WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.640 Well, if you would open your Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 2 00:00:05.640 --> 00:00:14.920 We have for several weeks now been looking, or actually just beginning to look at the qualifications of an overseer. 3 00:00:14.920 --> 00:00:27.240 And since the qualifications of overseers match many of the qualifications of deacons, we’re focusing on this in this first set. 4 00:00:27.240 --> 00:00:45.380 But as you notice, things like being above reproach are also qualities of anyone, especially the deacons who serve the Lord, but anyone who leads in worship. 5 00:00:45.380 --> 00:01:07.480 And since many of you weren’t here for the earlier studies, one of the things that we did early on was we looked at this name, overseer, or bishop you might have in your Bible, and compared that with the word elder and also the word for pastor. 6 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:13.540 And we pointed out that in the New Testament, those words are used interchangeably. 7 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:21.700 They’re different descriptions for the person who occupies the same church office. 8 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:25.620 It’s particularly evident in Acts chapter 20. 9 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:32.260 So if you want to go back and study that again, I would suggest you do that if you’re not sure about that. 10 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:40.880 But it’s the idea of a pastor or an overseer or elders, they’re just different names. 11 00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:44.480 There’s a pastor, shepherd, who feeds his flock. 12 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.980 The overseer guards the flock. 13 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:51.550 That’s the meaning of the word. 14 00:01:51.550 --> 00:02:01.740 He overlooks, he oversees, and the idea is someone who’s guarding the flock and the people of God. 15 00:02:01.740 --> 00:02:07.920 And elder, which is based on the Greek word presbyteros , it translates that word. 16 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:14.280 Have you ever had presbyopia like I have? 17 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:17.540 Presbyopia is when, as you get older, you become farsighted. 18 00:02:17.540 --> 00:02:24.420 And so to read things close up, you buy these glasses. 19 00:02:24.420 --> 00:02:29.520 I don’t know where you buy yours, but I pay a dollar and fifty cents for mine. 20 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.320 But anyway. 21 00:02:31.320 --> 00:02:36.640 So that’s the idea that’s descriptive. 22 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:39.900 The overseers of the church are people who are seasoned. 23 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:43.780 That’s why you have that name, elder, or older person. 24 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:46.320 Generally, they’re well seasoned. 25 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:50.720 They have experienced the gospel for some time. 26 00:02:50.720 --> 00:02:55.780 And they have learned through the grace of God. 27 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:59.360 And so they fit the qualifications. 28 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:06.580 And so those are the descriptions of the office. 29 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:12.620 Now, the church at Ephesus had been attacked by false doctrine. 30 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:24.180 And so one of the things that comes and is clear as we look through this is the strong emphasis that the apostle makes on the right teaching of a church. 31 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:29.280 For a church to be healthy, it needs to be given healthy doctrine. 32 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:35.460 They’re to feed on the true Word of God and be changing their lives based on the Word of God. 33 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:46.060 And when they choose leaders, they need to choose leaders who are going to protect the church and feed the church the truth of God’s Word. 34 00:03:46.060 --> 00:03:52.380 Last week we looked at the meaning of the word that’s translated above reproach . 35 00:03:52.380 --> 00:04:05.820 And so all the qualities that are listed, all the descriptions that are listed are really some of the marks that demonstrate how an elder is above reproach. 36 00:04:05.820 --> 00:04:14.060 He can’t be taken down easily by the devil because his character holds up when tested. 37 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:26.100 So what we’re going to look at this morning, I’m going to read through this passage through verse 7 in just a moment, 1 to 7. 38 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:34.980 But as usually when I preach, when I speak, we cover several verses. 39 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:38.500 When we started this, I looked at the first verse. 40 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:48.500 Last week I looked at the very first part of the second verse, and today we’re going to look at the second part of the second verse. 41 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.700 And so we’ve slowed it down a lot. 42 00:04:51.700 --> 00:04:58.080 But I think that’s right for this passage because this is crucial. 43 00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:07.600 The church is to pay good attention to its leaders, to the people that are called to the office to lead the church. 44 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.120 They’re to pay good attention to who they are. 45 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:25.140 And also, all these qualities are to be demonstrated by the overseer, the leader, the shepherd, the pastor, so that they can be replicated in the life of the people of the church. 46 00:05:25.140 --> 00:05:27.600 So this is precious and important. 47 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:35.960 This has to do with the very health and well-being of any body of Christ, so we should pay attention to it. 48 00:05:35.960 --> 00:05:39.220 All right, let me read through the passage. 49 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:45.260 And then this morning we’re going to maybe look at two qualities. 50 00:05:45.260 --> 00:05:49.600 The overseer must be hospitable and able to teach. 51 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.320 But let’s read through this. 52 00:05:54.320 --> 00:06:02.660 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it’s a fine work he desires to do. 53 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:20.900 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, and able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 54 00:06:20.900 --> 00:06:44.100 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 55 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:54.300 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 56 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:58.560 Let’s ask God to bless His holy Word to our hearts. 57 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:05.640 Father, we thank You for this precious Word, the standard and guidelines of an elder. 58 00:07:05.640 --> 00:07:16.240 And Father, we recognize that these standards are what You, by the power of Your Spirit, work in our hearts, all of us, every child of God. 59 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.680 So we pray, Father, for wisdom. 60 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:36.380 We pray that You take the truth of this passage today and apply it for all of us, giving us the guidelines we need in choosing leadership in the church, but, Father, also by application working these truths in our own lives. 61 00:07:36.380 --> 00:07:38.020 Guide us in this, Father. 62 00:07:38.020 --> 00:07:39.920 Keep me in Your truth. 63 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:53.300 Bless me, I pray, as we preach through this passage, and help us, Lord Jesus, to understand, and not only understand, to put into practice in our lives the truth of Your Word. 64 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:55.700 We ask this in Christ’s name. 65 00:07:55.700 --> 00:07:59.640 Amen. 66 00:07:59.640 --> 00:08:13.340 Well, in verse 2, it says that an overseer must be hospitable. 67 00:08:13.340 --> 00:08:17.680 An overseer must be hospitable. 68 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:30.500 So what exactly is involved in hospitality and this idea, especially in the word that Paul uses in the first century? 69 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:32.380 What does this mean for us? 70 00:08:32.380 --> 00:08:37.880 When we think about being hospitable, what are you thinking about? 71 00:08:37.880 --> 00:08:47.380 Today, in current thinking, when you think about showing hospitality to someone, you might think about something like a dinner party. 72 00:08:47.380 --> 00:08:48.860 You’re going to invite people over. 73 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:53.440 You make sure that your house is pretty immaculate for it. 74 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:58.120 When you have them over, you share a meal together. 75 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:04.700 That is something close to hospitality, but it’s not what we’re talking about in this passage exactly. 76 00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:05.880 Not at all. 77 00:09:05.880 --> 00:09:12.400 If you get locked into that kind of thinking, you’re not going to truly understand what hospitality is. 78 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:17.980 So we’re going to have to expand our understanding of that a little this morning, if that’s your thought. 79 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:24.180 So to understand the word rightly, we separate ourselves from that idea. 80 00:09:24.180 --> 00:09:29.660 And so let me tell you the Greek word here, just for fun. 81 00:09:29.660 --> 00:09:38.230 It’s philoxenon , and it’s related inversely to an English word you may have heard of, xenophobia. 82 00:09:38.230 --> 00:09:41.380 Have you ever heard of xenophobia? 83 00:09:41.380 --> 00:09:43.120 What does that mean? 84 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:57.880 Well, xenophobia is the fear or intense dislike of people from other countries or other cultures, people who are different from you, fear of people who aren’t like you in some way. 85 00:09:57.880 --> 00:10:04.360 That’s called xenophobia, the hatred of people who are different than you. 86 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:06.460 And it comes from the same word. 87 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:14.920 The first part of the word xenophobia, xeno , is found as the last part of the Greek word. 88 00:10:14.920 --> 00:10:17.900 And here it’s philoxenos . 89 00:10:17.900 --> 00:10:22.760 And what it means literally, if you take the word and you look at it, it’s a literal meaning. 90 00:10:22.760 --> 00:10:26.560 What it means is the love of strangers. 91 00:10:26.560 --> 00:10:32.300 An elder is a person who must love strangers. 92 00:10:32.300 --> 00:10:34.140 That’s an interesting thing. 93 00:10:34.140 --> 00:10:41.820 Show hospitality, take in, show grace and mercy to people who are not like him. 94 00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:45.400 So an overseer must be a man who loves strangers. 95 00:10:45.400 --> 00:11:03.720 When Paul says the overseer must be hospitable, he means that he must be willing to open up his home, his table, the resources, the graces that God has given him, to give to people that he may not know. 96 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:06.040 Not know personally, I mean. 97 00:11:06.040 --> 00:11:08.860 And so that’s what hospitality means. 98 00:11:08.860 --> 00:11:09.340 Hospitality. 99 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:20.860 And if you look at the qualifications for an elder that’s given in the book of Titus, in Titus chapter 1 and verse 8, hospitality is also listed there. 100 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:23.080 And it’s exactly the same word. 101 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:25.160 Literally, one who shows love to strangers. 102 00:11:25.160 --> 00:11:39.460 So if you’re caught up in some sort of thing like many have gotten caught up recently, in some type of racial hatred, it’s a sad thing. 103 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:57.340 Something that has disturbed me recently in our highly tech world, how people are dividing up and people that we know across the United States have been pulled away into sort of hate thinking. 104 00:11:57.340 --> 00:12:01.020 And frankly, it’s frightening to me. 105 00:12:01.020 --> 00:12:01.980 It’s disturbing to me. 106 00:12:01.980 --> 00:12:12.960 People that I care about who seem to be good Christians are being pulled away into hateful thinking, into groups like that. 107 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:33.860 Well, this passage, this word says that if you are thinking that kind of a way, if you actually are caught up in racial or ethnic prejudice of any kind, you’re not qualified for the office of an elder. 108 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:39.500 You’re not qualified to be an overseer of the church. 109 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:49.960 Because if you have received the grace and the love of God, then it’s natural that you show grace and love to other people. 110 00:12:49.960 --> 00:13:10.900 In the Gospel of Acts, there’s a pretty powerful illustration of this, because in the Gospel of Acts chapter 10, some Gentile messengers arrived at Peter’s gate, and they were sent to him by a man named Cornelius. 111 00:13:10.900 --> 00:13:14.080 And for Peter, that was a crisis. 112 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:25.140 It might not sound like much of a crisis to us for some people to show up and knock on your door, but there was a crisis for Peter because they were Gentiles. 113 00:13:25.140 --> 00:13:30.020 And Peter had been raised as a Jew. 114 00:13:30.020 --> 00:13:36.020 As an Orthodox Jew, he had been taught all his life that you don’t invite them in. 115 00:13:36.020 --> 00:13:38.260 You don’t sit at the same table. 116 00:13:38.260 --> 00:13:45.940 You don’t have that type of personal fellowship with people who are not Jews. 117 00:13:45.940 --> 00:13:51.940 And they came to his gate. 118 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:55.920 But Peter has received the grace of God. 119 00:13:55.920 --> 00:14:00.300 He knows the love of God, and he wants to be obedient to the Lord. 120 00:14:00.300 --> 00:14:02.280 So there’s the crisis. 121 00:14:02.280 --> 00:14:03.560 And so what does he do? 122 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:09.300 The Bible says that Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. 123 00:14:09.300 --> 00:14:11.320 He put them up in his own home. 124 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:14.280 You see how it has changed? 125 00:14:14.280 --> 00:14:17.460 It changed Peter, changed his heart. 126 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:21.780 The Bible says Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. 127 00:14:21.780 --> 00:14:27.320 The function of hospitality is crucial. 128 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:34.840 Being able to show the love of God is one of the ways that we demonstrate the grace of God, the grace and love of God that we’ve received. 129 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:41.500 We can give that, show that to other people. 130 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:50.620 Let me just back up a little bit and tell you some of the reasons that this was crucial in the first century. 131 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:53.600 This is absolutely vital in the first century. 132 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.660 And for that, I’m going to read a little part. 133 00:14:56.660 --> 00:15:04.040 I’m not going to read it exactly, but I’m going to paraphrase and read a quote from William Barclay. 134 00:15:04.040 --> 00:15:06.260 William Barclay is a commentator. 135 00:15:06.260 --> 00:15:09.020 He’s a little spotty in places. 136 00:15:09.020 --> 00:15:11.820 I don’t necessarily recommend him for everything. 137 00:15:11.820 --> 00:15:17.800 But one thing he excelled at was his historical understanding of things. 138 00:15:17.800 --> 00:15:19.920 And so he’s definitely worth reading. 139 00:15:19.920 --> 00:15:25.460 If you want to know the customs and the culture and the things behind things, he was an expert with that. 140 00:15:25.460 --> 00:15:37.120 And so he tells us that in the ancient world, the inns in the ancient world were places to avoid by most people. 141 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:41.000 They were dangerous places. 142 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:48.060 He points out that even in Plato’s time, he spoke of innkeepers being pirates. 143 00:15:48.060 --> 00:15:50.940 And they held their guests ransom. 144 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:54.760 And they were dirty and expensive and immoral. 145 00:15:54.760 --> 00:16:07.340 And that was characteristic of hotels, the public hotels that was of the day. 146 00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:12.000 And that was true for centuries. 147 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:18.660 It’s fairly recent that we have such clean hotels that we can go to today. 148 00:16:18.660 --> 00:16:29.940 But when people traveled, and people had to travel, they deliberately chose not to stay in those places. 149 00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:35.700 What they would do was that they would make friends with a family that was going to be in the city where they would go. 150 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:37.720 And it was kind of interesting. 151 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:42.800 This may not relate directly to the message, but I think it’s still significant. 152 00:16:42.800 --> 00:16:46.060 I found it so interesting, I have to tell you. 153 00:16:46.060 --> 00:16:47.360 What did they do? 154 00:16:47.360 --> 00:17:00.520 Well, one of the things that had been taking place is that people who traveled frequently, a merchant, for example, their family would make basically a promise to another family. 155 00:17:00.520 --> 00:17:04.800 The families would become friends in a different city. 156 00:17:04.800 --> 00:17:12.840 And so when they traveled, they had these groups of friends around through their path of the travel where they could stay. 157 00:17:12.840 --> 00:17:29.210 And that carried on for generations, which is really kind of interesting, because somebody could show up at your door who you’d never seen before in your life, and yet they were in the family that your family had made a covenant with. 158 00:17:29.210 --> 00:17:32.560 Now, that was called guest friendships . 159 00:17:32.560 --> 00:17:39.040 And to demonstrate it, they had these little tokens, and the tokens had a particular shape. 160 00:17:39.040 --> 00:17:50.280 So when someone showed up at your door and you wanted to know whether they’re the real people, family, the generational family you have a covenant with, well, you had a token. 161 00:17:50.280 --> 00:17:53.100 And those tokens would fit together in a certain way. 162 00:17:53.100 --> 00:17:56.260 And you knew that you’re dealing with that person. 163 00:17:56.260 --> 00:18:01.660 In the first century, Christians traveled a lot. 164 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:07.440 Christian missionaries, Christian leaders traveled for the promotion of the gospel. 165 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:21.280 But many, many, many Christian families, let me put it that way, had to travel, not out of any choice, but because of the persecutions that was taking place in the first century. 166 00:18:21.280 --> 00:18:27.760 And when they traveled, I’m quite certain that they avoided those inns. 167 00:18:27.760 --> 00:18:34.780 And I expect that many, many of them had no family covenant that they could rely on. 168 00:18:34.780 --> 00:18:38.000 They had something that was a lot better than that. 169 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.400 They had the family of God. 170 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:54.240 And so when a missionary was traveling to another city, or when a person was forced out of his own home and come to a different town, they would go to the church. 171 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:56.980 They would go to the people of God in that community. 172 00:18:56.980 --> 00:18:59.620 And do you know who they talked to first, usually? 173 00:18:59.620 --> 00:19:04.140 One of the elders of that church, one of the leaders of that church. 174 00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:14.800 And it was important that the leader of that church be able to show them hospitality, and that others in the church would be able to show and meet the needs of these people. 175 00:19:14.800 --> 00:19:17.480 And it was a wonderful blessing. 176 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:24.660 What a comfort that is that you’re able to share and stay. 177 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:41.740 I don’t have this story prepared, but last year there was a family in Brazil that just showed so much grace and love to my son Justin and Jesse and Peter, his son. 178 00:19:41.740 --> 00:19:44.200 And it’s just an incredible example. 179 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:50.260 And even when we visited them last year, we got there at midnight. 180 00:19:50.260 --> 00:19:51.820 This man’s a doctor. 181 00:19:51.820 --> 00:20:00.160 He showed up at the airport at midnight to drive us back to Justin’s apartment. 182 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:04.880 And that was the care he gave us the entire time that we were there. 183 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:13.500 He was a Christian man who exemplifies hospitality in such a remarkable way. 184 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:21.820 And just because he met Justin in their church, he showed them so much care, showed us so much care. 185 00:20:21.820 --> 00:20:24.140 It’s a terrific example. 186 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:27.200 So Paul says an overseer must be hospitable. 187 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:35.880 He must open his home, his table, and give his resources to those whom he may not know. 188 00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:40.080 And it’s also important that he exemplify it for the body. 189 00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:48.840 He must be able to show this to the people, because it’s not just elders who are responsible to be hospitable. 190 00:20:48.840 --> 00:21:00.440 It’s not just elders who are asked of God to be gracious and generous to those that we may not know at all. 191 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:05.740 1 Peter 4:9 says, Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 192 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:08.500 It’s one of the great one another verses. 193 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:11.780 And the word for hospitality there is the same word. 194 00:21:11.780 --> 00:21:15.040 It’s the same idea, loving strangers. 195 00:21:15.040 --> 00:21:32.500 Again, the same word is used in Romans 12:13, when the apostle Paul is talking to believers, and he talks about them contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 196 00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:35.300 People come through your community. 197 00:21:35.300 --> 00:21:38.420 People in the church of God, they come through and they need. 198 00:21:38.420 --> 00:21:40.280 A missionary comes through. 199 00:21:40.280 --> 00:21:43.940 And when the missionary comes through, they might need hosting. 200 00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:49.140 The church could probably afford to put them in a hotel. 201 00:21:49.140 --> 00:22:06.600 But how much better it is if they’re hosted by a family who gets to know them, who gets to love them, who benefits from the grace that they show, and who, because of that, prays for them, becomes part of that ministry. 202 00:22:06.600 --> 00:22:08.180 That’s a great blessing. 203 00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:09.420 What a great blessing. 204 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:20.340 When we’ve hosted missionaries as a family, one of the greatest blessings, I think, that came to our family, and one of the greatest blessings that came to our children, was that they were able to get to know some missionaries. 205 00:22:20.340 --> 00:22:21.660 It’s a wonderful thing. 206 00:22:21.660 --> 00:22:25.000 It’s a great privilege. 207 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:33.800 So, Hebrews 13:2 says, Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. 208 00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:39.740 There’s a lot of rewards to people who show hospitality. 209 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:48.160 There’s a lot of blessings to people who show hospitality to others. 210 00:22:48.160 --> 00:23:02.140 In this passage, in Hebrews 12:2, it says that Don’t neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. 211 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:03.740 You’ve heard that, haven’t you? 212 00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:06.940 You entertain someone you don’t really know. 213 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:12.220 You might be surprised to find that it’s an angel there. 214 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:14.440 I think that’s an allusion in particular. 215 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:20.980 An example of that in the Old Testament is Abraham. 216 00:23:20.980 --> 00:23:26.440 Abraham opens his home to three men who he does not know. 217 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:29.260 As soon as he sees them, he greets them warmly. 218 00:23:29.260 --> 00:23:32.640 He has a calf killed for their meal. 219 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.270 He shows great hospitality to them. 220 00:23:36.270 --> 00:23:52.640 It turns out they were angelic, probably an example also of what we call a theophany , God manifesting Himself in a visible way in the Old Testament. 221 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.760 So what was the outcome for Abraham? 222 00:23:56.760 --> 00:24:03.340 Well, they brought him some pretty important news. 223 00:24:03.340 --> 00:24:05.960 It renewed the covenant that he had with the Lord. 224 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:13.580 And they told 99-year-old Abraham that in the next year, his son Isaac would be born. 225 00:24:13.580 --> 00:24:16.180 That’s a blessing, isn’t it? 226 00:24:16.180 --> 00:24:17.940 It’s kind of interesting. 227 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:24.920 And I was thinking about this, and it’s rather surprising when you start thinking about it that way. 228 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:33.120 Rahab, in the Old Testament, in the book of Joshua, Rahab took in two spies in her home. 229 00:24:33.120 --> 00:24:36.760 She shielded them and protected them. 230 00:24:36.760 --> 00:24:50.320 They were protected under her hospitality, and as a result, her and her family were spared when Jericho was completely destroyed. 231 00:24:50.320 --> 00:24:51.680 Blessing. 232 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:53.620 Someone who showed hospitality. 233 00:24:53.620 --> 00:24:55.660 1 Kings. 234 00:24:55.660 --> 00:25:04.600 Elijah came to this little town of Zarephath, and there was a widow who lived in Zarephath. 235 00:25:04.600 --> 00:25:09.720 And when he meets her, she’s out gathering sticks to build a fire. 236 00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:13.220 And what she’s going to do with that fire is cook the last thing. 237 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:19.100 It had been a famine, a drought for three years, and they were out of food. 238 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:20.760 There wasn’t anything left. 239 00:25:20.760 --> 00:25:26.360 And so she had just a little bit of meal, a little bit of oil. 240 00:25:26.360 --> 00:25:30.540 She’s going to build a fire, but she meets Elijah. 241 00:25:30.540 --> 00:25:40.640 And Elijah says, would you be kind enough before you make that meal for you and your son to make me a little cake? 242 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.180 You’re starving. 243 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.180 Your son is starving. 244 00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:47.080 Are you going to show hospitality? 245 00:25:47.080 --> 00:25:48.240 She did. 246 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:50.320 She made the little cake. 247 00:25:50.320 --> 00:25:55.420 And as a result, the meal never failed. 248 00:25:55.420 --> 00:26:07.600 But even more than that, just a little while later, her son became violently sick and died. 249 00:26:07.600 --> 00:26:12.640 And Elisha prayed, and his life was restored. 250 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:14.420 There’s blessing. 251 00:26:14.420 --> 00:26:18.800 You might entertain angels unaware. 252 00:26:18.800 --> 00:26:22.220 And that’s a couple of Old Testament examples. 253 00:26:22.220 --> 00:26:23.480 There are many. 254 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:26.100 There are many examples. 255 00:26:26.100 --> 00:26:38.060 When you have an opportunity to have someone over for a meal or something, and you think, well, if they come over right now, what will I feed them? 256 00:26:38.060 --> 00:26:42.540 Think of the widow of Zarephath. 257 00:26:42.540 --> 00:26:45.800 Jesus told a parable that was kind of in the same vein. 258 00:26:45.800 --> 00:26:52.720 And He talked about a man who, in the middle of the night, he realizes he’s going to have some visitors the next day. 259 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:54.060 How is he going to provide for them? 260 00:26:54.060 --> 00:26:56.340 He goes to his next-door neighbor. 261 00:26:56.340 --> 00:27:03.040 He bangs on the door, wakes him up in the middle of the night, and says, Would you give me three loaves of bread? 262 00:27:03.040 --> 00:27:09.080 And Jesus isn’t saying to us that we need to bang on our neighbor’s door in the middle of the night. 263 00:27:09.080 --> 00:27:15.070 What He is saying to us is that we have someone that we can go to who will answer that prayer. 264 00:27:15.070 --> 00:27:27.480 We are to take our prayers to the Lord and trust the Lord to provide the needs for the other person as well as provide our own needs. 265 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:38.140 So we need to recognize that the Lord is sovereign over this, all these things. 266 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:45.980 Zacchaeus, the wee little man Zacchaeus, a tax collector and a sinner. 267 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:49.500 And Jesus sees him and He says, I’m coming to your house today. 268 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:54.740 And Zacchaeus hosts Jesus in a great meal. 269 00:27:54.740 --> 00:28:00.860 He has a great feast and invites everybody in the honor of Jesus. 270 00:28:00.860 --> 00:28:12.120 And after Zacchaeus, encountering Jesus, repents of his sin, Jesus says, Salvation has come to this house today. 271 00:28:12.120 --> 00:28:15.920 There’s blessing in this. 272 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:20.840 And so it’s kind of interesting how many times you find this. 273 00:28:20.840 --> 00:28:29.980 And so I’m not saying that if you host someone or you show hospitality that you’re going to get a physical blessing right now. 274 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:33.620 But I do believe that you will receive a blessing. 275 00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:37.310 And Jesus had something very interesting to say in Matthew 10. 276 00:28:37.310 --> 00:28:46.380 And He said that if you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, you will receive a prophet’s honor. 277 00:28:46.380 --> 00:29:12.620 If you’re a believer, you trust Jesus Christ, and you show hospitality to a minister of God, a kingdom worker, and you further the ministry by helping out in some way, through friendship, through generosity, then that work that they produce, you share in that eternal reward as well as a believer. 278 00:29:12.620 --> 00:29:16.380 So that’s something to keep in mind and think about. 279 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:21.220 That’s very interesting to know what kind of blessings we might receive. 280 00:29:21.220 --> 00:29:25.860 But it’s not just angels that you might entertain. 281 00:29:25.860 --> 00:29:50.960 In Matthew chapter 25, at the judgment, when the Lord is dividing the sheep from the goats, He’s dividing those who will enter into eternal fellowship with Him from those who will forever be excluded from the grace and love and mercy and benefits of God. 282 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:58.940 And He says, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 283 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:02.940 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat. 284 00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:06.520 I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. 285 00:30:06.520 --> 00:30:11.240 I was a stranger, and you took Me in. 286 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:13.700 And all the people said, When, Lord? 287 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:16.440 I don’t remember that, Lord. 288 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:24.980 And He says, In that you did it to the least of these, My brethren, you’ve done it to Me. 289 00:30:24.980 --> 00:30:44.980 See, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to show grace to people, to show love, to demonstrate the grace that you’ve received, the love that you’ve received, and to give that out to someone else. 290 00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:51.020 It’s no greater privilege of a Christian than to do something like that. 291 00:30:51.020 --> 00:30:57.560 It’s so gracious of God to allow us to share the things that we have. 292 00:30:57.560 --> 00:31:04.440 For an elder, if he refuses to do that, it probably tells you that he doesn’t love people so much. 293 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:11.800 It probably tells you that he might be a very stingy person, a person who loves money, which would also disqualify him. 294 00:31:11.800 --> 00:31:21.760 It tells you something about a person, the way they share and the way they think about things. 295 00:31:21.760 --> 00:31:27.980 It’s a wonderful thing to fix up our house and honor the people who come into it and prepare for that. 296 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:34.580 That’s not a bad thing, but it might be a bad thing if that’s keeping you from doing it. 297 00:31:34.580 --> 00:31:40.600 Not because of your care for them, but because of your own pride, you don’t want people to enter your house. 298 00:31:40.600 --> 00:31:41.760 It’s a different thing, isn’t it? 299 00:31:41.760 --> 00:31:45.080 It shows a character problem that you might have. 300 00:31:45.080 --> 00:31:46.680 So you have to be careful. 301 00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:49.500 We need to think through these things. 302 00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:58.640 So what if the laundry is scattered across your couch where you’ve been sorting it all day? 303 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:02.980 You invite them into your home and you share your life with them. 304 00:32:02.980 --> 00:32:06.280 You’re sharing your life with them. 305 00:32:06.280 --> 00:32:09.520 And there’s nothing greater than that. 306 00:32:09.520 --> 00:32:12.360 We need this so much today. 307 00:32:12.360 --> 00:32:16.460 We’ve been talking about the first century. 308 00:32:16.460 --> 00:32:22.600 The great blessing of the first century is that Christians were hospitable. 309 00:32:22.600 --> 00:32:23.760 They were hospitable. 310 00:32:23.760 --> 00:32:31.760 The gospel was able to flow all over Europe and the Middle East because the people hosted people. 311 00:32:31.760 --> 00:32:32.960 They loved people. 312 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:34.480 They supported each other. 313 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:36.440 The gospel flowed. 314 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:41.440 You know what’s missing in the 21st century is Christians are not hospitable. 315 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:43.400 We’re more and more isolated. 316 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:48.680 We barely have community when you look at the church at large. 317 00:32:48.680 --> 00:32:52.720 We are so enamored with our technologies, and they are wonderful. 318 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.760 I love the technologies. 319 00:32:54.760 --> 00:32:59.240 But the technologies have a tendency to isolate us. 320 00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:13.400 Something I learned not too long ago is that in ancient Greek times, the Greek philosophers, many of them, thought it was a cultural decline when people became literate. 321 00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:16.960 Now that seems pretty shocking, doesn’t it? 322 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:18.480 Why did they think that way? 323 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:25.760 Because before, they were learning questions and answers, and it was verbal and personal. 324 00:33:25.760 --> 00:33:29.700 And they memorized vast things. 325 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:36.180 And once they learned to read, they were somewhat separated, just a little bit. 326 00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:39.100 Great blessings in being able to read. 327 00:33:39.100 --> 00:33:49.680 Wonderful gift to be able to read and benefit from the thoughts of someone who may have lived 2,000 years ago, as we’re doing this morning. 328 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:54.400 But it also pushes you from someone just a little bit. 329 00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:55.980 That’s the way it is with technology. 330 00:33:55.980 --> 00:34:09.680 This week I noticed that Google has updated their Translate feature so that it actually can do, when it works right, it can do live translation. 331 00:34:09.680 --> 00:34:13.920 And they’re supposed to make that available on the phones and everything else very soon. 332 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:18.840 And I tried it out a little bit, sort of. 333 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:24.520 I picked Portuguese, and I started just talking to it. 334 00:34:24.520 --> 00:34:33.340 And when it got into the flow, even before I finished what I was saying, it was translating what I was saying into Portuguese. 335 00:34:33.340 --> 00:34:41.920 Now, I didn’t happen to have someone who spoke Portuguese to see how accurate that was, but I suspect from other things I’ve seen, it’s probably pretty accurate. 336 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:46.920 So here’s a tool where we can talk to people all over the world. 337 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:49.700 We can connect to them worldwide through the Internet. 338 00:34:49.700 --> 00:34:54.280 Surely that’s going to bring us together. 339 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:58.660 We’re isolated in the same room by those same technologies. 340 00:34:58.660 --> 00:35:01.100 It doesn’t bring us together. 341 00:35:01.100 --> 00:35:12.300 The more technology we’re dependent on in the United States, actually worldwide, the more divisive that is of us. 342 00:35:12.300 --> 00:35:18.500 We get caught up into so many things, and so much hate is being communicated. 343 00:35:18.500 --> 00:35:21.000 Not bringing us together. 344 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:29.180 It’s separating us into our little tribal groups and cultivating all types of hatred. 345 00:35:29.180 --> 00:35:30.720 That’s not right. 346 00:35:30.720 --> 00:35:32.580 That’s terrible. 347 00:35:32.580 --> 00:35:36.280 That’s not the purpose of Christians. 348 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:41.420 We have to be showing grace and love and have community. 349 00:35:41.420 --> 00:35:42.760 And that means one-on-one. 350 00:35:42.760 --> 00:35:45.320 We come together and we have conversations. 351 00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:46.840 We share a meal. 352 00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:49.520 We get to know each other over a table. 353 00:35:49.520 --> 00:35:51.520 That’s crucial. 354 00:35:51.520 --> 00:35:54.660 That’s so vital. 355 00:35:54.660 --> 00:36:03.520 So, finally, we come near the end of my first point. 356 00:36:03.520 --> 00:36:05.780 Not to worry. 357 00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:15.060 I think, given the circumstances, I think it’d be very appropriate for us to hold that point to next week. 358 00:36:15.060 --> 00:36:16.840 But I have that on here. 359 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:21.020 I intended to preach these together because they go together. 360 00:36:21.020 --> 00:36:23.080 Grace and truth goes together. 361 00:36:23.080 --> 00:36:25.340 Grace and truth is powerful. 362 00:36:25.340 --> 00:36:32.240 When you use grace and truth in your home, as a child of God, you do both. 363 00:36:32.240 --> 00:36:39.360 You teach someone something that you’ve experienced in the Lord. 364 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:43.100 You teach them some truth from the Bible that you’ve learned. 365 00:36:43.100 --> 00:36:47.680 You do that in addition to having just shown them the grace, the hospitality. 366 00:36:47.680 --> 00:36:49.320 That’s so powerful. 367 00:36:49.320 --> 00:36:51.540 That’s powerful. 368 00:36:51.540 --> 00:37:11.420 This morning in Sunday school, Matthew said at one point (I almost had to speak, but I was able just barely to control myself; it’s hard for me sometimes), but he said, you can be a tenured college professor. 369 00:37:11.420 --> 00:37:18.830 I think I’m paraphrasing him, but he said, you can be a tenured college professor and still might have some things to learn. 370 00:37:18.830 --> 00:37:21.380 Oh, that’s so true. 371 00:37:21.380 --> 00:37:24.600 You want a great example of that? 372 00:37:24.600 --> 00:37:31.520 38-year-old Rosaria Butterfield was a tenured college professor. 373 00:37:31.520 --> 00:37:33.840 She taught women’s studies. 374 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:36.380 She was a lesbian. 375 00:37:36.380 --> 00:37:39.700 She had a partner she lived with. 376 00:37:39.700 --> 00:37:49.400 And through hospitality of a pastor, a pastor’s family, she came to know the Lord. 377 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:54.300 And she was so incredibly, dramatically changed. 378 00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:59.360 If you’ve never read her book or don’t know about her, please learn about her. 379 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:07.920 It’s a terrific example of someone who was transformed through hospitality and truth coming together. 380 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:10.780 Read about Rosaria Butterfield. 381 00:38:10.780 --> 00:38:16.720 She wrote a book called The Gospel Comes with a House Key . 382 00:38:16.720 --> 00:38:18.640 Hospitality and the gospel. 383 00:38:18.640 --> 00:38:21.640 It’s a powerful, powerful book. 384 00:38:21.640 --> 00:38:26.400 And she’s become so faithful to the Lord. 385 00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:29.780 I encourage you to get to know that story. 386 00:38:29.780 --> 00:38:32.520 Get to know something about her. 387 00:38:32.520 --> 00:38:37.440 But you don’t have to look to her to find examples. 388 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:45.660 I think if we look at her own life, or if we begin to live it, we’ll receive something far greater than just reading about it. 389 00:38:45.660 --> 00:38:47.700 We’ll experience it ourselves. 390 00:38:47.700 --> 00:38:54.560 Enjoy the grace and love that can be experienced when we give it out to other people. 391 00:38:54.560 --> 00:38:57.820 We enjoy great blessing from God. 392 00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:05.200 Get to know Christ better through letting His Holy Spirit work through us in these ways. 393 00:39:05.200 --> 00:39:07.440 I encourage you to do that. 394 00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:15.460 And I’d say we might get a chance to try that out, because in about 10 minutes, we’re going to have a fellowship meal. 395 00:39:15.460 --> 00:39:26.420 And when we have that fellowship meal, I want to encourage you to enjoy the time that you spend over the table with the people you share it with. 396 00:39:26.420 --> 00:39:35.980 And maybe spend a little time getting to know the stranger, the person that you might not otherwise know so well. 397 00:39:35.980 --> 00:39:43.760 And if you can show some love for strangers today, you’ll probably share the benefits as well. 398 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:49.060 We ask, Father, that You show us grace today. 399 00:39:49.060 --> 00:40:05.680 Please take this passage, this word that we looked at, this one word, hospitality, that is so important that You repeat that as an instruction for believers and give examples in both Old and New Testament. 400 00:40:05.680 --> 00:40:08.320 Please help us to take this seriously. 401 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:20.600 Father, we suspect that the church is not growing as it should today because here’s a practice that we’ve almost forgotten. 402 00:40:20.600 --> 00:40:23.000 We do have fellowship dinners. 403 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:24.940 We do all sorts of things. 404 00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:39.020 But the kind of love where we see someone who is having a tough day that we might not know well at work, and instead of buying one coffee at break, we buy two. 405 00:40:39.020 --> 00:40:52.500 Father, there’s so many ways we can practically show hospitality and then give a word of encouragement and truth that comes from You in order to see a life changed. 406 00:40:52.500 --> 00:40:55.380 You can use any of us that way. 407 00:40:55.380 --> 00:40:57.960 Lord, please show us grace. 408 00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:05.160 Help open our eyes to the needs and help us, Lord, to love strangers. 409 00:41:05.160 --> 00:41:09.160 In so doing, we love Christ. 410 00:41:09.160 --> 00:41:12.080 We ask Your blessing in His name. 411 00:41:12.080 --> 00:41:14.080 Amen.