In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of spiritual leadership and the responsibility that comes with it. He highlights the need for leaders to be men of prayer and to have a vision for their work. Love is also emphasized as a crucial aspect of leadership, as without it, all other efforts are meaningless. The speaker also points out the lack of trained leaders in the church and the urgent need for more individuals to step up and teach the Word of God.

We want to speak together in this session on leadership, on the principles of spiritual leadership. I'd like you to turn in your Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 3. I will try to speak slowly for those that are doing translation work into other languages. 1 Timothy chapter 3, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given to hospitality and apt to teach, not given to wine, not no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre or money, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all brevity, seriousness. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre or money, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanders, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own house as well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things I add I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly." Now here we have a very clear explanation, a very clear challenge of some of the principles of spiritual leadership. And I recommend that you take time to study this chapter. And of course there are other parts of the Word of God that very clearly tell us what is expected of us as leaders. Let me say first of all that I don't think any of us realize how much more leaders are needed today in the Church and in Christian work. The number of people responding to the Gospel on a worldwide basis far surpasses the number of leaders who are being trained up to teach them and to ground them in the Word of God. You know it's an incredible thing that you go to some places in Great Britain and you find in a small assembly seven, eight, nine men capable of leadership and of teaching. And you can go to huge churches and assemblies in Asia and Africa and not find two men among 200 capable of really teaching the Word and grounding people in the Word of God. And this is also even true in certain parts of Europe. There are large churches in certain countries in Europe and if you find sometimes one or two capable of really teaching the Word, of really being a spiritual leader, it's sometimes unusual. And all over the world Christian leaders have acknowledged the fact that there is a dearth of Christian leadership. This is one of the reasons that in Operation Mobilization we have become so involved in training leaders starting at the very beginning with very young people. I don't believe that most of you in this room today are bishops or even deacons, but I believe that you could be put into the classification of verse 10. And let these also first be proved. Let these also first be proved. You must begin somewhere. Spiritual leaders are not just born. They don't just fall out of some evangelical tree. They have to be made. And though there is the anointing of the Spirit, there is also the training. Now the method of training in the New Testament was not Bible school. I'm not saying I'm against Bible school. God seems to have used Bible schools. But the method in the New Testament was that those who were in training were in a local assembly or church and were being taught by the already existing leaders. And so the teaching and the gift was passed on from one down to the other. Today everything seems to be at times in a complete state of chaos. The rules of the game seem to be almost thrown out. But still there is in some ways no better method for you to learn spiritual leadership than to somehow get at the feet of a man of God. Now that's not so easy these days. But if you can do it, I believe you can learn far more through that method. Especially if you can live with such a person, travel with such a person, listen to such a person. I think it's the pride of our own heart that makes us unwilling to study and as much as lies in us copy through the strength in Christ the lives of the men who really are making an impact. The Apostle Paul said, Be followers of me. And I like that because it shows that this reality in Christ is not something just way out of reach. And it was a living reality in Paul and he wanted us to follow him in that same way as he followed Christ. I believe one of the ways that we can learn something about leadership in our day is by reading the books of Christian leaders. And studying their writings. As often times you will find the secret to their spiritual life in their writings. To me it's completely ridiculous for anyone in evangelism not to take some time to study the writings of Billy Graham. The man who has made probably the greatest impact in our generation in the area of evangelism. Regardless of whether you think he's making some mistakes in some areas or not. If you can't learn anything from him then I would say that you probably can't learn much, period. Of course it's easy for us to criticize other leaders. And get caught up in our own pride feeling that we know better. But the word of God says by their fruit you shall know. Firstly that's one's life. You know one of the miracles of Billy Graham's life is that all these years hardly anyone has ever brought an accusation against his life. And he is a man that is living the life. No one is perfect. And if you want to sit at the feet of someone who is perfect well then don't try anything on this earth. And I believe that we can learn much from the writings of some of these men. Reading some of the sermons of some of the old saints who are now with the Lord. Men like Spurgeon, Booty, some of the great soul winners like Dr. Wilson. And other men, like men in Asia such as Buck Sink. Or one who's gone on to be with the Lord, Sadhu Sundar Singh. And others, there's not time to mention a lot of names. And I believe as you sit at the feet of these men and as you read their writings and apply it to your own life certain principles will just come looming out. There will be some areas where leaders will not agree. And different leaders have different emphasis. I've been greatly encouraged through listening to some of the tapes and just reading a little so far and having some very good personal contact with Dr. Francis Shaitan. Here's a man we can learn. He's completely different from say Buck Sink or Watchman Nee who we cannot sit at his feet in his prison cell with him in China. But through his writings, now three volumes in the Spiritual Man we can learn so much, so much. However I would say that none of this is a substitute for getting out and doing something. This is where OM has seemingly the advantage over many other leadership programs. Not that there are that many leadership training programs, I don't know many. Because you will have a terrific opportunity this summer many of you to get out on a team, out in evangelism and put these things into practice. But what we are facing in OM is similar to what the Church is facing all over the world. The number of people interested in coming compared to the number of mature, trained leaders is way out of proportion. And this is why some leaders are completely overwhelmed and though they may try to work 18 hours a day and counsel three times as many people as is sensible and write five times as many letters as is normal you can't keep up. More leaders are desperately needed in OM if we are going to continue at the present pace even if we are going to keep up with the existing program. It's alright to talk about expansion but you cannot expand any further than God gives you spirit-filled men who can take up responsibility. Because if you do, you'll soon be putting novices into man-sized gaps and then you will have some interesting situations and OM has had a long history of such situations. And I'm sobered that we may learn something of these principles of spiritual leadership. Now it's been thrilling to see people trained in these conferences and through these crusades moving out all over the world in other missions. And young people who have been trained in OM are now leaders in various groups. Many are pastors of churches or elders in local assemblies now this is from years back and carrying on major responsibilities. And I think the proof is in that which has taken place in the lives of those who have had this training. And I think most of you know how few opportunities there are like this to really think about this thing of leadership. It's not being proud or pushing yourself to be willing to be a leader. And the word of God indicates very clearly in verse 1 if a man desire the office of a bishop. So obviously there's nothing wrong with desiring to be a leader. Why is this? Because a leader is a servant. It's a false concept of leadership that has given us wrong ideas in this area. The leader is the servant. The Lord Jesus said he who is greatest among you let him serve. And probably one of the most twisted ideas about leadership is that it's a position where you are to be served where you have special privileges where you are treated higher than someone else. And though a man must be honored for his work's sake he is firstly called to be a servant. Let us turn for a moment into the book of Thessalonians and just see a few verses about the biblical basis for leadership. Thessalonians. It's 1 Thessalonians. Verse 12. Chapter 5. Verse 12. And we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. And then Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Verse 7 and verse 17. Every once in a while you may find someone who says they doesn't believe in leadership. They believe in just getting all their instructions from above. Well there's a number of verses that you can show them. Verse 7. Remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation. Verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you. The last thing many people want today. To have someone ruling over them. What are they going to do with these verses? And submit yourselves for they watch for your soul as they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you. Now these are very very very strong verses. If you are a team leader this summer or if you're watching this television tape and you're a pastor or a leader you will give account to God for the spiritual life of those under you. This is serious. And I believe that we need to see just how important it is therefore to get these principles of spiritual leadership. Let's move into them for sake of time. First of all the spiritual leader must be a man of prayer. He must be a man of prayer. There's not time to begin to emphasize this. We've given to you at this conference this book on prayer by Hallowsby and I trust that you will take time to read it. The great Norwegian Christian leader has written on the subject of prayer. There are many books on the subject of prayer. I suggest that in the next year or two that at all times you have at least one book around apart from the Bible which speaks very much on the subject of prayer that you have at least one book around such as this one or any other book on prayer and just read it. Don't read it all at once. Books on prayer cannot just be raced through. I usually read a little bit. I have to fall on my knees and repent of prayerlessness or lack of prayer. But the greatest area where Satan will attempt to attack you is your prayer life. If he knocks out your prayer life basically he's got you regardless of outward appearance. Regardless of the outward show. The leader must know reality in worship. Must know reality in intercession. And this goes into many areas of leadership. The leader is the man who will be taking time constantly to pray with others. This should be one of the most important things you're doing in this conference. Spontaneously praying with others. So often times we engage in idol talk which would be used for praying together. We should be praying of course in groups. And the leader is exhorted in the word to make sure he has a proper prayer life with his wife. And vice versa. And I tell you when you get married you'll discover that Satan will do everything he can to keep you from having a good prayer life with your own wife or husband. So the spiritual leader must be a man of prayer. If you want to get involved in leadership some of you are involved whether you want to or not you must learn something of prayer. Don't get discouraged over your failures. Don't get discouraged because you're not praying high or David Brainerd. But press on in your prayer life. Don't let the activities of the day squeeze out that time with God. The best day I had this past month was a day and a night that I just got completely away from everything alone with God. And I saw more result from that day than a whole week of running on the evangelical treadmill. You've got to get time with God if you want to be a man of God. And that's whether you're a leader or not. You may say well I'm not going to be a leader. Well you need to get on your knees and learn how to pray and one of the main things you should do is pray for leaders. Secondly, the spiritual leader is a man of the word. You say oh how basic. But isn't it often the problem that we miss on the basics? A man of the word. He must know where he stands in regards to the word of God. He must be able to answer people who have questions about the word of God. And why it is the word of God. One of the most important crisis experiences in the life of Billy Graham was when he came to a place of deeper and stronger faith that this book was indeed the word of God. Despite the fact there were some things he couldn't understand the evidence was so heavy on this side that he came to the conclusion this was truly the word of God and he must preach it and live it and believe it. And it was after that, very shortly after that that he had his great Los Angeles crusade and began to see a complete turn in his ministry. Some of you are going to have to wrestle with some problems. You may have to do some thinking but you must come to a place where you know this is the word of God and where you trust it. It was inspired by God. Promptable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness. Some may be watching this program who do not believe the Bible is the word of God. The main assault of Satan on the church has been really to undermine belief in the inspiration of the Bible. Once that goes everything starts caving in. And in some countries we know that 80% of the churches are liberal with pastors who do not believe the Bible is the word of God. Now in the past 10 years and I must not get caught up on this, it's a whole separate message but in the past 10 to 15 to 20 years all liberalism has caved in. The higher critics, most of them rather low characters the higher critics have taken a terrific beating and the evangelical position has become much, much firmer. And I think if you listen to some of the tapes by Dr. Schaefer and by other men, you will see how this is true. There are plenty of reasons why we can just rejoice knowing that this book is the word of God. It can be trusted. And some of you have been reading some of the books that will help you along this line. But more than that, it's a matter of getting into the word. Perhaps more than that, it's letting the word get into you. And to me, I feel very strongly that there's no substitute for meditation and memorization. They go together. Not just studying. Not just reading for sure. But meditation. Memorization of the word of God. You can use that in your preaching. You can use it in your personal work. And it's so important to build up your own spiritual life. So remember that. A spiritual leader is a man of the word. He's a man who when other people are reading other things, he's got his Bible open. There's nothing wrong with reading the newspaper. There's nothing wrong with reading magazines. I believe a spiritual leader is a man who knows what's happening in the world. He hasn't got his head in the sand. But he's constantly going back to the book. He's constantly giving the book, the word of God, priority. And that's true over all books, including very good Christian books. Don't let devotional books and challenge books take and hedge away that time you need in the word itself. Learn how to study the word of God. I wish that we could have a course in OM, in what's called hermeneutics. This whole theology of how to interpret the scripture. It's very important. We see from the Jehovah Witnesses that once you have a false method of interpretation, you can get anything you want. But the word gives the clue. It says compare scripture with scripture. And I believe that if we would learn to take the whole counsel of God and compare one scripture with other scripture, we could not get off on these tangents. But too often today we compare scripture with our own vain imaginations. And then with that scripture verse, we go off on every wild tangent you can think of. And men are defending everything possible from the Bible today, including immorality. There have been always those men in history, and there are today, who clearly defend their immorality from the scriptures. Taking some verse out of context, perhaps, generally from the Old Testament. And so and so in the Old Testament was a man of God. He had a number of wives and concubines. Well, the Lord has given me this special dispensation. It's incredible what people do with the Bible. It should just break our hearts. And it is incredible what the Jehovah Witnesses are doing. Every Christian leader should know how to refute Jehovah Witnesses. I have noticed more than anything else in this summer's reports the absolute widespread influence of the Jehovah Witnesses. In report after report from Spain, from France, and from Austria, Jehovah Witnesses. They are ahead of us many times, confusing the people. Now let me tell you there are men who have been saved from the Jehovah Witness movement and are being used of God to bring Jehovah Witnesses out of their confusion. Baldy Mar, our Mexican director, has brought many Jehovah Witnesses out of their confusion. But that's because Baldy Mar, though he's only had three years of primary school and maybe one or two years of the small Bible college, got into the Word on his own and knows the Word of God more than 98% of all O.M. leaders. A young Mexican with hardly any education. In fact, in the early days he used to study his Bible so much that most Bibles we've given would last one year and the pages were falling out and so marked with punching holes in it. And so he can answer Jehovah Witnesses. And he can just stop them cold. But some of us, with our flimsy knowledge of the Bible, we can hardly find the right reference at the right time to answer their questions. The spiritual leader is a man of the Word. And one of the reasons that we have these conferences, one of the reasons we have our study program and also we have the ship and the Bible school on it, is to get our old men and others into the Word. It takes time. It's not a matter of one or two years or three years even in Bible school. It takes many years to become a master of the Word of God. Thirdly, the Christian leader is a lover of men. Now you can have all these other things. You can have faith to move mountains, 1 Corinthians 13 says, written by perhaps one of the greatest leaders who's ever lived. And you can even know the Scriptures. But without love, I'll tell you, it's nothing. There's not many groups that know the Scriptures as much as those connected with a sect known as the Exclusive Brethren. And big Jim Taylor, who died this past year or so, his father was a fantastic man of the Scriptures. So much so that he went to China and completely deceived Watchman Nee. And for a number of years, many years ago, Watchman Nee became a disciple of Jim Taylor, or his father. Because Watchman Nee was so impressed that this man knew the Bible like no man he had ever met. And that's what almost took the whole Watchman Nee movement into exclusivism. Later he broke and brought many of the churches back to a more balanced position. But many churches never did come back. And to this day, you have among the Watchman Nee churches, what's left of them, you have those who are open, and those that are much more closed. And you will find men like that who really know the Bible. Really know the Bible. But you will find so often that one thing is missing, that love. I say this with all my heart, when love is missing, everything goes through it. Whether it's orthodoxy, or faith, or whatever it may be. That love for one another, that love for people. I like to read one of my favorite quotations on the subject of leadership. A quotation from A.W. Towson. And notice especially the latter part of this quote. The church at this moment needs men. We languish, that is we want, we look for men who feel themselves expandable, and expendable in the warfare of the soul. Such men will be free from the compulsions that control weaker men. They will not be forced to do things by the squeeze of circumstances. Their only compulsion will come from within, and from above. This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits, again, instead of mascots. These free men will serve God and mankind from motives too high to be understood by the rank and file of religious retainers who today shuffle in and out of the sanctuary. They will make no decision out of fear, take no course out of a desire to please, accept no service for financial considerations, perform no religious acts out of mere custom, nor will they allow themselves to be influenced by the love of publicity or the desire for reputation. The free man has never been a religious tyrant, nor has he sought to lord it over God's heritage. It is fear and lack of self-assurance that has led men to try to crush others under their feet. These have had some interest to protect, some position to secure. These have had some interest to protect, some position to secure. So they have demanded subjection from their followers. As a guarantee of their own safety. But the free man never. He has nothing to protect, no ambition to pursue, no enemy to fear. For that reason, he is completely careless of his standing among men, if they follow him well and good. If not, he loses nothing that he holds dear. But whether he is accepted or rejected, remember this on your team this summer, whether he is accepted or rejected, he will go on loving his people, with sincere devotion, and only death can silence his tender intercession for them. I recommend you get a hold of that quote. This is the kind of men we need. Men who are not living for their reputation. Men who are not living to push their particular idea, which is always involved in their ego, onto others. But men who are free, and who will go on loving and loving and loving, no matter what that team member or church member does or says. There has never been a leader who has not been misunderstood. There has never been a leader who has not been criticized. And oftentimes the greatest leaders have been the most widely criticized. And if you don't want problems, if you don't want criticism, if you don't want eventually a blasting letter from somebody telling you off, don't get involved in leadership. Mind you, that happens to followers as well, so I don't know where you should go. A lover of men. Will you take your New Testament as I did some years ago, and go through it all and underline every verse on the subject of love? Many things are important in life, but without love, they go off track. They go off track. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. We need the gifts of the Spirit. We need so many things. But without love, it's sounding brass and tingling cymbal, and that can be your team this summer. As you go through the villages of France, you may hear the purr of the engine, but the Lord of Glory hears the old brass band, the evangelical band that's been banging its way around France for the last ten years since OM began. May your team not be a tinny band, but may that sweet savor of love go out from town to town and village to village. I was quite impressed recently when I was in India, or encouraged, when I met one of the oldest men in one of the oldest and most strong movements in Asia. A movement that wasn't always known for emphasizing love, and would tend not to preach messages about love. And this dear old man, who probably may not live more than a few more years, somehow he got a copy of my very poorly written, not even written, it's just a rewritten sermon, Revolution of Love. And all he could do when I met him, and to others as well, just for my sake, was rave about this message. This old man pushing toward 80 was just raving, this is it, this is it! This is the answer! I hope we don't wait until we're 70 or 80 to discover that love is the answer. That love is the missing link in so much evangelical work, and in so many OM teams. Every year, the greatest battle in OM, and I visit almost every team every year, the greatest battle is always the same. Generally, a lack of love. Right behind that, oftentimes, a lack of prayer. Love is a very practical thing, of course. It brings patience. It brings brokenness. It brings humility. It brings the spirit of serving. We have all that it brings in 1 Corinthians 13. Maybe just before going on to the next principle, we could just look at that for a moment. Have you ever tried putting your name in 1 Corinthians 13? Just put your name in there. John suffers long. Read it, whatever your name is. John is kind. You, envy not. You want not yourself. You're not puffed up. Does not behave itself unseemly. Seeketh not her own. Not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil. Doesn't read very well, does it, with your name in there? Sort of almost like somebody banging on a tin can. But you know, there's only one name that fits in there. There's only one name I've ever read that really fits in there beautifully. And that's the name of Jesus. Jesus suffers long and is kind. Jesus envieth not. Jesus wanteth not himself. He's not puffed up. Does not behave himself unseemly. He sought not his own. He's not easily provoked. He thought no evil. Jesus rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth. Jesus beareth all things. Jesus believeth all things. Jesus hopeth all things. Jesus endureth all things. Jesus never fails. I believe, therefore, that the only way to live this life is through an intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus. But every time we don't see these things, let's realize we're not walking with Jesus the way he wants. This is the measuring rod. And God's burden isn't to get us trying to live all this, but this is to show us when we're not living it so that we can go afresh in repentance to the Lord Jesus and ask him to live this life through us. In many ways, I feel one of the most important things in Christian leadership is to just make sure you never harden your heart. I've had leaders come to me and say, look, I've been battling this for five years, this problem in my life. What do I do? I say, look, the main thing is don't harden your heart. Keep battling. I'm still battling this thing of love. My failures are many, but my heart is soft by his mercy when he touches me on any one of these points, whether it's through a brother or through a situation or through my wife or even through my children, I want to break. And just admit I'm not kind. That was an unkind word. And that's what you've got to do on your team. If you've never had to repent before your team any time in the last month, I doubt really whether you yielded fully to what the Holy Spirit was trying to do. I've never had a team for more than a few days that I didn't have to go to them or at least to somebody and say, look, when I said that, that was verver all the way, forgiving. Jesus has, and I'm sorry. Well, if you can go week in and month in without ever having to break or humble yourself or say you're sorry, you are indeed an unusual person. And if you could write me and share your secret, I would certainly very much appreciate it. Another principle as we come to the end of our time of spiritual leadership is that the leader, the spiritual leader is a man who has a vision. Many of the principles of this work you will never be able to do unless you have a vision. I'll never forget Daniel Gonzales, the leader of the work in Spain, preaching once and explaining how we were finding this discipline in O.M. Hard because we have no vision. In other words, it's like trying to do something with no goal. For a lot of people, for instance, doing morning exercise seems ridiculous and it's very hard. And generally it's because they have no vision for it. They're just doing it because, well, somebody said do it. But when you have a vision for it, like Billy Graham does, like Keith Miller who wrote Taste of New Wine, like dozens of other Christian workers, men who have made an impact, when you have a vision like those men have, or when you get very, very ill and the doctor says to you, now, if you want to stay healthy for the next year, then do this simple little exercise. When you get a vision for doing something, then you begin to do it. A lot of people have a very poor discipline in regard to brushing their teeth. Fantastic. Go around and look at people's teeth. I don't recommend that as a ministry, but sometimes in counseling you can't help it. People open their mouth and there they are, huge crevices and holes, and it's obvious they haven't got the brushing their teeth habit. And I lose that habit. Every year it diminishes until I go to the dentist. Then all of a sudden it's recommitted of brushing my teeth. Brushing my teeth several times a day. And I've been to the dentist several times in the last month. I had to have one tooth pulled out, several others filled, and I've completely rededicated my life to brushing my teeth. I just met one Omer back from India, hasn't been to the dentist in three years, and is scared to death to go. But I believe that one of the problems in little areas like that, and in big areas, is the lack of vision. Lack of seeing ahead. Seeing the problems you're going to face if you don't discipline your body. Seeing what's going to happen to your children if you don't train them up in the Word. Seeing what's going to take place on your teeth if you don't give time to them. If you don't get into the Word with them. If you don't get a relationship with all of them. That's involved in this thing of loving them. Let me just say that unless you're willing to spend time with team members, you have no right to have them. And if you can't spend time when all you have is a team of 15, or a team of 10, then, well, you're without really qualifications to have them. And if you're a pastor of a church, or a leader in an assembly, part of your responsibility is to get out and visit those people on an individual basis. Pulpit activity is never a substitute for personal contact. People are individuals who must have personal contact. And that cannot be done by one or two leaders at the top. It means every leader has to get involved. It's impossible for everyone at this conference to have contact with me or Jonathan. But it is possible for every one of them here to have contact with someone in this room. And feel and sense that someone cares for them, someone is interested in them. One of the greatest therapies in life is simply having people be able to share their burden. I hope that God, even through this time together this morning, will give us a vision. Because a leader without a vision will be going nowhere. Let us just pray. Our God and Father, we thank you. We ask you that you would give these principles in our life. For we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.