The sermon titled 'Elders: Where Do They Come From?' by Peter Allison explores the biblical foundation and process for the selection and role of elders in the church. Drawing from Acts 20:28, the sermon emphasizes that elders are chosen by God through the Holy Spirit and are equipped with spiritual gifts for their ministry. The speaker references various biblical examples, illustrating that elders, like prophets and apostles, are divinely appointed. The process involves God giving a desire to those He has called, which is seen as an inward calling. Additionally, the congregation plays a role in recognizing and affirming this calling through prayer and discernment, referred to as the outward call. The sermon underscores the importance of prayer and fasting in the selection process and highlights that elders are to be officially sent as heralds of God's message. The importance of spiritual gifts, mentoring, and continuous development of these gifts is also discussed. The speaker urges the congregation to pray for God to raise up shepherds who will faithfully lead His flock.

Please turn in your scriptures to Acts 20. We will begin here this morning with verse 28, but we won't end there. This will be our springboard as we look this morning in the second message in this series on elders. Acts 20 verse 28. Acts 20 verse 28.

This was part of Paul's charge to the elders of the church at Ephesus as they had met at the town of Miletus. And he gives them this command in the middle of his address to them. 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." May this word be hidden in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. Heavenly Father, may You cause this word that has come into our ears to go into our heart, and from our heart to flow out in our lips, in our conversation, and in our conduct. We ask that Your Word may not return void this morning, but that it would accomplish the purpose for which it has been sent, that it would feed us and nourish us.

And I ask that you would sanctify my lips this morning, That from a vessel of clay, and from a sinful human, or your word, and the riches of your wonderful message to your people, May it go forth in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, last week we looked at who elders were based on their name or their title that was given to them in the Scriptures. There were elders who represent the congregation to the Lord and speak to the congregation as the herald of God, sent from God. We saw they were overseers who supervised or visit the Church of Jesus Christ.

And they are called shepherds who feed and care for the Church of Jesus Christ as the servants are under-shepherds of the chief shepherd. And so this week our task is to answer the question, where elders come from. And this is probably even more of a topical sermon than last week, in that we'll be looking at a very large number of different passages that speak to this question of where exactly do elders come from. How does a man become an elder in the church of Jesus Christ? What is the process that God has instituted by which Fallible men are made heralds of Jesus Christ and shepherds of his flock.

Well, we'll begin, as I said, with Acts 20, 28 here that we just read. But we'll be referencing this morning a number of passages of Scripture because this theme is spread throughout the Scriptures and it's very pervasive. It's just not concentrated in one place, in one location. Acts 20, 28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.

So it very clearly says that elders are made elders by the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. Elders are chosen by God. That's point one. Elders are chosen by God. God told David through Nathan the prophet in 2 Samuel 7, I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.

I took you, God said. God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nation." And Jesus told His disciples in John 15, You didn't choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, and that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give you." You see, Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, chooses the people whom He will have to shepherd His flock, His chosen. In the opening of Acts, Luke refers to the apostles whom God had chosen.

And when the disciples in the upper room selected a replacement for Judas, they prayed and asked the Lord to show them which of two candidates that He had chosen to replace Judas. God had chosen. The Lord told Ananias in Acts 9 that Paul was His chosen vessel to bear His name before Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel. God chose Paul. He didn't choose Himself, as Jesus said.

And finally, we learn in Hebrews 5, 4, that no man takes the honor of office to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. No man takes this to himself except those that are called by God. God does the choosing. Now, you might rightly observe that these are all extraordinary calls that I've cited to extraordinary offices of prophets and apostles, offices that have ceased today with the closing of prophecy. So what about the ordinary offices that we have today?

Does God still choose these men? Or how are they chosen? Now that the canon is closed and prophecy has ceased and there are no longer these offices of prophet and apostle. Well, God still chooses even these men. And In Ephesians 4, Paul connects these extraordinary offices, the continuing offices, and all the other people as being called, as all of them being called or chosen by God.

He puts all these groups together in one place. Speaking to the saints in the Ephesian church, Paul beseeches them in Ephesians 4 to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." Walk worthy of that calling. And then he goes on to say a couple of verses later, "...but to each of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, " he says, "...when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. That was a statement about what Jesus Christ did.

And Paul goes from that to say that, and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, those are extraordinary offices, they have ceased, but then it keeps on going, and He gave some evangelists and some pastors, And that word is shepherd. It's every other place in the New Testament, it's translated shepherd. And I understand why they put it pastor there. They're trying to differentiate when sometimes it's referring to people who keep sheep, and sometimes it's referring to Jesus Christ, and sometimes it's referring to Christ's under-shepherds who care for His people. But when you see that word pastor, it's just a word for shepherd.

So He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God through a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." But then he goes on to talk about, it's not just these offices, these elders, these pastors and shepherds and teachers who edify and equip the body, but he says then, from whom in verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effect of working by which every part does its share causes growth for the body, for the edifying of itself in love. See, he's put all of these together, the extraordinary offices, the regular continuing offices, and all the people as all being called by God, all being given gifts, and all being called to use those gifts for edifying of the body. They all are chosen by God, gifted by God, and to edify God's people. The whole body is knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effect of working by which every part does it share.

Yes, part of the body is the shepherds, part of them are teachers and overseers, but part are all the other parts of the body. And they're all to work together for the mutual edification, The edifying of itself, the mutual edification of the body in love. So elders are called by God, they're chosen by God. But they are also gifted and equipped by God for those offices, for that office. You know, those who would fly airplanes for United Airlines or any other airline company are thoroughly trained.

They're equipped, they're vetted by that company before they are ever entrusted with a $400 million aircraft. Well, the Church of Jesus Christ is infinitely more precious because you weren't purchased with corruptible silver and gold, corruptible metals, or money that isn't there, called debt money, or even invisible money, which only exists by faith in the minds of people. No, but Peter says, you and I have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. So how much more will the Lord not equip His shepherds that He sends to care for His flock? How much more will He not equip them with the necessary gifts that they need.

Paul told the Corinthian church in his second letter, 2 Corinthians 3, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of ourselves as being anything. Of ourselves, he's saying, we aren't sufficient. But our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant. Paul is saying he's nothing. He can't make himself able to do this task.

His sufficiency, his ability, his gifting, God gave him. He reminded Timothy in his second letter, Stir up the gift of God that is in you. Stir up the gift of God. But all, of course, as we've seen, all the gifts of all the saints are given by God. We're all equipped by God for what He's called us to do.

Both the extraordinary gifts of prophecy and apostleship that is ceased, as well as the continuing gifts of ministry and teaching. Paul says in Romans 12, verse 3, For I say, through the grace given to me, he's been given this gift, this exhortation that he's about to bring, He was equipped to bring it because God gifted it to him. I say to the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly." In other words, don't think too lowly either. We need to think soberly, rightly. According as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function, so we being many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. We're all connected, as you said earlier, to the Ephesians. And having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, Let us use them if prophecy, let us prophesy, in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, that means service. Let us use it in our ministry.

He who teaches in teaching. You see, He's wrapped in the extraordinary gifts, as well as the ordinary gifts of teaching or of service in some way, ministry. And so all that we have, both what we think of as our temporal, material gifts as well as spiritual, because he goes on to talk about giving in that passage. Those who give. Those are temporal gifts that God has given, being able to give financially.

He says, do it gladly. Do it freely. Show mercy with cheerfulness. So all that we have is given to us by God. So elders are chosen by God.

They're equipped by God. And they are sent by God. They are authorized to speak as His official heralds. Romans 10, 14 says, how shall they believe in Him of whom they haven't heard? How and how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Now obviously that's a rhetorical question, which the answer is they can't preach unless they are sent. But you might think, well, why can't somebody just get up and preach whether or not they've been sent? And the answer, the reason, comes directly from the meaning of this word, preach. To preach is to make an official announcement by an official herald.

And a man can't be an official herald or ambassador of a king unless the king gives him the credentials and the message. You can't be an official representative of someone unless that person has sent you and made you their official representative. And that's what that word means, to preach, to herald, to proclaim. If a messenger is not specifically commissioned to bring a message from somebody, then whatever he says is not an official message. It's not a preaching.

It's not an official proclamation. It's his own message. And so this is a very important point in the Scriptures. That those who would dare to come in God's name, those who would dare to proclaim His message, God's message, those who would dare to shepherd God's flock must be sent by God. In the time of the wilderness journey of the children of Israel, there was a Levite by the name of Korah and two men from the tribe of Reuben by the name of Dathan and Abiram who complained that Moses and Aaron took too much to themselves.

They said, everybody's holy. We're all holy people. We all can do what you do. There's nothing unique about you. They believed everyone should be authorized and was authorized to perform the functions that God had called Moses and Aaron to do.

And so Moses proposes the test, you remember. In number 16, Moses said, By this you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that I haven't done them on my own will. And here was the test Moses proposed, and it's quite a striking test. He said, if these men die naturally, like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But, and he gave a very specific and unusual condition, but if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then Moses said, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.

Why did they reject the Lord when they rejected Moses? Because Moses and Aaron were God's representatives that God had sent. And when you reject God's messenger, you reject God himself. When you disobey God's messenger, you disobey God himself. And that's something to remember, children, that when you disobey your parents, who are God's messengers to you, then you disobey God Himself.

When you dishonor them, you dishonor God Himself. And so God answered this test. And He opened a gaping hole in the earth and simply swallowed up all these men and the families of Dathan and Abiram. And they were gone in an instant. Just like that.

The moment they were there, the next moment they were nowhere. God decisively said, I sent Moses and Aaron. But there are messengers that God has not sent. Some messengers that God has not sent are sent by Satan. And They're sent to deceive the church.

They're sent in an effort to harm the church. It's an attack on Christ and His flock. Jesus said this of the Jewish elders in the Sanhedrin in his day. The Jewish leaders, even the ones that weren't in the Sanhedrin, said they were of their father the devil in John 8. He's talking to the elders and teachers and scribes of the church.

That was the church at that time. That's the church that Jesus went to every week. That's where He worshiped in the synagogue with these elders. He said they were of their fathers the devil. Jeremiah also speaks about prophets who claim to come in God's name, but were not sent by God.

They deceived the people. And they caused them to believe things that were not true to their own detriment, to their own harm. In Jeremiah 14, we read, Then I said, O Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, You shall not see sore, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in the land." And the Lord answered Jeremiah and said, the prophets prophesy lies in My name. I haven't sent them. I haven't commanded them.

I haven't spoken to them. They prophesy a false vision, a divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. In Jeremiah 23, God says, I haven't sent these prophets of these people, yet they ran. I haven't spoken to them, yet they prophesied. He said, but if they had stood in my counsel and caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.

Because these people weren't sent by God, it resulted in their hearers not turning away from their evil deeds. It resulted in them not getting the message that God would have given them. It was to their own detriment. Resulted in these people not hearing the truth, not repenting, and thus going into captivity. Or Jeremiah 27, a little later, We read, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon.

For they prophesy a lie to you, I have not sent them. They prophesy a lie in my name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesied to you." That's a terrifying judgment. These prophets, these messengers claiming to be from God, God says, I haven't sent them. But they do this so that you can go into captivity. Thus says the Lord.

Well, don't listen to the words of your prophets who prophesied to you saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon, for they prophesy a lie to you." Jeremiah is telling them the truth. Of course, they put him in a dungeon for that. Jeremiah 29, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Jeremiah comes as the true prophet. He says, do not let your prophets and diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to the dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

For they prophesy falsely in My name. I have not sent them, says the Lord. God sent Jeremiah to the people in captivity in Babylon with a message about someone that he had not sent. Jeremiah 29. Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah and the Nehemiah, because Shemaiah has prophesied to you and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie." Jeremiah is bringing them word that this person is not sent by God to their own detriment.

Now, others simply run on their own initiative. They preach without the unction of the Spirit. They shepherd without His tools and resources. They do it in their own strength. And their Preaching is with persuasive words of human wisdom, and oh, they can have an outward success, but it's without the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Beautiful oratory and ability to speak can tickle the ears of people for quite some time. And sometimes the Lord can even use even these in the salvation of His elect. After all, He can speak through a donkey, and he can raise up a witness from the stones, He said. But on the whole, those who are not sent by God, their ministry will lack the genuine long-term fruit of the Holy Spirit. So, elders are chosen by God, they are equipped by God, gifted and sent by God.

This choosing though by God is communicated in a number of ways through ordinary means. See, Just like so many things in our lives, God worked the same way. God provides our food, but He ordinarily does it through our labor. God heals our diseases. Psalm 103 says.

But He ordinarily does it through the means that He has ordained for healing. God protects us, but He usually uses our care and our attention to safety to do so. In the same way then, God chooses elders, but He does it through the prayerful and deliberate work of His church. And first of all, he gives a desire to those whom he has chosen. First Timothy 3 says that he that desires and office desires a good work.

This is a good desire because this desire is of the Lord. And it is a burning desire. In 1 Corinthians 9, 16, Paul said, if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. That was how Paul felt.

Paul was compelled by this desire from God to carry out his office. He told the elders at Ephesus, just a little before the passage we read, He said, none of the many tribulations that he had endured moved him, nor did he count his own life dear to himself so that he could do two things. He finished his race with joy and the ministry that had been entrusted to him by Jesus Christ. To testify to the gospel of the grace of God that's what moved him that was his desire to come and saying among many preachers that they always advise young men that if they ask about becoming ministers, he says that if you can do anything else, they should. Barnhouse said, I always tell young men who ask me about entering the ministry that they should never become ministers if they can possibly help it.

If a man could be satisfied as President of the United States, as President of a Bank or College, as a pitcher for a big league baseball team or any other position of honor or distinction, he has not been called to the ministry. God has not sent him." See, Jeremiah describes a time in his life when he was so worn down by the mockery, by the derision, by the reproach that was heaped upon him, by the tribulations and afflictions. They didn't like what He said, so they put Him in a jail. But not just any jail, they put Him in a well so that He sank down in the mud. Couldn't see the sun, couldn't have any food.

And At one point in his life in ministry, he was so overcome by this, so worn down, that he said in complete frustration, I will not make mention of Him, of God. I won't speak anymore in His name. But then he says, but he found that he could not. He said, God's Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary holding it back, and I could not.

That's the desire of which God gives those who would shepherd His people. And where that desire isn't there, the Lord has not called, at least not yet. Sometimes he draws people in, as they say, kicking and screaming. But he draws them in. He puts them where he wants them.

And through His providential arrangements, He puts them there. But really, a widespread lack of desire is one sign of God's judgment on people. This desire is of the Lord, And where it is lacking completely, it's a sign of barrenness. That God has withheld this blessing from His church. Now those whom God has chosen, we've seen that He also equips them.

He furnishes them with spiritual gifts of knowledge, of wisdom, of understanding. He gives a measure of utterance in prayer and in preaching and a measure of competence in all the other ministerial duties in varying degrees. And so where He has given these gifts, The congregation will see these gifts and will see these qualifications in a man. And they will have a desire for that one to shepherd them. You see, There is an inward call, the desire that God gives a man, but there's also what we call the outward call, where God gives evidence of His gifting, and where the congregation notices it and sees it and gives to the congregation a desire for this one to shepherd in their midst.

So we need to pray for the Lord to raise up those with that desire. And where we are actively praying in faith for this work of the Lord to give a desire in the hearts of those whom He has called, where we're actively praying, then we're going to be actively looking. Where we're praying in faith, we're going to be looking for God to do that. And we'll more readily be able to discern these gifts when he gives them to those among us. Jesus called us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

And we see a number of examples of how this works out in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit speaks to the apostles as they fast and pray in the church in Antioch in Acts 13. And the Holy Spirit speaks and says, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." And then after that the congregation, having fasted and prayed, laid hands on them and sent them away. The congregation did. Now what was the purpose of the congregation setting them apart and laying hands on them and sending them away after the Holy Spirit had already attested to His choice.

Well, it's simply to affirm and to preserve the church's role, the church discipline in designating ministers through men. You see, there could be no clearer example of God choosing and sending His overseers, and the congregation also choosing and sending them. Then what we have right there in Acts 13. We see the same example in the choosing of Matthias in Acts 1, yes, to replace Judas. The church chose two men who met the qualifications for an apostle.

So they nominated. But having nominated two different men, they left the choice of which of those two nominees would become the Apostle, they left that choice to the Lord. And the Lord revealed it by lot. They cast lots. Because remember, the outcome of the lot is in the hand of the Lord.

And He determines how that turns up. And so they left that choice in the hands of the Lord. And the Lord selected Matthias from the two men that they had nominated and put forward. See, the Lord used them in that process. He used them to identify two people.

And then they looked to the Lord to choose which of those two. And this need and desire to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the choice of elders is one reason, it's the main reason, why the selection of elders and the ordination of elders should always be in the context of congregational prayer and fasting. Because this is a vital ministry and it's important. And we want to ensure that when we do that, we are following the leading of the Lord. We see the same pattern in Acts 6 when the office of deacon was established.

The congregation chose the men and the apostles ordained them. Acts 6-2. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, the twelve apostles summoned the congregation, the disciples, and said, It's not desirable that we should leave the ministry of the Word and serve tables. There was a need to serve tables. A legitimate need to 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 over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word." And the saying pleased a whole multitude, And they, the congregation, chose seven men, one of whom was Stephen. And they set them before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. The apostles ordained them by the laying on of hands. But the congregation selected men who met the qualifications, men who were filled with the Holy Spirit and full of faith.

That's the qualification. Full of faith, filled with the Holy Spirit. And there are several other passages in the New Testament that on first reading that speak about the selection of elders. And on first reading, it may seem to give the elders or a single, even a single overseer, the responsibility of choosing other elders. And there are some churches today where elders are chosen by another overseer, an arch overseer, apart from the input of the congregation, or at least the formal input of the congregation.

One of those verses is where Paul says to Titus in Titus 1, This is why I left you in Crete that you might appoint elders in every town. Or to Timothy, he said, to Timothy and 1 Timothy 5, don't lay your hands on anyone hastily. Don't ordain anyone quickly. Or in Acts 14, 23, Luke says of Paul and Barnabas as they are coming back on the final legs of their first missionary journey, having established churches in many towns, he says that, referring to Paul and Barnabas, that when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed." But if we look at that word a little more closely, that word appointed, we see that it means to raise hands, to select. Chay-ran-tan-ay-oh.

That's hand, and it's literally to raise a hand. Just as they're using a word that is used of elections. One dictionary, one lexicon says, it means to raise the hands to select. Raising the hand expresses agreement and hence this word appointed First means to vote for. Other meanings that develop are to select and to nominate.

You see, what that verse is saying is that the two apostles, Paul and Barnabas, oversaw the process of choosing and installing elders. They initiate and they led the congregation in this, but the congregation, as was the custom in Greek elections, they declared whom it wished to have by raising their hands. The Roman historians also frequently say that the consul who convened the assembly created new magistrates, meaning that he received the votes and acted as a moderator of the people in their elections. They use that same word, they create or point. And so this is the process then that Luke is describing of the choosing of elders in these early churches as they are founded throughout Asia Minor.

And so there is then a congregational role in commissioning and in sending. Paul told Timothy and first Timothy four do not neglect the gift that is in you we saw that but then he goes on to say which was given you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership if you have a if you have a new King James. But that word is presbyterion. And you recognize that probably as presbytery. It's the laying on of hands of the presbytery.

That is the ordination. Or he said in the second letter, Therefore I remind you, stir up the gift which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Paul was involved in that, but he's also the presbytery. So the congregation has this role of recognizing the gifts that God has given to men and desiring for them to be shepherds. We've saw that God equips His people, but He also in this uses means.

And some of them you might not be thinking about. Timothy was a shepherd that was trained by Paul. But do you remember where that training began? It began with Timothy's mother and grandmother. Remembering this instruction through which Timothy believed filled Paul with joy.

He said, When I called to remembrance, the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Lois, and I am persuaded is in you also. And a little later in his letter to Timothy, He encourages him to continue in what he learned from his childhood. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you learned them. And not from a childhood, he said, You have known the Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. From a childhood, where did he learn in his childhood?

From his mother and from his grandmother. See, they provided the foundation that Paul saw when he visited the church that Timothy was a member of. And all the people there in that church were commending him to Paul. He was well spoken of by the brethren, because they recognized that God had given this young man gifts, the gifts for ministry. And then Paul wanted to have him go on with him.

See, Paul recognized the gifts that were in this young man, which were first there, first beginning to be put there by his mother and his godly grandmother. And so Paul wanted, Paul had a desire in seeing this. Paul then had a desire to take Timothy with him, to take him along and mentor him with a view to him becoming an elder in the church, which is what he did. He became a great aid to Paul. To aid to Paul.

So don't neglect the training of your little ones, Because you may be training them to be shepherds of Christ's church. You may be laying that foundation in them. But also the man himself has a responsibility to develop and utilize the gifts that have been given. Paul told Timothy, exercise yourself toward godliness. That's the word for discipline, for train yourself.

Don't neglect, He said elsewhere, the gift that is in you. Don't neglect it. You need to exercise it. You need to develop it. You need to use it.

Don't let it lie. He said in his second letter, second chapter, be diligent to present yourself approved to God. A workman who does not need to be ashamed. Be diligent, Timothy. Study to show yourself approved to God.

Rightly dividing the word of truth. So There's a necessity then, not only for the congregation to recognize, but there's a necessity for these men whom God is calling to be diligent, to exercise those gifts, to develop those gifts, to further those gifts so that they are indeed fruitful in God's church. And that continues on. It doesn't end once somebody becomes ordained. There needs to be a continual renewing, refreshing, and growing.

And at the end of that, exact same letter. Paul is generally considered one of the later letters that he wrote. He recognized that He's near the end of his life, but he asks that the books, the parchments, should be brought to him. Now why would he want books and parchments to be brought to him? Because he was reading them.

He was still studying, Paul, 30 years in ministry. He's still studying, exercising, developing the gifts that God had given to him. But the other elders as well have a responsibility in this developing of gifts. Paul told Timothy, these things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, What are you supposed to do with those? Commit these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

See, elders have a responsibility, especially elders, in the mentoring and equipping of men to shepherd the church of Christ. Commit the things that you have heard to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. That's the process by which Jesus Christ feeds His church, by which He raises up leaders and sends them to shepherd His flock. So I have one charge for you this morning, in addition to reminding us about the need to study. One charge.

Therefore pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Pray for the Lord to raise up shepherds who will shepherd his flock after His own heart with His own voice. Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank You that You love Your church, You have died for Your church, and that you will have those for whom you have died. We thank you that you do raise up shepherds for your people. And you send them.

You gift them. Help us, dear Lord, to be diligent in praying for this work in our midst. Help us to be diligent in developing and using the gifts that you have given to us of whatever sort they are, in whatever station you have called us, that we might be faithful as your congregation, as your people, as elders, as parents, in equipping and mentoring those whom you would have to be shepherds. Father, we pray for your blessing on these labors. We ask that you might remove the barrenness of our church and of our denomination in this matter.

And that you would send forth and raise up from our midst men that you have called and sent, men that you have equipped who will shepherd your people after your own heart. We do ask this through Jesus Christ and claim your promise that you do supply all of our needs according to your riches and glory through Christ Jesus. Amen.