Requirements of a Leader
Jeremiah 15:19: “Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth…”
God always deserves, desires, and demands the best (e.g., Malachi 1:8, 13-14). Not just anyone can serve him, but those who are welcome to ascend into the hill of the Lord and suitable to stand in his holy place (Psalm 24:3) must be of a certain quality (Psalm 24:4). After being cleansed and renewed to righteousness (Psalm 51:9-10), filled with the Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11), and brought to a stable state (Psalm 51:12), David says, in that time,
Psalm 51:13: “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”
Preparations of God’s Men
A man of God is a person whose life purposes are godly, and specifically who serves God in a representative way. Men of this caliber are described with such a title: “Moses the man of God” (Deuteronomy 33:1), “David the man of God” (Nehemiah 12:24, 36). In this manner, prophets are sometimes simply called men of God (Elisha: II Kings 13:19; out of Judah: I Kings 13:1; who came to Amaziah: II Chronicles 25:7). The preacher should be a man of God, not a man of money (I Timothy 6:10-11), a man of the government (see II Kings 1:9-13), nor a man of the religious establishment (see I Samuel 2:27; see also the disciples in Acts 4:13).
The Prophet ISAIAH: In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, Isaiah the prophet receives his calling from God to preach to the nation of Israel. There are several ways that God prepared him for the task: first Isaiah gained a studied mind, seeing the Lord upon the throne (Isaiah 6:1), hearing the thrice holy declaration about God (Isaiah 6:3), and experiencing the power of God when the posts of the door moved (Isaiah 6:4). From this vision Isaiah next acquired a righteous life. He recognized his sinfulness (Isaiah 6:5), and was cleansed of it by the “live coal” off the altar, picturing the living word of God (Isaiah 6:6-7). Afterward, upon hearing the offer of God, he possessed a willing heart: “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8). At the last, Isaiah developed a firm resolve, never to quit. He was commissioned with a certain large-scale ministerial failure (Isaiah 6:9-10), and was instructed to never personally fail (Isaiah 6:11), but to wait for the fruition of the word of the Lord in the salvation of the remnant (Isaiah 6:12-13).
The High Priest JOSHUA: To suit him his to his role as a leader in the temple, in Zechariah’s vision, God does a few things to Joshua the son of Josedech. We see him at the beginning standing before the Lord (Zechariah 3:1), as we should draw near to God personally. Then, his filthy garments (picturing his sin) are taken away and he is clothed with a “change of raiment” (Zechariah 3:3-5), which indicates that he was being separated from his sinfulness. Finally, Zechariah hears the angel of the LORD say to Joshua,
Zechariah 3:7: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.”
The Apostle PAUL: To prove the genuine nature of his apostleship, throughout I & II Corinthians, Paul constantly contrasts himself with the false apostles that the Corinthians listened to.
- Paul was a servant. He was “free” (I Corinthians 9:1), or not under any obligation, and he said “though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more” (I Corinthians 9:19). He considered himself––though a freeman––“the Lord’s servant” (I Corinthians 7:22).
- Paul was fruitful. He depicted the Corinthians as the “seal” of his apostleship (I Corinthians 9:2), and the letter of Christ ministered by him (II Corinthians 3:3). For proof of his authority to do the work he did, he pointed to the results he obtained, in salvations and disciples.
- Paul was faithful. Paul’s answer in large part to his critics was that he lived a life free from covetousness (I Corinthians 9:4-18), who said “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel” (Acts 20:33). Having the power to take funds from all of the churches he started, he took nothing from almost any of them. This true apostle did not “make a gain” of others (II Corinthians 12:17-18).
- Paul was a sufferer. In distinction from the false preacher who never suffers persecution for the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:12), Paul passed through a torrent of afflictions, proving him ever the more to be a sincere minister of Christ (II Corinthians 11:23-33).
Expectations of God’s Men
- The preacher should be a studier. It is pathetic that, graduating to the level of being a preacher, many a man stops reading, memorizing, and studying the Bible. Teachers must continually be taught, even as those feeding must themselves be fed (I Timothy 4:6), for “he that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:25). Good preachers do not merely begin in the things of God, but they also continue in those things which they have learned and have been assured of (II Timothy 3:14), perpetually, studying to show themselves approved unto God (I Timothy 2:15), taking heed to the doctrine and unto themselves (I Timothy 4:16).
- The preacher should be an evangelizer. Those who do not shine the light of the gospel (II Corinthians 4:2-4), but rather hide their light under the bushel of meaningless church services (Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luke 11:33), are not fit to be preachers. The preacher must, as Timothy was exhorted, “do the work of an evangelist” (II Timothy 4:5). Timothy did not sit in a church castle in Ephesus his whole life, but frequently went out and abroad preaching the gospel (see Philippians 2:22). God’s servants are not those who are only instructors of those who agree with themselves, but who often go “instructing those that oppose themselves” (II Timothy 2:24-26).
- The preacher should be a warrior. Preachers battle on their feet in soul-winning (see Romans 10:15), contending earnestly for the faith (Jude 3), battle on their knees in prayer (Ephesians 3:14), watching thereunto with all prayer and supplication (Ephesians 6:18), and, of course, they battle in the pulpit in preaching the word of God (I Timothy 6:12), warring a good warfare with the truths of God (I Timothy 1:18). Exceptional preachers are mighty soldiers (II Timothy 2:3-4), which suffer human afflictions and scream divine judgments, endure hardships and maintain godliness. When tired, they labor (II Corinthians 11:27); when sick, they preach (Galatians 4:13); when confused, they learn.
II Corinthians 6:6-7: “6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”