weary of a ministry that has a due balance of consolation and warning and admonition, you are betraying your own soul to danger, if not to damnation. Don't forget that.

15:57 Don't forget it. It happened with my own that once had a teenage not only consolations that touched the hearts of men, but creating, searching, reproof and admonition that touched the deep springs of the heart. Men have been bullied by the zeitgeist, the spirit of our age, says coddle me with Bible, but don't reprove me. Don't rebuke me.

16:37 And dear people, there are warnings that are needed for us as a congregation. I trust my spirit in giving the warnings will be one of the spirit of long suffering, of pastoral gentleness, of tenderness. But at the end of the day, a warning is a warning. And it's amazing how in every other area, if people don't give enough, warnings, they take them to court.

17:06 There weren't enough warnings on that medicine bottle. Side effect. And my child got the side effect. I'm going to take you to court and sue you.

17:14 Welcome warnings on a bottle of medicine. They welcome warnings on a road sign that says dangerous curve. Inform a little society to go to the local authorities or all the way up to the governor and say we're tired of these warnings about dangerous curves. We'd rather go over to the side of the cliff and bust our noodles.

17:45 We don't like warnings. You see how stupid it is. Moreover, by the way, my servant warned. The warning is there to keep us from real perils and real dangers.

Admonition 1: Beware of a Misplaced Trust in Men

17:59 Well then, as time permits, I want to set before you three warnings, three admonitions necessary for us at this time in our life as a congregation. One, beware of a misplaced trust in men. Beware of a misplaced trust in men. And I want us to look at three texts which clearly call the people of God to avoid a misplaced trust in men, even in good men, men whom God may have used in your life to help you on your way to heaven or possibly even to put you on the path that leads to heaven. There is a legitimate trust in men. That's why the first requirement for someone in spiritual leadership is that he be trustworthy, worthy of trust. But there is a misplaced trust.

19:00 And I want to warn you and admonish you not to be guilty of that misplaced trust in men. Text number one, Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter 2. You remember Isaiah was called to be an instrument of God to warn particularly Judah and the other surrounding nations of the judgment of God.

19:28 And here in Isaiah chapter 2, the chapter concludes, verse 22, with these words, Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? Now what's the context of this? If you look back to verse 12, it is the context of the prophet announcing a great day of the Lord that will be upon all the proud and all the haughty. And if you read the language of this paragraph, you see overtures of what we find in Revelation chapter 6 when men will cry for the rocks and the mountains to hide them from the face of Him that sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. And as God speaks of this day that will humble the proud and the haughty. Verse 19, Men shall go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from before the terror of the Lord. Verse 20, In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold.

20:39 Here the things they've made to worship, the things they have constructed with their own hands, they see the utter futility of these material objects ever to deliver them from this dealing with the living and the true, almighty, powerful God. And then the conclusion of all of that is cease from man. Not only cease from your idols, but cease from trusting in men in an inordinate and in an illicit way. Cease from man, and notice what God says, whose breath is in his nostrils.

21:19 He lives because God gives him his next breath. It's in his nostrils and when it goes out, if God doesn't give him another breath to exhale, he's done. Acts 17 and verse 25, He gives, present tense verb, He gives to all life and breath and all things. And so God says cease from man, cease from all trust that your deliverance will come from the hand of any creature.

21:52 When I, the living God, come forth in judgment, what will you do? What can any man do? Not only will your idols not help you, you cannot help nor deliver one another. Listen to the comments of E.J. Young on this text.

22:06 The command is to cease and desist from placing confidence in man. Trust in idolatry might in a sense be regarded as trust in man himself, for the idols were the product of his ingenuity and creative powers. But not only when man makes idols must one place no confidence in him, but at all times. Man is set forth in opposition to God and the point of this verse is to show the folly of trust in man instead of in God.

22:37 The life of Judah represented a confidence reposed in man and in human wisdom. And from such vain confidence, Judah is now commanded to desist. Isaiah's language may be rendered, cease for yourselves for your own benefit and welfare. It is for one's advantage and benefit that he ceased to place his confidence in man.

23:02 And dear people, I believe that admonition and that warning is needed by us. When God shakes, as it were, our comfort zone by disrupting the structure of human leadership in any sphere, it can be very unsettling to those who are led. But not only can it be unsettling, it can be God's means to bring us up short and to cause us to ask the question, what is that in which I ultimately trust? Remember the principle I articulated last week.

23:40 A crisis creates nothing. Apart from being a catalyst to take us deeper with God, or a catalyst to cause temporary declension from God, ordinarily a crisis is only God's powerful hand to pull away the blankets and the coverings and to show us to ourselves what we really are. Could it be that because God has used certain men in your life in a very discernible way, there has been a subtle shift of your ultimate trust from the Lord Himself to men who have been the instruments of blessing in your life? If so, God's word to you is this. Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils. Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils. The second text that points in the direction of the warning of a misplaced trust in man is found in the prophet Jeremiah.

24:47 Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 1. Jeremiah chapter 17. Jeremiah and chapter 17. In the midst of an indictment concerning Judah's sin, but with no apparent tightly knit connection with the preceding context, and it's sort of a bridge into that which follows, God says to the prophet, Jeremiah 17, verse 5, Thus says the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusts in him.

25:25 Cursed is the man that trusts in man. We'd think him to say, Cursed is the man that trusts in another God. But he says, Cursed is the man that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm and whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, assault land, and not inhabit it.

25:54 Cursed is the man that trusts in the Lord and whose trust the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river and shall not fear when heat comes. Notice, shall not fear when heat comes. When a crisis enters that man's life, he shall not fear.

26:13 Its leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Again, listen, to old Matthew Henry. Bless God for these who have studied their Bibles and see in it what we see. It is an excellent doctrine that is preached in these verses and of general concern and use to us all and does not appear to have any particular reference to the present state of Judah and Jerusalem.

26:46 Concerning the disappointment and vexation those will certainly meet with who depend upon creatures for success and relief when they are in trouble. Cursed is the man that trusts in man. God pronounces him cursed for the affront he thereby puts upon him. Or cursed, that is, miserable is the man that does so, for he leans upon a broken reed which will not only fail him but which will run into his hand and pierce it.

27:17 Observe, the sin here condemned, it is trusting in man, putting confidence in the wisdom and power, the kindness and faithfulness of men, which should be placed in those attributes of God only, making our applications to men and raising our expectations from them as principal agents, whereas they are but instruments in the hand of providence. It is making flesh the arm we lean upon, the arm we work with and which we hope to work our point, the arm on which we shelter ourselves and on which we depend for protection. God is the arm of his people. Isaiah 33 and verse 2. We must not think to make any creature to be that to us which God has undertaken to be. Does God use men? Yes.

28:18 Is God's way of blessing his church to give it men to lead, to guide, to feed, to shepherd? Yes. But never to be the object of misplaced trust. Never.

28:32 Never. God never gives men that we should make them idols to us. The result will be, if we do, is barrenness. Be like a heath in the desert, a salt land not inhabited.

28:46 Nothing can grow in it. Why? Because the tap roots of all spiritual growth are faith. Drawing upon the faithfulness of God, the supply of grace out of the fullness of our Savior.

29:01 And you want a curse upon you individually and in your life as a church? Then trust in man. Have an inordinate misplaced trust in man which God forbids. And then the third text that points in the same direction is Psalm 146.

29:19 Psalm 146. You may have a title at the top, an insertion of someone who had the Bible printed, the Lord as an abundant helper or the Lord the sure helper of His people. And in a Psalm of praise to God as the helper of His people, notice in verses seven to nine, He is the helper of His people particularly in distressful circumstances. Notice, He executes justice for the oppressed.

29:59 He gives food to the hungry. He looses the prisoners. He opens the eyes of the blind. He raises up them that are bowed down.

30:10 The Lord loves the righteous. He preserves the sojourner. He upholds the fatherless and the widow. And in the context of praising God as the abundant helper of His people, especially His people in periods and circumstances of peculiar duress and difficulty, notice what the Psalmist says earlier in the Psalm.

30:34 He says in verse three, Put not your trust in princes. Not only put not your trust in men, but in the best of men, men who have risen in rank above their peers and are recognized as princes among you. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. In the same theme of Isaiah chapter two, His breath goes forth.

31:05 He returns to His earth in that very day. His thoughts, His purposes perish. Happy is He that has the God of Jacob for His help, whose hope is in the Lord, His God. No misplaced trust in men, even the best of men, the most helpful of men.

31:28 God says, Don't put your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man. Dear people, your individual spiritual life, your corporate life as a church, is not dependent upon any man, save the man, Christ Jesus. Trinity Church came into being not out of the gifts and labors of Albert N. Martin, but out of the fullness of grace in Jesus Christ, who died to have a people that would love Him, that would serve Him, that would seek to magnify His name. And long after my dust in the grave is just that. If the Lord tarries and the Spirit of God is not grieved away by disobedience and unbelief, Jesus Christ will continue to manifest that He is the life of His people in this place. In Colossians 3-4, Paul could say, When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also be manifested with Him in glory.

Admonition 2: Beware of Unwarranted Suspicion and Murmuring Against Leaders

32:49 Christ is the life of His church. Not this man or any other man who has been or ever shall be, in a place of leadership. Therefore, I say to you lovingly, beware, beware, of a misplaced trust in men. But then secondly, and more briefly, beware of an unwarranted suspicion of and murmuring against your leaders.

33:22 Beware of an unwarranted suspicion of and murmuring against your leaders. One of the most plain patterns of fallen human nature in any group setting, not just in the church, but in the world, is this. When any group of people come into difficult times and circumstances, the tendency is to suspect and blame their leaders for those difficulties. The team is going nowhere.

33:51 It's three and fourteen. Fire the coach. Wait a minute. Get out there on the court.

33:58 Dribble in the ball. Pass in the ball. Put the ball through the hole. Putting it in the hoop.

34:05 He's on the sidelines in his Armani suit, just hollering at you, telling you what to do. Get rid of the coach. Hurricane. Devastates the whole area.

34:19 What's wrong with a group of people where there's any structure of leadership, let something go wrong, and the tendency is stick it on the leadership. And the Bible makes it plain that that tendency is not neutralized among God's people. I want you to turn back to Exodus. We're only going to look at a few of the passages quickly.

34:45 But here God is about to bring his people out of Egypt. And he's going to use Moses as a primary leader and Aaron as his sidekick. And we read in Exodus 5 and verse 20, these words. Exodus 5 and verse 20.

35:05 Because after Moses Moses begins to have interaction with Pharaoh. You remember Pharaoh's hard taskmasters. They just make things worse and worse and worse. So what did they do?

35:15 This is all happening because God is at work hardening Pharaoh's heart, giving opportunity for him to let the people of God go. And what do the people do? Verse 20 of Exodus 5. And they met Moses and Aaron who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh.

35:30 And they said unto him, The Lord look upon you and judge. You have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh in the eyes of his servant who put a sword in their hand to kill us because of you guys. It's irrelevant that you guys are doing what God told you to do and told you to go into Pharaoh and say let my people go and I told you what miracles I would accomplish but at the end of the day you're the problem Moses and Aaron. Claim the leadership.

36:02 Then we come to Exodus 14. God gets them out of Egypt. They're on their way down to the Red Sea and they've got the sea in front of them. Mountains left and sea isn't right and the Egyptian army behind them.

36:15 So what are they going to do? God's been at work. He kills the firstborn of Pharaoh and all of the Egyptians and God mightily works in the hearts of the Egyptians. They load them up with gold and silver and trinkets and send them out.

36:30 Get rid of them. Verse 10 of Exodus 14. And when Pharaoh drew nigh the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians were marching after them and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord and they said to Moses because there were no graves in Egypt have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?

36:52 Why have you dealt with us this way to bring us forth out of Egypt? Isn't this the word we spoke unto you in Egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? You won't find any A, B, C, D, E cross reference of any time when they said that and they make this up to justify their present attitude. There was no time there was no time.

37:14 They were crying out to get rid of the burden. Now they say don't you remember when we said leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians it were better to serve the Egyptians we should die in the wilderness. Who do they blame? Delivering them out of Egypt but because the present circumstances are a bit uncomfortable go after the leaders.

37:35 Unwarranted suspicion of and murmuring against their leaders. Chapter 15 verses 23 and 24. Moses led Israel onward from the sea and they went out to the wilderness of Shur and went three days in the wilderness found no water and when they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters for they were bitter therefore the name of the place was Marah and the people murmured against Moses saying what shall we drink? Wait a minute what Moses has to do in making the water bitter?

38:06 Blame the leaders. We got a crisis blame the leaders. Blame the leaders. Exodus 16 1 to 3 they took the water they took their journey from Elam and all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin which is between Elam and Sinai on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt and the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness and the children of Israel said unto them would we have died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots when we did eat bread to the full you brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

38:47 It's almost unbelievable. If you didn't believe this is the inspired word of God just say wait a minute no people could be that perverse. Every situation blame the leaders blame the leaders. Put the worst construction on the leaders actions and motives.

39:04 When remember Moses didn't want anything to do with this whole business. He was constrained by God's call to lead them and he didn't want to. The only reason Aaron is his sidekick is God finally said all right Moses I'll go ahead and make him your mouthpiece. Every time I tell you I'm going to do this with you you keep saying yes Lord but yes Lord but yes I'm tired of that so I'll take Aaron I'll let him be your mouthpiece.

39:29 But you see the disposition of the people and this is culminated in Numbers 16 verses 3 and following. When some of the leaders in Israel they all get together and they come to Moses and Aaron and they say hey you guys you've got an oligarchy here you're taking on too much so aren't we all holy? Don't we all have the spirit? And God really got disgusted with it this time and God's dealings were very very severe dealings.

39:59 Now what's all that say to us? What's it have to do with us? A company of new covenant believers gathered here in this place this morning. Well I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and see what it has to say to us.

40:19 In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul says verse 1 I wouldn't have you ignorant brethren that our fathers were all under the cloud passed through the sea baptized unto Moses in the cloud and the sea ate the same spiritual food drank the same spiritual drink. You see what he's doing? He's assuming these Corinthians are familiar with the Old Testament record of the wilderness generation of the Israelites who came out of Egypt. And he's going to drive home some very vital lessons to them based upon the history of that wilderness generation of Israelites.

40:58 And he says in verse 5 with most of them God was not pleased. Yeah that's an understatement. That's a light at ease. With most of them God was not pleased?

41:07 All but two of them. He said none of them are going to go into the land of promise except Joshua and Caleb. All of them overthrown their carcasses rotted in the wilderness. Verse 6 These were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they lusted.

41:29 That's the first warning. Neither be idolaters as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. That's the second warning. Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

41:46 Next lesson. Neither let us make trial of the Lord as some of them made trial and perished by the serpents. Number five. Neither murmur ye as some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer.

42:05 And what was the murmuring? It was this chronic pattern of unwarranted suspicion of and murmuring against their leaders when they faced a crisis. And human nature is no different. I've told the men in the academy if you're not ready if you're not ready to have your motives questioned your judgments overthrown by every Tom, Dick and Terry who only have one tenth of the facts don't go into the pastoral ministry.

42:38 It goes with the turf. But in love to you as a people my shoulders are broad enough and my track record long enough and consistent enough by the grace of God that I will wear out unjust accusation unwarranted suspicion of motives. So this is not a self-defense statement. But I don't want you as God's people to have God's judgment upon you.

43:14 And therefore I'm pleading with you to heed the warning in whatever we may call our present circumstances to be somewhat of a crisis of leadership. Beware of making of unwarranted suspicion of and murmuring against your leaders. God takes it seriously. Took it seriously then.

Admonition 3: Beware of Carnal Haste in Seeking New Leadership

43:46 Paul tells the Corinthians he'll take it seriously now. He'd take it seriously in the life of Trinity Church. Then my third admonition and warning is this. Beware not only of misplaced trust in man.

44:06 Beware of an unwarranted suspicion of and murmuring against your leaders. But thirdly, beware of a carnal haste in seeking to supply the need for additional leadership. Beware of a carnal haste in seeking to supply the need for additional leadership. There is a unanimous conviction among your elected leaders that is your elders and your deacons that there is a need for additional leadership especially in the eldership level.

44:47 Not a man to replace me. Nobody's talking about replacing Pastor Mark. God doesn't replace one man with a clone of him. The risen Christ gives men whom he has prepared in his own unique way with their own particular gifts and graces and vision in order to meet the needs of his people in their ongoing life.

45:12 Moses was Moses. Joshua was Joshua. And Moses accomplished things that Joshua never could have. He wasn't equipped to.

45:21 But Joshua accomplished things that Moses never could have. He wasn't equipped to. And God is somewhere fashioning and molding men. He started in their mother's wombs and all of their life's experiences are conspiring to fashion and fit them to fill the places that are needful in the leadership of this church in the days to come.

45:45 Not a man to be my replacement but a man to be God's gift and men to be God's gifts to you as his people. However, consider several texts which ought to loom large in your eyes and thinking and actions as a congregation in the coming days. First text is 1 Timothy chapter 5. You remember why Timothy was left at Ephesus.

46:17 There were insufficiencies in the church there at Ephesus. Paul indicates this in chapter 3. These things I write unto you hoping to come unto you shortly. Verse 14.

46:33 But if I tarry long that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God. Error needed to be reproved and church order needed to be advanced. Further recognition of elders and deacons. Proper roles of men and women, etc.

46:52 Well in that context one of the major issues is the recognition of additional leaders both pastors and deacons. So in chapter 3 verses 1 through 13 that's the subject that Paul addresses. But in the face of that need Paul gives a warning to Timothy toward the end of his letter in chapter 5 in verse 22. Let's back up to verse 21.

47:20 I charge you in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus and the elect angels. Observe these things without prejudice doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands hastily on no man. Timothy would know immediately what Paul meant when he said don't lay hands.

47:40 He didn't mean lay hands on people to beat them. Get your hands off me. Laying hands as Timothy had hands laid upon him. And Paul had reminded him earlier that he was set apart for his ministry with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

47:55 Of the eldership that were present in the situation where Timothy was formally recognized as a gift of Christ to his church. And he said now Timothy there are great needs. I've set out the standards for those who would be both elders pastors and deacons. And when men begin to emerge in the church and begin to manifest those gifts and graces there may be a tendency to say in the light of the needs and these men that seem to fit the divine description of how Christ will furnish men to meet the needs.

48:32 Well surely we need to move ahead. He said wait a minute Timothy be very very careful. Don't lay hands hastily on any man. On no man.

48:43 No matter how he may presently impress you. No matter how eloquently he may speak or no matter how efficiently he may work and manifest gifts that would just seem to contribute exactly what is needed in the diaconate. Don't lay hands hastily on any man from any office be it elder, be it deacon. Don't lay hands hastily.

49:14 On any man. And the text that buttresses that is 1st Timothy chapter 3. Paul begins in this chapter with giving the biblical standard of character and gift essential for someone to be recognized for an elder. And then he begins in verse 8 and says deacons in like manner.

49:38 In other words with a standard that has many parallels with that of the requirements for an elder. They must be grave, not double-tongued, etc. Now look at verse 10. And let these also first be proved then let them serve as deacons if they be blameless.

50:05 In other words, Timothy don't respond at a first look when it appears that a man may have these graces. No, no, no. Put him to the test. This word documazo is the word one would use with regard to testing metals.

50:23 Putting them into fire or applying certain chemicals to test whether or not they were what they appeared to be. And only when tested and thus proven to be what they appear to be would they be sold or traded for that commodity. Well in the same way he said let these first be put to the test. Have some concentrated sphere of examining character and gift.

50:51 This is why as I think I mentioned, I did mention to you at our recent annual meeting when we recognized two deacons that for close to a year these men in whom there was perceived these character traits required of deacons, there was an additional proving by having them sit in with the deacons' meetings to see how they responded to their brethren. Do they defer in matters of judgment where deference is the manifestation of Christian grace or do they stand their ground and hold their position at the expense of unity and peace and harmony among the diaconate? Do they take responsibilities and administer them graciously and cheerfully? Let them be proven. Well surely if that is so of the office of a deacon, how much more of the office of an elder? Though he does not use those words, surely by proper analogy we can say if that is required of the office of lesser significance in terms of spiritual rule, not lesser dignity, but of lesser significance in terms of spiritual rule, how much more in the office of greater responsibility in the ministry of the word, in the shepherding of the flock of God. And so

52:15 I give you this pastoral warning and admonition. Beware of a carnal haste in seeking to supply the need for additional leadership. And once again, the history of Israel is helpful to us here. We don't have time to read the chapters.

52:35 I urge you to read them. 1 Samuel 8 and then 1 Samuel chapter 12. You remember what happened. Israel got antsy to have a king. Samuel is on his way out. We want a king. It wasn't that they were waiting upon God for God's time to give them a king, which he obviously eventually purposed to do. From the book of Deuteronomy it's clear where God sets out the standards of how a king in Israel is to conduct himself personally and administer his rule in the name of Jehovah. But they were antsy to have a king and they wanted a king now. And God gives them their now king. And the result of it is tragic for you remember the history of Saul. And dear people, God may bring you as a congregation to one of your most severe tests of faith in all of your life together.

53:31 I do not have any revelation from God that by the time I remove myself and relocate to Michigan, if all of this unfolds as I believe it may unfold, suppose God has not yet given the leadership that you know you need and that you're seeking. What are you going to do? Are you going to get antsy and lower the standard? Be careless?

54:02 You'll be cursed with your carelessness. The scripture tells us in Isaiah 28 and verse 16 a marvelous promise. He that believes shall not make haste. And in the context it has to do with God laying his choice cornerstone in Zion.

54:20 And God says, I will do it. And he that believes shall not make haste. The true people of God will wait upon God for God's provision in God's time. And Proverbs 19 and verse 2 says he that makes haste with his feet sins.

54:40 I'm committed to do all within my power, in my place of leadership among you, to see a continuity of leadership with all my heart. I long to see that. And in great measure I do see that as God has been pleased to put in place the leadership that is in place in the life of this church. But at the end of the day we're all dependent upon the risen Christ. It is his church. He has bought it with his own precious blood. And he is committed to give to his church pastors and teachers. One of the promises, precious promises pertaining to the new covenant is Jeremiah 3 and verse 15 where God says I will give them shepherds after my own heart who shall feed them with knowledge and with understanding. And I plead

55:32 with you as God's people as you have been through the years a people committed to waiting upon God, to seeking the face of God, to trusting God. I plead with you in this matter. Beware, beware of a carnal haste in seeking to supply the need for additional leadership in the days to come. Well those are my three words of admonition.

Conclusion: A Call to Faith, Obedience, and Hope

55:58 I hope you see the wisdom of bringing them at this time and in this setting and that you will receive them into your heart and if they come at any point as a rebuke remember they are the love wounds of a friend, faithful of the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful and I trust that God will bring you and bring us all to the place where with these flashing warnings before us we may move forward in our life together and as several people spontaneously said to me at the door last Lord's day and I said to myself they've got it right. They said pastor I believe the best days of Trinity Church are yet before us and I said bless God I believe so as well. Let's pray that God may make that true. Our Father we thank you for your holy word. We thank you that it is always a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway and we pray that these portions of your word that we have considered this morning with their warnings so appropriate to our present circumstances may be received into our hearts in faith, in obedience and that you will keep them before us in the days to come that armed with these

57:27 words of encouraging encouragement and consolation and with these words of admonition and warning we as your people may be obedient and may see your hand of blessing upon us we look to you to grant this for the praise of the glory of your grace in Jesus name we plead Amen.