In his sermon, Peter Allison discusses the qualifications for church elders as outlined in 1 Timothy chapter 3, focusing on verses 6 and 7. He emphasizes that an elder should not be a novice, highlighting the importance of spiritual maturity to withstand Satan's attacks. Allison examines the decline in doctrinal understanding among evangelicals, attributing it partly to immature church leaders. He points out that spiritual maturity involves a progression from immaturity to maturity, marked by readiness to handle spiritual meat, ability to teach, and discernment of good and evil. He warns against pride, which led to Satan's and other historical figures' downfalls. Allison stresses the necessity of having a good testimony among non-believers and encourages all believers to strive for spiritual maturity. He concludes by urging men to consider the call to eldership and underscores the church as a collective body where every member plays a crucial role.

Please turn in your scriptures to 1 Timothy chapter 3. I'll be looking at verses 6 and 7 today. But I'd like to read these seven verses. This is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.

For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God? Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. May the Lord be gracious and merciful to us according to his word. Father in heaven, you have given us the spirit of supplication.

We ask that now for the spirit of illumination, that our hearts and our ears might be open to your word, and that you would give us gospel obedience. And I ask that you would sanctify my sinful lips and preserve me from error. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, every couple of years Ligonier has been conducting a state of the church survey to find out what evangelical Christians believe. And they define evangelicals as people who strongly agreed with the following four statements.

The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe. It's very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior. Thirdly, Jesus Christ's death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin and fourthly They believe that only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God's Free gift of eternal salvation So these people that are answering this survey, at least these numbers, this is what they believe. And from this group of people, there are some very troubling answers coming back. Apparently, I don't know how long they've been doing this, but apparently answers that are getting worse and worse.

I know another man that's been doing this for probably over 40 years and has been documenting this decline in doctrine or understanding of doctrine such that every seven years, what the people in Christian schools are believing what the people in government schools used to believe seven years earlier. But from this group of People in this Ligonier study, here are some of the troubling answers. 64% believe everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God. The Bible of course teaches us that everyone is conceived in sin and born in iniquity and goes astray from the womb, speaking lies. 53% believe everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.

And of course, we know the Bible teaches that there is no righteous, no not one. None who seek after God, none who does good, no not one. And 47% believe that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Of course, Judaism and Islam deny Christ as God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory with the Father and the Spirit. And The Bible says that no one speaking by the Spirit calls Christ a curse.

Fifty-three percent believe the Holy Spirit is a force, but not a personal being. But of course, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit speaks. He gives life, which is the work of a person. And blasphemy against Him is unforgivable. Forces, of course, don't speak.

Now there are probably many reasons that I could not even begin to unravel as to why this deplorable state exists, but I have to think that one of the many reasons for this deplorable state of knowledge of the church is that there are too many elders who are not themselves mature enough in the faith to be able to teach the correct doctrines. Or they lack the gift, they lack sufficient maturity in teaching these doctrines. You know, when one student fails the final, the student is usually at fault. But if half or more of the class fail the final, then you have to start looking at the teacher. When half of the graduating class doesn't know how to read, you begin to look beyond the fault of the students to the teachers and the system under which they are learning.

And so when half of the professing church is ignorant on basic doctrine, basic doctrine, even Gospel doctrines, We have to start looking at the teachers. For we know that the level of the pew will never rise above the level of the pulpit. And the two qualifications that we want to look at this morning are for that they begin to address this And they are for the protection of the church and the protection of the elder himself from falling prey to Satan's attacks. And one way Satan targets churches is by attacking and bringing down the leaders of the church. Remember Ahab's battle.

He went out to war with Jehoshaphat and he said to Jehoshaphat that you dress up like the king, but Ahab disguised himself, and the enemy said, don't worry about the other soldiers, just go for the king. And they went for Jehoshaphat because that's the way he was dressed. See, they knew to attack the leaders, And Satan knows the same thing. If he can attack the leaders of the church and bring them down, then he can destroy the church. And so these qualifications, these two qualifications this morning, are designed to protect or for the purpose of protecting the man by not putting him into a battle for which he is not equipped not ready and Thereby endangering the church These are qualifications are to ensure that an elder is not ripe for attack, a sitting duck as it were, defenseless.

And the requirement, the first requirement of these two is in verse 6, is that a man who would be an overseer in Christ's church, a shepherd of God's people, must not be a novice. And the word translated novice is a botanical term that means a new plant or newly planted. It's the only place this word is used in the New Testament. See, Paul took a well-known Greek botanical word that means new plant or newly planted to describe a new convert or a new Christian. The elder, An overseer, a man who would be overseer must not be a new convert, a brand new Christian.

When you think of plants, because that's what Paul is obviously comparing here, Newly planted grass is not ready to be walked on. Of course, once it's established, it can be walked on fine without harming it. Newly planted bean plants or blueberry bushes are not ready to pick fruit from. They have to grow. They have to mature.

Newborn infants are not ready to eat steak. A newborn baby needs some time to mature. Give them several years. And then they will be able to do the work necessary to enjoy and profit from steak. Newborn husbands, new husbands, you shouldn't say newborn, new husbands, are not ready to be given a lot of extra work.

Deuteronomy 24, 5 says, When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business. He shall be free at home one year and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. There is something about the newness of marriage that requires some time to mature before the man there is ready to take on these extra assignments outside the home. He's a leader in the home. He's not ready.

The marriage needs time to mature. A year, God says. In the same way, new converts are not ready to be overseers in Christ's church. They need time to mature for their own good and for it to be useful in the church. See, maturity means to be brought into a state of completeness of growth and development.

Completeness. You know, when grass is, when it's new grass just planted and you walk on it, it kills it. When it's come to completeness in its growth, maturity, then it's able to handle it. And so even though a novice, or even though this word novice or new convert is only used once in the Bible, the opposite word, maturity, is used a number of times. The Scriptures speak a lot about the need of all believers, of all believers to grow in grace and knowledge, to progress from immaturity to maturity, from being as infants to being as adults.

The word for maturity is teleos. And it's often translated as perfect. But in many, if not most cases, it means complete or mature. You could put that word instead of perfect there, you could put the word complete or mature. It means complete and mature in character and mature in experience.

Now, immaturity in and of itself is not blameworthy. Everybody starts out as a newborn baby. Every believer starts out as a new convert at some point. But it's expected that new converts, new babies will grow. It's it's remaining immature and failing to progress.

That is rebuked in the scriptures, not simply being in that state initially. Now, we also, I think, all recognize that spiritual maturity is not measured in years, although there is. There ought to be a correlation, some correlation, between the years of one's pilgrimage and the level of maturity. Those who have been given many years to mature ought to be more mature than those who have only a few years. But gifts and graces do differ.

But regardless of these differences, there is a progression in coming to maturity. That's analogous to the progression a newborn baby goes through. First the baby has to be fed milk. It's all they can handle. After they grow a little more, they are ready for solid food.

And every mother loves that when they get to that point. But it has to be put in their mouth, right? But with further growth, then they can begin to put the food in their own mouth when it is placed in front of them. And with more growth, they can not only then procure their own food, but they can then prepare the food, but they can also feed others. You see, there's a progression from immaturity to maturity.

And The same is true of our spiritual lives. Spiritual maturity isn't measured by one's station or calling in life. There are many very spiritually mature people in what the world considers low callings, humble callings, and many immature people in high callings, what the world considers high callings. But Spiritual maturity is measured by several spiritual characteristics. The first mark of maturity, of spiritual maturity, is being ready to receive and handle spiritual meat.

In his first letter, Paul told the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 3, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as to carnal, as babes in Christ. He said, You're spiritually babies. I fed you with milk and not solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it." You can imagine trying to feed steak to a baby. It does them no good. And they even cause them harm if they choke on it.

If you can get it into their mouth. So Paul said, I had to feed you milk and not meat because you were not able, you were not able to receive spiritual meat for you were still carnal. He said, and even now you are not able, for where there is envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? So you see, maturity then means not just understanding the milk of the word, but also having implemented these elementary doctrines. So as to be ready to grasp the harder ones.

The two have to go together. It's not just an academic understanding, but it's actually walking in obedience to those things. In Hebrews 6, the writer defines elementary doctrines as the basics of the gospel. Faith, repentance, resurrection, and eternal judgment. He says, therefore, leaving the discussion of elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection or maturity.

That's the noun form of the word for the adjective teleos that we've been talking about. It says not laying again a foundation of, these are the elementary doctrines that these believers and we are being, are encouraged and exhorted to move on from. Repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. To move on from those elementary doctrines. Maturity means that we have grasped these and understand their implications in our lives.

And without forgetting these doctrines, we never forget the doctrines, we move on. We always want to desire the pure milk of the Word, as Peter exhorts us, as newborn babes do. But maturity means that we also press on in both understanding and in obeying the meatier and weightier matters of the Word of God. The second mark of maturity is not being childish in our thinking. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul said, Brethren, do not be children in understanding.

Childish thinking in children is characterized by being more gullible, by being vulnerable, more vulnerable to being deceived and being led astray. You know, children believe, they tend to believe easier. And that's a very precious thing in a child. And as parents, you need to guard that. You don't ever want to take advantage of that to lead them astray.

And that's why, you know, any, That's why things like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are so dangerous, because children believe these things, and when they grow up in a few years and realize those aren't true, they realize they've been led astray through their childish gullibility. And that will cause them to then wonder, what else have I been told isn't true? But It is something God has designed for into children. And as parents, we need to really respect that and never take advantage of that to lead them astray. So children are Childish thinking is also characterized by a degree of shallowness.

And as they mature, they often can surprise us with the depth of their thinking. And that's good and we encourage that. We don't encourage childishness. It's not wrong, but we don't encourage it. The goal is to train them and to move them from childish thinking to maturity in their thinking.

The third mark of maturity is the ability to teach the Word of God. Hebrews 5 says, For by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. There's that same thing again.

The fourth mark of maturity is the ability through experience to apply the scriptures to every area of life, from matters of marriage and family to law to civil government and every area in between, in business and so forth. Hebrews 5 says, For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age. There's that word teleos. Those who are mature.

That is, those who are by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. This is a discernment to distinguish false doctrine from orthodoxy, or true teaching, false doctrine from true doctrine. And it's those who have the maturity, the experience, the discernment to distinguish right from wrong. You see, our senses are not trained merely by academic knowledge. The demons know the Bible very well.

That's not enough. There must be a true desire to do according to God's will. Maturity, you see, is demonstrated by truth that is lived out, truth that is put into practice. In John 7, Jesus, 17, Jesus alludes to this. He says, if anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority.

You see, it's those who desire, who will to do God's will. It's not just those who have some academic knowledge of it. It's those who desire it and who are practicing what they know, putting it into effect. You see, overseers need to be those who are not newborns, not newly planted, but those who have their senses trained through experience. The example throughout the scriptures for teachers and overseers in Christ's church in terms of experience of time and age is 30 years.

That's the age when priests and Levites began to serve. 30 years. That is the age that John the Baptist was ordained and set apart and began his ministry. That is the age at which Christ was ordained as a priest after the order of Melchizedek and began his ministry. Someone who is 30 years of age, who has grown up in a Christian home, in a covenant home, has been a Christian, has an opportunity to have been a Christian for 20 or 30 years.

That's a long time. You know, five years is probably not. Maturity is also characterized by stability in doctrine. Stability in doctrine. Their doctrine in practice, in other words, is not only grounded in the scriptures, but it's not continually changing and morphing.

In the Ephesians 4 says, God gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, 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 faith and to the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man." There's that teleos word again. A mature man. To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we should no longer be children. Children in the faith. Like new converts.

And here's how he describes those who are children in the faith. They are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Maybe you know somebody like that every time the new wind of doctrine comes by they they go to it They fall for it Says when we're mature mature Christians aren't tossed about by every wind of doctrine every false teaching that comes down the road, by the trickery of men, by the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. They have the discernment to see that deceit, to see the trickery, and they know the truth and there is a stability there. Sometimes people throw around semper reformata as something we ought to do.

And yes, we are to always be reforming. But it's not a continual replacement of the trunk and branches. It's more like a continual extension of the branches, new growth and trimming, maybe, of branches. But where there's stability and doctrine, the trunk and the tree and the main branches are grounded in the truth. And they don't have to change.

Maturity though is relative because maturity is not fully realized in this life. The standard of the mature man, of the perfect man, is God. It is being complete or perfect like our Father in heaven. Jesus gave this standard in Matthew 5, 48. He said, therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

And perfect there is that word teleos. Mature, complete. You should be mature just like your Father in heaven is. Well, we will one day, but not in this life. Jesus gave that standard when he was in reference to loving one's enemies.

Remember in his sermon on the mount. We're to love those who pray for those who spitefully use us. We're to bless those who curse us. We're to do good to those who hate us. And the example Christ gives of that is the Father in heaven who sends rain on the just and the unjust.

And he causes the sun to rise on the wicked and the righteous. Paul gives three tests to the Corinthians, to those that believe that they have maturity or might be tempted to think of themselves as mature. The first test is in 1 Corinthians 3, 18, concerning wisdom. It says, Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you seems to be wise in this age, let him be a fool that he may be wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written he catches the wise in their own craftiness." He says if someone thinks himself to be wise in this age let him become a fool that he may become wise. The second test concerns knowledge and is found in 1 Corinthians 8.1. We know that all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

And here's the test. If anyone thinks that he knows anything, Paul says he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him, by God. When we think we know something, Paul says we don't know yet as we ought to know. If we think that we know something, we don't know as we ought to know.

And in 1 Corinthians 14, 36, he addresses those who think of themselves as spiritually mature and having understanding that maybe others don't have. He gives this test. Did the Word of God come originally from you or was it you only that it reached? If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, having some spiritual gift that others may not have, let him acknowledge that the things that I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. In other words, you're not the only source of wisdom.

You need to be able to listen to others. So an elder must not be a new convert. He must be mature. And just like Paul did with the requirement to rule one's house well, having children in submission, Paul gives a reason for this requirement. And his reason is this, a new convert will more easily become proud and fall under the same condemnation of the devil as the devil did.

We all know that pride goes before destruction. Pride brought the downfall of Satan. He desired to become like God. This is described in Isaiah 14, Isaiah's oracle against Babylon. Satan is addressed, how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground.

For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest side of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.

Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol to the lowest depths of the earth." Satan fell because of his pride. He thought he would be like the Most High, like God. See, pride results in an unwillingness to submit to the truth, an unwillingness to be taught, an unwillingness to listen to others, an unwillingness to be open to correction. Pride makes one isolated from other counsel, and it leads to destruction. But it also leads, according to 1 Timothy 6, it also leads to useless and unnecessary conflict.

Pride leads to useless and unnecessary conflict. Paul told 1 Timothy 6, 3, if anyone teaches anything or otherwise contrary to the truth and doesn't consent to wholesome words. In other words, they're not listening to others. Even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, Paul says flatly, he is proud. We're not listening to others, especially the Word of God, the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We're proud, knowing nothing. This person is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which come envy, strife, reviling, and evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." From these kinds of people, Paul said, withdraw. Withdraw from them. Now, when the truth of the gospel is at stake, that's not a useless wrangling And that's not useless conflict. That is necessary contention for the truth.

And God commands us to contend for the truth. Jude says, Beloved, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once and for all delivered up to the saints. So what Paul is talking about, that flows from conceit, that's not defense of the truth. That's useless wrangling and fighting over words and things that don't mean anything. And there are a number, well, the danger here of this pride is that is that this man will fall under the condemnation of the devil.

And there are a number of examples in scripture and in church history of leaders falling from pride. Isaiah's downfall, King Isaiah in Judah, came from pride. He had been a good king. He'd done what was right. But 2 Chronicles 26 says, But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.

He became proud at all of his accomplishments. Kind of like Nebuchadnezzar did. So He looked around Babylon and saw all that he had done. It says that he transgressed against the Lord as God by entering the temple of the Lord and trying to offer incense on the altar. And the priest tried to stop him and warn him that he was committing a grievous sin.

He did not have authority to to offer sacrifices, but as I becomes furious, he refused to listen. Mark of pride. And while he's there, angry, still angry with the priest, leprosy breaks out on his head. And he's a leper until the day of his death. The Bible says he dwelt in an isolated house, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord.

Hezekiah, also you remember, stumbled from pride. But he humbled himself and God graciously spared him This this un-crucified pride in an overseer Leads not only to their own destruction but often the destruction of the church as well. And I think one of the most striking examples in church history of pride bringing destruction to both the elder and Division and strife to the church is the example of Arius. Socrates Scholasticus, who was a late fourth century or fifth century church historian, gives us the picture. In his history.

Tells us that the emperor, and that would be Constantine, ordered that Arius should be received in communion by Alexander, the bishop of Constantinople, who had excommunicated him. It was Saturday, and Arius was expecting to assemble with the church on the following day. But Socrates says divine retribution overtook his daring criminalities. For going out of the imperial palace, attended by a crowd of Eusebian partisan-like guards, these were people that believed like he did. They were his, what do you call them?

His, I can't think of the word, but His groupies that were going with him. He paraded proudly, Socrates says, through the middle of the city, attracting the notice of all the people. As he approached the place called Constantine's Forum, a terror arising from the remorse of conscience seized Arius. And with the terror and with that terror, a violent relaxation of the bowels. He therefore inquired whether there was a convenient place near.

And being directed to the back of Constantine's forum, he hastened there. Soon after, a faintness came over him. And together with the evacuations, his bowels protruded, followed by a copious hemorrhage and the descent of the smaller intestines. Moreover, portions of his spleen and liver were brought off in the effusion of blood, so that he almost immediately died. The scene, Socrates says, of this catastrophe is still shown at Constantinople, as I have said, behind the shambles in the colonnade.

And by persons going by, they point a finger at where God struck Arius dead in a very painful and gruesome way. You see Arius was motivated by wounded pride and he brought destruction upon himself and great strife into the church. The strife that he brought to the church in that fourth century is horrific. It went on for decades. And I would say it continues to this day, of all the false religions that are Aryan in their theology.

See the rub today is when leaders in business are converted and come into the church with leadership abilities and skills, and often the wealth that comes with leadership, ability, and skill. And their demeanor and their skill in leadership and their wealth command a certain respect. And people naturally want to put them in positions of leadership to capture those very legitimate skills for the church. But God says no. No, they are new converts and they lack the spiritual maturity to be overseers.

I think the other rub with this requirement is when young men are newly converted and in their zeal, which is commendable. They sense a call to the ministry and they go right to seminary and they gain a lot of academic knowledge and within a couple of years of conversion and becoming a Christian, they are serving as an assistant pastor somewhere. When they really need to have spent a number of years gaining maturity, being catechized in the faith, handling trials, and demonstrating the grace to count it a joy when they fall into various trials. Now the last requirement that Paul gives is in verse 7. And it's probably worth noting that this sentence begins, this verse begins a new sentence.

All the previous requirements so far since verse 2 have been one sentence, one big long sentence. And part of the reason for this change here is that the verb in the first sentence is an elder must be. It's something that is to characterize the elder. But the verb in this requirement, this last requirement, is something that the elder must have. All the previous requirements have been character requirements something that they must be in their person this is something that they must have.

And what they must have is a good testimony with those who are outside the church. That's the word for witness. Faithful witness. The word for martyr in the Bible is that witness. We as believers must have a good witness with those who are outside the church.

The unbelievers watch Christians. They watch them very closely. They watch when you don't realize they're watching. And what they're watching for is to see whether your life matches your profession. You say you're a Christian.

Do you live like one? Do you love your enemies? Do you bless those who curse you? Do you pray for those who spitefully use you? They watch to see if we compromise when we are with unbelievers.

Do we live like Romans when we are in Rome or Do we live like Christians when we are in Rome? How do we live among unbelievers You see Those are language change when we are among unbelievers so that we can fit in The desire to fit in is a very powerful desire Very powerful. Yes, we talk about it in children, but it affects all of us adults just as strongly. A desire to fit in. When Christians don't live as Christians among unbelievers.

It brings reproach upon themselves and upon the church. This desire to fit in is very strong. Remember, even the Apostle Peter was carried away by it. When he was in Antioch, And he was living like the Gentiles until the people from James, the elders from the Jerusalem church came up to Antioch. And then he stopped living like the Gentiles, and he started living as a Jew, keeping the Jewish customs.

And remember Paul says he rebuked him to his face because he was a hypocrite. He was living one way. He was preaching one doctrine that's OK to live, for the Gentile Christians to be Gentiles and not to keep the Jewish ceremonies. But then when he was living that way with them, but then when these other elders from the Jerusalem church came up that didn't think that was right to do that, then he changed to fit in. One of the biggest reasons that people give for not going to church is what?

Church is filled with hypocrites. You've heard, I'm sure you've heard that, Well, I'm not a Christian, they're all hypocrites. Why do they say that? It's because of how they see professing Christians live when they are with unbelievers. They don't see any difference.

They see the Christians doing the same things that their unbelievers are doing. Paul is saying an elder must have a good reputation, a good testimony among those who are thought. They must recognize that he is living what he preaches. And even unbelievers can recognize that, That you're living what you say. And they respect that.

They may mock it at times, but they respect that. And that's important because when it's not there it brings reproach not only on that person but upon the Church of Jesus Christ So these are 17 16 or 17 Qualifications requirements for those who would bear office in Christ's church, but they are also qualifications that affect all of us. We've seen as we've gone through that all believers are called to exercise these things. And so whether you think you're called to office or not, I encourage you this morning, regardless of whether you're even a man or a woman, that all of these things are qualifications of grace that as mature Christians who desire to press on in the upward call of Christ, that we ought to seek to cultivate and develop. We shouldn't just jump over this section and say, well, I'm never going to be an elder, so these don't apply to me.

These are marks of maturity and ought to be what every believer desires and seeks to cultivate. May God give us the grace to do that, and also may He give a desire to bear this office to those that he's calling. I encourage every man here this morning to seriously be in prayer if the Lord would call you to this office. If not, at least to seek this maturity. Because there are many ways that we serve the body, whether we have the office or not.

In fact, usually those who bear the office are the ones who are already doing that work of that office. They are the ones who are already serving in this way without the office. And that's possible because they've developed those qualities and those characteristics, those marks of maturity that enable them to do that. And so it is a benefit to the church when all of God's people are seeking to walk as mature believers. Remember the model of the church is not the bus where some elders are driving and everybody is along for the ride.

Remember, the model of the church is that of an orchestra where everybody has a part to play. And any part that's out of sync creates a burden for the rest of the church. You know, when one member hurts, right? When one part of the body hurts, The whole body hurts. And every part of the body is important.

Every part of the body is necessary. And so the church benefits. The church is blessed by every believer growing in grace and in knowledge and developing these characteristics of a mature believer. Heavenly Father, We thank you for the sufficiency of your word for every aspect of our life. From our personal lives, our thought lives, our words, our deeds, our family lives, our callings as mothers and fathers, as husbands and wives, as sons and daughters, as teachers, as rulers, as civil magistrates, as judges, as kings, as economists.

And every other occupation, every other calling, every other labor, Lord, that there is. Your Word is sufficient to instruct us and to teach us and to guide us. Father, I ask that we all might be those who bear faithful testimony among the unbelievers with whom we work and walk and even among our neighbors. Lord, I pray for these neighbors of Joe and Addison that they might see the consistency of their profession. And may you use that to open a door to their hearts for your word.

May they see their love. May they see their obedience and desire to know more. We ask that you would bless our congregation with officers, with elders and deacons. That you would raise up and call and gift Those those that you are calling May you give to us the discernment to recognize those gifts and those callings where you have placed them. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.