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11/02/2008 – 1 Timothy 3:1-16 – Leaders Worth Following. First Timothy offers ample evidence that some of the false teachers at Ephesus were the very Elders charged with the care of God’s household. This would account for the extended treatment of the qualifications for church leadership here in 1 Tim. 3:1-16 and later the discipline of church leaders in 1 Tim. 5:17-22. Paul had predicted a day when some of the church leaders might go bad in his tearful farewell speech to the Ephesian church recorded in Acts 20:29-31: "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!" As such Paul has written so that the church at Ephesus will know how people "ought to conduct themselves in God's household" (1 Tim. 3:15) and that the church might have "Leaders Worth Following". For if the church is to catch the Wind of God’s Spirit and be always ready to follow the leading of His voice, it must be structured in an effective, efficient, and God honoring way. There must be leaders worth following standing at the helm, trimming the sails, and weighing anchor.