Good day to all, we will continue with 1 Timothy Chapter 3. Chapter 3 speaks on "how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God." Some have said: this theme is the same as what I have been preaching. Praise the Lord! I believe everyone is growing, increasingly able to grasp the central theme.

The context of this passage refers to Timothy being in Ephesus, where there were many individual churches. These churches suddenly encountered some issues. Either these were newly established churches seeking a pastor, or they were existing churches, with a bishop already in place, as Paul mentions here, and they needed to find some deacons to assist the bishop in managing the church.

The problem then arises, Timothy, being young, is perplexed when selecting these individuals. What is the source of his confusion? This one seems good, that one seems good too, whom should he choose? I want to tell everyone, if both seem good, and you must choose one, then choose the slightly better one.

So, what Paul proposes, knowing how to conduct oneself in the household of God, what is the foundation of this matter?

The House of God, Which Is the Church of God

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15)

Do you think this is serious? It is very serious. We must understand the governance of the church, which is a very profound field of study. This is a task that Paul assigned to Timothy, to select and examine in Ephesus; who can serve as the bishop of the church; who can serve as the deacon of the church. If the church has a bishop, how to select some deacons. This matter is quite difficult.

If you were to select someone to govern the church, could you choose based on your observations alone? They all seem good on the surface, but what happens? The underlying substance is not quite right. Why is it not right? The person may appear good outwardly, but he seeks the office of bishop in the church to benefit from it, thinking it is advantageous to be a leader in the church.

The question then arises, the house of God is the church of God, let us first establish this concept before discussing anything else. You must understand that the theological system of the Apostle Paul is to build the church of God, building the church is building the house of God; building the church of God is building the body of Jesus Christ; it is building the bride of Jesus Christ. Do you think this matter is serious?

If it is about building the house of God, building the church of God, then it is a very solemn matter, it is a godly truth, it is a mystery of godliness. Therefore, when Paul writes about building the church, he is deeply moved: Great indeed, is the mystery of godliness. I do not quite understand why he suddenly expresses such emotion here. But it is indeed true that Paul becomes excited when he talks about the church.

You must know that the church is the foundation of all issues. What do I mean by all issues? I ask you, why is healing and deliverance effective in this church, but not in that church? Because this is the house of God, and that is not. You say: are they not both churches? They both appear to be churches outwardly, but do you think it is a church just because you put up a church sign? This is the house of God, God dwells here; that is not the house of God, God does not dwell there. Therefore, prayer is effective in this place, but not in that place. Do you not find it amazing?

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

How wonderful these words are! I tell you all, what is this? It is actually God manifesting His Spirit in the church, justifying people in the church, and being seen by angels. Does that sound a bit bewildering to you? I tell you, there are places where angels cannot see, but this place has the glory of God, and angels can see. Being seen by angels, is the body of Jesus Christ, therefore being seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world. I must tell everyone, how can a church without power be believed in by people?

Therefore, building the church, the church is the house of God, the church is the pillar and foundation of truth, this is a very serious issue, and everyone must ponder this matter carefully. So, you say that selecting the governance of the church, choosing a pastor, a small group leader, or a deacon, is a very serious matter, which is why Paul suddenly expresses such emotion when writing about it. The church is the house of God, the house of God is the church, the church is the pillar and foundation of truth. This is the body of Jesus Christ, and this place is filled with the presence of God. The church is filled with the presence of God, it is not just Jesus Christ manifested in the flesh, but the Spirit of God dwells in our flesh. Justified by the Spirit, is the Spirit of God dwelling among us.

Our brothers and sisters, must begin to ponder, the church is a very serious topic. I must tell everyone, if you not only bring filth and impurity into the church, but also establish filthy and impure things as the bishop of the church, as the deacon of the church. Why? Because he contributes a lot. I ask everyone, what will happen to this church? This church will be miserable.

I can boldly boast that our church does not care much about contributions. Why? Because the church is not short of money. The church is the house of Jesus Christ, it is the body of Jesus Christ, therefore we must uphold holiness, uphold godliness, this is the mystery of godliness, which is undeniable.

But many people build the church in this way, for example, if a brother or sister has a conflict with the pastor and then leaves, that is discerning good and evil to an extreme degree. The pastor then takes his co-workers to apologize to this person, inviting him back as if inviting an ancestor. Do you all think this is right? Why bring such a person back? Because the church needs people, without people there are no contributions, without contributions how can the church survive? Look at this logic, that is not the mystery of godliness, that is filth and impurity.

Therefore, our brothers and sisters must know that we must build a holy church. In a holy church, the requirements are high. If the church cares about contributions and not about holiness, if the church cares about money, will it not fall into the trap of the devil? The house of God is the church of God, remember, never bring filth and impurity into the house of God, the church is the place that makes people holy!

Then you say, do you not need to serve? I serve him, not because he is in the church, but because he comes to seek God, I serve him. But if you are fooling around in the church, gossiping, and selling insurance or health products here, then I think you have come to the wrong place. The house of God is the church of God, therefore this is a very serious topic.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

Listen to these words, if you build a church, build an unholy church, will God not hold you accountable? Even if He does not hold you accountable, the Spirit of God will not dwell there.

Building the Church Is the Governance of the Church

When Paul speaks about the governance of the church, the most basic doctrines of faith need not be mentioned. Like Ephesians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Matthew, Luke, Acts, these truths need not be repeated. From Genesis to Matthew, Luke, these need not be said, these are the most basic requirements.

Now the governance of the church involves two matters, the first is the bishop of the church, and then the deacon of the church. Later, the church defined the deacon as what? The church defined the deacon as a financial backer, for example, those who contribute a lot in the church, you become a deacon, I give you a position, so that everyone respects you. That is wrong! Remember, no matter how much you contribute, we do not look at that in our church. The bishop is the one who serves the most, and those who serve a little less are called deacons.

I think that the church, until today, has made the concepts of deacon and bishop extremely confused. For example, in the churches I have seen, what is a deacon? It is someone who has a little influence in the church, that is, someone who is rich and has status. Then this person who is rich and has status also contributes a lot, so he becomes a deacon. But what is a deacon supposed to do? A deacon is supposed to serve.

Many situations in the church, I used to find very strange, and today I still have a rather incomprehensible attitude towards these things. Many churches, as far as I know, please do not criticize me, I am just telling the truth. As for whether they are doing right or wrong, if they think it is right then it is right, if they think it is wrong then it is wrong, it has nothing to do with me. But I will express my opinion, what is a deacon? A person who does not serve, a person who contributes a lot is called a deacon, many churches are like this. If you have a lot of money and are willing to serve, that is another matter.

The bishop of the church, or the pastor, etc., are all hired workers. The deacon board of the church is the board of directors. In our church, those who serve more are deacons, and those who serve even more are called bishops. It is not those who serve who have a say, but those who do not serve who have a say, do you not find it strange? Those who do not do anything, say: why are you doing it this way? Pointing fingers. Those who do things are being pointed at, that is troublesome, but Paul never talked about this. This kind of church actually carries a worldly logical system.

Of course, if you establish a company, does the investor have the final say? Of course, the capital has the final say. But in the church, it is the house of God, it is governed according to godly standards, it is establishing bishops, establishing deacons. We will not talk about those standards of believing in the Lord. For example, in Galatians, you must have faith, faith is the foundation. We are not talking about whether to believe in the Lord or not, we are talking about selecting a bishop and some deacons from among those who believe in the Lord.

If you select this bishop, select this deacon, then it becomes interesting, what Paul wrote, the bishop and deacon have additional standards for believers. If one of these two people is the husband of one wife. And the other person has taken a concubine. I ask you, which one would you choose? Choose the husband of one wife, do you all think it should be like this? It should be like this.

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive. (1 Timothy 3:1-4)

Therefore, everyone must ponder this matter slowly. It is a bit difficult for me to explain this, but I am still trying my best to make it clear. The important point is that this is not the most basic requirement, the most basic requirement must be someone among the believers, that is, you must be a believer, you must be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and then select from within this group. It is not that there are many husbands of one wife, can they all be deacons? Can they all be bishops? It is not like this, and moreover, if you commit bigamy now, you do not need to stay at home, you will definitely be staying in jail, bigamy. This is the governance of the church.

What do these people do? They do shepherding, to give you a simple explanation, the bishop is the pastoral district leader, the deacon is the small group leader, the small shepherd. It was originally like this, then you say we have not followed this standard, this standard has never changed, if you are a small shepherd, this is your standard. If you are a pastoral district leader, this is your standard.

You say you have not reached it, if you have not reached it then strive to reach it, I know you have not reached it. Do you all think that you do it after you have reached it, or do you reach it after you have done it? I think you reach it after you have done it. If you ask me, what kind of employees do I like to hire? I like to hire these people who can only reach 50% of my requirements. What about the remaining 50%? In the process of doing it, it becomes their growth goal.

You can only reach it after you have done it, it is not that we lower the requirements because they cannot reach it. If we lower the requirements and still cannot reach it, then we lower the requirements again, that would be bad, would that still be the mystery of godliness? That would be the mystery of filth, so the standard cannot be changed.

Standards and Requirements for Selecting Overseers and Deacons

"If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task." This saying is trustworthy. (1 Timothy 3:1)

Firstly, he must be willing. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. If you want to be an overseer, a district pastor, you must desire a noble task. If you do not desire a noble task, you will find pastoring difficult and unbearable. Why must he be willing? If you are appointed an overseer against your will, what will you do? If someone calls at 3 a.m. saying, "Pastor, I have a stomach ache," and you say, "Go pray to the whirlwind," would that be acceptable? If you say, "Why are you calling me? Don't I need to sleep? I have to go to work tomorrow," then you should not take on this role if you are unwilling. It is a noble task, and you must be willing.

I thank God because these pastors among us have all been ministered to by me. When I ministered to them, it involved rising before dawn and staying up late. No matter if you called me at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., it was sometimes frightening. I tell you, we have struggled through this journey with tears and effort. When I ministered, I would say, "How I minister to you today is how you must minister to others in the future." I put in a lot of effort, and I thank God for the abundant returns, resulting in many spiritual children.

This is a noble task. If you want to be an overseer, you must be willing to serve even if someone calls at 2 a.m. If they are on their deathbed and you do not serve, what can you do after they have passed away? I tell you, I am deeply moved by many of our young pastors. They say, "If you have a cancerous bowel obstruction at 3 a.m., and your bowels are blocked, you can call me." One day, someone called him at 4 a.m., and he answered. After ministering for an hour, it was 5 a.m. He tidied up and started leading his small group in prayer. I am truly grateful to God. I say, "May God remember this!" This is a noble task.

Why? Because it is building the church, it is the mystery of godliness. It is God manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels. Are your actions seen by angels? Yes, they are. How can angels not see? You are crying out to heaven and earth, and after an hour, the person is delivered. What happened? God's angels and heavenly hosts came and drove out the demons.

It also mentions being the husband of one wife. I tell you, Paul lowered the standard a bit. Paul himself never married. In his letters, he sometimes said, "Don't I have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Am I not allowed to do that?" He was not saying he necessarily had this right, but he had the right, but he did not do it.

If Paul said, "You should all be like me, Paul, without any encumbrances, one person eating enough for the whole family," it would be difficult to find such a person in that generation. So, he sought someone who was the husband of one wife. If Timothy were choosing someone in that place and wrote to Paul, "Paul, there is someone here who meets all the standards, but he prefers to remain single," what would Paul say? He would choose him. That is the point.

If it were impossible to find someone in Ephesus who could be chosen as an overseer, pastor, or district pastor, and some had one wife, some had two, some had three, and some had four, then the one with four wives might say, "Why can't I be chosen? Jacob had four wives, so why was that acceptable?" Consider the underlying principle. If you really like to marry four wives, what kind of person do you think he is? He is also a pastor, and many sisters look up to him. They admire him. Then, after a few days, he takes another concubine, and then another. I think that would be a bit of a problem for an overseer.

In the Bible, Abraham, Jacob, David, and Moses all had more than one wife. Why did Paul have to say this? Paul's meaning is that if you are going to marry, marry one wife, be the husband of one wife, which shows the core values in his heart, the core demands in his heart, and the value system in his heart. If you are truly willing to pay the price for God's work, the fewer entanglements you have, the better. It would be even better to have no entanglements.

If your home is chaotic, and you are constantly dealing with the harem, and there are palace dramas and scheming women, how will you have time to build the church? You will be busy pastoring your concubines. That is lust. He must not be a lover of money, but he must be a good manager and teacher. This is about building the body of Jesus Christ, building God's church, building God's family, and governing God's household. It is a matter of faith.

Regarding the standards for selecting overseers and deacons, Paul gave the selection of overseers to men. Of course, if there were no sisters applying to be overseers in Ephesus, it does not mean that sisters cannot be overseers. But in Timothy's situation, there were no sisters. Of course, there is no problem if sisters are willing to serve God, be an overseer, or a district pastor. The mystery of godliness is about expressing one's core values. If your core value is money, then do not be an overseer. If your core demand is service, then there is hope, especially if you are also good at managing.

Now, here is a confusing point: "He must manage his own family well." This statement is quite profound. In the previous chapter, Timothy's own family was not well-managed, as he was almost controlled by his girlfriend. So, when selecting overseers, Paul told Timothy not to choose a husband who is weak. Sometimes, when the wife shouts, the foundations of their house shake, let alone the pastor. If the pastor's wife shouts, the pastor trembles, and the foundations of their house shake. Is that called governing? Is that called managing? That is not managing.

I have seen many pastors who are afraid of their wives. How can you govern your family? Many people govern through compromise. Does compromise solve problems? No, because you will sacrifice your family in your service. If you sacrifice at home, you have to eat with me, go shopping with me, and buy things with me. If I accompany you to buy things, and someone is running a high fever or is on their deathbed, what do you do? Do you put it down or not? If you do not put it down, is that called good governance or not?

Especially in this era of female dominance, many husbands choose to compromise to avoid trouble and constant arguments at home. Of course, sisters, when you serve, do you also face obstacles at home? If you compromise, is that called managing your own family? No, it is not. Of course, wisdom is needed. If you are lazy and do nothing at home except shout "Hallelujah," everyone will be annoyed. So, you must also have a good reputation outside the church, right? If you do honest work and your family's finances depend on you, your position in the family will naturally be higher, especially if you are also good at teaching.

My interpretation may be a bit far-fetched. To be honest, I really do not know why Paul wrote this in 1 Timothy. If children listen to you now, you are very fortunate. Children have their own ideas, and whether they listen to you is not up to you. I think we brothers and sisters should be objective and truly understand this passage well. It is the same for deacons.

Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

These are the standards and requirements for selecting overseers and deacons. I think basic believers should all reach this level, right?

There are several key words here. First, they must first be tested. I ask you, if they must first be tested, then overseers are certainly chosen from among the deacons. Deacons must first be tested, and so must overseers. I was thinking of making someone a small group leader, but then something happened, and they were exposed and failed. Oh, it turns out God does not like it, it is not suitable, they must first be tested. You want to test them to see how they are. If they fail the test, then it will not work. So, we are not impatient, we take it slowly.

Whether appointing overseers or deacons, it is a necessary step in church development, and you must always test them. If you have some understanding of the history of church development, you will find that Peter preached a sermon and five thousand people believed, and he gave a few testimonies and three thousand people believed. Was that good? No, it was not good. This is a very important viewpoint in Chinese theology. Why? Because it is impossible to pastor them. How can you pastor them? I ask you, what do we do if five thousand people suddenly come? Where do we find these overseers and deacons? We cannot find them, and it will be chaos.

Moreover, Peter did not have much wisdom. He gave people food and organized offerings, and in the end, everyone was eating from the common pot. Many people ate for free and were still unhappy. The church is a place to train people to be blessed. The church must not be greedy for numbers, as too much cannot be chewed. The church must carefully and thoroughly assess small group leaders and district pastors. It cannot be done haphazardly, resulting in no one managing them.

Like the seven deacons Peter appointed, one of them, Nicolas, went astray. Nicolas later founded a sect called the "Nicolaitans." In the Book of Revelation, the "Nicolaitans" were a deacon appointed during Peter's time. At that time, deacons were required to manage the distribution of food. But the work of the church is not managing food, it is not cooking, it is not feeding, and it is not eating. The church is about pastoring.

The second key point is to have courage. If you do not have the courage to uphold the truth, it will be troublesome. If someone in the church shouts, and people kneel down, can you uphold the truth? Can that be called the mystery of godliness? Can that be called being seen by angels? I think it is being seen by demons. Being proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory, all of that will be ruined. So, brothers and sisters, you must know that it is difficult to walk the path of faith without courage. You will be easily blackmailed. This is about courage.

The third key point is to be faithful in everything. There are several levels of faith. The first is patience, and the second is faithfulness. For example, the English word "faithful" actually means both faithful and patient. I think we brothers and sisters must grasp these key points, as they are crucial for upholding the truth.

Some years ago, a pastor posted beautiful photos of his loving marriage on his Facebook page. Everyone thought it was wonderful. Suddenly, someone came with a seven- or eight-year-old child and said, "Call him Dad." This pastor was in trouble. A group of famous pastors in that city formed a pastoral team and came to the church to deal with this issue. After dealing with it, we were all confused. Weren't they a loving couple? Actually, their love was twisted, just a superficial show.

So, brothers and sisters, think about these things. Some things are not godly, just superficial. We must not look at the surface. God looks at the heart, not the appearance. The concept we are talking about is knowing how to conduct ourselves in God's household.

May God bless you all!

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