Living Waters of Grace 12.30.25

This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis

Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland

County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he

continues teaching through God's Word.

So in order to prevent that danger, you can't lay hands on

people too soon. So a pastor should not be a

novice. You know, they can be gifted.

Often times they are. They're gifted.

They have a lot of abilities. Seen it.

But then as soon as adversity hits, soon as someone disagrees,

when you get a chance to witness someone in those situations,

that's when you find out exactly what the maturity level is,

where that person is at, mature wise.

If you put a gumball under a 50 ton hydraulic press, what

happens? You get gum everywhere.

Now put a diamond underneath that same pressure and what do

you get? Well, you'll still get bits of

diamond everywhere, but it will take a lot longer and a lot more

pressure. The point I'm making, and Pastor

Lewis will solidify today is that things under pressure

reveal a lot. You can learn a great deal about

a person when you observe them under pressure.

Today Pastor Lewis remind you that an elder is someone who is

seasoned and experienced under pressure.

Now here's Pastor Lewis in the Book of First Timothy, chapter

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

3, with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.

So it wasn't, you know, far off that Paul talks about this, but

we should not be verbally or physically contentious.

We shouldn't be contentious with anybody and always looking for a

fight shouldn't be quick tempered in that way at all,

shouldn't be prone to that type of violence.

And then ten he says, not greedy for money, not greedy for money.

And you would think that this is something that you shouldn't

have to talk about. But you know, the desire to

obtain more and more money can happen before you know it.

You know, when money starts to be an object for you, before you

know it, almost everything that you do is geared around you

getting money is geared around you getting money.

You know, people talk about is it unlawful to gamble or to do

things of that nature? But when you think about it,

when someone is given to that to the point where they're losing

control, it's because the money has become almost, it's come

like an idol and they're constantly seeking more and more

and more of it. We also understand that the, you

know, the people who are in the ministry for money, you know,

are, are, are in it for the wrong reason.

I mean, if a person goes in to be a pastor because they're

trying to be rich, then they're going into it for the wrong

reason. We shouldn't run our churches

like corporations where we care more about revenue than we do

about souls. We can't do that.

It's about sharing the gospel and getting the gospel message

out for to win souls and once those souls are one to teach

them in the ways of the Lord to disciple those souls, not to

make money, not to make money. We don't even like pass around

plates and things of that nature, you know, trying to get,

you know, money or push people to get money.

I have been in churches where people have taken multiple

offerings because they didn't get what they wanted the first

time. So they take multiple offerings

to get what they want. I've seen that happen.

But in this church, I've never seen money be the main issue.

Won't teach about money as being the main issue.

If we feel like the week before, well the offering was a little

low. So this week I'm going to teach

on money. I've seen churches to do it, so

thank God we don't do that. We don't even have offerings in

here. You never want to see anybody in

here walking up to you asking you for money or pushing money.

That's just not something we do, and ministry shouldn't be about

that. That's like having a covetous

pastors who are always looking to make more money.

There's some pastors who are involved in schemes outside of

the church to try to make more and more money for themselves.

Well, if you're focused on that, it's very hard to be focused on

shepherding the flock. It's going to be hard to take

time to study and to be in prayer.

If you're always thinking about your next scheme to make money,

it takes over. It takes over.

And the more you get, the more you want.

That's just the trap of the devil.

That's the trap of the devil. And that's something that we

have to try to avoid so that we don't get in that trap.

And we it's, it's circular. It just keeps you moving and

going and going and going. And first Peter, in first Peter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, chapter 5, it says the elders who are among you.

I exhort I am a fellow elder and a witness of the suffering of

Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed.

He says, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving

as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not by dishonest

gain. That means trying to do things

to bring money in so that I can gain more money, but eagerly,

nor as being Lords over those entrusted to you.

So we should not be always given to looking for and trying to

accumulate more and more money. Calvin had an interesting quote.

He says, I repeat, that the man who will not bear poverty

patiently and willingly will inevitably, inevitably become

the victim of mean and sordid covetousness.

So we become victims to covetousness when we do not

allow ourselves to just trust in the Lord, to make him our

Jehovah Jireh. And I can tell you by doing that

here that Lord has been faithful.

He has been faithful. He's taking care of this house,

He's taking care of the house and the needs of the house.

As long as we, I've heard, you know, years ago, I was always

taught that when we take care of God's business, he'll take care

of ours. And I found that to be true.

I found out to be true. So we go on.

He says 1. He says not dumb, he said not

greedy for money, but gentle. He should be gentle.

You know, not someone who is impatient or someone who is not

approachable, but he should be gentle.

It should not be a problem to approach a pastor.

He should be able to listen to others and listen to others

opinions, listen to criticisms, opposing views without

overreacting or reacting in a defensive or an aggressive

manner. But to be gentle with people, be

gentle with each other, be gentle with the flock.

He also says they try to allow others to serve in the church.

And this is one of the things that I really love about here at

Calvary Chapel that we give those who we see that God is

putting a passion on your heart for ministry.

We give you the room to be able to go and to serve in that

ministry. And not only do we not interfere

with your serving, but we are a covering and not a lid.

We support you and encourage you in that ministry, but we don't

stunt your growth in that ministry.

We don't stunt how big that ministry can grow to or the

things that you can do in that ministry.

We don't stunt the growth of your ministry.

We encourage you long as it's a blessing.

It lines up with the Word of God.

People were being blessed by it. Souls are being touched by it.

People were getting into the Word of God through it.

We have no issue only want to know what can we do to help How

can we assist you? What resources can we give you,

but we not going to be a lid and try to stop your progression and

then in #12 says that he's not quarrelsome.

The man of God shouldn't be course, when we talked about

that a little bit and that's talking about fighting, but this

is more verbally fighting, always being contentious with

someone verbally getting into arguments and things of that

nature. And that that's that that's it's

kind of prideful. You know, when, when, when a man

of God is always being defensive and getting into arguments with

people, whether it's about the word or about something that's

happening here, you know, like we can't listen to hear.

If you feel like you have an idea about how to do something a

little better than what we're doing it, you know, absolutely,

of course, through prayer, through much prayer and

supplication, that's when we actually move on doing things.

But absolutely we listen and hear what people want to share,

what people want to share. We want to do that.

So we're not being argumentative, but the people

who are being argumentative always getting into disputes

that nature, that can be a problem.

Wheresby says this, he says short tempers do not make for

long ministries. You know, you got a short

temper, you'll probably have a short ministry as well.

In verse three, he says do not be covetous.

And we talked about that and that has to do with someone who

is a lover of money. And we know what it says in

First Timothy that, you know, if you're a lover of money, that

can cause problems, a lot of problems, causes you to suffer

many things. But it's the love of money

that's the root of all evil, not money itself.

It's the love of it that's the root of all evil.

And then he goes on here in verse four.

He says one who rules his own house well, having his children

in submission with all reverence.

Verse 5 says if a man does not know how to rule his own house,

how will he take care of the House of God?

So we have to look at a couple things here.

First of all, when he talks about ruling, he's talking about

managing his house well or stands before his house or

presides over his house, governs his house well.

A pastor and elder must be able to manage their own house, must

be able to have his own children in subjection to be able to

minister to anyone else. Now, we're not talking that we

know that people know children. They grow up, they get older,

they leave the house. You know, you don't always.

We don't have control over people that leaves your house

anymore. They make their own decisions.

That's part of growing up and growing out.

They make their own decisions. But the children who are in the

house with you, how well do we manage the house with the with

children, you know, that are in the house?

And that's not to say that every again, that's not to say that

every pastor has to have children.

Doesn't mean that they have to have children.

But if they do, the children should respect the man of God.

They should have respect for you because see, if there's

something going on at home that's different than going on

here, The first place that you'll detect that is going to

be in the face of the children. It's going to be in the lives of

the children. They're going to be able to tell

you the law and I ain't the same God that we live with.

Yeah, I know who that is. Stand up there teaching because

I ain't the same God that we go home with, you know, I mean, you

know, it, it, it, it's, it's, it's again part of that double

life. And and kids don't respect

hypocrisy no more than adults respect hypocrisy.

They can see it, they can sense it.

And if you know, and if and if you're doing it at home, then

how are you going to manage the House of God?

Our children should be respectful.

They should obey them and be in subjection to them.

And the reason why is because the example that they see is

someone who is subject to the leading and the authority of

Jesus Christ. That's why a family should be

able to follow the man of God. It's because they see that he is

willing to submit himself to his authority, which is Christ.

A woman will follow that, a wife will follow that, and so will

the children. They'll follow that, but he goes

on here and he said to take care.

How will he take care of the House of God or the Church of

God? And that take care actually

deals with ministering to the Church of God.

How will someone who doesn't minister to the needs of their

own home and address the needs in their own home?

How will they address the needs in the House of God?

And it's taking care of those needs when someone is hurting,

when someone is was going through sorrow, when someone is

going through different needs or hurts, If someone gets into sin,

how does the man of God respond to that?

How does the man of God respond to that?

That's what this is talking about, how, you know, taking

care of the Church of God. It's the shepherd.

Remember, he's a shepherd, and a shepherd takes care of the

sheep, and one of the main ways that the shepherd takes care of

the sheep is by feeding the sheep.

Just to go back to that whole thing about being able to teach,

you have to feed the sheep. The sheep has to be fed.

If the sheep aren't fed, they die.

Sheep that aren't fed die. So you have to feed the sheep

and that's taking care of the sheep.

The next one that he talks about here is not a novice.

He said he shouldn't be a novice and this is a big one.

It's an important one because often times in a church, because

of need, people kind of lay hands on other people too soon

because there's a need. So you lay hands on someone too

soon and they put them in a position before they are ready

to be in that position. It should not be a novice.

And this is not saying, in other words, what it's saying here is

that they should not be someone who is newly planted or a new

convert. Now there are people that come

into the ministry, they get saved and they grow really,

really fast. I've seen it how, I mean, you

know, people, they can grow really fast.

I mean, they're hungry, they're eating up God's Word, and

they're growing, and you're watching this growth.

But maturity comes over time. It has nothing to do with age.

It has to do with time in the Word, time in the faith to be

mature. What have you experienced?

You know, it's not how long someone's been a pastor, but how

long have they been saved? That's the question.

How long have you actually been saved?

You know, you don't get saved one week and then two months

later, three months later, you put someone in the ministry.

That can't happen. That sets that person up for

danger, sets them up to get puffed up with pride and because

they don't know how to handle those things yet, have not had

the humility that is necessary to have one.

Age doesn't have anything to do with Christian maturity, but

there's a lot of things they have to learn.

You know, Paul talks about the, I'm sorry, Peter talks about the

fact that we have to add to our faith once we get saved.

And that takes time to add different things to our faith

once we get saved. So in order to prevent that

danger, you can't lay hands on people too soon.

So a pastor should not be a novice.

You know, they can be gifted. Often times they are.

They're gifted. They have a lot of abilities.

Seen it. But then as soon as adversity

hits, soon as someone disagrees, when you get a chance to witness

someone in those situations, that's when you find out exactly

what the maturity level is, where that person is at.

Mature wise haven't had an opportunity to view their prayer

life or to see them when they're being criticized, or to view

their faithfulness to the current ministry.

How faithful are they to the current ministry that they're

in? Because that's very important.

So these are all fruit that we look at and, and the last one,

and we're going to close on this one, is a good testimony among

those who are outside of the church.

A good testimony. Look at what it says there in

verse 7. Moreover, he must have a good

testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into

reproach or shame and the snare of the devil.

The elder or pastor must have a good reputation not only in the

church but also in the community.

If you have, if, if a person is a pastor and in the community,

people are able to say things about the pastor, say things

about the pastor that are true, that's an issue.

Who's going to come in here and listen to a pastor that they've

seen out on the corners or listen to a pastor, you know,

how's the guy who owns a bar going to come in and listen to a

pastor who's frequenting a bar stool in his bar?

Or maybe a woman who's, you know, looking at changing her

life and maybe right now she may be a dancer or something and she

comes in and say, man, I know him.

I mean, these are all drug dealers.

He's one of my, he's one of my customers.

How will a man be able to witness the word of God if

that's what's going on? Seeing it happen, seeing it

happen. Reputation in the community is

important. Got to be respected in the

community as well as outside. Just because someone doesn't

agree with you, someone doesn't want to be saved.

Just because they're not into church, so to speak, it doesn't

mean that they don't respect the pastor.

They see him. He's always speaking to him,

even though they don't. They haven't showed up in the

church yet. He's invited them several times

and they haven't showed up yet, but yet they respect them.

They never slander him. They're not saying anything

about him. Yeah, he's a good guy.

Just ain't going to this church. I ain't into that right now.

Never know what God would do with their hearts later.

He just got to keep on asking. That's what I'll do.

We just keep on asking. You know, I couldn't make it

this week because I had this to do.

No problem. Catch you next time, man.

See you next time. Yeah, I'll be there.

I'll be there. OK.

That's how it goes. That's how it goes.

It's just like that sometimes. But we must have a good

reputation so we don't let the devil be able to speak.

I'll of us. In Acts 16 and 2, Paul said that

Timothy was well spoken of amongst the men in Lystra and

the reason why is because he gave a good example.

He walked in the ways that were of good behavior and he had a

good testimony and a good reputation among those who are

without. See, all these traits that we

talked about are really traits that Jesus Christ has.

He has these same traits. And we cannot get these, but by

the power of the Holy Spirit, I look at some of these traits and

I said, oh, Lord, have mercy, have mercy.

How am IA, pastor? These aren't things that you can

do yourself. These aren't things that you can

become yourself. These aren't things that you can

become yourself. These aren't things that you can

try to act or try to show in front of people, but really

they're not in your heart. Lord, have mercy and put these

things in my heart. Holy Spirit, lead me in these

things lead me in the way everlasting.

I don't want to be a castaway when I when I teach the word of

God and though I'm teaching to somebody else and yet I'm

disqualifying myself by what I'm saying.

I don't want to be that. So Holy Spirit, I need you to

help me and we all need this. This isn't just, it's it, you

know, he's talking about it here for leaders, but this isn't just

about for leaders. This is Christian life.

This is Christian life. This should be the description

of all of us, but the only way we can attain to it is through

the Holy Spirit. And thank God he's so merciful

because we don't have all these things.

He don't stop. That's it, you're done.

You have 5 out of the seven, sit down.

You got to have all of them. Sit down.

You can't do this no more. Thank God He doesn't do that.

He doesn't disqualify us because we don't have it all together.

The Bible tells us that the good work that he's begun and us,

he's going to continue to do it until the day of Jesus Christ.

That means as long as we're living, He is sanctifying us

into a good work. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your instruction.

We thank you for your goodness, Father.

We ask now, Lord, that You would touch our hearts, This word,

Lord, that you gave us today in First Timothy.

These instructions, Lord. These are high standards, Lord.

And these are things, Lord, that it takes prayer, it takes the

movement of your Holy Spirit in US, Lord, for us to be able to

attain to such things. Even Paul himself said, even

though I'm not attained and I've not apprehended everything, but

what I do is that I put those things that are behind me and I

reach toward those things that are before me, and I press

toward the mark of the high calling of God.

So yesterday or today, I may have fallen short on some of

these things that we talked about.

Maybe some of us fell short, but we can put those things behind

us, Lord, and we can seek You today and ask You, Lord, to help

us today to attain those things, Lord, to put those things in our

hearts and to help us to live a life, Lord, that is worthy of

the call wherewith we are all called.

So, Father, even as we do that, we remember your sacrifice

because you left heaven with a reputation in heaven, Lord, You

were glorified, and you came down here to earth amongst men

who mocked you, who slandered you, who talked about you, who

spoke I'll of you, who lied on you, all for the purpose of

setting you up to take your life, Lord.

But yet your word says that even when you were reviled, we were

persecute, persecuted. Lord, You never reviled.

You didn't revile again even when you were threatened, Lord,

you didn't threaten that. You never threw back the spear

that was thrown at you, but instead, Lord, you committed

yourself to the Father, to the one who judges righteously.

Thank you for tuning in to Living Waters of Grace with

Pastor Lewis Harrell. We're currently in the books of

First and Second Timothy. Some of the things included in

these New Testament letters from Paul are that the young and

newly established Pastor Timothy was being encouraged to hold

fast to what was true. He was challenged to confront

and address the false teachers that were rising up.

He was also reminded to accept his calling to the ministry with

gratefulness and to address the happenings going on in the

Ephesian church. Paul was imparting his

experience and knowledge to the next generation.

Timothy was receptive to learning and gleaning what he

could from Paul's wisdom. This is how it should be in

ministry across multiple generations.

Those who have lived a little more life should be open to

sharing their successes and also things they've learned along the

way. That we're not a wind.

The younger generations coming up can learn and appreciate much

from those ahead of them, and perhaps avoid some of the same

pitfalls that their mentors work through mentoring.

It's a beautiful relationship. When the hearts are in the right

place to learn and grow. You trust that you're in a

community where this is happening.

Older ones providing advice and wisdom, and each side learning

and growing from one another. This certainly was the case for

Paul and Timothy as they were comrades for the sake of the

gospel. For more information on where

this teaching came from, go to calvarychapelonline.com.

There you can also learn about our service times to join us in

person. This has been living waters of

grace.