When The Spirit Speaks

2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Care 1 Timothy 3:4-5

1 Timothy 3:4–5 ESV

4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

Competence 1 Timothy 3:6

1 Timothy 3:6 ESV

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Commitment 1 Timothy 3:7

1 Timothy 3:7 ESV

7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

It is a life of sacrifice

Under this reality the leader must

Obey the rules

Be a good example of faith and citizenship

To be under authority

Remember Judgement is aways available

It is a life to be desired

1 Timothy 3:1

1 Timothy 3:1 ESV

1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

It is a

Good Work

Noble task

More than qualified

Just being qualified is not enough

We must

Recognize the source. Philippians 2:13

Philippians 2:13 ESV

13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Embrace the call. 1 Corinthians 9:16-17

1 Corinthians 9:16–17 ESV

16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.

Realize our natural limits. 1 Corinthians 2:9

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

The desire for God’s work comes from God

How does God place his work in us?

1 Corinthians 2:10 ESV

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

The Power of the Spirit

Luke 4:14 ESV

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

The Power of the Spirit is hard to miss.

Jesus returned in the Power

It made Jesus known

What happens when the Spirit speaks?

1 Timothy 4:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

When the Spirit Speaks we must LISTEN.

John writes to the seven churches of Asia minor

The Lord tells them what He knows about them

I know

Your works

Your labour

What God knows is immaterial if we are ignorant of Him

Revelation 2:29 ESV

29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The Spirit speaks the Truth.

Romans 8:26–27 ESV

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

1 John 4:6 ESV

6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 5:6 ESV

6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

When the Spirit Speaks we must LISTEN

When the Spirit speaks we must LEARN.

The Spirit speaks the truth about life.

1 Timothy 4:1 ESV

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

The Spirit reminds us of the challenge before us.

With all of the efforts

Some will still leave the faith

Some will follow the lie

Some will give in to demonic teaching

There are three prevailing spirits.

The Spirit of the DEVIL. Ephesians 2:2

Ephesians 2:2 ESV

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

The Spirit of THE WORLD. 1 Cor 2:12; 1 John 5:1

1 Corinthians 2:12 ESV

12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1 John 5:1 ESV

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

The HUMAN Spirit. Ezekiel 11:19-20

Tyndale Bible Dictionary Spirit of Man

Usually spirit indicates the vitalizing, energizing, empowering agent; it is that essence of the human being that corresponds with God’s nature and can commune with God, who is Spirit.

Ezekiel 11:19 ESV

19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

The Lord declares the human spirit is inadequate.

The Lord will give

One heart

New spirit

Ezekiel 11:20 ESV

20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

To be God’s people we must be changed

This change is the key

to walk in his statutes

to do what God wants

to be his people

John 16:12–13 ESV

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Don’t be deceived.

1 Timothy 4:6 ESV

6 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 doctrine that you have followed.

Stand fast in what the spirit has spoken to you.

Galatians 3:3 ESV

3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

When the Spirit speaks we must LEARN.

When the Spirit speaks we must LIVE.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Live to your full Potential

Be an example

In speech and conduct

In love and faith

In purity

1 Timothy 4:13 ESV

13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

Live a life of Authenticity

A full life cannot be in the shadows.

Our devotion to God

Is always on display

It is in what we receive

It is how we treat others

What we teach

Leave no doubt.

1 Timothy 4:14–16 ESV

14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Ezekiel 37:14 ESV

14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Galatians 5:1 ESV

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.