Jimmy Cating "An Exhortation to the Elders"

So good to see everyone this morning. We have a wonderful gathering here. We're thankful for your presence and we're thankful for the great privilege to worship. Tony remarked this morning what a beautiful day it was and concur. And I thought of the song "What a beautiful day for the Lord to come again." As the Christian, as a child of God, we have that at the forefront of our minds that this could be the day the Lord comes again and what a beautiful day that will be. I'm thankful for the great privilege to be able to work among and to work with such a loving congregation. And I view our relationship as the Bible depicts the relationship between an evangelist and the congregation. Sometimes if we're not careful we can reduce this to in secular terms as a relationship between an employer and an employee. And in some regard of course an evangelist has responsibility to report to and to submit to the leadership of the congregation that he is a part of as do all members of the Lord's church. And so as we look at the relationship an evangelist has it's not so much an employee employer relationship as it is a partnership. We have a relationship in cooperation together to glorify God, spreading the gospel, reaching out to the lost and inwardly setting in order the things that are wanting. And one of the responsibilities as an evangelist is to work together with members of a local congregation to help not only preaching the gospel here and abroad but in developing and obtaining and maintaining scriptural leadership. And I want to talk about that this morning. I want to talk about an exhortation to the older ship as we look in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1 through 4 but before we get to that I want to just simply remind you that of five years ago we began the process of ordination. We began the process of evaluation assessing where we are as a congregation to determine based upon the qualifications God has given and the testimony of the congregation if we did indeed have men who were qualified for elders and deacons within the congregation. And as we went through that process it was kind of expedited because we had a foundation to build upon from work by other evangelists to previously to me. I ate grapes from vineyards that I didn't plant and I drank water from wells I didn't dig but I reap the rewards as we all do of the benefits of having scriptural leaders, having a congregation that is organized as the Lord directs and we've all benefited. The peaceful unity and the cooperation of the congregation here has seen the blessings of scriptural leadership and I might add we have seen the benefits and the peace that comes and the beauty that comes from following the Lord's will. I'm reminded of a passage in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17 where Paul said and I take my glasses off because I'm old, obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief for that would be unprofitable for you. I think that is a wonderful statement that shows our responsibility to them, their responsibility to us and the benefit that is mutual and if they do what they're supposed to do and we do what we're supposed to do it's for our benefit and for our good and it's a beautiful blessing and picture that provides glory to God. And so as we see these men who watch out for our souls it would do us well to cooperate with them because anything they do for us and in correcting us is for our benefit to make heaven our home. That's the goal. Because God in His wisdom designed the church and orchestrated the church, organized the church in such a way as to maximize the possibility that we, when we die, can go to heaven. That's what it's about. What can God do to help secure your soul? We don't believe in what saved always saved but God has placed in the church a system by which He can maximize, of course, keeping in mind we all have free will but God is going to maximize the potential that we would and could be saved. And so we talk about the eldership in a very reverent way because it is such a gift from God. Greg said this morning he saw the tide only said, "Oh, is it just for me and Mike and we're the only two that have to listen today?" No. And he's just joking, of course. But this involves all of us because as we move forward in continuing this process, remember five years ago when we began it, we made a commitment that this was going to be an open door process. No one else can and no one else should qualify. That's really not the way that it works because this is a perpetual system by which God is going to create a system that will allow elders and deacons to continually be formed and formulated within the congregation because men are not made to live forever. It has the children of Israel crossing the Promised Land, one of the first things that Joshua told Israel as God announced to Joshua the leader, "Moses, my servant is dead, now rise up and crossover, Jordan." Leaders are not going to last forever so we have to be prepared. When do we begin this process? When there is a need or in preparation for it? It's like I think Greg mentioned similar to the treasury in the church, the collection for the saints. Paul designed, Paul orchestrated or instructed the church at Corinth to lay by and store as he had given order to the churches of Galatia so that there would be no collections when he came. Make this for a preparation ahead of time so that when the need arises there's not an emergency and the pressures that involve the selection and the election of such leaders would contaminate the process. It's actually a great blessing for us to go through this and looking at what God wants without the pressure and the timeframe that perhaps sometimes we put upon ourselves when there is an emergency need. Now I want to mention here that there are four parties involved in this process. There is the elector and in this we understand that God, when he chooses an ordained man or leaders in his kingdom, whether we're talking about the Old Testament or the New Testament church, God is always the one who prescribes the qualification. As God would elect men as kings and prophets directly, he is the elector, but in the New Testament God doesn't do that directly. He does it indirectly through a process of qualifications where he will sell us the kind of men that would qualify and that he is selected and elected for such a work. There is a facilitator that is involved that would make sure that the elector has his will perform. In this case, the evangelist in Titus chapter 1 verse 5 is given the authority to facilitate the process. It is not the evangelist responsibility to select the men and say, "He is, he is, he is not, he is not." he can facilitate. the process to make sure that the congregation is educated to the qualifications and therefore for they are qualified to give testimony and vouch for the validity of this man's character. And then there is the candidate or there are the candidates, the preliminarily qualified men who would potentially meet the satisfaction of God. And so men who would potentially qualify. And that's where we are in this process is really kind of taking the pulse of a snapshot of where we are as a congregation. It's been five years, maybe men, more men qualify, maybe they don't. But at least we will know where we are as a congregation. Do we have such candidates? And if they're perhaps close to qualifying, but maybe they need work in this area or that, that's helpful to go through a process to inform them and give them feedback to help them grow in areas of weakness or insufficiency or deficiency. And then there is the congregation's role as witnesses. This is not an election that where we vote for the best man in our opinion. It is an opportunity for the congregation to give testimony to vouch for these men that they have met the qualifications that God has provided. Now Peter says, "The elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a protector of the glory that will be revealed, shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." When we talk about the church, it's important for us to understand that the New Testament views the church in two senses. In Matthew 16 verse 18, Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church. He's talking about the universal church. There is a brotherhood of believers, the saved throughout the world." And if it is in chapter 1 verses 22 through 23, it speaks of Jesus as the head of the body, which is the church. So there is the universal church, and we understand that the church is bigger than any given location because there are saved people throughout the country and around the world. And when we understand that universal sense, we can appreciate the relationship that we have with other Christians besides this location, and we love the brotherhood. But then there is another sense in which the church is used, and that is in a local sense. A group of believers who have obeyed the gospel, and the Lord had added them to the church, but then they joined themselves to a band of believers who are committed to worshiping and working for God. And so the saved and a certain location, and we see this throughout the New Testament. In fact, most of the New Testament letters were written to local churches. And that benefits us because it helps us understand how we as a local church, which by the way, membership in a local church is necessarily implied in many ways. And that is that we have a responsibility to God in working with other Christians. There are some things that God wants us to do that we can only do with other Christians. Now, the universal church, as I mentioned, sometimes it is referred to. In fact, the word universal isn't used in the New Testament, but brotherhood is, first Peter 2, 17, honor all people, love the brotherhood. A few months back, I gave a short series on fellowship, and in that series I talked about loving the brotherhood. And you can listen to that on Spotify if you want. But that lesson goes into detail about practical ways we can love the brotherhood outside of our local congregation. First Peter 5 or 9, when there was a problem in the early church, and first Peter was dealing with suffering throughout the region that the early church is going to face, he says, resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. In Romans 16 and verse 16, he's talking about local churches here when he says, "Greet one another with a holy kiss, the churches of Christ greet you." Here he's using it in the plural because he's speaking of local churches, congregations of the body of Christ. This is a description. Not necessarily a title of the church, but a description that a church that belongs or is owned by Christ. Churches of Christ greet you. And then at first Peter 5 and verse 1, as we just read, Peter admonishes the elders which are among you, he says, "I exhort." So there was a leadership of elders who served among that local group. We'll talk more about that in just a little while. Here are a few passages that give you examples of all of the different local churches in the New Testament. And there are many because you don't have time to write all these down. If you want them, I'll give them to you. But the reason is because the church does not function in the universal sense. The church does not worship universally. The church does not work in the universal sense. It only functions on the local level. We worship together. We have come together to worship and we have followed the scriptures and we try to follow the scriptures in our work. Now each local congregation is autonomous. Now that's a big old word, fancy word that simply means it is self-governing. It does not connect itself to a hierarchy, a headquarters that is established upon the earth. These local churches listened only to Christ via the Apostles doctrine. And so the local churches were not dependent upon the teachings of some counsel of men. They were self-governing. And Jesus Christ was looked to as the authority. Now this autonomy within the local church was God's way in His wisdom to protect the church. And this is an illustration of how that would work. You got all these churches that are autonomous, independent from one another. They have a cooperation only in the sense that they are a brotherhood of believers, but they do not make decisions for any other church. It's only at the local level. So Christ is the authority. We go to Christ. We look to Him and we try our best to follow His teachings. Now this is God's protective strategy. So that if one church were to go astray, it would protect all of the others. We're not getting our teaching from a headquarters or from a paper or from a group of men that tell us what to do and what to believe and what to teach. And this protects churches B and D and C if church A and C or you got that letter. You got you got the picture. But church A and C, they went astray than that doesn't necessarily mean or guarantee that other churches will because they're autonomous. And that is a beautiful blessing that God has given the church to protect the church. Now the local church functions only on the local level. It is self-governing and it is organized on the local level. The early church is organized only as far as the local church is organized. And here what we see is an illustration how the early church at each local congregation was to be organized. We have at the base at the foundation of the church Christ who is the chief cornerstone and he is authorized through the process of inspiration and revelation the apostles who would teach and pray. reached the gospel of Jesus Christ by the inspiration of a Holy Spirit who would in turn confirm that message by powers, wonders, and signs which God did through the Holy Spirit. Now they would write what they would receive and the church would read what they would write and thus the church would know what they knew. Again, the early church, the universal church has no organization but the local church is organized based upon the foundation of the gospel with elders as overseers, as shepherds, and a special group of servants who are designated to do a particular task and work and an evangelist and teachers. Notice the evangelist isn't up there above. He's below. He is submissive to the oversight of the leadership. Now it's kind of like a checks and ballots. The early church, the evangelist helps ordain these leaders and then is submissive to them. He is not again over them and so this is the government of the church as we see it in the Word of God. Again Paul said for this reason I left you in creed that you should be, you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I command you. After mind you elders and deacons are ordained, there is a checks and ballots in the accountability of the elders to the congregation and he uses the evangelist only in that he has received two or three accusations against such a man. Now Acts 14 verse 23 so they had appointed elders in every church and they prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they believed. So after the electors will has been followed and the candidates have been qualified based upon the testimony of the congregation, which by the way the congregation is the one who selects these men in that they're the ones that come up with basically the list of men who are qualified as we see in Acts chapter 6 with the selection of those seven men, the apostles told the church you choose out seven men they had to meet these qualifications that it be full of the Holy Spirit, good reputation and full of wisdom, had to meet those qualifications and then the leaders of the church at that point the elders appointed them to a process of ordination and so that's what's going on here. They had appointed elders in every church and they prayed with fasting and they commended them to the Lord and if we were to get through this process any further going down in a positive way we will go through an ordination process. Now also I want to note that these elders must be qualified as we mentioned already probably to the point of redundancy but I want to mention here that these qualifications are laid out for us in God's word to evangelist Titus and Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1 in addition to 1 Peter chapter 5 and I just want to briefly highlight what these qualifications are. When we go through the process of surveying the congregation we will go through more extensively what these qualifications are and we will discuss with you and talk with you if you have questions about any of these we will. Now I've broken these up into categories there are qualifications that deal with the man's character. First of all he has to desire the office. If he doesn't desire the office he's not qualified in that he needs to want to. Peter says don't do it by compulsion but willingly he is to be a holy man, a just man patient of good behavior, a lover of what is good. These qualifications are not just a checklist for checklist sake. These qualifications are to help this man do the work that he is tasked to do by God. So we obviously need someone who wants to do this but we also need someone who is qualified in his character. He is a holy and a just man patient man. He has a love for the truth, a love for what is good and it's reflected in his behavior. Another set of qualifications deals with his reputation. He is to be blameless without reproach. We will emphasize over and over again that this does not suggest that the man has always been perfect or always will be but that he is blameless in that there is not an accusation that can be sustained against him or maintained against him and it doesn't reflect as we see in the example of the apostle Peter, a man who was always blameless and we use this example and if we come to your house and we sit down with you and talk to you we'll probably use it again. Here is the apostle Peter who identifies himself as an elder which means that at that time he was a blameless man but at the time of his ministry or in the ministry of Christ there were times when he was to be blamed. Remember when Jesus was arrested and he cut the man's hair off and Jesus rebuked him and said put away your sword. Those who live by it will die by it. Later on even after the establishment of the church the apostle Peter associated with a bunch of Gentiles and then when the Jews came down he withdrew from the Gentiles and he showed partiality and the apostle Paul said I would stood him to the face because he was to be blamed. So it's somewhere between that point and his ordination he became blameless because there was no accusation that could be sustained against him. Why? Because he fixed the problem. And so these qualifications while they are a measure of every Christian's aspirations for the most part there's a few that you know not every Christian will do will have but most of them will be it is a standard of the elder to be the example not someone who is currently struggling with these things but he is actually worked on it and he is an example of how to deal with sin in your life. He has to be of good report lovers of hospitality. I'm going to go through these rather quick quickly here. So if you have questions about it we can talk about him later. Of good report means that he doesn't just have a good reputation within these four walls or among the church but those whom he works with those of his neighbors those of his family extended family they also concur that he is of good report. He loves hospitality. We talked about this last week. This can involve opening up your home but it is not limited to that. There are other ways that you demonstrate hospitality to someone and he loves it. It's almost his second nature. He is thoughtful and generous and he is considerate of those who are in need. He's not a brawler. He doesn't like fights. He's not greedy for money. He's not covetous. He's not a striker. He's not a violent man. He's not a hateful man and he is not an explosive man. One translation talks about him being pugnacious. The idea that you can't really know for sure what you're going to get when you talk to him because he's so volatile. We don't need elders who are volatile because you're going to need to approach them with your problems and your concerns and your questions and you don't need to know. You don't need to wonder well is he going to bark? Is he going to bite? Or is he going to listen and help? Not a striker. Not a violent man. His habits again, similar. There's some overlap here. He is temperate. He is not given to wine. Here's a man who is not a drunkard. He has his faculties under control. His mind, his body, his speech, his anger. He is temperate. He's not soon angry. Again, not a brawler, not self-willed. This doesn't mean that he is not stubborn when it comes to the doctrine and the truth of God's Word, but when it comes to things that don't matter, he is willing to give in and he is willing to let someone else have their way and their opinion and he doesn't always have to insist on his right. He's not self-willed. He is not stubborn in that regard. And again, sober. moving through these pretty quickly here, but there are domestic qualifications as well. He is to be a man who desires the office, as we mentioned, but he is also to be a married man. He is to be the husband of one wife. This means he is a one woman man. He is a family man. He is not a polygamist. He is in a scriptural marriage and that he is an example to the believers in that marriage and in that loyalty and in that loving relationship because of the work that he is going to have with the family of God. There is wisdom and purpose behind it. And then there is the qualification of believing children not accused of riotous or unruly behavior. They are not insubordinate. And again, he gives the purpose for this is that his relationship to his family is to be mirrored into the relationship that he will have with the family of God. There are a lot of questions and there are a lot of things that pop up in people's mind about some of these qualifications that I am sure you will have and we can walk through that and work through that as we have our private studies or talks on these issues. I think there is one more set of qualifications. He is to be in his experience a vigilant man, not a novice. He is apt to teach and even able to rebuke via Titus 1 verse 9. Now I want to come back to 1 Peter 5 as we close here. We are about finished. This is an introduction really. But I want to go back to 1 Peter 5 and notice a couple of things that we can learn from this. First of all, he exhorts the elders. The elders who are among you, I exhort. That is plural. This God's plan and it is his pattern for a congregation to be led by a plurality of elders. In order to have an elder ship, there needs to be more than one. There is a ship involved, a fellow ship. There is more than one person. There is an elder ship. And every time there is instruction or information about the ordination of elders, there is always a plurality of elders involved. We will note in a moment one of the words that is used in translation of the work of an elder is a shepherd which is sometimes translated actually only once, translated pastors. And it is never translated singular in the pastor form. Why is that? Because it was never God's intention for the church to be led by one pastor. And denominationalism usually confuses the term pastor with a preacher or an evangelist. But there are two different roles and works. And there was at least two reasons that God would want a plurality of elders in the church. Number one, it protects from one man rule. It was never God's intention for the church to be led by just one person. But secondly, it provides a balance in leadership. Although all elders must be qualified, different temperaments and personalities will help to complement and to supplement the leadership to form a cooperative team of spiritually minded and mature men. But then notice that he says, the elders who are among you, this suggests that they have a limited oversight. An elder ship is only responsible and accountable for the local congregation that they oversee. Elders do not have authority to exercise oversight of another congregation, autonomy. Nor does any other congregation have the right to select elders for another congregation. It is not turnlock's responsibility or mantika's responsibility to choose our leaders. It is your responsibility and it is therefore limited in that oversight among the elders. But then also notice that there was never one elder set above the others. There was equality in eldership. Yes, elders may have different strengths, but they are to serve as a team. I think we could see that in the limited experience that we have in the five years that we have been blessed with elders. We have Mike and Greg. They are different. They are qualified, but they have different temperaments. They have different abilities, but they serve as a team. And note, although elders are in positions of authority, they are not to abuse it, to lord it over God's people, but rather to serve as overseers being examples of the flock. Real quickly here, I want to mention that Peter is using three words that are synonymous with this work. He uses the word elders. He uses the word shepherd, and then he uses the word overseers. The word elders, it is from a Greek word from which we get the word "precipitor" from, in it suggests the man of age and wisdom. It doesn't mean they have to be 80 or 90. It doesn't mean they have to have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel on the way out. It means they are almost dead. No, it means that they have some experience that they have lived life, and they can help the church through the process of counsel. You don't know show of hands here, but over the last five years, I am sure that many people have gone to the elders for counsel. That's what elders do. That's what is implied in the word "elder." I should have probably had that word up there. And it suggests the importance of spiritual maturity. It is the second word, episcopose, which is translated "bishop" or "overseer." And it is one who looks after. He sees over, oversees the work. And it suggests one who is skillful in his leadership. The work of an elder is that he is going to have to identify talents and develop them. Part of this process right here would, by virtue of the fact that they are "bishops" and "overseer," that's why they are involved in this process with me. And I've asked them, and they graciously accepted the opportunity to be a part of overseeing this process because we need man who can identify talent and help develop that talent when there is a shortcoming. And then there is the Greek word that is translated "shepard." It is sometimes translated "feed," because that's what a shepherd does. He feeds and he leads, he guards and he guides. He protects the sheep. Again, it is from the Latinist pastor and it is translated "pastors" only in one place, Ephesians 4, verse 11. Now, as we close here, I certainly do not want to leave the impression that the elders of the church can be reduced to simply Greek words and definitions. It's more than that. And as I did five years ago, I want to present to you three scenarios that will help convey what the work of an elder is all about. The first scenario is a member in crisis. I want you to imagine that tragedy has struck you. And you are in the hospital and you are holding the hand of a person that you love more than life itself. A car accident has rendered the body beaten and broken. No one knows what the future will hold, if it will be life or death and you pick up your phone and you call for prayer. Who do you call? Some would call the chaplain at the hospital, but not you. Many would call a preacher, but you don't. Instead you call an elder. You know him by name. He knows you by name. He doesn't wear a collar or a robe or he goes by reverend. None of that. He doesn't have a special title or a label, but he does have a heart for people and a wealth of experience. He may have no seminary degree, but he knows his way through troubles, through problems. He's been around the block enough to know how hurts come and how hurts are healed and within minutes of the phone call, there he is. He is with you. He and his wife are present a member in crisis. Then there is a member who is weak. Weak in the faith. Maybe this member is doubtful. Maybe this member has questions, concerns. He has some doubts that he hasn't been able to figure out. He hasn't been attending like he used to. In fact, he has stopped coming all together. The elders concerned. And out of love and compassion, they seek the wondering brother. They reach out and they give him the compassion that he needs, the answers to the questions that he has been seeking. And they provide for him an environment to equip him and to strengthen him, strengthen him and the beauty of that blessing, that weak member. Not a guarantee, is it? But it maximizes the potential that a weak member can come back. A member confused. Maybe you have a friend who wants to become a Christian. You're excited about it. But maybe you're a little confused about what to do. You don't know what to say. You don't know how to teach, but you know someone who does. Again he's not a preacher. He like you has a full-time job with responsibilities. He's an elder. But he is a good teacher. And you know that he can guide you and guiding your friend to Christ and you meet for lunch in the gospel of Shared and a soul is saved. One last scene. Once you do imagine several men and their wives together, they're discussing the future of the church in that they are there to pray. For them are not budgets or architectural drawings. They don't discuss blueprints or expenditures. They simply pray. Name by name, heart by heart they pray. They pray for the church. Who are they? Elders. Elders and their wives who have dedicated themselves to intercede for the church. These who love the church, willing to sacrifice for the church. And we see a member in pain when a member is in crisis and elder draws near. A member weak in his faith and elder draws near. A member confused and elder draws near. A church moving forward, elders leading the way. And elder is the kind of person that you choose and a crunch. And elder has the experience, the knowledge, the character and the vision to guide, to comfort and advise the sheep of his flock. As members of the church, we need to uphold these men. We need to pray for these men, be thankful that God has given us such a gift to look out and to watch out for our very souls. This is a faithful saying, "If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. It is a work." And as an evangelist, I probably know maybe more than most, but I don't know all that these men do. And I know that they sacrifice and they are willing to spend and to be spent for the cause of Christ. And we owe them. We owe them our prayers. We owe them our love and we owe them our support and encouragement along the way. That is a good work. And the Lord has blessed the church here, not only with men who presently are qualified, but have the foresight to look out into the future and see what does the future hold. And let's be ready. Let's go ahead and see where we are as a congregation and see who we have that would potentially qualify for these good works. And if we don't have any at this point, that's okay. We're working on it and we're aspiring. But if we do, let's see what we can do to encourage and even lighten the load of our present leaders. Maybe you're here this morning and you're not in the church. Here's what the Lord wants us to do to become members of this wonderful and glorious institution. He's given us a plan. It's a marvelous plan. He doesn't just save us and leave us alone. He saves us and he puts us into a relationship not only with him, but with other people who have been saved like us because we need each other. And if you're here and you've never obeyed the gospel, come believing, repent and confessing your faith and be baptized to have your sins washed away. If you have, obeyed this plan. But you've allowed things to distract you, to discourage you, to cause you to depart from the fold. You can come back. The Lord is eagerly inviting, graciously extending time and opportunity in this very moment come home. And if we can assist you in that, come while we stand and while we sing.