Well, President, First Timothy and Chapter 3, I will just read the first three verses. 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, and not a lover of money. Well, you will know that whenever we have been having these ordinations of either elders or deacons or missionaries, that we've been having times when we pause for a moment around the Word of God. And more specifically for elders and deacons, we have been looking at the qualifications for these offices one after the other. And not because the Apostle Paul is stringing them the way they might look here, but it's because he's painting a portrait of either an elder or overseer or a deacon. It's a portrait that he is painting. However, like any painter, each color matters as it is bringing together the entire picture. And in this case, we have been looking at each one of those colors so that we might see the kind of men that we should have serving in these offices. We've already seen the overarching principle of being above reproach. that each one of these ingredients is simply bringing out this above reproach aspect of individuals who are in the office. And therefore, when a man who is in the office is no longer above reproach, then it should be his own initiative without waiting for others to step aside because I am no longer qualified to serve. And then the details that the Apostle Paul gives, we've looked at the husband of one wife, we have also looked at sober-mindedness together with being self-controlled, and now this evening, Very briefly, I want us to look at respectable. Respectable. The Greek word that the Apostle Paul uses there is kosmion, or kosmios, and you can't miss that kosmos aspect of it, suggesting something of the whole roundedness of whatever this might be. What is this whole roundedness that is in this word respectful or respectable? Really it is in terms of dignity and orderliness. In terms of dignity and orderliness. In other words, the very thing that causes people to respect you is not simply that you have entered into an office. But it is because there is something about you that speaks of dignity. There is something about you that speaks of well-rounded orderliness. And that, no doubt, is what causes individuals to say, here is someone I need to respond to in this particular way. Now, with respect to spiritual reality, I think we all know that it must never simply be outward. And with respect to the world, it's very easy for it to be that way. In other words, people can sort of take off one hat and put on another, depending on the situations in which they are. They sort of realize, OK, now I'm going before the cameras Now I am going to the office and therefore I should be like this. But when they are elsewhere, without cameras being upon them, they can literally be anything under the sun. With respect to spirituality, there must never be what is called a turning of the court. that is your jacket, that when you turn it around it becomes something that is white and when you turn it around it is something that is black. That immediately makes God's people stop respecting you when they begin to realize that it's all simply a makeup that is being done. With respect to godliness, This respectability, the outward nature, the outward dignity, the outward orderliness is a reflection of what you are on the inside. They know that. It's not only the church members. Your very spouse knows that. that this is who this man is, whether it's inside the house or at church leading a meeting or even teaching some kind of lesson. The children also know that, that this is him. There's no alloy, no mixture. that it's the godliness that has been growing in him that's now simply manifesting itself on the outside. It also means it doesn't matter where the person is, whether you've gone to the village to visit the old people, or you've traveled to America, or Europe, or wherever else it might be. There's going to be no change. because it's your godliness that is simply shining through and consequently anybody can see it. The respect that therefore you have at church is the respect you'll have in the office where you work is the same respect that you have in the home where you live. because this is the real thing. The word is used twice in this book. The first time it's used, it's used with respect to women. in chapter 2. So let's just quickly go there. Beginning with verse 9, in fact it's actually in verse 9, but I want us to reach verse 10 as well. So let me begin with verse 8 where the men are being addressed. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 8. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Likewise also, that women should adorn themselves, listen to this, in respectable apparel. In other words, clothing that makes you respect them, the way they dress. And then he says, qualifying it further, with modesty, and self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works. Let me try and explain that before we begin to think that there's anything wrong with the use of braiding your hair, which is a very African thing. The thing that the Apostle Paul is saying there is this, that what should stand out for a godly woman, the thing that should scream for your attention is this, that the way the godly woman appears, nothing is screaming for attention, nothing. In other words, you're not seeing either a hairdo or a dress that makes you wring your neck to look back and say, who was that? Except one thing. Good works. Good works. That when you've come to know this person, you are going, wow, here is A child of God who's given, as we're learning this morning, to brotherly affection. Given to genuine Christian service. So in everything else, there is a modesty. A modesty. In other words, moderation. There's nothing screaming out. Whether it is the hairdo, or whether it is the dress, or whether it's the gold and jewelry, they are all on average. But the good works, wow, you cannot miss it. And that's where this respect is coming from. There is a dignity that you cannot miss with respect to this woman. Well, that's exactly what is being said with being a person who is a mature Christian and consequently being considered for eldership. And by the way, that's an important note we must never overlook. The qualifications for eldership are not like qualifications for an accountant or a doctor or an engineer or something like that. No, no. The qualifications of eldership are simply a description of maturity. That's all. In other words, all of us should be aiming for that. All of us. It's not a special breed of believers that are therefore marked out for that and then the rest of us are ordinary run-off-the-mill Christians. No, no, no. This is, when we are choosing elders, we are looking for those that are standing out among us in their godliness. And one of those areas is that they gain our respect. They gain our respect because there is a dignity, there is an orderliness in their behavior, and it is deep. It is not skin deep. It is really deep because it is spiritual. Now, why is this important? Very quickly, why is it important? Well, first of all, it is because in eldership work, we are dealing with matters of eternal life and eternal death. In other words, we are dealing with very weighty matters. So you cannot have a person dealing with such matters. And they are behaving like adolescents, boys and girls, still enjoying what it means to live life irresponsibly. You can't. I mean, imagine that you are very, very sick and you've been told that you need to have an operation. And as the anesthetics person walks in, he or she walks in doing Michael Jackson's moonwalk. And as if that's not enough, even the doctor moves in dancing like James Brown. It doesn't matter how sick you are, you say, no, no, no, I think I'm not tired. May I please leave? Because you realize these people coming in here, when they've put me to sleep, they could put me to sleep permanently. So I want to, as I'm relating to the people who are about to touch me and cut me up and so on, I want to feel within my own soul that these are respectable people, that there is a dignity about them. Now friends, with respect to eldership work, multiply that by a thousand. It's not a play thing. It demands that there should be this aspect of being respectable. But it's not only that, it's also the issue of governing. Governing demands respectability. It demands dignity. You see, it's only, as I said, adolescents, boys and girls, who simply idolize their soccer players and their musicians. And as you walk into their bedroom, you find those big, big posters that they've put on their bedroom doors and wardrobes and so on, of these guys. I think I would be worried if I now also entered their parents' bedroom and found those same posters. I would be worried for the children, actually. That what kind of home are they in? It's very obvious that the parents have not matured. So how are they going to provide leadership to these children? How? when they themselves think that these are the people they could be held in awe about. Governing demands leadership, and leadership demands respectability. It demands dignity. The people must have this sense that he is an example for us to follow. A real example of godliness. Look at chapter 4, very quickly, and verse 11. Chapter 4 and verse 11. The Bible says there, I'm going to say it in verse 12, but we need to begin with verse 11. Command and teach these things. Now, that's leadership. That's leadership. Command and teach these things. But notice, the only way you can do so, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believer as an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. In other words, you're not just commanding and commanding, hey, you must respect me, you know. I'm a pastor here, you must respect me. No, no, no, no. It's by the kind of life they are seeing in you that that respect is drawn out of them. And consequently, they follow you. You can stand up. and say, tomorrow we are doing this church, and tomorrow they will be doing that church. They won't despise you, despite the fact that you are young. Thirdly, discipline, church discipline, only succeeds where there is respect. Where there is respect. Now, stubborn sinners will still not respect you. That's part of the entire rebellion. They don't respect God, so they won't respect you. But as you know, the church is not just stubborn sinners. It comprises the rest as well. The others will respect you. And hence, discipline will succeed. But where you are a tomboy, where everybody simply sees you as the clown of the church. There's no way in that moment when you are dealing with the issue of the glory of God at stake, there's no way that the people will say with trembling in their shoes, ifintu fi habib. There's no way. Hence, respectability is important. How should we nurture this respectability? First of all, it's never direct. In other words, this qualification, the overseer must be respectable, is not something you demand. It is something you win by your very life. Back to Timothy in chapter four. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Now, there's no doubt that that's what has happened to our brother Emmanuel. I mean, he's been among us, as he said himself, from the teenage years, was baptized at Kawata Baptist Church. There's no doubt that it's the respectability that, over time, he has won among you, that he managed to get that must have been 94% or something vote, confidence level. But all of us must aim for that. Not by demanding it, but by growing spiritually. By giving ourselves to spiritual growth. Remember our one service. Christian, grow up. That's what should be happening to all of us. We must not remain thumb-sacking spiritual toddlers. For years, no! We should put aside those napkins so that the young converts who are coming through are seeing that, spiritually, we are ahead of them. And they want us to be their leaders. Two quick things, and I close. One, why should I bother about this growth? Well, it's simply because, brethren, life on earth is temporal. It's a probation period. We'll soon be gone. I assure you, we'll soon be gone. All of us will be gone. And then we will meet with God on the judgment day. Now let me put it this way to you. There is nothing more sobering in life than imagining yourself giving your final account to God. There is nothing that gives us real perspective on life the real weight over the kind of things we are often chasing after. Then rethinking that, okay, now finally, let's assume this is my last day. And the next thing is to meet with God so that he gives me my final state, which will be eternal. And when you process that, I want to assure you that you won't be thinking in terms of I want people to respect me, you won't even be thinking I want to be an example to believers. You won't be thinking about all that. You'll be thinking about one thing. Lord, help me to live a life pleasing to you. That's all you'll be thinking about. In my actions, In my words, in my thoughts, that I may not be ashamed on the final day. Lord, help me. Or as we shall be singing in closing, you'll be saying, oh Jesus, I have promised to save thee to the end. Be thou forever near me, my savior and my friend. And as he is getting near you and sanctifying you, because it's now from the inside out, it's other people that are looking and they're saying, wow, if only I could be as godly as him, as godly as her. And that's how respectability is nurtured. It is not directly. It is indirect as you bring in the real perspectives concerning life, the final judgment day. Well, as we close, one or two words. First of all, to our brother, one of the greatest challenges when you come into an office that demands respectability this way. One of the greatest challenges is your closest friends. Your closest friends. Because somehow it doesn't register to them that you've now become an elder. It doesn't register. In fact, they probably will joke with you for the next few weeks. Now if you also start saying, believe it or not, then of course you lose it all together. So something needs to show your friends that this is real business. It is. You may have friends in your nice little cozy WhatsApp group where you chat a lot. They ought to feel now that there is an elder inside this WhatsApp group. You can't just start saying, OK, this WhatsApp group, I'm not an elder, but when I'm outside, I'm an elder. It must be the whole of you, wherever you are. And that's a challenge. One of the ways it is a challenge is that when you now live like that, it's very easy for your friends to think you're now just being proud. Because, you know, we were playing together just yesterday. Now we're trying to play together. It's becoming proud. Don't worry. If it's the real thing, it will soon be clear that it's not right. It's the recognition that the church has entrusted an office upon you that demands this from you. So that's my message to you, and the test will be in the next few weeks. But let me also say that I'm very concerned with those of us who are pastors and elders, not just in our own circles as Reformed Baptists but elsewhere, who just want to be the number one joker or clown all the time. Just want to just be cracking jokes wherever you are. You know, you can't be just laughing, laughing, laughing. And that's only after the opening word of prayer. No. Surely this must be from the inside out. Now, don't get me wrong. Some of us have a little more humor than others in personality. We know that. But where it's deliberate, you now want to be the number one clown in the church. You actually kill spirituality. You do. And then lastly, it's again a concern. And that is when church leaders are on the crest of any exciting wave passing through the community. Sadly, it makes people lose respect for you. One of the obvious areas I do need to touch is football. football for us Zambians. You can't have your leader, it's Sunday. It's my team, whether it's in Spain, or England, or South America, or wherever else it might be. And because of that, therefore, you've gone to church in jeans, and you've got your hat in your back pocket. And even when you're at church, you're like, I don't know. Because it's your team. And then, of course, your team loses. And then you are depressed the whole of the following day. What are your members thinking about? What are they thinking about? I'm not saying we should never support any of these football teams, but I think what I'm saying is there should be a fairly distinct aspect of the way in which you handle these things that shows that you are now a mature adult. It's the same with elections. You know, with church leaders, they lose their brains when it's election year. It's BF, BF, ah, BF, BF, oh, MMD, MMD, oh, whatever, Zarepo, whatever, you know, the whole thing. Come on. There's something more potent, more important, than a party winning elections. The souls of men and women. It must be something that shows us as good people relating to you that you recognize that yes, it matters who's going to lead us, but there's something that matters even more. And that is whether you're on the Lord's side or you're not. May I also throw in fashions here? And in our circles, we're not too guilty of that, but I should still say it. I have a problem when, you know, I see a pastor who's dressed like a rock star. My white shoes have even gone like this. And he calls himself a bishop. His hair looks as if they passed a pressing ion over it last night. Is that respectable? Is that respectable? Of course it's not. It's not. And brethren, let's insist, it's part of the qualification that we mature in godliness sufficiently to be above these things. And it's from the inside out. And God's people, following respectable leadership, will be in appropriate hands. May God help all of us to aim for that. Remember, we do have young people. That's part of being young people. It's part of their lives. But may they see in us that progress of godliness, dignity, orderly, orderliness that makes them want to give us that respect. Amen.