In the sermon 'Church Government, Part 5' by Mike Davenport, the speaker seeks to establish a foundation and bridge between previous and upcoming sermons on the role and qualifications of deacons. Davenport emphasizes that a correct understanding of church government is rooted in a correct understanding of Christ's headship and the church's relationship to Him. The sermon references the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith, noting that Christ is the head of the church, endowed with all power for its governance, as appointed by God the Father. The church, in turn, is to walk in obedience to Christ and manifest this through local church communities for mutual edification and public worship. The church is metaphorically described as a bride, body, and building, each illustrating the necessity of Christ's authority. The sermon outlines that church governance consists of officers and members, with the officers being elders and deacons. Elders are tasked with spiritual leadership, teaching, and shepherding, deriving authority from God, not the congregation. Deacons are responsible for logistical and practical needs, enabling elders to focus on their spiritual duties. The sermon concludes by urging contentment in the government established by Christ, as it brings peace and order.

My goal this afternoon is to, within the roughly 30 minutes or so, is to somewhat provide both a foundation and a bridge, so a foundation and a bridge, between what was brought to us last week by our brother Jeff Pollard and what will be brought to us, Lord willing, in I think two weeks by Jason Dome regarding the role and qualifications of deacons. And so I'm kind of wanting to be the foundation of what Jeff did say and what I'm assuming will be said by our brother Jason and also to build a bridge that connects all of these together. So when considering church government, where should one start? What are we at liberty to construct or set up? Well, I submit to you that a right understanding of church government flows out of a right understanding of who Christ is and who or what we, the church, are in relation to him.

And so that's why when Scott said, hey, is there a good hymn to sing, I'm like, yes, sir, the church is one foundation from heaven. He came to seek her, to be his holy bride. And when Paul was leaving Ephesus, he stressed to those to be shepherds and overseers because Christ had shed his blood for the church. So who is Christ in relation to the church? Who is he in relation to the church?

Well, this will be a little bit of reminder for those who've been here in our previous months in the evening going through our confession. Because here's what our confession, the 1689 second London Baptist Confession of Faith says about Christ in the chapter on the church. So it's a chapter that's on the church, but it's talking about Christ. Paragraphs four and five say the following, the Lord Jesus Christ is first, the head of the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church.

In whom, secondly, by the appointment of the Father, so this is being done by God the Father's appointment, Christ's headship appointed by the Father, in whom third, all power, all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner, appointed by God, given to Christ in all power. Paragraph 5 says, in the execution of this power, wherewith he is so entrusted, so again, as our focus is, he's been entrusted with this power, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world unto himself. So it's out of the world and unto himself. We can't understand church government if We don't understand the fact that we're not our own. He called us unto Himself through the ministry of His Word by His Spirit.

And who is it? Those that are given unto Him by His Father. That's who it is. The church has actually been given by God the Father to His Son. These are the called ones.

These are the ones for whom you will die. These are the ones that will make up the bride. So that's who Christ is in relation to the church. Well, who is the church in relation to Christ? Let's look at it from the other perspective.

Again, this is what our confession to 1689 says about the church in that same chapter, paragraphs five and six. So this is the latter part of paragraph five after just showing us Christ and four in the first part of five, the second part of five, and then paragraph six tell us who the church is in relation to Christ. That they, this called out people, this bride of Christ, that they may walk before him in all the ways of obedience which he proscribeth to them in his word. That's why in the Great Commission, in the building of the church, Jesus says, teach them all things I've commanded. Those thus called, the confession goes on to continue, he commandeth to walk together, not close or each go in our own way, but to walk together in particular societies or churches, thereby referring to the local church.

Why? For their mutual edification and the due performance of that public worship which he require of them in the world. The very thing we saw today, Christ came to the temple as the owner of the vineyard and he came to the vine dressers and found no fruit and they killed the son. And what does he want us to do? Christ walks around amongst the lampstands today and he wants to see the fruit.

So they, in the due performance of that public worship, which he requires of them. Then paragraph six, the members of these churches are saints by calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing in and by their profession and walking their obedience unto all that call of Christ. And do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ." So notice, visibly manifesting and evidencing their obedience unto the call of Christ. Walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving up themselves to the Lord and to one another by the will of God in professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel. And I might add of Jesus Christ.

And so that's the church's relation to Jesus Christ. Well, how is the church described in Scripture? How is it described? And I think you could break it down into three different ways. The first, the church is described as a bride.

She is a bride. And I would love to go through all these passages. I mean, there's so many, but I'm just going to throw them out there if you want to write them down to look at later. Psalm 35, 10 through 14. You have in the Song of Solomon a picture of the Church of Jesus Christ, the bride.

You have Isaiah 62, 5. Hosea 2, 14 through 16 and 19 through 20. You have Matthew 25, John 3, 29, Ephesians 5, 23 to 27, and Revelation 21 throughout and even in 22 verse 17. The church is a bride. Second, the church is a body.

Not only is she described as a bride, she's described as a body. Romans 12, 3 to 5. 1 Corinthians 10, 16 and 17. 1 Corinthians 12, 12 through 27. Ephesians 12 through 27, Ephesians 1, 22 and 23, Ephesians 2, 16, Ephesians 3, 6, and again, chapter 4, verses 11 through 16, Colossians 1, 18 and 24, and Colossians 2, 18 to 19, and Colossians 3, 15.

And so you see it's not just one instance, it's a lot of instances describing these things. And then thirdly, not only a bride and a body, but also a building, a building. Also referred to in some of these passages or other scriptures as household, temple, or spiritual house. And we have 1 Corinthians 3, 9 through 15, Ephesians 2, 19 through 20, and 1 Peter 2, 4 through 5. So from these descriptions of a bride, a body, and a building, we can derive the importance of Christ and His authority in all of our life together.

You see, if we are a bride, there must of necessity be a bridegroom, a husband in whom dwells ultimate authority. If we are a body, there must of necessity be a head. Nobody can function without a head that leads and guides and directs and causes all things to work together. If we are the building, There must of necessity be a firm foundation and a cornerstone for the support of the building and to dictate the location or layout of the building and then the elevation of the structure that's built upon it. And so the bride must be led by her husband, a body must be directed by its head, and a building must be built according to the cornerstone.

In order to assist us in being led, being directed, and being built correctly, the writers of our confession set before us more doctrine that flows out of this authority. It says, paragraph 8, a particular church, that is this bride, this body, this building, a particular church gathered and completely organized according to the mind of Christ consists of officers and members. And the officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the church, so called and gathered, for the peculiar administration of ordinances and execution of power or duty which he entrusts them with or calls them to, to be continued to the end of the world, our bishops or elders and deacons. So several things are laid out for us in this particular paragraph. First, the local church is to consist of two definable groups, officers and members.

Now, the Officers are members as well, but they have also been set aside according to the gifting that Christ bestows. Second, the offices of the local church are two. It's an elder, deacon. There's no other office recognized by Scripture for the non-apostolic age that we are living in. Thus, when Paul writes to the church at Philippi, he notes these two groups and these two offices.

So note this, he notes these two groups, members and officers, but amongst the officers he notes these two offices. In Philippians 1.1 he says, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons, to all the saints along with the officers. And who are they? The bishops, otherwise known as elders and deacons. Third, the plurality of the words here in our confession reflects a biblical concept of a plurality among each office.

You see, the expectation, the goal is to achieve plurality as God enriches the church. We don't want to run ahead of God, but as God enriches and gifts his bride, and he loves to give gifts to his bride, and when he does, then we should accept those gifts from a loving head. Fourth, church officers, it said, are appointed by Christ. They're appointed by Christ. The following is a quote from the book, Baptist Foundations, Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age.

It's edited by Mark Dever and Jonathan Lehman. And they say in there, the authority of eldership comes from God, not the congregation. Although the congregation affirms elders calling an authority, their authority has a divine origin. Paul told the Ephesian elders that the Holy Spirit made them overseers, Acts 20, 28. They were called and given authority by God and not by man.

Yet, it was probably the Ephesian congregation that endorsed them. Then Paul may have appointed them publicly to their office. Similarly, in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul stated that Christ has given gifts to the church, including pastors, teachers. Therefore, the office of elder does not derive its existence or authority from the congregation. The elders' authority comes from Christ, and the congregation's role is that of recognition of God's gifting and calling.

And fifthly, we note from this paragraph that this is according to the mind of Christ. There's no option B for the church. This is according to the mind of Christ. We are to be completely organized, not partially, completely organized according to what Christ has made known to us in His Word. When we think of what God instituted for his church and then we compare that to the snapshot of the church in probably any century, we may find disturbing things.

In our own times, we see churches making up all sorts of offices and committees that Scripture knows nothing about. Writing of such things, Scott's Irish Presbyterian Thomas Witherow wrote, the introduction into the church constitution of any official who can plead no warrant for his office from the scripture opens a wide door for the creation of other offices as expediency may suggest or human wisdom determine. So how are these offices described in Scripture? How are they described? Well, the words in Scripture that first of all describe the office and duty of an elder, first is shepherd, shepherd.

Poimane. Strongs describes the word in its metaphorical sense as the presiding officer, manager, director of any assembly. And so we have in Acts 20, 28, "'Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood." Also, 1 Peter 5, 2, shepherd the flock of God which is among you. And when we think of this description of New Testament elders as shepherds, Note that Jesus is identified in Scripture as a shepherd. There is a connectivity between Jesus Christ, the head of the church, and the men he calls to be elders.

The very fact that he calls them what he calls himself shows that he does entrust his power and authority to them. And as we saw last week that's a frightening thing. But that's what God has done. The infallible God giving, calling jars of clay to hold and to sound forth his mysteries. John 10-11, Jesus said, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Hebrews 13, 20, he is called the great shepherd of the sheep. First Peter 2, verses 4 and 5, for you were like sheep going astray but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. First Peter 5, 4, if you, pastor, shepherd well, When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. And then Revelation 7, 17, for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.

Another term that's used is overseer, overseer or episkopos. The Greek word is also translated bishop. Now, the root of this word indicates investigation, inspection, visitation. That's at the root word. But applying it to the office itself, that root word, Applying it to the office designated by Christ, it entails charge or oversight or governing.

And so in Acts 20, 28, Paul says to those Ephesian elders, therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." First Timothy 3, 1 and following, it says, This is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be. And then we go into the very qualifications that we heard mentioned last Sunday afternoon. Titus 1.7 again, again talking about qualifications, it says for a bishop, an overseer must be. And then he goes through those qualifications.

Now note that Jesus, again Jesus, is identified in Scripture as an overseer. Again, the connectivity between Jesus and the many calls to exercise his authority and power, 1 Peter 2, 4 and 5, just as we saw before. So again, for you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls." So what does this shepherding, this governing look like? Well, William Tyndale, in a marginal note on Titus chapter one, there again talking about those qualifications, in a marginal note, Mr. Tyndale writes that elders are chosen to govern the congregation in doctrine and living.

That's how they govern, in doctrine and in living. Ian Murray, referring to this Tyndall comment, says, implicit in this is an important check on abuse of office in the church. Whereas rule in the affairs of this world are exercised by persons solely in terms of the authority of their office, rule in the church is to be by the teaching of Scripture. In Protestant churches, obedience is not required on the authority of the church or of any of her office bearers. God alone is Lord of the conscience.

Thus the warning to Christ's first disciples, ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. Servants of Christ are not lords over God's heritage. John MacArthur writing in his commentary on Hebrews says the following about the passage found in what we heard last week, the scripture there in Hebrews 13, 7 through 17. MacArthur says, these mature men, the elders, are ordered by the Spirit of God to rule over his church on earth until Christ returns.

In many churches today, MacArthur says, the congregation rules the elders. This sort of government is foreign to the New Testament. Church leaders are not to be tyrants because they do not rule for themselves but for God. But the command is unqualified, as we saw last week. Obey your leaders and submit to them.

It is the right of such men, MacArthur says, under God and in meekness and humility to determine the direction of the church, to preside over it, to teach the Word in it, to rebuke, reprove, and exhort. And he says, when a man is placed in the rule of a local church, our submission and obedience to him is equivalent to submission and obedience to Christ. It's recognizing the bridegroom, the head of the body, and the foundation, the cornerstone of this building. Now, hear me clearly, since that submission and obedience to them is equivalent to submission and obedience to Christ, we must also note the following quotation from Baptist Foundations. They go on to say, it must be pointed out, however, that the elders' authority is not absolute.

It is limited. They derive their authority from the Word of God, and when they stray from that word, they abandon their God-given authority. When they're shepherding and teaching stray from Scripture, their authority as shepherds and teachers is no longer binding on the congregation. And that shouldn't surprise us as parents in this room, right? If we give a command for our children that goes against Scripture, we ask them to do something that's not in Scripture, they have the God-given right to say, I want to honor you, I want to obey you, but I can't do that.

My Lord and Savior says here in this passage that I have to do this and you're asking me to do something different than this. I have to obey God. And so it shouldn't surprise us. And that same authority that we recognize, It exists also in the church. Elders are not the final authority.

This is the final authority. And if I can't give you from this book something that God has to say, then that's where my authority stops. And Christ continues his authority. He continues his authority. So how about the deacons?

The word in Scripture to describe the office and duty of a deacon. Well, it's deacon. In the Greek, it's diakonos, diakonos. We see that in Philippians 1, 1 and 1 Timothy 3, 8 to 13. And I believe these are the only two places that use the word deacon in reference to the actual office.

There are other scriptures that talk about that role, that office and the duties. But Philippians 1, 1 and 1 Timothy 3, 8 to 13, there may be another one that's just escaping my memory. Those are the two, I think, that use that word, diakonos, in relation to the office itself. Now a study of Strong's concordance or Thayer's Greek lexicon would reveal that the word in the Greek is used in several different scenarios. First, let me mention that basic to the word is the idea of one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master.

It's wrapped up in that word, diakonos. And so, because of that, we see amongst the usus, first of all, the servant of the king. The servant of the king was called a deacon, and in this sense we all find ourselves as deacons or servants of our great King. Secondly, a deacon in the church, one who by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has the charge of and distributes the money collected for their use. And then third, another way that this word in the Greek is used in the Scriptures is as a waiter, one who serves food and drink.

So I didn't take the time to look. I'm not sure what the servants were back in chapter two, earlier part of chapter two from John today. I'm not sure if that applies to them, but there are places in the scripture where the word servant is diakonos, it's deacon. And I love the phrase that Thayers uses to describe the root word in the Greek. It's this phrase, raising dust by hastening.

Raising dust by hastening. And let me tell you something, our deacons raised some dust in this place. They raised some dust. We are thankful. We are blessed with faithful men.

We're blessed with faithful men. We're so thankful. They raised dust in their haste. Acts 6, in Acts 6 we read of the creation and the purpose of the office. And it's interesting to see how this kind of came about.

And we see from Acts 6, wish we had some more time to read it. But first of all, the elders identified a need. A need came up and the elders identified a need. You see, there were certain widows that were neglected in the daily distribution. So what happened?

The 12, the elders there, the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples. They gathered the church. So the elders identified a need. Second, the elders oversaw the choosing of men for the office. The elders oversaw the choosing of men.

Talking to this multitude of the disciples, these 12 said, therefore, Brethren, seek out from among you seven men." They were overseeing. They oversaw the process as to the choosing. Also in that phrase, we note that the church has identified the men, that they identified them based on apostolic requirements. And these apostolic requirements became Scripture. Obviously, they didn't turn to Timothy and Titus yet to show what these qualifications...they weren't there yet.

But they, as the apostles of the church there, they said, these are what you need to look for. And so they gave them the parameters of their search. Then we see the elders appointed the set-apart men to a particular need that they identified. And they told this group of disciples, they say, whom we may appoint over this business. And so they're appointing these men for the particular need that they identified.

And then we see that and note that the fruit that was produced, the fruit that was produced, this is often overlooked in this passage. You see, there are two words that highlight the kind of the bookends of the choosing and what follows. In Acts 6-3, this word, therefore, therefore, This is what they did. The need was there, therefore they appointed these men. So that therefore, it's focusing our attention on the need.

But then, verse 7, It has a then. Then. The therefore was the need. The then is the result. What was the result?

Then the Word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem." Do you see what just bringing on the office of deacons did for the church? Not only were the widows taken care of, the Word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly. Why is that? The elders were able to give themselves to the Word and to prayer. And so it was a blessing that deacons made the church just flourish because the elders were able to do the things they were called to do.

Benjamin Merkel, who's a professor over here at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary here in Wake Forest, he wrote the following in one of nine Mark's publications regarding the office of deacon. It's called the Biblical Qualifications and Responsibilities of Deacons. And it was published March 31st, 2010. And he explains the difference of the roles of these two offices, kind of highlighted by that quick overview of Acts 6. He says, the primary spiritual leaders of a congregation are the elders who are also called overseers or pastors in the New Testament.

Elders teach or preach the word and shepherd the souls of those under their care. Deacons too have a crucial role in the life and the health of the local church, but their role is different from the elders. The biblical role of deacons is to take care of the physical and logistical needs of the church so that the elders can concentrate on their primary calling. This distinction is based on the pattern found in Acts 6, 1 to 6. The apostles were devoted to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.

Since this was their primary calling, seven men were chosen to handle more practical matters in order to allow the apostles the freedom to continue with their work. The division of labor is similar to what we see with the offices of elder and deacon. Like the apostles, the elder's primary role is one of preaching the Word of God. Like the seven, deacons serve the congregation in whatever practical needs may arise. And then he says an interesting thing.

He says, whereas the office of elder is often ignored in the modern church, the office of deacon is often misunderstood. Based on the New Testament, the role of the deacon is mainly, he says, to be a servant. The church needs deacons to provide logistical and material support so that the elders can focus on the Word of God and prayer. So dear ones, let us find contentment in the government that Christ has ordained. We don't need to seek another.

Let's find contentment in that. Where you have the government of Christ as he ordained it in existence, There and there alone is peace. Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.

And so the government, it rests upon Christ, his shoulder. And there's no end to that government. And so to want a different government, it won't bring peace because of the increase of his government and the peace that comes with it, there will be no end. May God be blessed. Father, we ask that you would bless us and Lord give us grace to follow wholeheartedly after you.

Lord to have this place completely organized according to the mind of Jesus Christ our head. Oh Lord, where there may be things out of order and even as Jesus found things out of order there in the temple. Oh God, we want it to be right. We want it to be right. Show us, oh God.

Show us. Lead us. We look to you as the true good shepherd and overseer of our souls And we thank you for your salvation, in Christ's name, amen.