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.
Opening Prayer
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.
Introduction
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.
The Elder's Maturity in the Faith
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.
Pride and the Novice Elder
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.
The Elder's Testimony Before Outsiders
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.
Spurgeon on the Minister's Conduct
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.
Suffering for Christ vs. Suffering for Sin
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.
The Elder's Ability to Teach
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.
Calvin on Teaching as the Chief Gift
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.
Exhorting Believers and Refuting Error
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.
Application
Well, I wanna conclude with a few thoughts and then we'll close.
Necessity of the Qualifications
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.
Necessity of Biblical Churchmanship
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.
Closing Prayer
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.