My uncle sang in a quartet in North Carolina, and I'm sure I did find this song somewhere else, but they sang a song called The Ground Is Level at the Foot of the Cross. And then the I the idea there is, well, it's the ground is level at the foot of the cross. No man stands higher than I. You can call on Jesus' name and a king can do the same. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

We're all sinners just in need of a savior, and praise the Lord, we have one, Jesus Christ, who we celebrate at Christmas time. So, we're going to jump right into the message this evening. So, if you take your Bibles and turn to first Timothy, chapter four and verse 12. Remember Paul is giving instructions to this young man, probably in his twenties or thirties. Most likely his thirties, but somewhere in that area.

He has taken over responsibilities as the head elder or pastor at the church in I heard it. Pam? Ephesus. Ephesus. That's right.

In the city of Ephesus. Very good. Paul is anticipating several struggles he might have in the ministry, temptations he might have in the ministry. Just some general instruction that he needs to have that Paul has learned and that the Lord obviously has shared with Paul and Paul is now sharing with Timothy And Timothy will share with those, hopefully, that he leads to the Lord and some that he trains for the ministry and on down the list we go. Faye is not here this evening because Faye is at Bible College.

Please don't forget to pray for him. He has a whole lot on his shoulders. He jumped from the frying pan into the fire very much. He didn't have a very sound academic background and so he jumped in the college. He still is a rather new Christian and as Bible knowledge is still growing very much and he jumped into that.

And he's working twenty to thirty hours a week in order to pay his what's that part of the bill? Not the tuition, but the other part. The room and board. Yeah. And so extremely busy.

Last he texted me, he said, I'm passing all my classes, so that's good. But, keep praying for him. I know he gets discouraged at times. But I'm I'm very excited that the Lord somehow caused him to cross our paths, and we had the opportunity to minister to him, and that the Lord has called him into the ministry, and he followed that call, and he is following the Lord and and so pray for him and that he will continue to grow and but it's it's been a joy to be able to to spend time with him the last couple of years and and encourage him in the faith and to teach him from the word. And that is a joy of of every pastor that has that opportunity to see young folks go into the ministry.

Not all of them go into full time ministry. There are other areas of ministry as well that is a joy as a pastor to help encourage and and train and teach others in. And so Paul is encouraging Timothy. He's grateful for the opportunity. He is very grateful for Timothy.

He just bubbles over with gratitude and joy, for this young man. But he knows that in this pagan city in which he is ministering, it's not going to be easy. He knows that ministering to people in general is not all that easy. We can be difficult and hard headed and and stubborn and and many other things. And so, he is giving him instruction.

Timothy can't himself change everybody else. That is the work of who? That's the work of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit. And it depends upon also the response of those to whom he ministers. And his primary responsibility is what we read about here in verse 12.

So let's read verse 12. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. It is important as we read this verse that first of all, we do not have a misunderstanding with what Paul is saying. Who is Paul talking to? He's talking to Timothy.

He is not specifically talking to the congregation. He is talking to Timothy. His command here is to Timothy as he begins this command. The whole verse is a command. Okay?

The whole verse is an imperative. Okay? Let no man despise thy youth. Now some in our culture today, in particularly, would read that phrase, let no man despise thy youth, and immediately think that Paul is telling Timothy, don't you let anybody disrespect you because you're long. You know?

Don't don't let them don't don't let them dishonor you. Don't let them disrespect you because of your youth. You stand up for yourself. You make sure they respect and honor you the way they should because you're the what? You're the pastor.

Let no man despise you because of your youth. But that's not what Paul is saying. Paul is not telling Timothy to demand, command something out of his congregation here. He is not telling Timothy to stand up for himself. He is not telling Timothy to make other people honor and respect him.

He is telling Timothy, you make sure you're the kind of person that they will, what, respect and honor. The impetus is not upon the congregation to show him the respect he is due. It is upon Timothy to be the kind of leader and minister whom they will respect, who is worthy of their respect. That is what is what Paul is telling Timothy here. Sometimes I've heard it taken the other way, and that's that's not what it that's not what it's saying.

He's just simply telling Timothy, you be that example. You be that kind of person that others will follow despite your what? Despite your youth. Also, he is not telling Timothy to make every one like and respect him, to make it his point in ministry to be liked. He's not telling that either.

He's not commanding him Timothy to Lord himself over others and force their respect, and he's not telling Timothy to do everything that they want the way they want it in order that they might like him. That is not his responsibility either. A matter of fact, Jesus told us that generally speaking, it's usually going to be the other way around. If you stand up for what's right, there are certainly going to be people, even sometimes people within the church, that it's going to rub the wrong way. Okay?

John 15, Jesus says, the world hates you. You know it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. So of the world in particular, God says, don't expect the world to love you if you're doing if you're serving me.

If you're preaching my word, if you're following me, likelihood the world is probably overall, going to hate you. So get used to it. Alright? They're not going to hold you up on a pedestal. They're not going to pat you on the back.

They're not going to give you some big reward. I I noticed, in, on my, news feed, today that they're giving out awards at the Kennedy Center and, to the to the greatest artists of the country. And one of the groups getting the reward is KISS. Alright. So that's who the world honors.

I don't think we fit in the same category. And while we might find it strange that KISS should get a great reward as one of the highest achieving artists in the country, we get a greater reward, don't we? Not the pat on the back of man, not the applause of man, but the applause of who? The applause of God, the reward that is awaiting us in heaven because of Christ our savior. We we shouldn't even desire the praise of men.

We should be desiring the praise of who? The praise of God. In Galatians one ten, it says, for I do now for I for do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? This is Paul speaking again, obviously.

For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of who? Right. Okay. That's a kind of an obvious statement. In other words, Paul is saying, if I'm seeking with my life to please men who generally are not on the same page with who?

With God, then I'm serving men. I'm not serving who? I'm not serving God. If I'm seeking to please God, then I'm serving God. But if I'm seeking to please men, then I'm not serving God.

I'm pleasing who? I'm serving I'm serving men. I'm going make a choice. Am I going to serve men or I'm going to serve God? In serving God, we minister and lift up others to point their eyes to Jesus and to encourage them and help them in the way of the Lord.

Sometimes that's going to please them. Sometimes it's not. That's okay. We're not here to please men. We're here to please who?

We're here to please God, and that's particularly true of the ministry. Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Please, man. So Paul isn't telling Timothy that he needs to make him respect him. He's not telling Timothy that he needs to kowtow to them and do everything they want so they'll respect him.

What is he telling Timothy? What he's telling Timothy is that Timothy needs to be the kind of minister who is an example, who follows and serves the Lord, who earns the respect of others by doing what is right. Paul's concern was that Timothy live in a banner worthy of that honor, that the ministry of the Lord be not hindered by youthful antics or foolish words or actions. And then that's true whether we're young or whether we're old. To live in a manner worthy of the Lord and the ministry that God has given to us, that the ministry be not, what, hindered by youthful antics or foolish words or actions.

And often the ministry is hindered by youthful antics and foolish words and actions, whether it come from the young or the old, whether it come from the from the the new or the seasoned minister. If we allow the flesh to to to lead us if we're not walking in the spirit. We are apt to say foolish, sometimes inaccurate, and sometimes hurtful things that do not minister grace into the hearers that we minister to. Sometimes we allow the flesh to lead us on a path that does not make us the best example as we should be for others. And so it behooves us as children of the Lord.

It behooves us particularly as witnesses for Christ and especially those in the ministry, to let no man despise us by being a good what? A good example. By being a good example. Don't give others, especially in your church, reasons to despise your youthfulness. Don't give them undue unnecessary ammunition to say, well, that's a young people for you, or that's a man for you, or that's a bald headed guy, for whatever the case may be.

Alright? Don't give them a frivolous or real reason to become your critic, but live in such a manner to give them every reason to be your supporter and follower. Now, that doesn't mean they're always going to support you, and that doesn't mean they're always going to follow you. That doesn't mean they're always going to respect you even in the house of God. But you can't control them, Timothy.

Who can you control? By God's grace. Yourself. And that's what Paul is saying here. Timothy, you choose by God's grace to be a good example and you let God take care of the rest.

You earn the respect of others by being an example they can follow, by being more and more each day like your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It you're going to need to be patient. That takes time. They're going to need to be a little bit forgiving because you're not perfect. And you're going to have to be a little forgiving because they're not perfect.

But just keep on learning and growing, drawing closer to the Lord, and being that example. That's what Paul is saying to Timothy. Be an example, not griping about things or how you're treated or what's going on, not getting upset or bowing up to it, not ignoring it, neither trying to please everyone to make everyone your friend. Just be an example. Just learn to follow the Lord.

Just fill your life with the word of God. Be patient and trust in the Lord and his word. Example means a pattern or a model, and Paul was challenging Timothy to continue to be a better and better role model for those to whom he ministered that they could follow by seeking to please God and not men. It's the opposite of trying to be men pleasers, being God pleasers. That's what we all should be.

And therefore, becoming a role model that others can follow. I have tried a few times in my life to do something artistic. It has not gone particularly well because I am not an artist. But sometimes when you're trying I remember when I was back in elementary school when we had art class, and they put a model, a bird or something up on the thing, and I was supposed to draw the bird. Okay?

And I had this beautiful model up there for me to to draw or a painting to follow. My painting didn't look anything like the bird that was up there, but it wasn't the bird's fault. Okay? It wasn't the model's fault. It was what?

It was my fault. It was my fault for two reasons. One, I would much rather have been at PE or lunch or recess or even taking math class than I was sitting in art class. Number two, I had no artistic ability whatsoever, so I could look at that thing until I was blue in the face and it wasn't going to look much better. But the point is, it helps to have what?

A model, an example to look at. And for those that had just a little bit of motivation and just a little bit of artistic ability, because they had something to look at, they could reproduce it, you see. Now, obviously, who is our great example? Jesus Christ. But could the people in Ephesus see Jesus Christ?

They could read about Jesus. They could even know Christ through faith, but they couldn't literally see Christ. And so Paul is telling Timothy, the best way you can minister to these people is to be a good what? Example, be a good model for them to follow. Show them.

Show them in what you say and what you do what a what it means to be a to be a Christian. In so doing, you will earn, to some degree, their respect. But do it not by commanding them to respect you. Do it not by trying to please their every whim to make them like you. Do it by being that good model, that good example before them.

Now that's not the easiest thing to do because the flesh doesn't want to conform. Whether you're in the ministry or whether you're in the you're being ministered to, the flesh is still a hurdle and an obstacle in that transformation. But we're not to be conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And, of course, the best place to start to do that is what? Right here in the word of God every day.

Paul also gave similar instruction to Titus, another young man that he had trained in the ministry and left on the island of Crete to build churches. He told Titus, Titus two six through eight, young men, likewise, exhort to be sober minded in all things. Why why particularly did he tell Titus he he instruct Titus the young men ought to be sober minded because young men have a tendency to not be sober minded. He's not talking about being drunk. What he's talking about is young men are gung ho.

Young men are not always maturely focused on the most important things in life. And so, young man, be sober minded. In other words, grow up, grow up. In all things showing thyself a what? A pattern.

Okay? Another word for example or model. Showing thyself a pattern of good works. In doctrine, showing uncorruptness. In other words, that you stick by the truth, that you're not swayed, that you're solid and sound in your doctrine.

Gravity and sincerity. This is a this is an important important thing, important ministry, important calling. It shouldn't be taken lightly. With sound speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say to you or of you. So what is Paul saying to us?

Again, here's how you deal with the lack of respect in the church. Be the kind of person that is respectable and honorable before the Lord, and then just wait on the Lord and be patient and let it come. If you try to force things, you're you're a lot of times, they're just gonna make things, what? Worse. Just do what is right.

Be an example, and God will reward it, and others will too. Being an example is the most effective way to teach others and show them you are not to be despised but looked up to. We are compelled in scripture to be disciples or followers of Christ who is our great role model, our pattern for life. Praise the Lord. We have the word of God that records many things that Jesus did in his life that we can learn from, that we can follow his what?

Example, the apostle Paul exhorted those he wrote in more than one passage to follow his example as he followed Christ's example. This is the very best solution to any disrespect or distrust on the part of his congregation. This is not a quick fix. It takes time. Quick fixes rarely last and cause other problems.

This is an ongoing proposition, continue to be a better and better example. It doesn't I've arrived. I'm a good example now. I'm just kind of coast. It doesn't work that way.

If you start coasting, you go up and then it goes back down. Alright. It's an ongoing proposition. And this is a lesson meant not only for the young, but believers of all ages. Especially the the elders who should already know how to be a what?

A good example. Okay? Who should already know. Any list certain categories here, we'll go through them quickly. We could spend a lesson or message on each category.

But we won't do that this evening. In word. Be an example in word. Now that's not hard. In word means in what you in what you say.

Okay? Be a good example in what you say and in what you teach. What kind of what kind of things would fall under being a good example in what you say and teach? Well, being being clear in what you say and being edifying. That is beneficial and encouraging.

Our words in ministry should be clear and they should be edifying. That's the purpose, and we're told that in Ephesians, that our language should be edifying, that it might minister grace unto the hearers. There, Paul is not only talking to ministers, but he's talking to Christians in general. Our language should be clear and edifying. It should be true and it should be honest.

It should always be true and it should always be honest. We should be careful not to cut corners. We should be careful not to exaggerate. We should be careful to make sure that what we're saying is accurate. It is tempting sometimes to exaggerate a little bit to make a point, and I've never done that.

Why are you laughing? Okay. I try not to do that. I really do. But sometimes the flesh gets the better of us and we think, hey, they'll listen to me if I make the number with one extra or two extra, three extra zeros.

Now, there is a literary tool called hyperbole. Okay? And when the hyperbole is understood to be hyperbole, that's not always wrong. Okay? Christ sometimes used hyperbole.

However, we need to be careful to be true and to be honest and to be accurate in the words that we say. If we expect others to take what we have to say seriously. If we're not, then oftentimes we're not taking what? We're not taken seriously, and that's a problem. Our word our word should be kind and considerate.

Kind and considerate. In the day and age when I grew up, some fundamentalist preachers were known for being anything but kind and considerate. You know, they just blasted everybody all the time. And I don't think that is the way it ought to be. I think you can speak the truth.

I think you can be confident and stand on the truth and say the truth without shame and still be kind and and considerate. I think those are all important areas in being a good example. Kind and considerate, true and honest, clear and edifying, and obviously, holy and clean. In Colossians four verse six, it says, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man. Good good advice.

Next is conversation. So now if you're not familiar with the King James version and you're reading through the verse and you see, be a good example in word and in conversation, you might think, well, those two sort of sound like the the same thing. Word, conversation, con but the word conversation, the Greek word that's translated conversation is not talking about what you say, it's actually talking about what you do, it's talking about your behavior. The communication that you demonstrate, you teach not by your words, but by your what? But by your actions and by your behavior.

This is speaking largely about Timothy's public conduct. Conduct yourself in a way that is a good example, Respectfully, appropriately, morally, in a way that brings glory to who? Bring bring glory to God. If you're going to be an example, yes, in the ministry, obviously, are important, but your behavior is important too. And it may not be about your a a particular, you know, big moral issue we're talking about here.

It may just be your general response and attitude towards people and how you behave in public in an appropriate and respectful and respectful manner so that others will see that they matter to who? You. And that God matters to who? You. By your actions.

And you go above and beyond to make sure that you have a good testimony before the Lord. Now, brother Al, what example am I going to bring up? No? No? The other one.

The root beer. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The root beer.

Yeah. There we go. Alright. They sell root is it I don't know. I'm I I hesitate to ask this question, is there anything wrong with root beer?

Because, I don't know, maybe somebody does have a problem with root beer. But generally speaking, we don't have an issue with root beer. Maybe it has a little too much sugar in it. Maybe you shouldn't drink a gallon a day. That may not be good idea.

But generally speaking, root beer is not evil. It doesn't mess with your brain. It's not a drug, so forth and so on. It's just something sweet to drink. However, they sometimes sell root beer in a brown bottle that's about yay big.

And generally speaking now, the public is pretty familiar with root beer sold in a bottle that's brown, that's about yay big. But back when I was a kid, usually if you saw somebody with a brown bottle, it wasn't root beer. What was it? It was beer. K?

Had alcohol in it. That's a little bit different story than root beer. Okay? And and so I like this particular root beer. It's called IBC root beer.

And and I and my friend, we go to a store. One particular store sold it. And for some reason, it just tastes better coming out of that brown bottle. If you pour it in something else, it just doesn't taste cold. Bottle, it just it just tastes better.

But after an experience at a ballgame that I told Al and pretty much everybody else about, I I quit drinking IBC root beer in public because it's evil to drink root beer. No. But because I recognized that it it it hindered my my testimony. Very much so in respect to one of the people at that ballgame. I was drinking root beer out of a brown bottle.

He was drinking beer out of a McDonald's cup. And he thought it was really funny that I thought I was being cool because I had the root beer bottle. And for the next ten years of his life, he became an alcoholic. So, be a good example in word and in in conversation, in your behavior in public. And that should be true of Christians in general.

And, no, I'm not saying you can't drink IBC root beer. A matter of fact, every now and then when I go to Al's house, he has IBC root beer in the fridge so I can drink it there at his house in private. That's a fact. Yeah. But I but I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea.

It's just not worth it. Be a good example in love, agape love. That's the love that God has for us that compelled him to send his son. Sincere, unconditional, unselfish, unending. Paul describes it in first Corinthians 13.

There, it's translated charity, but it's the same word in Greek. Charity suffereth long, that means it's patient, and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. We don't have time to unpack all of that.

I've unpacked it at other times when we were going through Corinthians, and there's a lot there about love. Love is unselfish because love is choosing to value not so much your wants, but the wants and needs and value of who? Of others. So show that, Timothy, to others that you love them. That's not just saying I love you.

That's showing them that they matter. Listen to them when they're they're talking to you. Help them when they have a need. Show concern when they're struggling. Minister to them in love as Christ ministered to who?

To us. Sometimes that means you're gonna have to put their needs before before yours, part of the ministry. Be an example in word, in conversation, in love, in in spirit, in spirit. Now, that's that spirit there is not a reference directly to the holy spirit, but to the human to the human spirit. But as a child of God, my human spirit has now been changed by the Holy Spirit that lives inside of me.

And others should be able to see a change in my spirit, in my attitude, in my motivation, in my joy before others. An attitude that is hopeful and positive Because as Christians, we have every reason to be hopeful and positive. We should not be always anxious and fearful and angry and negative. That is not the Holy Spirit's work in our life. That is not the kind of spirit that should come forth, that should be hopeful and positive, not overly critical of others.

Yes, in the ministry, you are called to try to help others. And to help others, you have to be discerning sometimes about what is going on that you might know how to help them. And sometimes it revolves involves correction and rebuke. But there is a loving, kind, edifying rebuke. And there is a critical mean and condescending rebuke, and they're not the same thing.

So Timothy have a good spirit, a a Christ like spirit, hopeful, positive, not not overly critical, humble. Let this mind be in you which was also in who? Christ Jesus. In Philippians two, what is Paul talking about? He's talking about a humble spirit.

Be spirit led. And if you are, you'll start demonstrating the fruit of the what? The fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, patience, goodness, gentleness, meekness, faith. So be a good example in word, in what you say, in how you behave, and your love and your spirit in faith.

In your conviction and your fidelity to who? To Christ. That your faith in Christ might be evident and solid and growing in the Lord and in his in his what? And in his word. Let them see your faith.

Let them see you taking the the hard stand, going against the the temptations of the world to compromise. Let them see your faith in the Lord and in his word. Guide your steps in your life and your decisions. Let them see your fidelity to Christ, your loyalty to him, and to his word above all else. Let them see your confidence in his word and in your convictions.

Certain faith in God and his promises and reliance upon the Lord. Reliance upon the faith is learning to trust and rely on who? And rely on God. Let others see that that you really truly believe in God so much that you're willing to rely upon him and simply trust and, what? Obey.

And then purity, holiness, moral purity without reproach, blameless. It's important. What does Peter say? Be ye holy for what? For I am holy.

He's quoting God speaking in the Old Testament. He's bringing into the New Testament. That's not only good for the Old Testament, it's also good for the what? The New Testament, God says in all manner of conversation, conduct be ye what? Holy for among holy.

Morality is not a small thing. It's an important thing to who? It's important thing to God. It's important to God that you be honest. It's important to God that you don't steal.

It's important to God that you don't commit adultery. It's important to God that you're careful about what you think and what you look at and what you dwell upon, that you be a person of high standards and moral character that others can look up to, and that there be no question about that. These are areas where Paul instructs Timothy, Timothy, if you're going to be the minister, if you're going to reach people, if you're going to earn their respect, not for the sake of earning their respect, but for the sake of having the opportunity to minister to them for Christ. It's not respect for respect's sake. It's respect for the opportunity to teach them.

Then you be an example. You be an example in your words, in your conversation, your conduct, in your love. Let them see love in your life. Be an example in your spirit that is hopeful and positive and humble, let them see your trust and faith in the Lord and in his word and your willingness to take a stand for it and your confidence in it. And they'll be confident too.

And let them see that you are a person of integrity and moral character that they can follow. Be be an example. That is good instruction for pastors, for elders, for deacons, for teachers, for moms and dads and grandparents, for all of us who know the Lord to take to heart. Be an example. Let's pray.

Dear Lord, thank you that we have a great example to follow in Jesus Christ our Lord, that you have recorded for us and preserved for us so much of your life that we can learn from. And also, Lord, forgiving us, others in our life that they're not perfect and they're still growing and learning, but, Lord, others that are trying their best to follow the Lord to do what is right, who trust in you and in your word and are willing to take a stand when it is needed, willing to step out in faith when it is needed. We have a humble spirit and a faith in you that allows them to smile in the difficult times. Lord, thank you for those that have been examples to us and help us to be better examples to others. Not all of us are called to preach or teach with words so much or in a classroom setting, but Lord, we can all teach others simply by being a good example.

Lord, help us not to take that for granted or the ministry that you have called us to in our realm of influence, Lord. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen.