HOW TO IDENTIFY A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD

TEXT- 1 TIMOTHY 4:6-16

INTRODUCTION

This morning I am going to continue with my series of messages from the book of First Timothy dealing with the church.

The last time we looked at this book we began looking at chapter four where the Apostle Paul gave us six identification marks of a false leader in verses 1-4.

This morning our text is found in 1 Timothy 4:6-16 and the title of my message is, "How To Identify A True Servant Of God."

A pastor was leaving one church and going to another. Before he left, one of the members told him, "I don't know what we will do when you're gone, pastor." "Oh, I don't think you should worry," said the preacher, "The church will soon get a better man than I am." "I don't know," said the church member, "that's what they always say, but they keep getting worse and worse."

Pastors are often times evaluated on the basis of the wrong things. Sometimes churches evaluate their effectiveness by the size of the congregation, their popularity, educational background, how busy they are or by how well they speak. While all of these may have some value, none of them are biblical criteria for identifying a pastor who is a true servant God.

A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentleman put a piece of jade into his hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk about philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for several weeks with a different piece of jade. Soon the boy became frustrated. When would he be told about jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom of his teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instinctively, 'That's not jade!'" he had become so familiar with the genuine that he could immediately detect a counterfeit.

Paul give to us 12 identification marks of a good minister so we can detect those who are counterfeits.