Page 236 - Pleasant Words from the Gospe

Pleasant Words from the Gospel

will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on be-
fore the Lord... to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous. (Luke,

1:13-17)

He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he
will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. Deacons,
likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not in-
dulging in... wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They
must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear con-
science. (1 Timothy, 3:7-9)

But suppose that servant is wicked and... begins to beat his fel-
low servants and to eat and drink with drunkards... [God's

wrath] will come on a day when he does not expect him and
at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew, 24:48-51; Luke
12:43-47)

Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being
an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be
above reproach... temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hos-
pitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent
but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (1 Timo-
thy, 3:1-3)

An elder must be blameless... a man whose children
believe and are not open to the charge of be-

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