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Taking a bit of an excursus from 
our studies in the book of Acts, in Acts 14.23, at the end of 
the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas go back through 
the cities, they strengthen the people, they exhort the people, 
and as well they appoint elders in each of the churches in those 
cities. So I thought it would be good 
for us to take this time and look at the appointment of elders. So in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 
1 to 7, we have a list of the qualifications for elders. So 
I'll begin reading in 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 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? 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. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word. We thank You for this opportunity to gather together. 
We thank You for Your grace and Your mercy and for the presence 
and the power of Your Holy Spirit. And we pray He'd be active now 
in our hearts and minds, that You would instruct us as a church 
concerning this matter. We pray that You would provide 
in Your kindness elders in this local church. We pray not only 
for our church, we pray for the work in Vernon, we pray for Surrey, 
We pray for all of your churches that need more men, because certainly 
the harvest is plentiful, but laborers are few. So we pray 
to you, the Lord of the harvest, to raise men up. We ask that 
you would forgive us now for all of our sin and transgression. 
We pray that you would help us to understand your written word. and may it be an encouragement 
to our hearts, and may you strengthen us with might in the inner man, 
so that Christ may dwell richly in our hearts through faith. 
And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, just by way of review, 
remember that the Bible uses the terms elder, bishop, that's 
the word overseer, and pastor synonymously. When we look at 
the various places where this office is referred to, we see 
each of those terms applied to the one office. There are two 
abiding offices in the church, verses 1 to 7 deal with the elder, 
verses 8 and following deal with the deacon. So those are the 
two offices that remain in Christ's church. There's no longer apostles, 
there's no longer prophets, there's no longer those sorts of gifts 
or gifted men that the early church had, but now we simply 
have elders and deacons. Elders are tasked primarily with 
governing or leading in the context of the local church and being 
able to teach. And as we consider this list 
of qualifications, last week we looked first at the man's 
desire for eldership, that's in verse 1. Secondly, we looked 
at the man's personal holiness, that's in verses 2 to 3. Thirdly, 
we looked at the man's domestic faithfulness, verses 4 and 5. 
And this morning we'll take up the man's experience in the faith, 
verse 6. Next, the man's testimony toward 
outsiders, in verse 7. And then finally, the man's ability 
to teach, in verse 2. Now, I went a little bit different 
in terms of the structure or order, because I wanted to end 
on teaching. All the other gifts describe 
a man's character. what he must be in terms of Christian 
virtue, it is the gift that distinguishes him from the deacon. Deacons 
must hold the truth in a consistent manner as well, but they're not 
required by way of office to preach or teach the word of God. 
That is something distinctive for elders in the context of 
Christ's church. But just by way of reminder, 
in terms of a desire for eldership, there must be a desire born of 
right motives. In other words, there must be 
this impetus in a man to preach and teach and shepherd the people 
of God for good motives. Secondly, there must be graces 
indicating genuine Christian experience. He must be born again. Thirdly, there must be gifts 
indicating divine provision. If a man is called to preach, 
God is going to equip him to preach. And then fourthly, an 
opportunity indicating providential opening. So a man's gift makes 
room for him. He does not make room for his 
gift. And then in terms of the personal 
holiness, we see that that is consistent with reference to 
all believers. I ended last week by exhorting 
each and every one of us to strive after these characteristics or 
after these virtues. This is what Christianity looks 
like. Those blood-bought children of 
God who have the Holy Spirit, who are justified freely by God's 
grace, enter into the life of sanctification, and this ought 
to be the pursuit. Will we do it perfectly? No. 
Will we do it consistently? No. Where do we go when we fail? We go to God through Christ seeking 
forgiveness, but this is the standard by which we are to proceed. As well, domestic faithfulness, 
the language of verses 4 and 5, is an argument from the lesser 
to the greater. If you look at verse 4, he must 
rule his own house well. Not just rule, but rule 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? Again, if he can't function in the context of his own four 
walls, then he shouldn't serve as an elder in the context of 
the church's walls. It is an argument from the lesser 
to the greater. Now let's look fourthly, in terms 
of the broader categories, at the man's experience in the faith. 
Verse 6 tells us, not a novice, literally it's not a neophyte, 
one that is not newly planted, not a new convert. We've all 
heard that terminology before. And so Paul says, not a novice, 
lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation 
as the devil. Now, in terms of this particular 
qualification, remember the first missionary journey. Remember 
that they took probably about a year and a half to two years 
to engage in this. They went from city to city. 
In AD 47 to 48, they preach from place to place. They make disciples. They plant churches. On their 
return to Antioch in Syria, they appoint elders. Now those elders 
that they had appointed hadn't been men in the faith for 10 
or 15 or 20 years. They were chronologically new 
converts. They were chronologically new 
neophytes. They were chronologically men 
that were newly planted. If you turn for just a moment 
over to the book of Titus, you see sort of the same thing. Titus 
chapter one, verse five. 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 
he gives a list similar to what he gives in 1 Timothy 3. Well, the great reality is, is 
that in Crete, it wasn't the case that the church had been 
well-established for a long time. They would have, again, been 
chronologically relatively new converts to the Christian faith. In fact, some have made the observation. When you look at 1 Timothy 3, 
you have the qualifications for both elders and then deacons. 
When you turn to Titus, there's no qualifications given for deacons. I don't think that means that 
Paul doesn't want deacons in the churches in Crete, but rather 
it means that the first order of business is to establish elders. The first order of business is 
to institute that office in the churches that obtained there 
in Crete. Not that deacons are unimportant, 
but the church in Ephesus was more established. It had been 
around longer, and therefore Paul speaks not only concerning 
elders, but deacons with reference to gospel ministry. But in terms 
of this particular qualification, it's not calling necessarily 
for age setting. In other words, it doesn't mean 
that an elder must be 25, he must be 30, he must have had 
this many years in service as a Christian before he's promoted 
to the rank of elder. Rather, the text is specifically 
calling on the Church to reflect soberly, to reflect most carefully 
on the men she selects in terms of elders in the context of the 
Church. William D. Mount says, the application 
of this rule would depend upon the relative age of the local 
church, its speed of growth, and many other factors that would 
vary from place to place and from time to time. A similar 
injunction does not occur in Titus 1. Again, it's a different 
scenario and a different context. And so Paul says, with reference 
to this overarching principle, they must be mature. That's the 
primary emphasis. If he is a relatively new convert 
in times of chronology, he's only been a believer for a year 
or two years or five years, nevertheless he is to be a mature man. He 
is to demonstrate capability and competence with reference 
to the aptness to teach and with reference to the characteristics 
that are necessary for the Christian faith. I think that later on, 
Paul is highlighting a problem that is open to churches that 
we need to be aware of. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 5, 
specifically at verse 22. Well, we'll pick up in verse 
21. So this is the problem involved. If we rush ahead, if we don't 
give any consideration to the maturity level of the particular 
individual, and we lay hands on someone hastily, just because 
we got to fill a position, just because we have to have a breathing 
person functioning as an elder, that will typically not end well. 
We need to be careful when it comes to the installation of 
elders in the local church that they be mature men in terms of 
their ability to think, their ability to preach and teach, 
and their ability to exhibit the sorts of graces and the characteristics 
that are displayed or are required by the apostle in terms of eldership. And if you look at verse 6, Paul 
highlights or gives the caution as to why it ought not to be 
a novice. lest, being puffed up with pride, 
he fall into the same condemnation as the devil." Brethren, pride 
is always an issue for every single one of us, isn't it? Now, if you say, well, not me, 
brother. Okay, you've just exhibited pride. That's always a concern 
for every one of the people of God. In fact, look at 1 Peter 
5 for just a moment. 1 Peter 5 and his teaching. Verse five, he says, likewise, 
you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you 
be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility 
for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So 
if pride is a perennial problem for every one of God's people, 
throw a new convert into leadership in the church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ and see what happens. This is tantamount to failure. If we rush this process, if we 
put somebody that is a neophyte, somebody that is newly planted, 
somebody that is a new convert into the role of eldership, and 
he is not ready to embrace that particular role, Very often, 
pride is one of the corollaries that comes along with it. In 
fact, Jonathan Edwards wrote a whole treatise on a caution 
against spiritual pride during the time of revival that he witnessed 
in his ministry. There is that reality, and we 
don't wanna, A, hurt the church of Jesus Christ by rushing a 
neophyte into the eldership so he can pour his pride all over 
us, but secondly, we wanna protect him. He needs to be stable. He needs to be girded. He needs 
to have that sort of security in himself before we place him 
in a teaching role in the church. James 3 is a reality and we mustn't 
ever forget it. Let not many of you become teachers. 
Why? For we shall receive a stricter 
judgment. Again, we don't want to not only 
protect the church, we want to protect men. We don't want to 
put them in a compromise situation. We don't want to put them in 
a place where there's going to be various temptations that they're 
not fit and ready to deal with. And not to say that old converts 
are necessary immune from pride either. You perhaps heard the 
old adage that was one of the famous preachers. Some old woman 
came up to him after the service and said, that was a great sermon. 
Thank you for preaching it. And he said, madam, the devil 
already told me that. Now, I don't think that was to 
rain on her parade from ever encouraging people. I've noticed 
whenever I use that illustration, people treat me like a pariah 
because they don't want to make me proud. Well, thank you for 
wanting to spare my propensity to pride, but I don't think that's 
the point. The point is that pride is in the hearts of all 
of God's people. And if we put a young man that 
is young in the faith and not stable, not secure, not able 
to deal with that sort of thing, then it's not only a problem 
for the church, but it's a problem for him. I think we have a responsibility 
not only to protect the church, but we have a responsibility 
to protect her members and not put them in a position where 
they're compromised. Now notice fifthly, the man's 
testimony toward outsiders. Verse seven says, moreover, he 
must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he 
fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Now, notice what 
the text says. He must have a good testimony. Not just a testimony, but it 
must be a good testimony. He not only needs to rule his 
house, but he must rule his house well. Again, these are things 
that all of us should be pursuing, all of us should be seeking after, 
but they are things that should be demonstrable in the lives 
of those who we select for eldership in the Christian church. Well, 
this is not confined to eldership. This is upon all God's people 
as well. Turn to Colossians 4 for just 
a moment. The mindset ought not to be, 
we shouldn't care about the pagans or we shouldn't care about what 
the world says. Well, we're not supposed to care about the pagans 
and what the world says when it contradicts Bible. But with 
reference to our own testimony, our own conversation before men, 
we must maintain a good testimony. Another necessary qualification 
is beware when all men speak beautifully about gospel ministers. If that were the case, I would 
be curious as to what that minister is actually preaching. But in 
terms of his testimony, his Christian testimony, he should be a faithful 
man. He shouldn't have the house that 
looks like it should be condemned in his neighborhood. He shouldn't 
be the guy that doesn't pay his taxes. He shouldn't be the guy 
that's always late for work. He shouldn't be the murmurer. 
He shouldn't be the whiner. He shouldn't be the complainer. 
He should rather have a good testimony with those outside 
the church. That is absolutely required by 
the apostle Paul. And notice in Colossians chapter 
4, verse 5, walk in wisdom toward those who are outside redeeming 
the time. Again, the mindset that we don't 
care about anybody outside the church is absolutely unbiblical. We're not supposed to kowtow 
to those outside the church, deny Jesus to those outside the 
church, but in terms of our Christianity, it ought not to be a blot on 
the name of Christ because people know that we're believers. We 
ought to bring glory to our Lord in the conduct that we have with 
others. 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 
4. Well, verse 11, that you also 
aspire to lead a... Boy, this text needs to be preached. 
Look at verse nine. But concerning brotherly love, 
you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves 
are taught by God to love one another. And indeed you do so 
toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge 
you, brethren, that you increase more and more, that you also 
aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and 
to work with your own hands as we commanded you. Isn't that 
a great passage? We all want something that God 
says isn't for us necessarily. Pastors want celebrity. Persons want notoriety. People 
want prestige. Paul says, do what you're supposed 
to do and mind your own business. Boy, that is a very good emphasis 
that needs to be thundered from every Christian pulpit in the 
world. But notice in verse 12, that 
you may walk properly toward those who are outside and that 
you may lack nothing. Peter emphasizes this as well. 
1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 at verse 12. Verse 11, beloved, I beg you 
as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts, which war 
against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, 
that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by 
your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. Verse 15, for this is the will 
of God, that by doing good, you may put to silence the ignorance 
of foolish men. In other words, that testimony 
that our elders ought to have should be a good one with those 
who are outside the church. Now, I'm going to read a bit 
of an extended quotation from Charles Spurgeon. It's from the 
lecture in his lectures to my students called The Minister's 
Ordinary Conversation. In other words, what characterizes 
a minister in his normal day-to-day affairs? And I'm going to just 
capitalize on one instance, not only because it's very funny, 
but also because it's very instructive. This is his point. The Christian 
minister should also be very cheerful. Now, obviously, I need 
to take heed to that. My disposition isn't always to 
walk around with a big smile on my face, but I'm, for the 
most part, trying to be a cheerful guy. But listen to what he says 
in terms of this point relative to ministers. He says, I don't 
believe in going about like certain monks whom I saw in Rome who 
salute each other in sepulchral tones, that means the language 
of a grave, and convey the pleasant information, brother, we must 
die, to which lively salutation each lively brother of the order 
replies, yes, brother, we must die. I was glad to be assured 
upon such good authority that all these lazy fellows are about 
to die. Upon the whole, it is about the 
best thing they can do. But till that event occurs, they 
might use some more comfortable form of salutation. No doubt, 
there are some people who will be impressed by the very solemn 
appearance of ministers. Is that necessary? Everybody 
goes on to say, I have heard of one who felt convinced that 
there must be something in the Roman Catholic religion from 
the extremely starved and pinched appearance of a certain ecclesiastic. Look, said he, how the man is 
worn to a skeleton by his daily fastings and nightly vigils, 
how he must mortify his flesh. Spurgeon says, now, the probabilities 
are that the emaciated priest was laboring under some internal 
disease, which he would have been heartily glad to be rid 
of, and it was not conquest of appetite, but failure in digestion 
which had so reduced him, or possibly a troubled conscience 
which made him fret himself down to the light weights. Certainly, 
I have never met with a text which mentions prominence of 
bone as an evidence of grace. If so, the living skeleton should 
have been exhibited, not merely as a natural curiosity, but as 
the standard of virtue. Some of the biggest rogues in 
the world have been as mortified in appearance as if they had 
lived on locusts and wild honey. It is a very vulgar error to 
suppose that a melancholy countenance is the index of a gracious heart. 
I commend cheerfulness to all who would win souls, not levity 
and frothiness, but a genial, happy spirit. There are more 
flies caught with honey than with vinegar, and there will 
be more souls led to heaven by a man who wears heaven in his 
face than by one who bears Tartarus in his looks." So the point is, 
this idea that religion produces that is not biblical. a cheerful spirit, a good testimony 
with those outside. He's not the guy that everybody 
in the neighborhood looks at because he won't cut his grass, 
because he won't pay his bills, because he won't function as 
a normal, ordinary, contributing member of society. Again, there's 
no bonus or brownie points for this. This is what every believer 
ought to be. This is how we ought to conduct 
ourselves. Again, beware if all men everywhere 
speak only good of you, because you're probably not ever offending 
them with the cross. But if they have cause to complain 
about your offense of the cross, may it never be a cause to complain 
because you are a busybody, because you are an irritant, because 
you are a pest. In fact, look at 1 Peter chapter 
4, again, where we see some of this displayed. In a different 
context, I'll grant, but the take-home message is the same. 
1 Peter chapter 4, the apostle 
deals with trials, with tribulations, with persecution, and with hardship 
that come upon the people of God. He gives four responses 
to it. He says in verse 12, we're to 
expect it. He says in verses 13 and 14, 
we're to exult in it, that means rejoice. Thirdly, he says to 
evaluate its cause, verses 15 to 18. And then finally he says, 
entrust yourself to God, verse 19. What is instructive for us 
is verses 15 to 18. Evaluate its cause. Why are you suffering persecution? Why is it at work nobody likes 
you? Is it because you're always preaching 
the gospel, or is it because you're a lousy worker? If it's 
because you're a lousy worker, don't try to wear the martyr's 
badge, but rather repent and be a good worker. That's the 
emphasis of Peter. Notice what he says, verse 12, 
"'Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which 
is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.'" 
There's the expected. Verse 13, "'Rejoice to the extent 
that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory 
is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you 
are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for 
the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their party 
is blaspheme, but on your party is glorified. Now notice what 
he says, verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer, 
a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet 
if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let 
him glorify God in this matter. You see the distinction that 
Peter draws. There is suffering because we're 
Christians. There is suffering because we own Jesus Christ and 
He owns us. But there's also suffering because 
we're busybodies. There's also suffering because 
we're thieves. There's also suffering because 
we are meddlesome people. If that is the reason why we 
are undergoing persecution, again, it's not, oh, woe is me, I'm 
trying to be godly in a godless age and they're all persecuting 
me. No, it may just be you need to work harder. You need to show 
up on time. You need to cut your grass. You 
need to put your trash cans away. You need to function in a manner 
that is consistent with the second great commandment. Love the Lord 
your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love 
your neighbor as yourself. Last time I checked, even those 
outside the church are our neighbor, and if we do not love them, we 
are not fit for gospel ministry. And again, Paul in 1 Timothy 
3, at verse 7, gives the caution. Moreover, he must have a good 
testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach 
and the snare of the devil. George Knight says verses 6 and 
7 seek to protect both the man and the church's leadership from 
self-righteous pride and cowardly disobedience. To avoid both demands 
a mature believer with an established reputation. That good testimony 
with those outside goes a long way as well. Let's just say we 
had a man that wanted to be in the eldership and I made a call 
to his employer and the employer said, oh yeah, he's terrible, 
he's the worst guy ever. He doesn't show up on time, he 
only whines and he just complains constantly. Brethren, I guarantee 
you, I'm not rushing to rubber stamp him into the eldership 
at that point. Now, it could be that there's 
persecution. It could be that there's some underlying sort 
of circumstances. The employee did faithfully take 
a stand for Christ. That irritates him. We can look 
through that. We can sort through that. The 
first to bleed is God seems right until his neighbor comes and 
examines him. I get all that, but there must be this good testimony 
with those who are outside. Now, let's look finally at the 
man's ability to teach. Again, that comes from verse 
3. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, 
sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach." The 
other qualifications describe his character. This describes 
his gift. Now, it doesn't say he must be 
able to teach like Charles had in Spurgeon. He must have the 
familiarity with scripture the way John Calvin does. It doesn't 
say that he must preach and teach in a manner that is absolutely 
mind-blowing to everyone who would ever hear him. It doesn't 
even necessarily emphasize he must preach every single Sunday. 
But he must, as an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ, be able 
to take this Word and teach it to others, whether publicly or 
privately, and at times it's the private situations that often 
present more of the difficulties involved. It's in a private setting 
where people ask very difficult questions, so elders must be 
equipped to go to the Word of God and teach from the Word of 
God what is necessary. In terms of who preaches each 
and every Sunday, that's going to be determined by other factors. 
The size of the church, the particular giftedness of the elder, the 
various needs involved in the church, division of labor, all 
that stuff. That's all a given. But the bare 
requirement, and again, he doesn't have to be Spurgeon, but he has 
to not only internalize or assimilate the truth for himself, but he 
must be able to articulate that truth to others. He must be able 
to take the Word and teach. That is the requirement. As well, 
the gift of teaching, as I mentioned, distinguishes or differentiates 
the elder from the deacon. Look at Deacons, verse 8. Likewise, 
deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to 
much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith 
with a pure conscience. They understand doctrine, they 
know truth, but there is the absence of a necessity to preach 
or teach on behalf of deacons. They certainly can. I think that 
Acts 6 was the first deacons. We see Stephen emerge as a preacher. We see Philip emerge as a preacher. 
But that's not the requisite or the required element with 
reference to the diaconal ministry. It is not teaching. It is not 
preaching. So that's what distinguishes 
elders from deacons in the context of Christ's church. And then 
the gift of teaching, that aptness or able to teach in verse 2, 
is consistent with the emphasis on sound doctrine in the pastoral 
epistles. Notice in 1 Timothy 4.6, if you 
instruct the brethren in these things, Perhaps it could be better translated. 
By instructing the brethren in these things, you will be a good 
minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of 
the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject 
profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward 
godliness. Look at 1 Timothy 4, 13 and 14. Till I come, give attention to 
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. The reading there isn't the private 
reading, the devotional reading of the minister's life. That 
is the public reading of Scripture, and these other things are what 
ministers do in the reading of Scripture. So, till I come, give 
attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the 
gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with 
the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these 
things. Give yourself entirely to them. 
Take that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to 
yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing 
this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. Notice 
in chapter 5 at verse 17. Let the elders who rule well 
be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in 
the word and doctrine. Again, this requirement of an 
aptness to teach vis-a-vis 1 Timothy 3-2 is right in line and consistent 
with Paul's emphasis on the role of the church as the propagator 
of the truth of God's holy word. Notice in 1 Timothy 6, 2, "...and 
those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because 
they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who 
are benefited are believers and beloved." Teach and exhort these 
things. 617, command those who are rich 
in this present age not to be haughty. How do pastors rule 
the church? How do pastors govern the church? How do pastors lead the church? Again, it's not authoritarianism. It's not what they think is right. 
It's rather what the word of God says. That is the primary 
means by which the government of the church is had. It is through 
the faithful proclamation of God's holy word. Notice in 2 
Timothy 1.13, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have 
heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That 
good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit 
who dwells in us. Notice 2 Timothy 2.12, I'm sorry, 
2 Timothy 2.2, Well, verse 1, you therefore, 
my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and 
the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, 
commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others 
also. 2 Timothy 2.15, notice, be diligent 
to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not 
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2, 24, and 
25. And a servant of the Lord must 
not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach. You see a 
theme here? What does God want in the church? And it is intriguing that the 
pastoral letters, with reference to Paul's writings, are the latest 
of his letters. He doesn't deal with tongue speaking. 
He doesn't deal with prophesying. He doesn't deal with what we 
would call the supernatural or extraordinary gifts of the church. 
He deals with the constant. He deals with the perpetual. He deals with that one thing 
that is absolutely crucial that will identify and mark true churches 
throughout the ages. It is the truth of God's Word. That's what elders must be able 
to do. They must be able to teach that 
word. Notice in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 
17, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly 
equipped for every good work. And then of course, chapter four, 
verses one and two, I charge you, therefore, before God and 
the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead 
at His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in 
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering and teaching. The recurring emphasis in these 
pastoral epistles, and we'll look at Titus 1.9 in just a moment, 
but the recurring emphasis is on the role of elders preaching 
and teaching the word. Why? Because salvation is on 
the line. Faith comes by hearing and hearing 
by the Word of God. You don't want to have a hack. 
You don't want to have a heretic. You don't want to have somebody 
clumsy in the pulpit or in a private setting teaching the Word to 
the twisting and distorting of that Word so that persons don't 
hear the truth and be saved. but also the maturation of the 
people of God. Remember on that missionary journey, 
as they return, before they appoint elders in every city, they exhort 
them with reference to suffering that is consistent with the Christian 
faith, but strengthening them in the faith. Brethren, what 
is it that strengthens our faith? It's not necessarily one another, 
though that helps in terms of our encouragement, but it's the 
word of the living and true God. That's the primary emphasis. 
C. H. Spurgeon made this observation. 
Brethren, if you are not theologians, you are in your pastorates just 
nothing at all. You may be fine rhetoricians 
and be rich in polished sentences, but without knowledge of the 
gospel and aptness to teach it, you are but a sounding brass 
and a tinkling cymbal. In other words, it is absolutely 
crucial that we do not compromise here. Now look at Titus chapter 
1. Titus chapter 1. Again, the qualifications for 
the elders are given in verses 5 to 9, very similar in nature. Verse 5, 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. if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful 
children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop 
must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not 
quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy 
for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, 
just, holy, self-controlled. the gift of teaching. Verse 9, 
he says, In other words, he himself has gone through a process of 
being student. He himself has gone through the 
process of being subject. He himself has gone through the 
process of receiving and dissimulating information. And now that he 
has that information, he has shown himself qualified according 
to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We look to him to be able to 
articulate that truth to others so that they may grow, so that 
they may receive that truth, so that they may indeed be filled 
with the spirit of a living God. That's imperative in terms of 
eldership. John Calvin says, this is the 
chief gift in a bishop who is elected principally for the sake 
of teaching. For the church cannot be governed 
in any other way than by the word. He wishes that a bishop 
should hold it fast. So as not only to be well instructed 
in it, but to be constant in maintaining it. So it's not that 
he just initially received it, but that he's continuing to maintain 
it. What does Paul say in 1 Timothy 
chapter 4? That your progress may be evident 
to all. Does that mean that his speaking 
ability has grown by leaps and bounds? It may mean at some point 
some of that, but it means that his knowledge of theology, his 
knowledge of Scripture, it's not stagnant. It's not that he 
did his studies 30 years ago and now he's just going to come 
and drip all of this all over the people of God. A minister 
of the gospel continues to grow in his understanding. He continues 
to grow in the acquisition of knowledge and information. He 
seeks by the grace of God to have a breadth of understanding 
in terms of scripture so that he can speak to those various 
issues that come, not only in a public pulpit ministry, but 
in a private setting. because there's a whole host 
of strange things that will come upon a pastor's ears, and if 
he is not in tune with the Word of God, he is going to give bad 
counsel. That's why elders must be apt 
to teach. But then notice what Paul says 
in verse 9. Now notice the two things that 
he must be able to do. By sound doctrine, that's a given, 
both to exhort, the people of God who believe 
what he's saying, and to convict those who contradict. Now, it's 
a bit easier to exhort those who already believe what you're 
saying. It's a little bit more difficult to convict those who 
contradict with what you say. But this is absolutely crucial 
as well. So the facility or competence that the man has with Scripture 
is not only able to articulate it to those who are already sympathetic 
to the plight, but also to be able to refute or shut down those 
who would contradict. To be able to spot heresy and 
to be able to identify heresy and to be able to deal with that 
heresy. Again, this isn't child's play. Brethren, if we don't deal 
faithfully in terms of biblical truth, we'll end up as Aryans. 
We'll end up as some heretic. We'll end up in some compromised 
position because we didn't take seriously God's clear word on 
getting men to serve or function as elders in the church that 
are able to teach. John Calvin again famously said 
this, the pastor ought to have two voices. One for gathering 
the sheep and another for warding off and driving away wolves and 
thieves. Beautiful, isn't it? I remember 
hearing the testimony of a particular man who retired from ministry. 
He said, I spent my entire ministry telling the people of God what 
they should believe. I never cautioned them as to 
what they shouldn't believe. And I know that bothers people, 
especially in our landscape. To speak what appears to be ill 
of anybody else is severely frowned upon in our generation. Unless, 
of course, you're a Christian, then everybody can speak ill 
of you. That's just the way it goes. But in our context, brethren, 
we don't bring up other names or competing theologies to pick 
on them, but to caution so that you don't end up as a papist. so that you don't end up in some 
law-denying scenario, so that you don't end up in some Christ-compromising 
situation. Sometimes it is absolutely crucial 
to not only affirm what we believe, but to denounce what we don't 
believe. Even in that, we should practice 
charity, we should have grace, we should do it with kindness 
and love, but with a strictness so that we are not promoting 
Jehovah's Witnesses, we're not promoting Mormonism, we're not 
promoting some form of Christianity that denies the abiding validity 
of God's law, or that we're affirming some neo-Nomian approach that 
says Christ plies for salvation. Brethren, you need to be warned. 
I need to be warned. We need to be on guard against 
that sort of thing. It doesn't typically just jump 
up out of nowhere and say, OK, be a heretic. It starts off very 
subtle. It starts off very, at times, 
unobservable. But before you know it, you're 
praising some creature named Jesus with Jehovah's Witnesses 
in a kingdom hall. That is horrible. And if it takes 
being a little bit countercultural and identifying some things that 
are patently false and wrong, then brethren, we must insist 
upon doing that. Now, there's things that aren't 
heresy, but there are things that aren't right either. And 
should we go after them? Again, the goal is sound doctrine. The goal is the word of the living 
God. The goal is to understand the 
mind of God as it's revealed in Holy Scripture. And so as 
Calvin says, the minister, the pastor ought to have two voices, 
one for gathering the sheep and another for warding off and driving 
away wolves and thieves. Well, I wanna conclude with a 
few thoughts and then we'll close. First, the necessity of the qualifications. The necessity of the qualifications. We do not have the prerogative, 
we do not have the right to say, we know what 1 Timothy 3 says, 
we know what Titus 1 says, but we're gonna do it this way. No, 
we're not. We do it the way God says it. 
We do it the way God says it with other things. We don't let 
women preach or exercise authority in the Church of Jesus Christ. 
Why? Because we don't like women? No, because God says it. I think 
there was a time when John MacArthur was preaching on the role of 
women and men. There were reporters outside 
of his church, because his is a very popular, big church right 
there in Southern California. A reporter put a microphone in 
his face and says, what do you have against women? He says, 
I don't have anything against women. I'm married to one. I think that 
was a great response. But that's the way it's taken 
if we insist upon distinctions within genders anymore and with 
role distinctions among genders. We don't, at least in this church, 
have any problem with that. But when it comes to the qualifications 
of elders, we can't have problems with that either. A man must 
be. We don't have the right or the prerogative to change that 
and make it a popularity contest. So the church should pray first 
for an increase of laborers. Matthew 9, Jesus looked upon 
the multitudes and he felt compassion for them. Why? Because they were 
weary. They were without a shepherd. 
So he tells the disciples to pray the Lord of the harvest 
to raise up laborers. It's a blessed, wonderful thing. 
I hope it has found its way into your prayer closets and at your 
family altar that you pray for this church, you pray for Vernon, 
you pray for Mike, that he may have an additional elder in his 
church there in Surrey. The church secondly should know 
the qualifications for elders. They should know them for deacons 
as well, but that's not the subject matter this morning. You should 
know what scripture says. The idea being is that when you're 
praying for these sorts of things and you know what the qualifications 
are, perhaps you'll start to think in terms of the men in 
our church. And you might think, wow, that fellow should be an 
elder. I think I'm going to mention that to Pastor Butler, somebody 
we should think about and consider. Thirdly, the church should insist 
that men who aspire to office meet the qualifications. Again, 
it's not just you knowing the qualifications, it's us telling 
a man that if you want to be in the eldership, that's a good 
thing. Paul says it is. 1 Timothy 3, as long as it's 
a desire born of right motives, but you must meet the qualifications. The church forth should examine 
men in light of those qualifications. Go back to 1 Timothy 3 for just 
a moment. 1 Timothy 3, if you're not there, 
turn there. After giving the qualifications 
for elders, look at what Paul says in verse 8, relative to 
deacons. Likewise, deacons must be reverent, 
not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for 
money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 
Verse 10, but let these also first be tested. There's a demand 
to test men before we admit them into the diaconate. But he says 
also, what's the implication? That men who enter into the eldership 
are tested. In other words, it's not the 
case that we don't examine them. It's not the case that we don't 
survey them. It's not the case that we don't 
vet them. Paul assumes that in verses one to seven. He doesn't say, okay, you gotta 
have a six month testing period, but he assumes that there will 
be a testing. He assumes that there will be 
examination. And in light of that, he suggests 
or he commands that the deacons likewise be tested. As well, 
the church should exclude any and all who do not meet the qualifications. There are some tough pills in 
the pastoral ministry that pastors at times have to give, or some 
medicine that doesn't really taste good. You know when your 
kids are little and you've got to give them something and they 
go, I don't want to eat that, or I don't want to taste that, 
and you graciously and gently hold them and pour it down their 
gullet, because you know it's good for them. Well, there's 
a few of those kinds of things in pastoral ministry that are 
tough. It's tough in a marriage situation when one or the other 
isn't operating the way they're supposed to be, and I have to 
come and pour that medicine and say, that doesn't change your 
responsibility. You always have to obey God. 
It's not dependent upon whether your spouse does or not. That's 
a bit of tough medicine at times. You don't want to take that. 
Well, telling a man who aspires to eldership, brother, it doesn't 
seem that you're called. And one of the things I'm going 
to argue is that the objectivity of the process helps check the 
subjectivity in the man's heart. There's an objective grid that 
we operate according to so that we can deal with a man's subjective 
desire to go into the ministry. And if a man's desire to go into 
the ministry is legit, if it's a desire born of right motives, 
he's going to listen to the objective criteria as well. That's, brethren, 
my experience. But trying to tell a man that, 
you know, brother, it doesn't seem like you have the gift to 
teach. Perhaps you should put this on the back burner. That's 
a tough piece of medicine or a tough bit of medicine for some 
guys to swallow. I remember Pastor Robert Martin, 
many years ago, in another context, he did some editing for a theological 
journal. He said, in my experience, you 
can insult a man's wife quicker and get away with it more than 
insulting his writing. And when you do that, you've 
crossed over a line. The same obtains with this. If 
a man feels that he's fit and able to preach. And again, it's 
not off, you know, one time. I would give this advice to anybody 
who's ever looking for a church. Give it a couple months. I'm 
sure all of you have bad days at work. Do pastors ever have 
bad days at work? You might be saying, yeah, we're 
having one right now, brother. But there is that experience. You really don't know what a 
church is about after one visit. An eldership or a body of people 
don't know how a man preaches after one sermon. It takes time, 
it takes questioning. But if the prevailing wisdom 
is keep your day job, the brother should listen to that and not 
feel slighted. That happens way too often. It happens way too many times 
that people get offended if you say, well, you don't have this 
particular gift. Haven't I said in the past, it's no sin to not 
have a particular gift? Paul speaks about wanting people 
to remain single in 1 Corinthians 7, but acknowledges that not 
everybody has the gift that he does. It's not a sin to not have 
the gift of celibacy. It's a blessed thing to get married. Paul's not saying don't get married. 
Paul is saying that in this capacity you'll be able to serve. But 
I understand not everybody has the gift. So with reference to 
this, we as a church need to be prepared to exclude any and 
all who do not meet the qualifications. Remember Revelation 2.2. Church 
in Ephesus, you have tested those who say they are apostles and 
are not and have found them liars. The church as well, having engaged 
in this, tested the man, vetted the man, seen that the man is 
fit, ought to install the man so he can function in an eldership. 
That's requisite also. A man's gift makes room for him. And when we observe that gift, 
and we observe the consistency, and we see the qualifications 
are met, we put him in the eldership, and we let him function the way 
God made him to. A second thing in terms of the 
man himself, the necessity of biblical churchmanship. You've 
probably heard me say it before. If a man isn't faithful as a 
churchman, he's not going to be good as an elder. There's 
no gradation. Let me just make that conspicuous 
as well. Just because somebody serves 
as a deacon doesn't mean they'll serve as an elder. I think sometimes 
we have that mindset. Well, you know, there's sort 
of the regular rank and file member, and then there's deacon, 
and then there's elder. Elders and deacons are the same. They're 
on the same level. One of them actually has the 
gift to teach, though. There's no stepping stone. There's 
no gradation. There's no graduation. You've 
gone from deacon to elder. No, some men are made by God 
to be deacons. Some men are made by God to be 
elders. It's a beautiful thing. But I 
don't think either deacon or elder will ever be stabbed by 
a man who's a lousy churchman. In other words, show up, be faithful, 
do the work of a church member, and exhibit that kind of service 
in the context of the local church. The man should maintain a consistent 
devotional life, both privately and familial. He should be a 
man of the word, not just because he wants to be an elder, but 
because it's what he is. Secondly, the man should faithfully 
attend the public means of grace. Again, there's providential hindrances. There are reasons why men may 
miss meeting in church on a particular Sunday. But if the overarching 
trajectory of a man's life is that he doesn't regularly or 
faithfully or consistently attend to the public means of grace, 
why would we want him to be a pastor? Maybe he won't show up on a day 
that he's scheduled to preach. That would be a horrible thing, 
wouldn't it? Well, you know this by way of observing his conduct 
as a member. The man should love and serve 
the brethren. Again, perhaps not in the same 
way that elders or deacons do, but they should serve. There 
should be a willingness there. As well, the man should be supportive 
of the mission and ministry of the church. This seems like a 
no-brainer to me, but if you don't agree with the particular 
doctrinal bent of a church, or you don't agree with the particular 
ecclesiastical practice of a church, and you want to be an elder there, 
that just seems odd-duck-ish to me at best, and disingenuous 
at worst. Find a church that you can sign 
on the dotted line for every jot and tittle. Again, humanly 
speaking, we don't know all the ins and outs, and there are inconsistencies 
to be sure. But we want men that are supportive 
of the mission and ministry of our church. And the men should 
be faithful in little things. Doesn't Jesus teach that principle 
to all of us? He who is faithful in little 
is faithful in much. Again, brethren, if a guy doesn't show up regularly 
to church, why would we want him to be an elder? If a guy 
won't pick up trash in the parking lot, why would we want him to 
be an elder? The guy's going to walk by some 
mess in the parking lot and tell the deacons to take care of it. 
That doesn't instill in me a confidence in his ability to engage in leadership. You say, well, leaders don't 
pick stuff up. Oh, yes, they do. When Peter 
says in 1 Peter chapter 5, be clothed with humility, do you 
know what some commentators suggest? Because the verb used is the 
same as in the upper room. When Jesus disrobes, not nakedly, 
but in the position of the humble servant that washes the disciples' 
feet. Some suggest that Peter's writing 
be clothed with humility because that's in his mind. He remembers 
when the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords gets down on his 
knees to wash the feet of his fellow disciples. Beautiful thing. See, leadership, according to 
Christ, is not, I'm too high, and I'm too noble, and I'm the 
right reverend. I can't bend over and pick up 
that trash. That's what we have deacons for. 
That's, you know, why we pay the pastor. He's here all week. He gets to pick up all those 
unsavory things. And all those unsavory things, 
there are, I can assure you. There's a lot of unsavory things. 
that go on in this parking lot. But brethren, servant leadership. What does Jesus say in Matthew 
20, 28? The Son of Man did not come to be served, but what? 
To serve and to give his life a ransom for many. See, the leadership 
of the kingdom isn't, I'm too pure, holy, and noble to bend 
over and pick up this trash. I'm too pure, holy, and noble 
to plunge a toilet. I'm too pure, holy, and noble 
to wipe down the toilet. That's not servant leadership. 
Whoever wants to be first will be last. Whoever wants to be 
great will be least of all and promote the brotherhood. That's 
what we look for when it comes to eldership. Not prima donnas, 
not prissy men, not the sort of guys that are just too delicate 
to ever get their hands dirty touching a toilet. Brethren, 
that's not the kind of elders we're looking for. When I mentioned 
the ministers' ordinary conversation, Spurgeon had another bit. He 
says, one of the reasons I suspect that our working men, you know, 
the normal guys in society, don't respect ministers is because 
they're so prissy, they're so effeminate, they're so not real. That's not what we're looking 
for. We're looking for normal, faithful brothers that attend 
church, that are good churchmen, that show an affinity to teaching 
and preaching. Those are what we're looking 
for. If that means we're setting the bar too high, then I've misread 
the qualifications. Because that's what Paul says 
we're supposed to do as the church. The man who aspires to church 
office ultimately must be recognized by the church. So the objective 
criteria of church does check the subjectivity of the man's 
desire. He must be recognized by the 
church, he must be tested by the church, and he must be approved 
by the church. Our Confession says that the 
way appointed by Christ for the calling of any person fitted 
and gifted by the Holy Spirit unto the office of bishop or 
elder in a church is that he be chosen thereunto by the common 
suffrage of the church itself. In other words, it's the people 
of God. And it just foist elders on you. 
Behold your elder. Oh, whoa, we don't even know 
him. Brethren, you need to know, you need to recognize, you need 
to test, and you need to ultimately vote. And solemnly set apart 
by fasting and prayer, with imposition of hands of the eldership of 
the church, if there be any before constituted therein, and of a 
deacon that he be chosen by the like suffrage, and set apart 
by prayer, and the like imposition of hands. So those are some things 
that we ought to keep in mind as we move forward relative to 
eldership at the Free Grace Baptist Church. And as I mentioned last 
week in the third point of application, all of this shows God's heart 
toward sinners. The fact that He has purpose 
to save a great multitude that no man can number, from every 
tribe, tongue, people, and nation. The fact that in the eternal 
decree, He has purpose to save a great multitude that no man 
can number. But He achieves that by particular 
means. And one of the means that He 
uses is a faithful, qualified eldership that preaches and teaches 
the Word of God, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing 
by the Word of God. As well, that faithful ministry 
will help equip the people of God so that they are doctrinally 
sound, so that they are mature, so that they know how to conduct 
themselves each and every day in their Christian lives, because 
they've got men at the helm who are seeking to be faithful and 
teaching them the truth. Again, that doesn't mitigate 
the personal responsibility of every believer to read his or 
her Bible, and to pray, and to have family worship, and all 
that sort of thing. But the church is the instructor in terms of 
the doctrine that we hold to, and brethren, that is a helpful 
thing. It shows God's willingness to do His people good. Paul tells 
Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, do the work of an evangelist. If you're not a believer here 
this morning, God instituted gospel ministry for the likes 
of you. Yes, for the maturation of the 
people of God, but for the calling of the non-people of God to become 
the people of God. His willingness is displayed 
in faithful ministry, such that when men call you to believe 
the gospel and repent, that's not because they're great men. 
It's because they serve a great God, and His purpose and His 
design is to call you to believe and repent. Well, let us pray. 
Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for 
its clarity at this point of the gospel ministry. And again, 
we pray that you would raise up men to serve in our churches. 
We pray that you would bless men serving in churches, and 
encourage and strengthen each one. And God, all over this earth, 
we know there is great need in terms of the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The harvest is plentiful, but 
laborers are few, so we do pray to you to raise men up Send them 
forth that they may proclaim the glory of Christ, and we pray 
in His most blessed name. Amen.