It is important to establish biblical leadership in the Church and this is one of the great needs of the Church at this time. But in many ways this is a symptom of a greater problem andfocusing on church structure alone will not fix all the problems the local church experiences. For every outward action, there should be an inward change. Therefore, if we reform to biblical leadership but have not reformed our hearts than it is worse then when we had started. "If all we do is correct the outward structure of the Church then we have done nothing at all, we need the Lord to revive our hearts."

Heavenly Father, we have a hunger and a thirst to have everything we do defined by your word. And we are continually finding new areas where we haven't even considered before, and not conformed to the word. And so we're needing to change and be conformed again. We know that this is a lifelong process that not an arrival point. There's only a continuous sanctification until you take us home and then and then that will be our arrival point where there'll be joy in your presence forever more but until then, there will be a need to reform ourselves according to your word.

We don't despise that lord. We desire to be those who are humble in heart who can embrace it. Who have desire to dig into your word, to know what it says, and to be obedient to it, not be cures only, be doers of it, which is in Jesus' name. Well, I'm glad you're here. It's hard to draw a big crowd after an out-the-air government.

It's not the most enrapturing topic that you'll ever hear, but it's one of the greatest ones that you'll ever talk to. And it's one that's well worthy of our time. And what I prayed is absolutely true that we are always in the process of performing. Always, always, always, it's not a destination point, but it is a mindset and a conviction that there's always more to know in the Word of God. And there's always areas where we need to conform ourselves to what we see in the body.

And I trust that we're all just aware of the fact that we have this continual need. There are blind spots and we don't know what they are today, because they're blind spots. We all have them. We should continue to be seeking the Lord if He shows our blind spots. Much of the content of what I'll be talking about is a rip-off of plagiarism from the name of Alexander Schraub, who's written extensively on biblical church government.

If you're interested in church leadership, and you have a stake in church leadership, that's probably why I would highly recommend the The The What I love about how he's in the Schraub's book is that the overwhelming majority of the content of it is a devotion to a careful, thorough exposition of the New Testament text. Honestly, you don't get very much opinion from Alexander Krauss, you get careful exposition of scripture. So I trust this time, and he's loaded into that as well. What's the name of the book? I believe it's biblical eldership of the publisher in Lewis and Roth.

So if you'll Google Lewis and Roth, it'll pop up. His last name is spelled S-T-R-A-U-C-H. How does it end in a trap? If you're doing that, he has two versions. He has a Clifton's version and a thicker version, so make sure if you want the good feedback position to order the thicker version.

There's a study guide. Honestly, there's a place with Clinton's version of the chief of talent. The whole thing is so different, so you'll want to read it. So, I'm going to start with a couple of quotes. One is from a man you probably never heard of before his name is Alexander the Met.

And that he was famous during his time as a former, a Swiss Reformed theologian preacher in the early 1800s. And here's what Alexander the Net said. He said, the Reformation was still something to be accomplished, something for which Luther and Calvin only prepared an even ground and a wider tool. They did not, once and for all, reform the church. But they affirmed the principle and laid down the terms for all future reform.

To continue the work of reformation, do not consider it clear, but return without delay to the large, pure spring of all trees. And we're going to go to the second quote from John Robinson. John Robinson was the pastor of William Bradford, who was the first governor of Cleveland, California. And John Robinson intended to come over and be a pastor in the New World but never worked out that way. But he was a faithful pastor to these people who came over and they were our forefathers.

And here's what John Robinson said, I am absolutely convinced that the Lord has other truths to impart to us through the Holy Word. Personally, I cannot sufficiently deplore the condition of these quote unquote Reformed churches which have acquired a certain degree of religion but which do not wish to go beyond their recognition. The Lutherans could see only what Luther saw. They would die rather than accept certain aspects of truth. As for the Calvinists, they cling to the erudites left to them by that great man of God, who nevertheless did not know everything.

It is the horrible poverty, for even if these men in their time were lamps which burned and gave life to the darkness. They have not yet entered into all the counsel of God. If they were living in our day, they would be ready to embrace a life which was more intense than the one which had first and might have been. So in the spirit of that we should recognize that reformation is not about structures. We're talking about church holiday, church development today, that's a structure.

And Reformation is not about that. We often need to adjust our structures to conform to the Scriptures to properly support the thing being reformed is the church, you know. A lot of times we need to make adjustments to reform through your God. But ultimately, Reformation is about revival in the heart. It's not about your church structure, it's not about your family structure.

You might need to do something with your church structure. You might need to do something about your family structure in order to support what's being performed. But brothers and sisters, if we would change our structures to be perfectly conformed, and we would have no enlivening of our hearts. What poverty would this be? What a grand waste of time and effort.

And so our prayers would be that while we change our structures to conform to the scriptures that God would be reforming our hearts. That there would be not just outward circumcision, but circumcision of the heart. We look at Revelation 2, the letter of Jesus Christ's churches. And we consider that Jesus has many combinations for the Ephesians. They're doing well in a lot of ways, but yet he says that, nevertheless I have this in my shoes.

That you have left your first one. Repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place. Unless you repent. All we do is correct the outward structures and the hall and the features, then we've done nothing at all. We need the word to revive our hearts.

So I say this as a disclaimer to ignore everything that I'm getting ready to say, if all of the do would be have us tweet and have our heads become hearts and our hearts floating in the sky. There is a tremendous penchant for this, to have fat heads that scream in our eyes. We implore this in ourselves and we shall exhort those around us to have a grand love for theology that our love for God and our love for our neighbors is clear. So, is fellowship biblical? Well, yes.

The axiom for this session is that local church government, by a plurality of qualified men, is amply and even lavishly set forth in the New Testament. I'm going to say that again, because This is the summary statement. Local church government by a plurality of qualified men is the normative pattern in the New Testament. And the casework in the New Testament is more than a handful. It's lavish.

In fact, there's more instruction on eldership than there is about the word supper, than there is about baptism, than there is about spiritual gifts. There are 13 passages, 13 distinct passages that directly address this topic by using either the word elders or overseers or both. And these are terms elders and overseers. These are terms that both Paul and Peter used interchangeably in these passages. The plurality of elders is well established.

And if we were not technology, then we would technologically challenge this activity. But I'd show you the places in scripture that are very clear, that talk about elders, plural, church, singular. Elders, plural, church, singular. Elders, plural, church, singular. It's over and over and over again.

And the only places where you can't tell whether it's meant to be that. With that signification, places like 1st Timothy 3 where it says, he who desires the work of an elder. So that is a singular version, but it has no bearing at all on whether it's plurality or not. In every case where you can definitively tell what the New Testament is weighing in, it's elders, plural, and church. And it's over and over and over again.

The PowerPoint slide I had, I would just hammer away at it. There's nine different times there was always plural in church. It is the pattern of the New Testament, plurality is. And in the New Testament, we see this form of local church government across a wide geographical area. It's in Asian churches.

It's in Jerusalem. It's across all the geographical areas the New Testament touches. It's across diverse cultures, from Jerusalem to Rome to Greek cities. Here's what Alexander Sh You will not find the senior pastor, the lone senior pastor in the New Testament, etc. You can look until your eyes bleed.

If you want to see elders quarrel in a church singular, you can find it over and over and over again. But if you want to find the singular lone wolf pastor, you look into your eyes, you will find. And the senior pastor model is a double whammy. Here's what I mean by the double wing. It consumes one man beyond his means.

One man does not have the resources within himself to go home to church. He needs brothers at his side. And At the same time, it deprives other able men who God has prepared for the work the opportunity to participate in the shepherding of the local church. So the sword cuts both ways. On one edge of the sword, one man is beat to death and beaten up by the responsibilities and the burdens of local church government.

And on the other edge of the sword, other men whom God has raised up and made qualified and prepared for the work are have the opportunity to do that. And what we see in the life of Paul in the book of Acts is that the testimony is that he is employing elders plural in singular churches. At the beginning of his ministry, the first time he stated it was in Acts 14.3, he's employing elders in the church. That's his first missionary journey, his first crack at it. What's Paul doing?

He's appointing elders to his church. And at the end of his ministry, he and Titus 1, 5, one of the last following books, is at the end of his life. Lo and behold, he's commanding Titus to appoint elders for all and the church. And Paul argues that a church without elders is deficient. If you look at Titus 1, if I'm going to read it to you now, this is exactly what he says.

For this reason, this is Paul writing to Titus, For this reason I left you to preach that you should set in order things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I command you. And What he's saying is, Titus, things are lacking. There's a deficiency that we have to fix here and one of those deficiencies is these churches need elders. They need a brownie qualified union in Europe. And what we find in the New Testament is that all of the essentials are clearly outlined in the New Testament.

And that this is building doctrine on an abundance of clear and consistent scriptural passages. Did you hear that? We're building doctrine here, not on the verse that we write out of the New Testament, but on an abundance of clear and consistent spiritual passages. And when we say all the essentials are clearly outlined, what do I mean by that? Well, the New Testament tells us what elders should do.

It tells us their roles in Acts 6. Acts 1, 1 Peter 5, Titus 1, James 5, 1 Peter 5. It tells us who can be an elder, the qualifications, 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. It tells us how the church should relate to their elders. First Peter 5, First Thessalonians 5, First Timothy 5, B.B.

13. It tells us how to handle an accusation against an elder, First Timothy 5. It tells us how to discipline an elder if that should become necessary in I Timothy 5. By the way, those of you who are already frustrated, who are writing furiously, you're all welcome to email me about that in the studio. But it's all in Stroud, so, okay.

So, what does the Bible tell us about eldership? Well, there are at least six flagship passages that we will look at, So pull out your bible and turn to Acts 6. So we're going to move it speed of light. We have six flagship passages in point of order. So you do that.

About three. Act 6, 1 through 7. We're going to read the passage, and then I'm just going to pull out the bullets that are just the direct logical conclusion. In many cases, in most cases, just the explicit meaning of the text. The more meaning you get, the fancier you will be connecting the odds of being just one point right.

Act 6, 1 through 7. Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists as their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the 12 summoned a multitude of the Cyprus people, it is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint our listeners. But we will give ourselves continually the prayer to the ministry of the word.

And the saying pleased the whole note that David, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and spirit, and Philip, Proporus, Myconor, Timon, Parnenas, and Nicholas, proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hand in hand. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the sessions multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests were obedient to the affair. Now this is a passage that does not include the word elders or oaks to it, and does not include the word deacon. And yet, throughout church history, it has been understood that the disciples were the elders in Jerusalem, and we have ample weight of evidence for that in Acts that the church in Jerusalem had a plurality of elders, and that at least some of the disciples were elders.

We have no idea how much process, whether some apostles and some were elders, whether they were all elders, you know, but it's not important to do that. But What is important is that what we see the disciples doing, recognizing that there is a plurality of elders in the church community, demonstrate that, and the wonderful thing is that they're in exactly this question, they're doing exactly the concept that we see elders in other places in the New Testament. And so this passage perfectly blends the roles And so what the society is doing is they're saying, they're acknowledging that we must devote ourselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer. You must be devoted to these things for the shepherding of this block. And teaching and prayer are the hallmarks of eldership and the other passages, or any of the other passages that you can conclude is not an act of yourself.

You will find that in the future. Teaching and prayer is a hallmark of a role of elders. And the local church leave the group again you can give themselves continually the prayer the ministry the word and that's the exact words we have here that give themselves continually the prayer Do you know that there are officially 104, 000 things that will pull men away from prayer and ministry of the Lord unless you create something in the church so that they'll be relieved in those other things when they can devote themselves to the prayer and ministry of the Lord. We're probably familiar with the pamphlet that's here in the library. And the thesis of that pamphlet is that the important things will always get squeezed out by the urgent things and this happens if any man has been involved in leadership in the church as soon as happened 100 times.

The important things like the ministry of the word, feeding of the flock, and prayer are shamelessly cheated by doing any manner of other things which are also important to the life of the church, but not as important to the life of the church prayer and ministry of prayer. So the disciples do something here that Mary was, and they appoint men who are full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith, not custodians, not her grounds crew, but men like Philip, we know Philip, men like Stephen who would preach one of the most impassioned sermons of the New Testament and then martyr for men like that into a serving role of the church that allows the men that God has set aside for eldership, for prayer, for the ministry of the word, and for the shepherding function of the church to give themselves to the enemy. I will say this, You cannot have a robust elder ministry in the church unless you have a robust people's ministry in the church. We're in a relatively new church plan. And for us it's been a first thing first.

And first thing for us was we had some elders, then it was church membership, we just added two more elders, and I tell you right now, the ministry of the elders in our church are compromised because we just have not there yet. But it's a lack that we recognize that we've got to make up for it. And it's really going to be a priority for us soon because we recognize this. We want to have a robust elder ministry. We must have a supporting, robust, people ministry that will allow these communities to be set aside for the fruit of the initiative.

And then, if you look at the fruit, look at the fruit. In Acts 6, what was the outcome? The unity of the church was converted. And the number of disciples in the altar guard. Turn to Acts 20 for the next passage.

Acts 20. 28 through 32. 28 through 32. So, Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. And he has a stop in my lead as he sends for the elders from Ephesus.

And they have this sweet intimate together, these elders and their families on the beach and it ends with them weeping and falling on Paul is telling them that he wants to be. But he's giving them part of instructions. So we should just prepare them and pay special attention to the passage of God. Paul understands from the Holy Spirit that this is his last shot in the account with his group of men leading the local church in Ephesus. Acts 20, verse 28, chapter 32.

Therefore, this is Paul's exhortation to these elders, therefore take heed to yourselves in all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseer. The shepherd the church of God which he purchased in his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not spirit and blood. Also, from among yourselves men will rise up, speak with perverse tongues, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch and remember that for three years I did not speak to one, everyone night and day with tears.

So now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Several things that we learned from this passage. One right at the start in verse 28, elders must take heed to themselves. This is the exhortation of Paul. He says, therefore take heed to yourselves.

Self-examination is very important for elders. You have this qualification process, it's laterally laid out in First Timothy 3 and the title of the poem. But qualification isn't a pass-fail test, where you get the green light, you're forever qualified. Life goes on after the moment of first qualification and elders have to maintain their qualifications because it's about their character. It's about their management of their household.

And these things can shift. And so Paul's expectation is that the elders can keep to themselves. Next Paul says, take heed to yourselves and to all the flocks. This is the job, This is the shepherding function of an elder. It's a key to all the flock.

The elder's job is to understand the spiritual condition. This is why a plurality of men is required. This is given a surface, cursory, hey, how you doing on Sunday? It's Not what Paul is calling for here. It's dirt under the fingernails, lies together, kind of taking you to all the clock.

And this is why one of the key qualifications for an elder is that he be desirable. And people in their homes, they've been looking at a man across the eye and asking how he's doing with his life, asking how he's doing in the area of sexual abuse, asking him how he's doing in family worship. This is the job of an elder. And then we see in this passage that the Holy Spirit appoints elders as overseers to shepherd the church. Let me find the exact verse here.

Oh, it's still in 28. Among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, the shepherd, the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. He purchased the church with his blood. It's precious to him. And so He is appointing them.

Now, does that mean we don't have mechanisms to do it? Because there's some mystical supernatural thing that happens where God comes down out of heaven and appoints elders now. He has given us mechanisms. We're gonna be faithful to the mechanism. Also acknowledging that it's God within us, elders within the church that he loves.

And finally, the last one I'll make from this passage is that elders are to protect the flock from savage wolves from within and from without. Paul was warning them day after day for a period of three years with tears, foreseeing that savage wolves would come in and lug them from within and from without. And these are men who speak perverse things and draw the brethren away. That's why one of the key qualifications is that an elder be able to defend the sound of noxious as the savage will is awaiting and gobble up his sheep. First Timothy three.

First Timothy three. It can probably go without saying that you can do a full session or more on the air every single one of these. Not intended to be a comprehensive survey. The intent is to wet your appetite to go back to these flagship passages and look at them word after word. First Timothy three, one through seven.

This is a faithful saying. The man desires the position of a bishop. I hate the rendering bishop here. Should have been overseer in most translations it is, but anyway, this is my translation. And I'll stop railing about it.

A bishop has all sorts of baggage with it in our culture that the original Greek word never had with it. That's why overseer for a modern American is so much of a superior rendering because it doesn't come with all that ecclesiastical baggage. Paul never meant that. The Greek word never said that. So, we should be overseas.

This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good word. A bishop then must be blameless. A husband of one life. Temperate.

So malignant. Good behavior. Hospitable. Able to teach. Not kidded or wanted.

Not polished. Not cleaning for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not pepitas. Lawyer rules his own house well, having his children in submission of all reverence. For if a man does not go out or rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God? Not anonymous, lest being puffed up with pride fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

Moreover, he must have a good testimony on those who are outside, lest he fall into approach and the snare of the devil. The first thing we should notice here, and also from the verses leading up to the end of the day, but here in First Timothy 3, is that eldership is for men. No further to establish that, that's a consistent teaching of the New Testament. Eldership is for men. Eldership is also a good word.

We should be exhorting our sons to this is a good word. Not that God will call all of them into an eldership, but they should esteem a common, because either they'll be elders, or they'll be men who are under the authority of elders, and they should regard it as a good work. An elder must be qualified for a simple case with such a clear picture of the qualifications to be used. I just want to categorize you quickly to the reasons why you have a good qualification. One, you must have a sure, consistent character.

There's not one thing in the character qualification for an elder that the New Testament does not call all the way to the New Testament. Not one. If we have the time we can establish each one of these character qualities that Jesus Christ is calling us all to as he brings us into maturity, these things will be established in our lives in an increasing measure. There's nothing unique here for elders. It just means that elders must be verified to be mature.

You know what it is? It's the fruit of the spirit in action. It's the fruit of the spirit in the life of man. That's all it is. There's nothing more to say about that.

Moral and character quality. It's the fruit of the spirit, honey. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Second, when you manage, it's a house well. Isn't that interesting?

Has the church abandoned that principle? That if you want to know how a man will lead in the church, you look at home. Find out how he's doing at home. Because leading a church is more like leading at home than it is leading in your business and your work life. And number three, that he's able to teach.

Because again, we've seen the work of a mother is shepherding. It's the ministry of the word he must be able to teach in his prayer. And how do we know if the man is qualified or not? It's kind of hard to sort that out, isn't it? It doesn't say exactly where the line is drawn, or does it?

Stroup says, and we're exactly dead on, is that he's given us a master qualification. The master qualification is blameless, or some translations render it above reproach. Blameless or above reproach. We look at the qualifications, is a man reproachable to one of these areas? Is he rightly reproachable?

Now somebody may say something about him, and everybody else will go, well, that's crazy. That's not true. He's not rightly reproachable, not rightly blameable in that category. But if you look at one of these characters, and there's somebody who's got a really good point when they say, you understand these viewer quotes in this area, then he is disqualified for the work of being an elder. Note, not on the list, Did not make the list.

Seminary training. Quote unquote calling. At least in the sense that it's kind of some mystical thing or coming out of heaven at points. At the end. Personal charisma, IQ, quote unquote giftedness.

How many people have been put into leadership of the church because they're so gifted? Why can't I find you a gifted man? Come for fun, somebody needs to know their qualifications. We put the gifted guy in there, and we say, man, can you teach? And we find out that the church has got a three-year repair job because we put an unqualified man in there, we lay hands on him hastily as First Timothy 5 tells us not to do.

Don't lay hands on an elder hastily. And before serving, it's a prerequisite to serving that an elder must be tested to verify his qualifications. We won't get into the mechanics of that, and you test it, it doesn't give us a lot, but it does tell us enough. I'm sure I can get through the last four pages. James 5, Christian Church of Kings.

Does anyone let me suffer? Let them pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let them sing songs. Is anyone letting me sick?

Let them call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil. In the name of the Lord, and a prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise the blind. If he has committed sin, he will be forgiven. The elders are always on call for prayer.

Three functions for an elder. I'm not saying the same thing over and over. I mean to. We're gonna get so many points across in now. And this is that.

A role of an elder is shepherding, it's the ministry of the word, and it's prayer. This is what one of the priests who learned from James. The elder is always on call for prayer. Another interesting point here. It's the sick that are called upon to call for the elders of the church.

The sick are called upon to call for the elders of the church. How many elders or pastors and families ever in hot water could they just pick up on the clues and send me a prayer? Now I'm mad. You didn't know. And now I'm in trouble.

That's not what James 5 said. James 5 is addressed to the sick and it says call on the elders to pray Your elders will be encouraged when you're in need of prayer to say, brothers, I need prayer. Out of obedience to James 5, I'm sick. I've got some other doctors that I'm unable to, or I don't wanna go to the doctor's. I've read, and my elders pray for me.

And your elders will be encouraged by it because it shows their obedience to the scripture that you see that you call upon the president the sacred call upon the prophet. Let's pray. The elders anoints the foil in the name of the lord. I've heard this passage explained the way of all sorts of things in the theology. Guess what we do?

We anoint people with oil in the name of the Lord. I've heard this passage explained away with all sorts of things in theology. Guess what we do? We anoint people with oil in the name of the Lord. Why do we do it?

We're not exactly sure why, other than James I said to do it. And We take a bottle of oil and we put it along their head. It makes quite a mess. We do it out of obedience. And we just take it out of the earth, we should do it.

So we do it last but not least. This is my favorite. And By the way, you're now in detention hall. We're over-reaching. Oh, I do!

We might go back to the side as well. Not yet. I'll first meet with Bob. Okay, we'll do that. I'll just go is.

Why are you so pressured to settle on this one? First Peter of Mars. I'll ask what time he stands. I had to throw away all the other passage and I'm not recommending it. Do you know what time they started?

This is my case. He is the 17th artist of the world. And he paints such a beautiful picture of the rock that leadership of the elders has been brought to him. We've got 21 minutes. One minute.

We've got 21 minutes. And as a goring elder, as an elder, goring his brothers as a fellow elder. Yes, you. The elders who are among you, I adore. I, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a protector of the glory that you do.

Shepherd the flock of god which is among you serving as over to you not by compulsion but willingly not for dishonest gain but you did it nor 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 and let the night take away. Likewise, you younger people submit yourself to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another. We've closed on the Q and A. In the Mr.

Church, you don't have to do another job. The elders are example, they're not raising themselves up. There's no clergy lady distinction. We put on the collar and walk around like we're hot shots. It's not a privilege class, it's a servant class.

And yes, it comes with authority. And yes, people are called to submit to their elders, but elders are to walk around and take something to share their care as a mechanism of Jesus Christ to their church. So the elders here are absorbed by the figures of shepherds of the prophet God, Three functions for elders, shepherding, ministry of word, and prayer. Those are the functions, shepherding, prayer, and ministry of word. And it says here that the elders are among the brethren and the brethren are among the elders.

Isn't that an interesting use of the language? Elders are among the brethren. You're not hotshots elders. And the brethren are among the elders. We're part of a family.

That's why household management is a qualification. Because this is family life. It's not a priesthood class, it's a servant class. And elders are to serve not by compulsion. How many men have been drafted into church leadership honey honey, church leader honey Sometimes that's the only spirits, but not the just you, right?

Sometimes it's hard to tell too far. Not by compulsion, but willingly. If you got a right as good as mine. How's that? You Thank you.

You Thank you. You Thank you. You Thank you. You Thank you. You Thank you.

You Thank you. You