Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 3:1–7
Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. We'll continue our exposition of the book of Acts next week. This is a bit of an excursus. After the first missionary journey, the apostle Paul and Barnabas, on their way back to Antioch in Syria, stopped or revisited the churches so that they could appoint elders in the churches in those cities.
And I thought it would be helpful for us to look at that appointment of elders. And 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 7 gives us the qualifications for elders. And in order to appoint elders, we must have qualified men. And as a church, we must understand what those qualifications are so that we can take up our responsibility consistent with God's Word.
So I'll begin reading in 1 Timothy chapter 3 at verse 1. This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to whine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.
For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word of God. We thank you that it speaks to all matters of faith and practice. And help us as a church to understand these qualifications. Help us as a church to vet men that are aspirants for Christian ministry.
And God, help us to see the installation, the ordination of men. For certainly the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And not only for this church, but the church at large and the missionary enterprise, we need to lift up our eyes and to see those fields white unto harvest. And we pray to the Lord of the harvest to to equip and to furnish the church and to furnish missions with faithful men who will preach and teach the Word of the living and true God.
We pray for your blessing upon the church in Vernon. We pray that in your kindness and in your grace you would provide for them a man that labors in the Word and doctrine. We pray for the brethren in Surrey, and thank you for Pastor Mike. and ask God that you would continue to look with favor upon that local congregation. And even now, Lord, forgive us for all of our sins, all of our transgression against your holy law.
Cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus, and guide us now by your Holy Spirit as we consider the appointment of elders in the churches of Jesus Christ. And we pray in his most blessed name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, before we get to the actual exposition of 1 Timothy chapter 3, I just want to point out that the New Testament authors use several words synonymously to speak to one office in the church. The words elder, overseer, and pastor are used, as I said, interchangeably with reference to the one office in the church that is tasked with preaching and teaching and leading the church. The other office, if we would have continued to read in verses 8 to 13, is the deacon. So there are two abiding offices in the Church of Christ.
Elder slash pastor slash overseer or bishop, and then you have deacons. And then there are no more prophets, there are no more apostles, but rather the emphasis in the pastoral epistles, which are 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, is upon sound doctrine and the place of pastors preaching and teaching sound doctrine for the good of the churches. We saw that in Acts chapter 14. They could have easily got back to Syria or back to Antioch in Syria by just passing through Tarsus, but rather they went back through the churches so they could appoint elders so that the churches would be stabilized and furnished with men that would, in fact, equip the people of God.
And there are several reasons why we see the synonymous use of these terms or several passages. You can turn to Acts chapter 20 for just a moment. Now if you hear the word bishop, I don't want you to think Roman Catholic, I don't want you to think Big Red Hat. I want you to think of a biblical term which is basically overseer.
So the word episkopos is translated here in 1 Timothy 3.1 as bishop, but it simply means overseer. overseer. Again, we see these terms used synonymously here in Acts chapter 20. If you notice in verse 17, from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And then in verse 28, he's charging those elders of the church, and he says, therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, or episkopoi, or bishop, and then he goes on to say to shepherd or to pastor the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.
So pastor is sort of the comprehensive term that is functional in nature and encompasses the reality that pastors shepherd, pastors guide, pastors govern or lead the flock, not according to their own authoritarian designs, but as ministers of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to Titus chapter 1. Again, just to see the synonymous use or interchangeable use of the various terms that are utilized for this office in the church that is tasked primarily with leading or governing and with teaching. And in Titus chapter 1, 5 to 9, we have a parallel passage to 1 Timothy 3.
And in Titus chapter 1, verse 5, he says, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. And then notice in verse 7 for a bishop, okay, or an overseer. So he is speaking about the same persons, but he is using these various terms that just sort of flesh out or indicate the nature of their responsibility in the context of the church. They are overseers.
They watch over the flock. They are elders, they are men that are qualified, consistent with what we find in 1 Timothy chapter 3, to serve in the flock. And they are pastors, men that shepherd, men that seek to govern. Again, not according to their own desires or designs, but by the Word of God.
When you hear that language of leadership or government or ruling elders, I think at times it suggests sort of this authoritarianism, but that's not how the Bible approaches it. Rather, the men that are governing, the men that are leading, the men that are exercising oversight are doing it by the Word of God, the primary way in which government leadership, shepherding is done is through the proclamation of God's truth, wherein we are disciplined or discipled by the Word of God and conformed hopefully further to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So just understand, if I say elder, if I say bishop, if I say overseer, or I say pastor, all those terms refer to the same office that is being addressed here in 1 Timothy 3, verses 1 to 7.
Outline of Elder Qualifications
Now, I want to look at several things with reference to qualifications for eldership. I hear that word several, and perhaps you're thinking we're going to be here a while. Well, please don't think that. We'll try to be out of here like normal.
But there are several things that Paul sets forth must be in place before a man is received into the eldership. I want to look first at the man's desire for eldership in verse 1. Secondly, the man's personal holiness in verses 2 and 3. Thirdly, the man's domestic faithfulness in verses 4 and 5.
Fourth, the man's experience in the faith, verse 6. Fifth, the man's testimony toward outsiders, verse 7. And then finally, the man's ability to teach in verse 2. You'll notice I took that one out and put it at the bottom because you'll see the similarities between elders and deacons in terms of virtue, in terms of things that must be true of the men.
The only thing that differentiates elders from deacons is aptness or ability to teach. And as well, when we look at these particular virtues, there's something that everybody should aspire to. There's something that everybody should be pursuing. There's something that shouldn't be surprising.
You mean guys in the church should be Blameless? You mean guys in the church shouldn't be violent? Again, this ought to be every Christian's pursuit, but with reference to men that we choose to function as elders, they must have demonstrated particular faithfulness in each of these areas. So again, it's not difficult, it's not, wow, I can't believe we want guys to serve in the church that don't like to fist fight.
No, that's a no-brainer, but they must be men who have demonstrated the ability to not engage in, just this example, fist fighting. But before we look at the specifics, note the context. It's intriguing because in 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul deals with the place of women in the context of the local church. And look at what he says in verse 12.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. Now much to the chagrin of many people today, that means precisely what it says. Paul does not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. And when he goes on to describe the particular qualifications, we see that they are peculiarly fulfilled by men.
A man must be. Now, this is no harm or foul to women. This is not an indictment upon your abilities or intellect. It is simply to highlight that in God's world, he has purposed certain things to happen.
He purposes for fish to swim, for birds to fly, and for men to function as the leaders in both the church and in the home. In Ephesians chapter 5 he says, the husband is the head of the wife. I think in so many instances we try to turn these things over on their heads and we end up transgressing God's design, God's purpose, and God's plan. So here he tells us specifically in 2.12, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.
Some suggest, well, that's because the culture in Ephesus was bad. They had these kind of empowered women that were pushy and obnoxious and all that sort of thing. But Paul doesn't argue based on culture. He argues based on creation.
And that's precisely what we see in verse 13. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control.
So he prohibits women, which indicates that he only wants men to preach or teach in the context of the church. But 1 Timothy 3 verses 1 to 7 goes further to delimit what kind of man. It's not just any old man, but it must be a man who demonstrates faithfulness with reference to these particular categories. So it's not open to any man just because you breathe like a man and You look like a man and you have the anatomy of a man, therefore you teach or preach in the church.
No, you must be a man that is qualified according to the stipulations set down by the apostle here in 1 Timothy 3, 1 to 7.
The Man's Desire for Eldership
So let's look first at the man's desire for this role. Verse 1 says, this is a faithful saying. Some take it as what has previously been written. Others take it to govern what is stated here.
I take it to govern what is stated here. This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop or overseer, he desires a good work. So there must be desire on the part of men that would serve or function in the eldership.
It's not just sort of a routine that the churches do once in a while, hand every member a list, put a few names on it, and check the guy that you think would be good for a particular season to function in this capacity. No, there's a desire on the part of a man to serve in this capacity. And I think Albert N. Martin is very helpful when it comes to discerning a genuine call to the Christian ministry.
And I take from him these four particulars with reference to a call to the ministry. If a man has these, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to serve in that capacity, but these things must be present for a legitimate call to the ministry.
Desire Born of Right Motives
In the first place, working with 1 Timothy 3.1, he says there is a desire born of right motives. There is a desire born of right motives. I've often said that people look at pastors like they do at the garbage man. The garbage man only comes to your house on Wednesday, so you might think the rest of the week he isn't doing anything.
Pastors get up and preach on Sundays, so you might think for the rest of the week they're not doing anything. their golf game is improving, their coffee drinking is improving, their guts are getting bigger, whatever the case may be, they conclude that the pastoral ministry is for prissy, sissy men, and it offers a very happy and comfortable lifestyle. Brethren, that's not the case. That is absolutely positively not the case. In fact, look at Paul's language in Colossians 1.
Colossians 1, relative to his ministry as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, pastors aren't apostles, but there is some interrelationship, there is some connectedness. And notice what he says in Colossians 1.28, him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily." Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
The apostle here is asserting his specific qualifications in terms of his apostolic ministry. I think I've told you before that some had come in Paul's absence to the church at Corinth and basically tried to undercut his ministry. They said things like, Paul's only in it for the money, Paul's only in it because he's got a big ego, Paul doesn't have your genuine good as his desire. That's why 2 Corinthians, Paul sounds like he's defending himself, because he is.
He knows that if the Corinthians reject him, they will reject the gospel. Paul says that he is a man that has suffered on behalf of the cause of God and truth, and he gives that. Notice in 2 Corinthians 11, 22, he's talking about these men, some have called them super apostles, these persons that have come in, these pig theologians, as Luther would have called them, these theologians of glory, these men that would assert themselves in a way that was ungodly, and they would speak ill of the apostle. Verse 22, he says, are they Hebrews?
So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham?
So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
From the Jews five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.
A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. There's no connection there with Paul in terms of the modern day eldership. I grant that wholeheartedly and absolutely and positively.
That ain't happening to elders in the Western world. But the next thing he says does happen to elders in the Western world. Verse 28, besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, not just Sunday in the preaching ministry of the church, but what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches. So a man must have a desire born of right motives.
He cannot be simply looking for a comfortable life where he gets paid to read books. That concept is absolutely positively contrary to the whole gist of biblical eldership.
Graces of Genuine Christian Experience
A second thing that must be there in terms of assessing one's call to the ministry is the graces indicating genuine Christian experience. In other words, he must be born again. He must be a believer. He must have partaken of the very gospel that he stands up to preach to others.
Now, this shouldn't be a revolutionary concept. This shouldn't be a, wow, I can't believe it, we want converted men to lead the churches. But just in case it is, I want to stress this reality. How can a man engage in spiritual ministry when he's not spiritual himself?
There must be graces indicating genuine Christian experience. He has been born again. He knows something of the conviction of sin. He knows something of his own transgression against the law.
He knows something of the only fount that is open for sin and uncleanness, that God Most High has plunged him beneath that flood and he has lost all of his guilty stains. There must be graces indicating genuine Christian experience.
Gifts Indicating Divine Provision
A third aspect in terms of assessing a desire to ministry or qualification or fitness for the ministry are the gifts indicating divine provision. So when we look at this list in 1 Timothy 3, verses 1 to 7, it's mainly virtue. He must be holy. He must be faithful to his family.
He must be faithful to those outside. He must be all those things in terms of his conduct, in terms of his personal holiness. But there is a gift. And that's 1 Timothy chapter 3 at verse 2.
He must be able to teach. That doesn't mean he must be C.H. Spurgeon, he must be John Calvin, he must have the ability of any man or of the best of men that have ever lived. No!
But both publicly and privately he needs to be able to open the Word of God and speak the truth as it is in Jesus. Doesn't mean he has to yell, doesn't mean he has to preach for an hour, doesn't mean any of those things. But it does mean he needs to be able to assimilate the truth for himself and be able to articulate that truth for others. He not only needs to eat the food, but he needs to, and I say this graciously, regurgitate the food so that others can eat it as well.
That is absolutely crucial. Listen to Spurgeon on this point relative to gifts indicating divine provision. He says, God certainly has not created behemoth to fly. Now behemoth, according to the book of Job, some say it was a hippopotamus, some say it was a dinosaur, but it was without wings, okay?
So behemoth, whatever its specific identity was, he says, God certainly has not created behemoth to fly. And should Leviathan, that was a water creature, again, lots of speculation in terms of what it was, but, and should Leviathan have a strong desire to ascend with the lark, it would evidently be an unwise aspiration since he is not furnished with wings. Do you understand? When God calls somebody to do something, he fits them and makes them able to do it.
Hippopotamuses don't fly. I saw an interesting video the other day. They certainly get out of wherever they live and walk around a gas station in Florida. But they don't fly because they don't have wings.
They don't fly because God hasn't equipped them that way. Spurgeon goes on, if a man be called to preach, he will be endowed with a degree of speaking ability which he will cultivate and increase. If the gift of utterance be not there in a measure at the first, it is not likely that it will ever be developed. That is a good thing to take into consideration.
And here, brethren, I will give the qualification I always give relative to talking about eldership. It is not a sin to not be an elder. It is not a sin to not be able to teach. It is not a sin to not be given by God a particular gift.
If you are never called to teach or preach in the life of the church, you can be as faithful, and in many cases, far more faithful than men who have been set apart to preach the Word of God as a vocation. So never get it into your head that I'm less somehow if I'm not teaching, or I'm not preaching, or I'm not leading a Sunday school. Brethren, faithfulness is required among the people of God. Wherever you are planted, you're supposed to grow.
If God has equipped you and God has given you this desire, then by all means seek by grace to pursue these things. But don't ever judge yourself as having committed sin against God because you can't lead a Bible study. That's okay. That's perfectly acceptable.
No harm or no foul. God is not going to say on the day of judgment, I can't believe you didn't have a neighborhood Bible study. I can't believe you didn't jockey for position in the context of the church. He's not going to say that, because these are gifts given by God, and if these gifts are absent, that's okay.
No harm or foul on the part of the person who hasn't received the gift.
Opportunity and Providential Opening
And then the fourth thing, relative to a call to the ministry, is an opportunity indicating providential opening. Again, I'm giving credit to Pastor A.N. Martin. Desire born of right motives.
Grace is indicating genuine Christian experience. Gifts indicating divine provision. And then that fourth one, an opportunity indicating providential opening. The same sort of thing obtains here.
If God wants behemoth to fly, he'll put wings on it. If God wants a man to preach, he'll give him people that will listen to him. Solomon in the book of Proverbs says that a man's gift makes room for him. There is a specific, dare I say, conspicuous order in that passage.
He does not say, a man makes room for his gift. That is a different ball game or a different animal altogether. And I have shared, and I'll probably die sharing it, that when people come here and the first time they meet me, they tell me, I should be teaching your Sunday school, or I should be preaching in your pulpit. That doesn't typically make me want to sign on the dotted line and sign them up right here right now, because a man's gift makes room for him.
He doesn't make room for it. He doesn't parade himself as the rabbi. He doesn't demonstrate himself as the holy one of Israel, but rather he's humble and he bides his time. and he waits for the providential openings under God, and when such occasion arises, all these other things being in place, qualifications met, hands laid upon him, then he can preach and he can teach until the proverbial cows come home. Brethren, these things must be present.
Now, to varying degrees, to varying experience within the context of the particular man himself. But this is a great sort of rubric or metric on how to measure a man's call to the ministry.
The Man's Personal Holiness
Now, secondly, we look at the man's personal holiness. And we're not going to spend a lot of time here because each of the words means precisely what each of the words says. Again, it's not difficult. Virtue ought to be pursued by the blood-bought children of God, right?
We have the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus points us to the moral law as our pattern for sanctification. Obviously, we should seek by grace to do what God calls us to do. But again, with men that are appointed into the eldership, they must be men who have proven a degree of faithfulness with these things.
Not perfection, not sinlessness, not absolute moral purity, because we never have pastors in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Take, for instance, this first one. It's sort of the overarching concern. Verse 2 tells us a bishop then must be blameless.
A bishop then must be blameless. John Calvin writes, there will be no one found among men that is free from every vice. But it is one thing to be blemished with ordinary vices, which do not hurt the reputation, because they are found in men of the highest excellence, and another thing to have a disgraceful name, or to be stained with any baseness. So he makes a distinction.
I typically use the language of garden variety sin, and then those things that are above garden variety sin. He speaks of ordinary vice. Can we ever find a man to function or serve in the context of a biblical eldership that is without ordinary vice? If you have for a moment ever entertained the thought that Butler doesn't have ordinary vice, let me disabuse you of that notion right here and right now.
Every single man functioning in pastoral ministry has sin. That is why Jesus came into the world. It was to save his people from their sins. But this blamelessness that is invoked by the apostle has to do with what Calvin illustrates, reputation.
If he is notorious for a particular sin, if he has a habit or a reputation for a particular sin, that ought to keep him out of the pastoral ministry. Notice, secondly, he says he must be a one-woman man. He is the husband of one wife. Now, interpreters typically go one of four ways in this.
Now, as I said, we're not gonna spend a lot of time, but a few of these terms does bear our attention. So there are four ways to deal with this statement, the husband of one wife. The first is that the elder must be a married man. In other words, we don't ordain a man, and we don't receive into the eldership a man that's single.
I do not think that's what Paul means here. It would bring us into conflict with teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. I think functionally, and I think practically, and I think for the most part, elders will be married men, but this text is not necessitating that they be. But if a married man is able to speak to married man sort of issues, a man with children is able to speak to men with children sort of issues, there's a practical edge that that man has having a wife and having kids.
But does the text demand that elders in our churches be married? No, I don't think it does. The second option is that the elder must have only ever had one wife his entire life. In other words, if his wife dies, he is not free to remarry.
Again, I think that brings us into conflict with other teaching in Scripture. Again, 1 Corinthians 7 and then Romans 7, a very analogy that the Apostle Paul uses, assumes the validity of remarriage after the death of a spouse. The third option is that it forbids polygamy. Polygamy.
If you read the Old Testament, and oftentimes I've heard this question, what about the Old Testament? David had a multitude of wives. Solomon had a multitude of wives. Well, let Solomon be the beacon of warning as to why that's a horrible idea.
Because those wives led his heart astray and brought him into truck or contact with these idols. But the text does forbid polygamy, but I think option 4 does that better than strictly identifying it as polygamy. Option 4 basically states, the elder is to be faithful in marriage and in sexual matters. We might say he is a one-woman man, and that is the literal translation of the passage.
He is a one-woman man. And therefore, it does forbid concunibage, it does forbid polygamy, but it also forbids other areas of sexual infidelity. And so the elder must be a man with proven faithfulness in this particular regard, or he's not to function or serve in the eldership. Now, if he gets better, if there's growth, if there's help, if there's hope, if there's that, I would never say that is absolutely disqualifying.
There's an intriguing passage in 1 Timothy 5 that I'm not sure the church is ready for. Look at 1 Timothy 5 for just a moment. I don't mean this church alone. I mean churches in general.
Look at verse 19. I think we all know this passage. We just don't pay any attention to it. Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.
Now note verse 20. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. It's that sort of old covenant model when you punish somebody that all Israel would hear and fear. It's the same sort of a concept.
But does Paul actually mean that an elder could have sinned in the eldership, be publicly rebuked for that sin, repent, and continue on in the eldership? The text seems to suggest that. I mean, there are disqualifying sins. There are things that should be a means or the reason for removing a man, you know, forthwith.
But if it's a garden variety sin, or there's a pattern, or there's a habit, and he's rebuked, and he confesses, and he forsakes, and he maintains faithfulness, do we necessarily defrock him at that point? I think the typical pattern, at least in my experience, is defrocked for just about everything. Well brethren, that might lend itself to the lack of elders in our Reformed Baptist churches. Perhaps we have become more holy than God Almighty.
Can a leader be publicly rebuked? Can that leader confess a known sin? Can that leader be restored to faithful gospel ministry? Again, I think there are gross violations, adultery, various sexual sins, various other sorts of things, embezzlement, you know, things where the man is proven unfaithful in terms of leadership as a whole.
That ought to be the grounds for immediate dismissal. But are there a class of sins where a guy could be rebuked and continue on in gospel ministry? Again, I don't want to lower the bar, but at the same time, we don't want to make it so that no one could ever serve as an elder. Brethren, if you look at our Reformed Baptist churches, it's not just this one.
It's not like we're bursting at the seams with elders. The harvest is white and the laborers are few. And we are supposed to pray to the Lord of the harvest to raise men up and to send them out. But if we raise the bar so high, that's why when it comes to this atlas to teach, I've had to examine my own art.
I've had to look at my own heart. Am I looking for C.H. Spurgeon? Am I looking for John Calvin?
I don't think that I am, but I am looking for somebody that can assimilate truth for their own benefit and then articulate that truth to another. But if we append a certain degree, a certain type, a certain measure of aptness to teach, well then we are raising the bar higher than the Apostle Paul does. And we need to guard our hearts in that way. So he must be blameless.
He must be a one-woman man. Thirdly, he must be temperate. This can be used with reference to sobriety in the use of wine. But because Paul speaks specifically with sobriety in the use of wine, here it has to do with the mental sobriety.
The word denotes self-control, balanced judgment, and the avoidance of rash behavior. There is no place in an eldership for rash behavior. Brethren, we have to deliberate, we have to think through issues, we have to search the scriptures, we have to look for explicit text, we have to look for implicit text, we have to ponder, we have to reflect, and then we move. There ought not to be ready, fire, aim guys serving in elderships.
You get that? Ready, fire, aim. Any of you who've ever gone shooting, don't shoot that way. Never shoot that way.
You ready, aim, and then fire. Okay? We need men that are sober-minded in the gospel ministry, men that are not given to reaction versus contemplation, rationality, and reflection upon issues that demand our attention. Notice, then, he goes on to say, he must engage in good behavior.
The same word is used in chapter 2, verse 9, where it is translated modest. It simply means respectable, orderly, and well-behaved. He must then be hospitable. Again, this isn't something, wow, I can't believe, no, it's all over the New Testament.
There are many one-anothers, not just for elders, but for the people of God. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. Doesn't Peter tell us that in 1 Peter chapter 4? There needs to be hospitality.
And I think in this area, or in this arena, this is where a married elder is well served by a faithful wife that engages in this sort of activity and can serve as his helpmate to make sure that this is being met in their day-in and day-out lives. As I said, we'll take up, he must be able to teach at the end. Then seventhly, he says he must not be given to wine. He is not a slave of drink.
He is not preoccupied with it or overindulgent. The Bible does not condemn the use of alcohol. The Bible condemns the abuse of alcohol. The Bible does not forbid man partaking in the good creature that God has made.
It does forbid man in overindulging in that good creature. And that is prohibited by the apostle relative to eldership in the Christian ministry. He must not be violent. And I think this one is probably self-evident.
You know, you come to your pastor for counsel, you shouldn't want to leave with a black eye. That just, you know, goes on to just pretty consistent with life. He's not pugnacious. He's not a striker.
He's not one that, you know, this is a little bit of discipline for you. I got the five fingers of discipline. That's not what an elder should be. Again, remember temperate, sober-minded.
Not rash, not a ready, fire-aimed guy, but rather he must not be violent. Next, he says he must not be greedy for money. This is absent in other Bible versions. It's here in the King James Tradition.
It's certainly indicated in Acts 20. Paul says, I have coveted no man's silver or gold. I've not been in this for the money. 1 Peter chapter 5 tells us that elders are not to serve, they're not to do it for greedy purposes or greedy gain. Now that doesn't mean you make your elders live in huts out in, you know, the parking lot of the church and call it a manse.
If a man labors in the Word and Doctrine according to 1 Timothy 5.17, he is worthy of double honor, and honor in that context means payment. Now, no man should get rich from the gospel ministry, but no man should have to go begging in the gospel ministry as well. And we need to keep that in mind as the church, and I've got to give the qualification. This is not a complaint.
I am not suggesting... No, no, no. I'm very happy. The Lord is good.
This is what the scripture says in terms of elderships. Not greedy for money. He must be gentle. He must be gentle.
Now remember, all men have their ordinary vices. And not all men may be as gentle as other men. So we got to make sure that we understand these statements. It's going to vary from man to man.
Some men dispositionally are more gentle than others. That doesn't mean the man who's less dispositionally gentle is not gentle. He's just not as good at it as perhaps his brother or his fellow is. But a man of God must be gentle.
Notice as well, he must not be quarrelsome. Turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 2, where this is illustrated vividly. 2 Timothy chapter 2. verses 24 and, well, verse 23. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses, and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him, to do his will.
Must not be quarrelsome. That doesn't mean you can't answer. It doesn't mean you can't give a defense. It doesn't mean you can't rationally engage with people.
But it simply means you can't grab them by the shirt collars and shake them until they adopt your position. There must be that in the man of God where he's not a quarreling man. He's not a violent man. He's not so bent on his agenda that he's unwilling to hear everything that somebody may have to say.
Brethren, this is what Paul says concerning men who serve in the eldership. And then the final one in this arena is he must not be covetous. He must not be covetous. Notice at the end there of verse 3.
Again, it's not okay for you to be covetous. The Tenth Commandment forbids covetousness, but we need men with a proven track record of not being covetous men. And that's what Paul's point is. And as I understand it, there was money to be made in religion in the first century, in the Roman Empire.
There was money to be made if you were a philosopher or you were a religious teacher. Do you know that in Acts chapter 19, the Apostle Paul rents the school of Tyrannus? He rents the school of Tyrannus and there he preaches the gospel and the text says that all Asia Minor heard it. Well, the school of Tyrannus was probably a philosophy school.
It was probably a building where they taught philosophy. Paul books, you know, whatever slot or whatever time of the week it was, and there he sets up and he preaches. Philosophy, theology, metaphysics, things that mattered then don't really matter a lot now, but men made money from that. They had disciples.
They had people that were followers. They had supporters. That's why Peter says in 1 Peter 5, they must not be greedy for money. Because that is a reality, at least in this particular instance.
I guess it is true today. I mean, these guys have mansions and helicopters or planes. What does the one guy have? He's got three planes?
I guess there still is money to be made in religion. But that is why these prohibitions are there, so that men who want that are kept out. If a man says, boy, I want to be a pastor, and I want to agree on this salary so that I can buy it. No, no, no, no.
That's just weird, man. We don't want to talk about that sort of thing. That's just odd. You're not in this for the money.
As C.H. Spurgeon famously said, if a man wants to get rich, he shouldn't join the Baptist ministry. I mean, that's just an oxymoron. Don't ever pursue that.
But then C.H. Spurgeon as well wasn't a Gnostic. There's a famous story where Spurgeon was riding in the first class cart in a train. And a minister that he knew got on the train and looked at Spurgeon and said, well, this servant of the Lord, I'm going to spare the money of the Lord by riding in coach.
And Spurgeon says, well, I'm going to spare the servant of the Lord by riding in first class. Now, I don't advocate that. First class in the plains is a bit different than trains and all that sort of thing. But I thought that was a witty sort of comeback.
Another man once said to Spurgeon, they asked about paying pastors, and if you ever have to bring that up with your deacons. And then the deacons say, well, you should be preaching for souls. Well, yeah, but I can't eat souls. And my kids can't wear souls on their shoes.
No pun intended. But you see, there are these realities. On the one hand, we don't want to overpay a man, but on the other hand, he shouldn't be the beggar on the five point or five corners because we're too cheap to pay the guy who's laboring, especially in the word and doctrine. Brethren, as I said last week or two weeks ago with the Eighth Commandment, men want religion, but they want it cheap.
And oftentimes that's reflected in the way that people pay pastors. In short, George Knight says, the bishop's life is not to be dominated or controlled by wine or money, nor may it be one of strife, but rather it must be one of peace and gentleness. So that's the man's personal holiness.
The Man's Domestic Faithfulness
Notice thirdly, the man's domestic faithfulness in verses four and five. Notice what he says, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence, and then parenthetically, for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Now the argument here is from the lesser to the greater. It is an argument from the lesser to the greater.
If he can't manage his own house, how in the world is he going to be a steward in the Church of God? And the two words are different. He manages the house. He leads, or dare I say, rules the house.
But in terms of the church, he's a steward. He's a minister. The language of government or leadership or ruler, again, it's not packed with authoritarianism, but with ministerialism. And so the argument is very clear, very consistent.
If he can't rule his own house well, how in the world is he going to be able to take care of the Church of God? This means that he must be not only a one-woman man, But he must love his wife the way the Bible says. Do you get that? Ephesians 5.
Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. If a man doesn't love his wife the way the Bible calls him to, then you don't want that man overseeing your soul. You don't want that man in charge of your life in terms of feeding and preaching and teaching you the Word of the Living God if he's cold or he's calloused or he's hard or he's distant or he's unkind or ungodly with reference to the person he's supposed to be the most devoted to. Brethren, the marriage relationship is a one-flesh relationship.
How a man takes care of his wife is very, very much an illustration of how he's going to relate to you and I. And if he doesn't do this well, that adverb is there. Notice what Paul says, he must rule his household well. See, he's not just sitting on the easy chair with his heavy hand telling everybody what needs to be done and making sure it gets done.
That's not well management. It may be management. It may be leadership. It may be government.
But the subjects are miserable. Well management, the subjects are happy. They're adjusted. They're healthy.
They're secure. They're stable. And that's what Paul calls for relative to elders. Again, this isn't something every one of you brothers in here should be aspiring.
Everybody should be aspiring to this. We should all seek to rule our households well, but there must be demonstrated faithfulness for the men we bring into the context of the eldership. So he must love his wife, but then notice as well with reference to his kids. Having his children in submission with all reverence.
The parallel in Titus 1.6 says having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. The NIV translates it as believing children. That has given rise to the interpretation that no man can function as an elder unless his children are converted. John MacArthur holds that particular view.
Again, qualification. I love John MacArthur. I esteem the man. He's been a faithful, proven minister of the gospel.
But at this point, he's wrong. Faithful is the better translation. We cannot make our children converted. Brethren, we are not Arminians.
We are not Pelagians. We believe in sovereign grace. It must be God who opens the heart. It must be God who grants the graces of faith and repentance.
It must be God who saves them, calls them out of darkness into marvelous light. But the faithfulness and the reverence means that they're under control. Not that they don't sin, but that when they do sin, they're dealt with by their parents. That's what Paul is saying.
When you go to their home, it's not chaos. When you go to their home, it's not a free-for-all. When you go to their home, it's not like you've just walked into the circus. It is rather a place that is managed, and it's managed well.
Wife is happy, children are happy. Again, not perfectly, not always. There's sin in wives, there's sin in children, there's sin in husbands and fathers. All of that thing, all of those things notwithstanding, the man rules his house well.
And that adverb as well needs to be appreciated well. What does that demand? It demands time. Brethren, work is good.
Hard work is excellent. But the hard work that keeps us from those that we're supposed to love and those we're supposed to manage well, we need to reorient ourselves as to how better to function in a well capacity in terms of household management. It's not just management. Again, you could probably walk into businesses and see that they're managed.
But then you start asking employees, and they don't look like they're managed well. Everybody's unhappy. There's no morale. They walk around like they're, you know, just worker drones.
There's no sort of joy in their life whatsoever. Paul says that ought not to be characteristic of elders' homes. Again, it's not spotless, holy, perfectly pure. but rather stuff is getting dealt with by the elder. He's not passive.
He is not checked out. He doesn't just come home and tune out, but rather he's involved in the lives of his wife and children. He takes the time to nourish them and to nurture them. George Knight again says, what must not characterize the children of an elder is immorality and undisciplined rebelliousness, if the children are still at home and under his authority.
Paul, that's important as well. Brethren, we got one kick at the can with our kids. They get married and they move out. We're going to keep a man out of the eldership because his kids have grown up and now denounce Jesus Christ?
Again, maybe there are mitigating circumstances, maybe there are realities that reflect ultimately upon the elder, but it's not necessarily in every case the way. Think back to Luke chapter 15. The brother says, give me my share of the inheritance so I can go out and vent it on my lusts. Who's the father in this scenario?
It's God Almighty. And yet we're always there to judge our fellows. Well, did you see how their kids turned out? Brethren, can I implore you don't do that?
It's reflective on them. It's their fault. Now again, I don't doubt. I see things in my kids that I have contributed, and I'm not real happy about it.
You see those little traits where, oh yeah, they take after dad in that one. Believe you me, I've got that list. And it bugs me, and I wish it wasn't the case, but it is the case. But there's a far cry difference between that, things we pass on, even unsavory things, versus blaming somebody that their children went off into the far country.
Because we would then assume the posture in Luke 15 of blaming God the Father because his child went off into the far country. You know, I said it, I think it was last week in Surrey, when we looked at the woman, the anointing at Bethany, I preached that here, the Last Lord's Supper, and what does Jesus say to the disciples when they want to mess with this poor woman in Mark 14? He says, leave her alone. That's good counsel, not just in that setting, but for a lot of things.
Leave people alone. When it comes to a child going off into the far country, your brother, your sister doesn't need a lecture on how they messed up when that kid was five. They need a hug. They need prayer.
They need encouragement. That's what they need. If you're going to do that, then don't leave them alone. Love them, hug them, encourage them, and pray for them and with them.
He goes on to say, Paul is not asking any more of the elder and his children than is expected of every Christian father and his children. However, only if a man exercises such proper control over his children may he be an elder. So again, I think that principle, not only relative to the children, but extrapolated over all of them. It isn't the case that any man shouldn't be aspiring to these things, but it should be the case that every man considered for eldership has proven faithfulness in these areas.
Application
Now it occurs to me, brethren, I am already moving fast. I don't want to move fast through the rest of this. We're going to stop at this point. I'm going to make a couple of final observations, and we'll take up the appointment of elders, part two, God willing, next Sunday.
If you're interested and intrigued and you're a visitor, then I invite you to come back. because there's more that the Apostle says that demands our attention. But at this particular place, let us, in the first place, underscore this reality. When we look at these things, the man must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, How will he take care of the church of God?
That's everybody's requirements. Now, if you're a woman, just switch the language, a one-man woman. That's how the widow is described in 1 Timothy 5. She's not to be put on the widow's list unless she's been a one-man woman.
That means she's been faithful in sexual matters to her husband in the entirety of his life. So if you're a woman, it's the same sort of thing that you should be seeking relative to eldership. Now, as long as I'm breathing in this church, you will never be ordained as an elder in this church, because Paul, under God, by the power of the Spirit, prohibits a woman from teaching or exercising authority over a man. If that bugs you, if that makes you unhappy, if that irritates you about Jim Butler, it ain't Jim Butler you got a problem with.
It's God the Lord because He moved Paul to write 1 Timothy 2.12. but with reference to a woman and the virtues of Christianity, this is a great list. With reference to men and the virtues of Christianity, this is a great list. This shouldn't have been earth-shattering for any of us. I hope nobody has come this morning going, wow, I can't believe spiritual leaders should actually look like spiritual men.
It shouldn't be the case that a man given to ministry should be greedy for, oh yeah, this is no-brainer stuff. But what is different with men that we choose or select for eldership, they must demonstrate faithfulness. That's why the qualifications exist, and that brings us to a second thought or consideration. It is imperative in the context of the local church that we don't let feelings, experiences, or like or love dictate and ultimately trump biblical truth.
It's the Bible that we go to. If a man goes forth for gospel ministry and he's not qualified, we shouldn't ever say, but he's so likable, he's so nice, and he's so good in a whole host of other ways. All that stuff may be true, brethren, but we are not given the prerogative under God to compromise the qualifications that God himself has given. Now where is Timothy when Paul is writing to him?
Timothy is in Ephesus. Paul stationed Timothy in Ephesus to wage the good warfare.
The Church of Ephesus as Example
Turn over to Revelation 2 to see the church at Ephesus in a later situation. Revelation chapter 2. These are the seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor. And the first comes to the church of Ephesus.
And I think with reference to the church of Ephesus, we oftentimes only ever remember that they lost or left their first love. What a horrific thing, isn't it? That is a horrific thing, to lose your first love, to have a less than fervent or earnest appreciation for the Lord Jesus Christ. But Ephesus is commended for doing something as well.
And I think that they are related. And I'll try and show you why in just a moment. But before we look at Revelation 2, there's a pattern in these letters. There's an obvious pattern.
Jesus identifies, I almost said conspicuous, I said obvious. Jesus identifies himself, and that identification will come up later in the book of Revelation. Then Jesus either condemns if the church has need for condemnation, and then commends if the church has need or deserves commendation. And then he gives the exhortation or points out something specific within their church, and then he ends with the same exhortation about overcoming.
You've got to overcome. You've got to persevere. And I think that end helps us understand one of the population or one of the people populating the Lake of Fire in Revelation 21.8. Revelation 21.8 describes a bunch of people we'd say are wicked, horrible sinners.
But one of the identifying marks is that they are cowards. The Lake of Fire isn't populated with people who are afraid of snakes. The Lake of Fire isn't populated with, well, I mean, it may be, but that's not the reason why. Cowardice in Revelation 21.8 is not overcoming.
It's not persevering. It's not enduring. It is not being faithful. It is what John speaks of in 1 John 2.
They went out from us, but they were not of us. Because if they were of us, they would not have gone out from us. They would have continued in our midst. So when you look at Revelation 21.8, and you see that coward, and you think, boy, am I afraid of hippopotamuses.
Those are vicious, horrible creatures. I'm glad I wasn't at that gas station in Florida when that thing was roaming about. It's always amazed me. We teach our kids to play with hippos.
That's that game, Hungry, Hungry Hippo. Hippos are vicious, vile, horrific killing machines. If I saw one, I'd be terrified. But I wouldn't conclude that's why I'm going to go to hell, because I'm afraid of hippos.
The cowardice of Revelation 21.8 is not a phobia. It is rather a failure to persevere by God's grace to the New Jerusalem. But look at the letter to Ephesus. Verse 1, to the angel.
That angel is the bishop. That angel is the overseer. That angel is the man that is the pastor of the churches. The word angel doesn't just mean disembodied spirit, but it means messenger.
To the messenger of the church of Ephesus write, these things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Don't we love that? You may not feel it, you may not sense it, you may not experience it in the way that you perhaps should, but when a biblical church gathers together for worship, Christ is in the midst. It's what it says.
It's what it says. Now, you say, well, this church is cold, or it's boring, or it's this, or it's that. Well, it's still a biblical church, and we still have faith that when we gather together, Christ is in the midst. See, it's not predicated upon our feelings.
If you feel that he's with you, then he is. Don't you love that statement of the Lord Jesus when he says, when you go into your closet and there you pray, your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly? Do you always feel God in your closet? Do you always experience God in your closet?
No, that's not necessary. It's good when God does that or when you have that, but that's not requisite to God's presence. God's presence doesn't always associate with us feelings and experiences and mysticism. There's an objectivity about faith.
We walk by faith, not by sight. Too many Christians today walk by sight. They walk by feeling, they walk by experience, they walk by what really moves them. Brethren, that is not how the presence of God is measured.
Notice, back to the text. Verse 2, he says, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. That's good. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.
So the church in Ephesus took seriously 1 Timothy chapter 3. They applied it when men came into the church saying, we're apostles, we should teach in your pulpits. They said, wait a minute, let's look at these qualifications and let's scrutinize your life and conduct and let's see if you have the mettle to be able to teach and preach in the church. Nope, you're not, you're liars, you're out.
Brethren, that is a commendable trait on the part of a church. That is a most excellent trait on the part of a church. Now, I think that's probably why the condemnation then comes. Notice in verse 3, you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary.
Now notice in verse 4, nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. that he's still writing to them and addressing them as a church indicates that it was an apostasy. It doesn't mean they had defected completely in wholesale. It doesn't mean that they were done. It just means that the earnestness with which they expressed their devotion to Jesus had suffered to some degree or other.
You have left your first love. Now, I would suggest, practically, it was probably in the context of fighting against, not physically, because an elder must not be a striker, but fighting against these claimants to the apostolic ministry. When you're in that particular trench, engaged in that particular battle, you're not typically reading morning and evening. Not that morning and evening isn't good.
Morning and evening is great. But you're reading Calvin, you're reading Turretin, you're reading Bovink, you're reading the sorts of guys that will help you test the claims of these false apostles so you can rule and say, no, that's not true of you, get out. You see, in that context, I think it's understandable, not that it's okay, we should maintain white-hot love for Jesus and fight for Jesus all in the same swath. But it doesn't always happen that way.
And that's why Jesus commends them and then says to them, nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Now, look at the encouragement. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. That's grace, that's kindness, that's love, that's encouragement.
He doesn't say, you've left your first love, that's it, you're apostates, I'm pulling away the lampstand, you're done. That's not it at all. He tells them repent. He tells them to burn with that white hot love for Jesus and keep these false apostles out.
That's the mission of the church and that is absolutely crucial. But the larger point is, is that the church in Ephesus followed the qualifications. They didn't say, well, we like that guy. It's a lot of guys serving in elderships that are liked by people.
And I don't think that's bad. People should be liked. But it's bad if they're functioning in an eldership simply because they're liked. And it kind of goes back to that thing I used in 2016.
When I went and got hip surgery, my doctor was nice, but I didn't go to him because he was nice. I went to him because he knew how to pull out an old rotten hip and put in a new funky titanium one. That's why I went to him. Now, obviously, it'd be nice to have a nice doctor and one who's well-equipped at what he does.
That's what I think elders ought to be, apt to teach, able to preach, faithful men and all that, and still be nice. I mean, can't we have both and? That would be good. You're probably thinking, well, you're not real nice.
OK, it's a work in progress. But the bottom line is, brethren, It is not a popularity contest, it is not a likability contest, and it's not directly correlated to a man's success in the world. A man may be an effective business owner, he may be an effective business manager, he may be effective in that arena and not be so much so in the context of the church. There are similarities in terms of leadership in the church and the world.
There are similarities and perhaps analogies that are useful and helpful, but there is not a direct transference or a direct correspondence. A man may be gifted and fitted and excellent for a particular task outside of the church and not so much in the church. So we can't just say, well, he's so great in this arena, therefore he'll be great in that arena. He may be, but he still needs to be scrutinized vis-a-vis 1 Timothy 3, 1 to 7, to make sure that he is all the things that God has said he must be.
So the church in Ephesus followed this, the church in Ephesus pursued this, and the church in Ephesus was commended by Jesus as a result. And then finally, and this goes with the exposition in Acts 14. The appointment for elders, or the appointment of elders in the context of these newly founded churches, is a good thing. It is an excellent thing.
It is a helpful thing. Not to say you cannot read your Bible, you cannot read Bavink, you cannot read Turretin, you cannot read Calvin for yourself and profit. You can, absolutely, positively so. But God has purposed a preaching ministry in the churches of Jesus Christ.
God has purpose, not drama, not social media, not mind, not skit, not movie, not theater, not any of that. God is pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe and to edify and strengthen those who do believe. That's why they appointed elders in every city. It was for the maturation, the growth of the body and their conformity unto Jesus Christ.
As well, it was for the calling of sinners to repentance and faith that they may close with Christ and have everlasting life. So the end game that I want to leave with each of you now, especially those who do not profess faith in Christ, see, if I can use this language predicated of God, I don't speak properly, but if you're following you'll appreciate, God is willing to save sinners. That is absolutely positively displayed in Scripture. It is absolutely positively displayed in the sending of the Son of His love.
It is absolutely positively displayed when the Father was pleased to bruise Him, putting Him to grief. But it's also positively displayed in the reality that he has fitted and equipped a class of men to preach the gospel, to do the work of an evangelist, to call sinners, to come out of the darkness into marvelous light, to believe on Jesus Christ alone for salvation. The gospel ministry is another token of God's willingness to save you from your sins. And if you're a sinner here this morning, the way of salvation is not to imitate what Paul says here.
The way of salvation is to believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lived, who died, and who was raised the third day. As Paul summarizes it in Romans 4.25, he was delivered up because of our offenses, and he was raised for our justification. All those who look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. That is good news.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for Your Word.