What Should We Ordain Elders to Do?
Oh, good morning again Church. For those of you who are joining us for the first time today. We are in the middle of a series and this series is going through what it looks like for the church to be lead according to how scripture related out for us and we started off talking about congregationalism and what it means for a gathered people to lead and then last week we started looking at elders and what type of people they should be. And today we're going to continue looking a little more At Elders commonly called pastors and what they should do. Not so much specifically, here's a list of tasks. But rather as we talked before their Shepherds their teachers their overseers. But how do they do that? What is it that we are actually ordaining Elders to do when we say being Elder. It ties into last week because of course character helps determine action in a lot of cases. And so we looked at a lot of the character qualifications last week for elders and that will play into how it is that the Bible speaks of what Elder should be doing. We're going to be in several different passages of scripture this morning. So I encourage you to get your Bibles out cuz we're going to need them and we're going to start this morning in Acts 20 I'm going to read for us verses 17 through 35 and then I'll pray for us and we'll talk through that and several other passages and My Hope Is by the time we leave the scriptures this morning, you will have a better understanding and a greater appreciation for what it is that Elders are called to do. Acts 20:17 through 35 now from my lead is he sent to Ephesus and call the Elders of the church to come to him and when they came to him, he said it did them yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia. This is Paul by the way, who's speaking? Serving the Lord with all humility in with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews how I did not shrink back from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house testifying both to Jews and the Greeks of repentant towards God and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold I'm going to Jerusalem constrained by the spirit not knowing what will happen to me. They're accepted the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not count my life of any value or is precious to myself. If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God now behold. I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to this day that I'm innocent of the blood if you all for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the Church of God, which she obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure Fierce wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock in from among your own selves will arise men speaking Twisted things to draw the disciples after them there for be alert remembering it for three years. I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. Now I commend to you I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among those who are Sanctified. I covet no one's gold or silver or apparel you yourselves know that these hands minister to my necessities and to those who are with me and all things. I've shown you that by working hard in this way. We must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he himself said it is more blessed. Give and receive take a moment pray heavenly father as we come to your word this morning. We just say thank you for giving us so many different ways to understand both who you are and what you call us to and is we're looking this morning at elders and what you call them to pray Lord that you would help us to see the beauty of your design. Thank you for faithful people throughout history who continue to pass down the message of the Gospel from one generation of leaders to the next and pray that that would be true even here at Northwest that we would continue to see the next generation of leaders raised up and prepared to continue the work that you've called us to do and pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
In this passage here in the book of Acts we see Paul giving sort of his Final talk to the Elders of the church in Ephesus. He wants them to understand some things very clearly before he's gone. Cuz he's not going to get to teach him much longer even says that among those of you who I've gone about proclaiming the kingdom. None of you will see my face again verse 25
But I think we would miss something if we merely looked at the words of this and said what are the what are the ideas that Paul wanted to communicate because some of what he is communicating is not with his words. He has been modeling for them for years what it's supposed to look like for them. T-models humility. He says from the first time he set foot in Asia and verse 18 into 19 serving the lord with humility and with tears and with trials.
Elders need to be humble. They need to be willing to suffer. We need to do whatever is necessary to make sure they are teaching the gospel.
Paul had modeled this for them. He said that he did not shrink from declaring to them anything that was profitable. Teaching them in public and from house to house there were times when he would teach so that everyone could hear and there were times when Believers would be gathered at Holmes and he would speak to them or directly. But he didn't hold back. He didn't just preach part of what they needed to know that in Eden just preached The Comfy parts of the Bible. He didn't just go through and find the ones that make good stories in a children's Bible. He went through and made sure he taught them the whole counsel of God everything that they needed to know. He made sure that he was able to try to teach them in the years that he was there.
And he knows where he's going next. He knows he's going to Jerusalem and he knows this life of consistent testimony of his has gotten him his reward.
Which is imprisonment in afflictions?
I want to speak to those. Who are currently Elders will be billing Dawn and any of the men in this church that may one day be elders. We are not called to an easy life. True we may not be like the Apostle Paul and be Shipwrecked and stone and thrown into prison and a whole bunch of other things. But if you Minister the gospel to people and you lay it out there it will not always go well for you. You're not signing up for an easier position then you had before when you become an elder. It requires a willingness to take on hard tasks when the spirit leads you to do that.
And if he models this for them, he also wants to make sure that they know what's coming next and so in verses 28 and following he gives some instructions for them and I want to walk you through this because this is important as you look for that the people that should be Elders in the church. They have to be able to model Christ and what they do and pause laying out for them how they're going to do that and he's shown it in his own life as he has sought to model Christ. He says in verse 28 pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Now might be easy to look at that say okay overseers. I see that term coming up. He's got the elders gathered. So this is Paul's call to the elders to be good Shepherds. I want to point out though. He does not start with that pay attention to yourselves comes first. An elder cannot lead out of where he has not been. And if he is not spiritually taking care of himself. He's not going to be spiritually be able to care for others. Does part of the reason back we looked at the qualifications? It was not supposed to be a new convert. There was supposed to be some experience to someone he's going to be an elder because they need to know what's going on. I need to be experienced a bit of a walk the faith to be able to model it to other people. Hard to call people to be in prayer to be in the word to be in community with one another if you've never experienced any of that yourself.
Look to your own spiritual life for that matters as you then go to look to the spiritual life of others.
The second thing he points out. It's the holy spirit that made you an overseer to care for God's church. He obtained it with his own blood.
One of the struggles I actually had when I first got here and I know the signs been changed now and every time I see it, I still struggle with it has my name at the bottom of the sign outside the church. I thought that for a while because of passages like this cuz it's not my church. I don't need my name on that sign. It's God's church. I just happened to be the one here as the lead Pastor right now. The one he normally stands up and preach.
We cannot forget whose Church it really is. This goes back weeks ago to the sermon on congregations as well. The congregation has Authority within the church body and they designate some of that authority to the elders to be able to lead in certain ways. But neither the elders nor the church runs the church go all the way back to the first week. Jesus Christ is Lord over the church. It's always his it always will be
Send a spirit of humility and remembering who is church. It really is caring for themselves and the spiritual well-being of others. They are warned.
The things are going to go wrong. Now Elders are called to be teachers and Defenders of the truth of the Gospel. So one of the things Elders have to be careful for is when people come into the church who want to bring things in that will tear down the church in the end. He refers to folks like that here as Fierce wolves first 29 they come in among you.
They might come in singing sweetly at first, but their goal is to Devour the flock. A healthy Elders you have to be careful. Because they're coming.
However, as much as Elders need to be on guard for wolves that come in from the outside verse 30 reminds us that not all wolves live outside first. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking Twisted things to draw way. The disciples after them. Even other Elders are not Beyond Church harming sin. Don't always assume the dangers are only from without. This is why I believe scripture is saying it is a bad model to have a single Pastor in the church. It is a much better model to have multiple pastors multiple Elders in the church so that if one gets LED astray and tries to lead others, the other Elders can come around stop that wolf from devouring the flock.
multiple Elders in the church spread out power So that one pastor does not have enough to kill a church by himself.
You put in check by the other Elders around him.
The caution some again be Alert 3 years he spent with them day and night admonishing them with tears.
Where to get into this enough little bit in the next versus we're going to read but as he's talking through these things realized Elders do not lead by force. They lead by heart-felt conviction. To persuade others of the truthfulness of God's word and the love that he has for his people.
The admonishing the needed to happen did not come without tears because it's never fun to have to tell people what they may not want to hear but need to hear.
and elders if you ever get to be one realize that. It should come with a box of Kleenex. You're going to need it. It's heartbreaking some of the situations that happened in church life. And you will cry often. As you try to admonish and Shepherd and help your flock not be destroyed.
Des Moines right up with what Jesus was telling his Apostles in Mark 10 redo Mark, 10:42 through 45. Jesus called the disciples to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them and they're great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you for whoever would be great amongst. You must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to serve but to serve. Not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Elders model Christ in all they do by modeling the Lord's example of what it looks like to lead. It is not a leadership of abusive Authority. When you ordained Elders Ura daning them to Servant leadership Elders should lead to their strength. Elder grouping there can be a lot of different skill sets the different Elders had not everybody's going to look the same on that team.
But at the same time Elders do not need to segment themselves in terms of I do this in the church, but I don't do that.
If something needs to happen. They're willing to serve and do it this why seminaries is great and completely insufficient for everything and elderwood, crossed in Ministry. So what I encourage people who want to be Elders to continue their education, yes, definitely think good rigorous study of the Bible is extremely helpful. You learn good skills of how to minister well. The most cemeteries don't offer a course and say basic plumbing and electrical repair. How do you change the filters in an HVAC system? How do you fix a vacuum cleaner? That's broken, right? How do you handle a plague in a pandemic? I skipped that one, unfortunately.
But we're called to Surf regardless of the knee that comes up.
Now there's have to be willing to say if it's for the good of the body. And we will try to get it done and if there's someone is better equipped for it as we'll talk about next week when we get into deacons and X6. We make delegate that to them instead but not because we would do it but because we feel there's someone better to do it.
An elder must be willing to give of themselves as Christ gave fully of himself in modeling all they do.
So it's a Shepherd a Shepherd in the light of how Jesus shepherded us and they teach they teach in light of what and how Jesus taught us. They're constantly looking at Christ and seeing him and saying how do I put that on display for this group of people? A missile shouldn't we all do that? Yes, we should every one of us.
The calling of Elders has to do that in such a way that is going to be uniquely seen because of the congregation putting them in that position. And so they need to make sure that they're not coming out of going. Well, I just don't know if I want to be looking at me have to be willing to say yes. My life is going to be a bit of an open book here and as imperfect as I am going to try to model what Christian life looks like. Ordaining Elders to model Christ as servant leaders secondly. Elders should be ordained to lead as accountable leaders. Turn with your in your scriptures with me to Hebrews 13. memory verses 7 through 17
Hebrews 13 7 through 17 remember your leaders those who spoke to you the word of God consider the outcome of their life and their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. Do not lie. Let Away by diverse and strange teachings for his good for the heart to be strengthened by Grace not my foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the 10th have no right to eat. Are the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest is a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore. Let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured for here. We have no lasting City, but we seek the city that is to come through him. Then let us look can let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning for that would be of no advantage to you. Again in the beginning of this Hebrew passage, we see the writer of Hebrews laying out for the leaders that they should live a life worthy of imitation. Remember your leaders are the leaders the ones that spoke to the word of God. Look at their lives consider their way of life and imitate their faith. He's very good that he worded it. That way didn't just say imitate their lives cuz their lives love sin and it don't imitate their sin imitate their faith.
They said before that. The list of Elder qualifications is a good list for any Christian. It should not be a matter of hey, if you want to be an elder you actually have to like the hospital when you have to care about people and you have to do all this stuff and not be drunk and not be an angry person who goes around fighting everybody all the time, but if you're not an elder call for it. Not at all. What what the quality list is getting at? Me would it be equally good for every single person in the church every Christian to seek to live by those same standards. Yes.
But new Christians who don't know for sure what the expectations are going to look to certain people. They see an elders and I would argue deacons as well should lead imitate Abel lives.
How many goes into this middle section here talking about since he's the writer to the Hebrews talking to the Jews about understanding of the sacrifice of sin and how that plays out and how we is people of God are supposed to be willing to go outside of where it is comfortable outside the gate in order to bring to those who are outside the gate.
the gift that Christ himself gave Therefore first 13 let us go outside the camp to him and bear the reproach he endured.
If you get so comfortable. With your Christian life now, you will not tend to seek the city that is to come.
And so it is okay as individual Christians and as Leaders to put yourself in places that are considered outside the camp those that will bring reproach upon you in the same way that Christ did because it reminds you don't get too comfortable here.
I'll make a small political note in terms of the larger culture at this point.
When they say we have no lasting City here, but we seek a city that is to come. Let me just say this politically within our own Nation if you are so comfortable with either party's platform that you are completely okay with it. You have missed something great. You have become too comfortable with the city. We live in The city that is to come is a city that is perfect anytime in this country. We are voting and elections. We are voting in an imperfect City and one that always needs to be performed even if the church itself always needs to keep reforming. Did you celebrate it yesterday Reformation day. I know somebody thought it was Halloween. It was it was Reformation day the day when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church and said, hey, we need to change some stuff. This is wrong in the church constantly goes to that reforming process. The same thing is probably even more true on a country level except for the fact that God himself is not the one directly leading it and so What the direction is for the country is a little harder to determine but suffice it to say we do not get satisfied completely with the city in which we live. We always look to the city that is to come.
First 17 is one verse that depending on your position Studies have shown you will read it differently when we read the verse to you again. I'm going to point out how different people read this verse differently. 417 says obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning for that would be of no advantage to you.
If you ask the average person in the church, what stands out to you in verse 17, the answer tends to be they notice the term. Obey and submit. And I got all the way to me. This is one of those versus. Alright fine. I see where you're going. If you ask the average Pastor what sticks out to you when you read those verses more often than not they will say as those who have to give an account.
Why? Because this ability that it says to be able to lead with joy and not with Groening is a two-way street. Leaders lead and should be able to do so with joy from the leader side. There is an extra measure of accountability before God for the care of the congregation members Souls. That's not to say the congregation doesn't care for each other. They do we all do but there's a special level of shepherding that comes in leadership. Any special level of accountability before God for that leadership. We see this if you look back in the Old Testament when the prophets were just going after the priests and leaders of that day calling them all sorts of horrible things because what they were doing is instead of caring for the flock they were taking advantage of the flock and he says it's going to be worse for you cuz you were supposed to know better. They're looking to you for leadership and you're the one leading them astray.
So for those who would desire to be Elders realize that this watch care over people's Souls the shepherding and overseeing of the spiritual well-being of people in the church means you are opening yourself up to an additional level of accountability before God.
It is not just me and you will be more accountable to the church. Although you are. But the ultimate accountability you have is towards God. And it means the congregation does have a role to play in this because they're taking on the additional responsibilities. If Elders are able to lead in such a way that they are not constantly feeling like everything. I do has a criticism behind it. But rather everything I do that's good. I seem to hear about in the things that I do wrong. Yeah, I hear about him, but I hear about him from those that love me a whole lot and just want me to be able to do better.
and that allows them as they have the tears that flow with Ministry to be able to still say there's great joy in this
Part of the reason we talk once in awhile about what's been going on in people spiritual lives and they say all I've got some stuff I could tell you about how I seen the Lord move. I got to sit down with somebody here in the church just last week and hear stories from them about how they had seen the Lord moving in a specific situation. We have been praying about
It just made me light up to hear the ways in which God was on the Move. That's why is a congregation. One of the things we can do to encourage one another and bring joy into Ministry. Say Hey, where's it been going? Well, how have you seen the Lord move? How can we encourage each other to say press on in this because this is what God's doing through it.
So we have leaders who are held accountable.
But by the encouragement of the congregation around them are able even under that additional measure of weight to able to lead with joy.
Two more packages going to look at and then we're done 1st Timothy 5:17 through 20. So remember 1st, Timothy is a letter if I was writing to Timothy to tell him about leadership in the church and what it should look like. We looked at 1st Timothy 3 last week.
He says this in chapter 5 verse 17 through 20, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor and preaching and teaching for the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox when it Treads out the Grain and the laborer deserves his wages. Do not admit a charge against an elder accepting the evidence of two or three witnesses as for those who persist in sin review them in the presence of all that the rest May stand in fear. This is a couple things under the accountable leader category that we want to look at one. It does say that there are certain Elders who have different responsibilities and others and we handle them differently. He says here that those who rule well at in and do the preaching and teaching should be worthy of double honor. Now, if you look through in and understand what's going on in terms of what he saying there. If you've ever heard of an honorarium, it's the amount of money to give to somebody who did a task for you to give me like a gift in that sense. That's where we get that word from when you saying double honor here, it's not just oh be extra nice to them. It's saying they're worthy of getting paid for it and getting paid okay for it because you don't muzzle an ox when it's raining out the grain if it's doing the work it's allowed to eat a little bit of what's on the ground. He said he's working with The laborer deserves his wages. So can it be that you can have vocational Elders pastors who are paid staff and those who aren't is that okay and 1st Timothy seem say yes, that's that's encouraged. There should be both categories of people there and in some cases you have throughout scripture what we might call the concept of first among equals. We see it even in the the disciples when Jesus gathers to 12 together. He's got the 12 for a lot of things but once in a while, he pulls Peter James and John out separately to see some pretty cool things that he's doing their kind of the inner circle of the Inner Circle if you will. And even in the church itself when the church starts in Jerusalem Peter who have been declared to be the rock upon which he would build his church that profession of Peter's Faith Peter takes a role in Jerusalem as sort of the first among equals in the Elders of Jerusalem.
So what does that mean in a local church context today?
It means that you can have someone who is still considered the lead Pastor the person who does the majority of the preaching and teaching it is not as if everybody who becomes an elder needs to spend an equal amount of time preaching every certain amount of sun days a year or something like that that you can have certain ones to devote themselves to certain things.
But it's a first among equals. It's also true that when a group of Elders gets together and is processing through the oversight and Leadership of the church. Everybody gets one vote. It's not one person decides everything and everybody else is just rubber-stamping whatever happens. A truly good leadership board would say we are all equals even if some have higher requirements than others in terms of the work that they are doing.
They are accountable to each other and to the congregation in terms of how things go. When we get to this other section here 19 and 20 talks about a charge against an elder that you need two or three Witnesses.
Elders should be held to account notice the account that they're held to if they persist in sin. He rebuked them in the presence of everybody. Why celebrity realizes this is serious. It is not as if church discipline is something that happens to congregation members and not to Elders. It happens to everybody cuz they Elders are still members of the church. However to avoid slander for the eldership it is not something where it was set up so that anybody could just say anything and it was automatically fact add me something that we had to go through all the stages of Matthew 18 on two or three people had to go and see the evidence and talk to this person and find out what really went on why because it could be very easy for a wolf to come in and say hey, we're just going to start slander and all the elders about stopping at a mall kicked out and getting replacing people will do what we want him to do and want that to happen either. So there's an accountability both in terms of how the elders respond to one another and how they're treated in front of the congregation if they persist in sin, but also a protection from the eldership just being taken down by those who don't want it to stand.
So they leave they leaders accountable leaders. And they're shepherding and they're teaching in their oversight answer to the church and to God.
There's one final verse I wanted to bring up here because it's one of the few places besides pax6 that this concept is really discussed about Elders. That isn't James 5:14. This is anyone among you sick and then call for the Elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. It is sometimes easy to think that the ministry of Elders is that of planning strategizing Vision teaching preaching by the head knowledge. And then yeah Shepherd in caring for people. And forgetting about the fact that Elder should be men of the word and prayer. Their lives should be marked by prayer and the word will see it next week and at 6, we discussed deacons because part of the the way deacons were set up with to be able to free the elders up for prayer in the word, but Elders pray with and for the congregation.
I point this out specifically to because of the context in which we find ourselves today. I'm staying up here without a mask on cuz I'm preaching most of y'all are sitting out there with masks on why cuz we got covid-19. Oh, yeah, that's right.
throughout history
hamsters have had a higher rate of death during times of plague then many other Ministries occupations outside of the medical field. And the reason was they fulfill James 5:14 whenever they could when people were sick they went to them and prayed with them and laid hands on them and anointed them with a while. And they were willing to go to people who were really sick and in need. so if you want to think of ways that you can be praying for your pastors as they're praying and working through this time. Realize that Except in cases, like we're experiencing now in many of the hospitals where they will not let us go in and pray with people.
Pray that as we get together with those in the church that we would be safe ourselves. And then we would be able to willingly go into places. Where there there are those who need prayer and not shy away from it just for the sake of our own health. Elsa say that to say this if you are sick and you need prayer. What the elders now? What one of the things were called to do in love to do is get to pray with those who need prayer when I talk in the beginning every announcement. I'm about the fact that we have the ability to submit a prayer request online. It goes to the pastor so that we can be praying and then distributed issue tell us to I'm not saying that just cuz it's on the announcement sheet and I feel like I need to read it saying it cuz I mean it we want to be able to pray for you and if we don't know what's going on. We don't know how to pray best. If it's something that you need to have us gather around you and pray over you and even anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord. We will do that, too.
Elder should be man of word and prayer.
The question is probably in many people's minds right now is well. Okay. So if the elders do all of that was nobody else to do but all these deacons, what are they supposed to do and what about other leaders in the church that I called Elders or deacons? What are they supposed to do? Cuz it sounds like the elders have an awful lot on their plate. Well, yes, and no and we're to talk over the next couple weeks about other roles like the Deacon role in the church and what that looks like and how the leadership of the church all functions together.
So it's a little bit of a boeuf. And is there a lot for elders to do there is
what do they have to do everything? Nope? Cubs been very good in the way you set it up he set up both elders and deacons as allow the church ministry to thrive. And so that's why we're going to be looking at next.
October finish up a month. It is sometimes called Pastor appreciation month. and What I want you to do today, even though it's November 1st as we go to prayer is I want you to pray. for the Pastors in the church If there's things that you've experienced that bill or Don or I have done well, praise the Lord for it.
And if there's things that you've seen others do in the church that you're like boy, they're like, they're like a pastor to me even though they're not called that praise the Lord for them to because there's a chance that they might be future Elders in the church. If we continue along this path of inviting more of qualified guys in to be part of that older team.
Then pray that the Lord would allow those who serve in that role in our church both now and in the future. Pray that they would model Christ in all they do pray that they would see themselves as Leaders not functioning independently, but depended on Christ and accountable to him in the church and pray that their time in the word and their time and prayer would strengthen them for the work that God called him to do. Let's take a moment and pray and then the end I will close this and then we'll sing a closing song what's playing