Sermon Tone Analysis

Philippians 1:1

The Officers of the Church

 

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons…[1]

 

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earch ever so diligently throughout the whole of the annals of the New Testament and you will discover that there is to be found not even a single “executive minister” set over the churches.

Read ever so carefully, and you will be astonished to find that there is no “area minister,” no “senior pastor,” nor even an “associate pastor.”

Within the churches, there are deacons and there are elders.

This is not to deny that the aforesaid individuals may play a valid—even a significant—role in the life of the churches.

It merely points out that such officers are a human invention.

This leaves us wondering just who the officers of the churches may be, to say nothing of officers for the churches, that is to say, the denominations.

“Officers” is perhaps a loaded term, freighted with unintended implications.

To speak of “officers” implies, in the estimate of many, authority or power.

When speaking of the officers of the church, we don’t necessarily imply any such thing.

To be sure, the officers of the church possess a measure of authority, but it is a divinely delegated authority which must be exercised cautiously and within specific parameters, and such authority is bounded by responsibility imposed by the One delegating that authority.

Instead of hearing “authority” whenever the officers of the church are discussed, I would rather that the people of God would hear “responsibility,” “order” and “function.”

Of course, human government expects certain officers in an organisation to ensure order.

Since human government is established by God, we should not be surprised that church governance reflects a similar degree of order.

The message for this day is designed to provide an explanation of the officers of the church, and to reflect on the governance of the congregation in light of the leadership which God provides.

In order to accomplish this admittedly large task, I invite careful attention of one verse of Scripture found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Under the direction of the Spirit of God, the Apostle instructs us as he greets that church.

The Letter is Addressed to the Church.

I hesitate to state the obvious.

However, note the addressees of the letter.

It is addressed to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.

I am compelled to make the observation that there exists a heresy among far too many of the people of God.

It is a heresy which exists primarily because His holy people are untaught.

That heresy states: “pastors come and pastors go, but the church remains.”

I suppose that those reciting this affirmation mean that they have “hired” a number of pastors during their days within a particular church, and the pastors did what they were told to do and then left after a decent interval.

If the pastors did not leave voluntarily, as good pastors are supposed to do, then the church “fired” them and then asked the denomination to help them “hire” another pastor.

In no small measure, this condition exists because we have forsaken a truth to which we Baptists give lip service.

We speak of the autonomy of the local congregation, and then we “delegate” a significant portion of that autonomy to our various unions, fellowships or conventions.

We say that an association is a co-operative venture, but most unions have no reservation about intervening in local congregational affairs.

I immigrated to Canada under the auspices of another Baptist group, recognised for its insistence upon the autonomy of the local congregation.

I laboured to restart a moribund congregation in the Lower Mainland of this province.

After almost three years, I went on holiday.

While I was on holiday, the Associational Director of Missions seized the opportunity to demand a meeting with the congregation.

This action was a serious breach of Baptist polity since he was not even a member of that congregation.

Under Baptist polity, a congregation may exercise discretion in permitting a non-member to attend a congregational meeting, but that guest would have limited rights to speak or no right to vote.

Certainly, that denominational leader had no authority either to demand or to call a meeting, much less preside at that same meeting.

Underscore this truth in your mind, denominational leaders attend congregational meetings at the discretion of the church, and they may speak only at the discretion of the church.

When I confronted this associational leader, who has since become an author of some notoriety, he excused his action by saying, “Some of us at headquarters were concerned that the church might sell this property and move.

We decided that we need a church in this area.

So we took action to ensure what needed to be done.”

Thus, by his action he actually denied Baptist polity and believes that denominational leaders, situated at a distance from the local situation, are better able to make decisions then is the local congregation.

In this, he was not so very different from any number of denominational leaders.

While affirming Baptist principles, he was prepared to violate those same principles if the potential outcome benefited his particular view.

While that is fine post-modern philosophy, it is poor theology, and an utter denial of Baptist principles.

In addressing the local congregation at Philippi, Paul gives tacit approval to the principle that our Lord established a church and not a denomination.

In particular, notice that in his greeting, Paul addresses two groups of readers.

He addresses the church at large—all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, and he addresses special individuals within the congregation—with the overseers and deacons.

I must note that we are saints in Christ Jesus.

Our standing as Christians is because we are in Christ.

We who confess Christ as Lord, who have openly identified with Him since believing, are called His saints.

We have been set apart for God’s own purpose that we might worship Him and serve Him.

This church is identified as the saints.

Saints are set apart by Christ at conversion, and they are in the process of becoming like Christ.

The term thus reminds the church of its special status in God’s redemptive plan.[2]

As an aside of greatest significance, there is no unbaptised Christian to be discovered in the whole of the New Testament.

Those who believed immediately sought to identify with Christ the Lord.

I point out this truth to confront you who say you have trusted Christ and who yet hesitate to obey His call to baptism.

If you have believed, you are responsible to obey the call of the Master to be baptised.

Now, note that included among the saints are the overseers and deacons.

These gifted individuals are not tangential to the church, but they are rather integral.

As Paul writes, he uses the Greek preposition σὺν which would normally be translated with as in our text, but the meaning would be *together with* or *including*.

Peter O’Brien writes, “the preposition is to be taken inclusively, ‘to all the saints, including the overseers and deacons,’ not exclusively, that is, ‘ to all the saints together with all the overseers and deacons,’ for the latter implies that they are not to be numbered among ‘all the saints in Christ Jesus.”[3]

The Philippians are reminded at the outset of this letter that “God is not the author of confusion, but of order, in the churches of His saints.”[4]

I must clarify for you an issue of some importance.

I am a Baptist by conviction.

To say that I am a Baptist is not, however, to identify with a denomination.

Yes, there are a number of Baptist denominations, but the term Baptist was not chosen by the people called Baptists.

The name “Baptist” was conferred by religious societies opposed to those holding to that doctrinal position which is defined as Baptist.

Therefore, the term “Baptist” defines a doctrinal position.

Included among those biblical doctrines which defines one as a Baptist is an understanding that Christ established a church and not a denomination.

Therefore, a true Baptist will not weaken the autonomy of the local congregation, but instead will promote and defend the autonomy—self-governance and moral independence—of the local congregation.

Overseers and Deacons are the Sole Named Officers.

The reference to overseers and deacons is unique, for apart from the Pastoral Epistles neither ἐπισκόποις nor the related πρεσβυτέρους (“elder”) appears in the Pauline corpus; and even in the Pastoral Letters “overseers and deacons” are not coupled in this way.[5]

In his first letter to the Corinthian church and in his encyclical which we know as Ephesians, Paul names apostles, prophets, pastor-teachers, and evangelists, but there is no mention of overseers or deacons.

Were these official groups within the Philippian church only?

Or were they groups found among all the churches?

Furthermore, why should they be singled out in this manner?

Ἐπίσκοπος in classical Greek meant an overseer, and was used to describe a deity as one who kept watch over a country or a people.

The title was also given to men who held a responsible position within the state.

The term was later extended to religious communities.[6]

God charges each member of the congregation with responsibility to keep the church in the way.

*Hebrews 12:15*, addressed to the entire congregation, clearly states, /See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled/.

Despite this charge to the entire congregation, the early church received by Christ’s appointment certain men charged with responsibility for spiritual oversight of the church.

These gifted men were spoken of by various terms, including, pastors, elders and overseers.

In *1 Peter 2:25*, Christ our Lord is spoken of as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

The description is deliberate, since the terms are connected, both in the Old Testament [cf.

*Numbers 27:16, 17* (*Septuagint*)[7]] and in the New Testament [cf.

*Acts 20:28*][8].

“Oversight means loving care and concern, a responsibility willingly shouldered.”[9]

Just as the term was applied to Christ and His love for the churches, so the term came to be applied to those who gave themselves to fulfil His work within the churches.

These titles—shepherd or pastor, overseer, elder—were first applied to Christ and then to those whom Christ appointed to His work providing spiritual oversight of His people.

The term “overseers” refers to the elders of the church.

Coenen goes on to note that “at first [the term ‘overseer’] was … synonymous with that of ‘shepherd’ and ‘elder’ and the ideas associated with them.”[10]

That this is the case becomes evident from reading the various texts which bear on this title.

Consider the words of *Titus 1:5-9*.

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach.