Government - Part 4: Ecclesiastical Government
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[00:00:00] Uh, if you would open your Bibles to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy, we're gonna read chapter three, verses one to 13. 1 Timothy chapter three, we're gonna read the first 13 verses, and if you are able, if you would please stand for the reading of God's Word
Again, there are times when we take for granted this is the living Word of God, that these are God's instructions to us. But this particular passage is pretty important because it addresses in part what we do here this morning. So hear this for what it is, God's Word. 1 Timothy chapter 3, beginning in verse 1: It is a trustworthy statement: If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
An overseer then must be above [00:01:00] reproach, a one-woman man, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. One who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the Church of God?
Not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Deacons likewise, men of dignity, not double-tongued nor addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
These [00:02:00] men must also first be tested, and let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Women likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. Deacons must be one-woman men and good managers of their children in their own household. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
May God add a blessing to the reading, the hearing, and mo-most importantly, obedience to His Word. Please be seated
Number one on your outline, and you'll find your outline in the bulletin, there's a half sheet, and on one side is the, uh, sermon outline. On the other side, and if you take that, we're gonna look at that, on the other side is a chart, uh, with, uh... It's titled Structure of Biblical Government. And if you take that, we're gonna look at that in just a minute.
But again, number one in [00:03:00] the fill-in-the-blank is structure of biblical governments. And we have been looking at the different forms of biblical government, or another way to say that, the different spheres that God has established. And I just wanted to real quickly, uh, look at that chart and make sure we're still on the same page.
God alone is autonomous and sovereign, and all human spheres, all human forms of government must submit to God or they will fail. Government, human government will only work under submission to God. And we looked and we saw that there are at least four kinds of human government or s- four spheres found in the Bible, and if you look across the top of the chart, there's the self, self-government, there's family government, there's church government, and then there's the civil realm.
And if you look at the left ha- hand column, we saw that there are five elements to each of these forms of government. There is a ruler, an authority in each form of government, and that's the one that trips us up 'cause we [00:04:00] don't like those words. I mean, we're 21st century Americans, right? We're... We, we live in North Idaho, correct?
Yeah. We moved to North Idaho to run from authority, to be independent, to be alone. I can't tell you how many, quote, unquote, "professing Christians" I've met up here who refuse to go to church And yet, and these are biblical terms, and I'll demonstrate that today, there is a ruler and authority in every realm.
In self-government, it is the self under the authority of God, under the authority of Christ. We saw that in self-government, you cannot truly have true self-control apart from faith in Jesus Christ. In family government, we saw it was the husband, the man is the head of his household, and the man together with his wife rule over the children, and the children are commanded to submit.
And we'll see today that it is the elders who have been assigned the task to rule within [00:05:00] the church. There are subjects in each form of government. There is a law in each form of government. There is discipline, and there is an inheritance in each form of government. But before we get started, I wanted to talk a little bit about the church, because we're talking about church government today.
So I thought it would be good to give you some statistics, and in one sense, it's a hodgepodge of statistics, but I think they'll make sense. I think they flow. Uh, but I want to start with a, uh, survey that Barna did, and the survey basically asked Americans, so these are not necessarily professing Christians, these are just Americans in general, but they asked Americans, "Who do you trust?"
And there's a list of 23, uh, things on here in order of trust, and I found it fascinating. Number one on the list, family members. Now, this really is, is fascinating to me. Number two is local businesses. People trust local businesses, and this is, I guess, good news. I would have liked it [00:06:00] to have been higher, but number three on the list is Christians.
People still trust Christians. I don't know if this is good news. Number 10 on the list, just under Christian nonprofit organizations, are Christian pastors. So pastors only made it to number 10 on the list. A couple that blew my mind, number 14 on the list, the Supreme Court Number 15, state government. And number 16 was a real surprise, AI.
And I had read some studies this week that more Christians are using and trusting AI. Now, I'll be honest with you, I use AI. I don't trust it, okay? I double-check it. It's a, it's a starting point. Sometimes I just like toying with it, okay? Pointing out where it's wrong
Number 17, megachurches. [00:07:00] Number 19, another surprise, federal government. Number 20, and this one blows my mind, celebrities. Now, you afford me 30 seconds of a soapbox, okay? Celebrities have the freedom to say what they want. The problem is not in celebrities speaking out. The problem in, is in us buying it simply because they're celebrities.
And last on the list, this should be no surprise, but again, surprising it made the list, politicians. Politicians COVID greatly affected church membership. This took place in 2020, and since that time, church membership has been on the decline except for recent years. But in the year 2000, the average number of church attenders at the average church was 137 people on a given Sunday.
In 2020, it dropped to 45, and in 2025 it jumped back up to [00:08:00] 70. So church attendance is still down. And according to Gallup, this was another poll, 16% of, quotation, "churchgoers attend remotely." And there are times, and this congregation is very familiar with it, there are times when we must attend remotely.
But if that is your modus operandi, if that is what you think God calls us to do, it is not. And attending church by watching the internet is not attending church. 16%.
This is an interesting statistic, but of professing Christians, and again, this comes from Barna, of professing Christians, professing churchgoers, how many weeks per month do you think people go to church? Again, this is professing Christians, and Barna does a really good job of making some distinguishing marks in terms of who they would [00:09:00] consider a Christian and who they wouldn't.
But according to professing Christians, how many times do, do they go to church per month? One and a half times. Or another way of looking at it, because it's kind of like that one and a half kids statistic, three times in two months. And these are people who profess Christ, profess that it's important to follow Christ.
Here's some good news, although it is contradicted in other, uh, surveys, but apparently more men are attending church than women nowadays. And the leader of the pack, and this is fascinating, little boys, listen to this, young men. The reason more men are attending church is because there's been a surge in young men going to church.
So young boys, young men, don't ever stop going to church. You want to meet a godly woman? You want to meet a, a wife that wants to love Jesus and submit and follow her husband because he loves Jesus? Go to church. Don't stop attending[00:10:00]
On average, and this is all Americans, but on average only 25% of Americans go to church But this is interesting. I, I received this, uh, it's a monthly newsletter, and it comes from the American Bible Society, and it's referred to as The State of the Bible. And in this month's newsletter, and it happened to be on the church, and church attendance, and the health of the church, um, but they open this chapter with a really interesting question.
And they open the chapter with, uh, what they call a problem. And they say the first problem, the first hurdle we have to get over is, what is church? Now, keep in mind, I don't think this was the American Bible Society confused as to what church is. This was based on the response of most Americans, and most Americans don't even know how to properly define church.
Guess whose fault that is? The leaders of the church [00:11:00] And something that I will point out, hopefully more than once this morning, is when there's a problem in any sphere of government, it is always the leader's fault. It is always the fault of the leader
In this same, uh, interview or report, uh, basically they say that 50% of evangelical Protestants claim to be practicing Christians. When you survey people, "Are you a Christian? Are you an evangelical Protestant?" Only 50% will say, "Yes, I'm an evangelical, but I'm also a practicing Christian." 16% say, "I'm casual," and 34% is what's referred to as nominal or Christian in name only.
And you might think, "Well, that's not a horrible number, at least 50%," but let me define what they mean by practicing Christian. A practicing Christian was defined as, "I go to church at least [00:12:00] once a month." That lowers the number considerably. Number two on your outline, church government. Church government.
And A on your outline is ruler or authority, and elders rule in the church. But elders rule under somebody else's authority, and that's important to keep track of. So please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1
Ephesians chapter 1, we're gonna look at verses 20 and 23. But as you're turning there, I just want to remind you of the context. Ephesians chapter 1 starts with this glorious presentation by Paul of what God has done to accomplish our salvation. God is the sole reason we are saved. God is the sole reason we have faith in Jesus Christ.
And Paul just pours this out, the work of the Father, then the work of the Son, then the work of the Holy Spirit, and because of that, we are in Christ and we can be saved. And then [00:13:00] when we get to about verse 18, Paul begins to pray for the congregation. And in part, this prayer is based on the power and strength of God's might, and he gives us an example in verse 20.
God's power and might was exercised in raising Christ from the dead. So look at verse 20, "Which He," the Father, "brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." And a couple of things I just, I, I wanna point out there. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is in the place of authority. [00:14:00] Jesus has been seated on His throne.
Jesus has taken His throne. Jesus sits on David's throne. Jesus sits on the throne that David's throne always pointed to, and that took place at His ascension, and He has been raised far above all rule and authority. And this word translated or these words translated far above, you could literally translate them above above or higher than above.
There's no authority greater than Jesus Christ, and that includes in the church. Elders must submit to Jesus Christ. Elders must rule according to how Christ commands, and that is with humility. That is with care. That is with joy. That is with excitement And yet sometimes they have to make decisions that aren't liked.
And Jesus is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and these words can speak of human governments, human rulers, but they can also speak of the [00:15:00] spiritual realm And God the Father put all things in subjection under His feet. That, those are words of victory. Jesus has won the war. Jesus has dethroned Satan.
Jesus has conquered the devil. Jesus has overcome the work of the devil. And so all things are in subjection to Christ. And just so you know, that's the exact same word that Paul uses when he commands women to be subject to their husbands. All things are subject to Christ and under His feet. And He has been given as head.
Again, the same word that Paul uses of the husband in the family. He has been given as head, ruler over all things to His church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And again, you don't need to turn there, but in chapter 5 verse 23, Paul repeats himself, "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church."
And go [00:16:00] ahead and turn over to 1 Timothy 5, 'cause you can, you can keep your finger in that spot, 'cause we're gonna come back to it. But in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 17, just so you hear the biblical language, Paul very clearly says, "The elders who rule, the elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor."
The elders who rule well. And this word translated rule, it means to be at the head of. It means to exercise leadership and direction. But it also comes with a softer side. It means caring for people. It means giving aid to people. And the elders that do this well are worthy of double honor. We can discuss that at a later time.
But again, I want to remind you, this is a limited authority. This is limited rule. It is rule under Jesus Christ. And it made me start thinking [00:17:00] How do you choose a church? We just had a membership class, and the people that went to the membership class, they're deciding, "Do I wanna turn in my paperwork? Do I wanna become a member of this church?"
How do you choose a church? And one of the ways, and I just wanted to talk about this, is you ask questions. But I find this amazing. In, in my experience over the last 40 years as both an elder and a pastor and as one looking for churches, uh, it's interesting the questions that are often asked. There's a common list of questions that I've heard multiple times, and then there's a list that I wish I heard.
So let me start with the common list. And there's some order to it, not a perfect order, but here's one of the most common: Do you have a nursery? Do you have a nursery? Do you have children's ministry? Do you have Sunday school? Now, let me preface before I keep going. These are not bad [00:18:00] questions. These are not evil questions.
My problem, my concern with these questions is often they're the first questions What kind of music do you sing? What kind of instruments do you use? And my all-time favorite, how long is the service?
What programs do you have? Do you have small groups? And again, these are not bad questions, but are these the questions we should lead with? This is going to challenge you. Some of you may not like it, but I am willing to sit down and talk to you. All of the questions I just read to you are not commanded of the church, none of them.
I said this once in a previous sermon, and the, the pastor of the church that I was preaching at, and I wasn't expecting this, but he literally could not control himself physically. [00:19:00] And there was this gush of anguish that came out of his mouth. You see, most of us think that children's ministry is commanded in the church.
It is not. It simply isn't. Are we to teach children? Yes. Are we to disciple children? Yes. Does that take a slightly different form? Yes. But the only children's ministry you will find in scripture can be defined with one word, parenting You are your child's minister. You minister to your children. The church comes alongside.
In fact, the only thing on that list of questions that's actually commanded of us is music
Doesn't mean these are bad things. But what is commanded of us? Where should our questions go? How about this? What is the preaching like? Is it exegetical or is it mostly topical? Are there a lot of [00:20:00] stories? Or if I go to your church, will I actually learn something about the Bible? Here's one that I've asked in the past, I know Stacy has asked, and most pastors will look at you like a deer in the headlights.
Do you practice church discipline? Do you practice church discipline? How often do you have communion? It's another question that's not asked that much. And here's one that I think should be at the top of the list, and I, and I've grown into this position as I've, uh, over the years counseled people and, and listened to people and, and people come from other churches, uh, to get counseling and things like that.
But what about this question: What are your elders like? What are your elders like? What are their qualifications? Have they been educated? Are they ordained?
You see, Christ has appointed elders to rule [00:21:00] in His name and to rule under Him. And here's something that maybe you haven't thought about. You have a choice. We don't. We don't get to choose. But you have a choice. Am I gonna go to the, to a church and I'm... Am I going to submit to the leadership of those elders?
Are they qualified to be elders? Am I willing to go to them with a problem? Or would I go outside the church because I just don't think they're qualified? It's a question you need to ask
In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17. And, and turn over while we're there. You might want to keep your finger in 1 Timothy, but turn over to 1 Peter chapter 5. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 5, and I just want to remind you of Hebrews 13:17, because we have covered this verse in depth in the past. But I want you to listen to the words.
And the interesting thing about the writer of Hebrews is he uses different words, uh, that are than are found elsewhere in the [00:22:00] Bible. He uses a different word for obey. He says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them." Obey your leaders and submit to them. And this word for obey means to follow them. It means to have confidence in them.
Do you have confidence in your leaders? Do you know your leaders?
You cannot obey a leader without having confidence in them, and this is what the author of Hebrews is bringing out. And it's interesting because this word translated leaders, it means to lead, to rule, to govern, to guide. But also inherent in this term is an intellectual process. Are your leaders thinkers?
Do they have common sense? Do they know the Word of God? Do they think? Do they consider when presented with a problem? And submit to them. Again, this is a different word, but it means to give way. It means to yield to someone's authority. And why does [00:23:00] God command us to do this? Because Jesus structured His church this way.
But the author of Hebrews gives us another reasons. "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your soul." And literally, when we were looking at this verse, I shared with you they literally lose sleep. Good leaders will lose sleep caring for you. "For they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account," as those who will stand before God and as James says, "incur a stricter judgment.
Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you." This would gain you nothing. In fact, this word could be translated, this would be harmful for you, to be a thorn in their side Hopefully you turn to First Peter chapter five. I want to look at the first three verses. And the reason I want to look at these first three verses is every word used in the Bible to describe an elder is used in some form in this passage.
So we can, we can understand some of [00:24:00] the minor differences, uh, as to why the Bible uses different words. But First Peter chapter five, verses one and two. Therefore, I exert-- I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock.
Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to God-- according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. So there's a couple of things that I want to point out. I exhort the elders. I command the elders. And this Greek word translated exhortation, it's kind of a soft command because it's a command that comes with emotion.
It's a command that comes with encouragement and urging to do the right thing, but is no less authoritative. And Peter says, "I want the elders." And the Greek word for el-elders is [00:25:00] presbuteros. And I want to make sure that you understand the meaning of this word. It's important because these three words that are used, and here are the words, elder, shepherd, and overseer.
The elders are described by all three words, and there's a reason that God uses different words. The elder literally means one who is advanced in age. Now, we gotta be careful there because elders are also described in terms of their qualifications as having children at home, okay? Elders can have children at home.
But the word means one who is advanced in age, one who is older. And I submit to you that there's wisdom there. I don't have time to unpack it all, but I submit to you there is wisdom in elders being older men. And I would argue that this term elder, i-if you want to make some fine distinctions, it points to maturity and experience.
Are your elders mature? Do your elders have experience? Would you be willing to go to your elder for marriage counseling? [00:26:00] The second word is shepherd, and this word is used of regular shepherd. It means to tend the sheep. It means to watch out for and to protect the, the sheep. And the emphasis here, I think, has to do with protecting and defending.
If you're engaged in conversation with a friend and they ask you a question that you can't answer, how confident are you? You know what? I can go to my elders and get an answer to this question. Because they're here to defend you. They're here to protect you. And then the last one is this word translated oversight or overseer, and it means one who watches over, one who guards.
It can also be translated, just so you know, bishop. In biblical language, bishops are not over elders. Bishops are elders. It's just another word describing elders. But elders give oversight. In other words, elders manage and elders govern But look at verse three, because verse three is the [00:27:00] caveat. Verse three is the same caveat that comes with every command to submit.
The elders are not to lord it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. Elders are not meant to be o- uh, heavy-handed. Elders do not have unquestionable authority. I've asked you multiple times, go home after every sermon and do your homework. Did I get it right? And if I didn't get it right, come with questions, not corrections, but come with questions.
Let's look at the text together. But elders do not have unlimited authority. They must submit to Christ Jesus, and they must rule under His headship. And they must rule in a sense that it's servant leadership, that they're gentle, that you would want to imitate them. And the author of Hebrews talks about imitating our leaders.
Do you attend a church where you would be willing to imitate your leaders?[00:28:00]
Back in First Timothy, in First Timothy chapter three, we're gonna look at the first five verses And we've covered this in some detail, so I'm not gonna go into great detail. But what I do wanna start doing is I wanna point out a job description. This is the job description of the elders, and we're gonna start establishing that as we go.
But in 1 Timothy chapter 3, beginning in verse 1, "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer," and it is a church office. In fact, I will argue, 'cause we're gonna talk about deacons in a minute, the office of elder is an authoritative office. The office of deacon is not.
Elders have authority. Deacons have delegated authority. A deacon means a servant, a helper, and the biblical role of a deacon is to help the elders. And so their roles can look multifaceted, and they can receive delegated [00:29:00] authority. But in and of itself, deacons do not rule the church, elders do. "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, a one-woman man, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable," and here's the job description, "able to teach." An elder must be able to teach. And Paul is gonna make a distinction later. Not all elders teach. Not all elders wanna stand up here before the congregation, but they still must be able.
And it's not just any kind of teaching, but they must be able to teach doctrine. They must be able to answer questions. They must know the faith. They must understand Christian morality, and to be able to instruct in that. They must know their Bibles. And Reformed churches like our own have a long history, based on passages like this, of making a distinction between what we call teaching elders and ruling elders.
In my view, and this is one word that I didn't introduce earlier, but every elder is a [00:30:00] pastor. Every pastor is a teacher. Every pastor-teacher is an elder. Not every elder is paid. Not every elder gets the opportunity of doing it full-time But they are of equal value and worth, and some teach and some... All rule, some do the additional task of teaching.
So job description number one, we teach. "He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. For if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?" An elder must know how to manage. He must know how to organize.
But here's the trap that the modern church has fallen into. This is not a business. And what elders are to rule and what elders are to manage, we're gonna get to it in our next verse, is very specific. They are not responsible for ev- well, ultimately responsible, but not for actually doing everything that goes on in the church [00:31:00] That's where you come in.
There are things that will not get done if the members aren't serving, because the elders have a very specific assigned task. We read Acts chapter 6, uh, at the very beginning of our service. You don't need to turn there, but just listen to it one more time. So the 12, the apostles, and I just wanna make very clear, the apostles have given the rule to elders.
Elders do not carry the same authority as an apostle, because a, an apostle literally spoke the words of Jesus Christ. Elders do not do that unless we're faithfully exegeting the Word. But they have been-- The authority in the church has been handed down to the elders. So the 12, 12 apostles summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables."
There are certain things that we shouldn't do because it takes us away from our primary job, the Word of God. "Therefore, brethren, [00:32:00] select among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit of, and wisdom, whom we may, whom we may put in charge of the task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."
That is the job of the elder, prayer. We should be in prayer for the congregation, and we should in-- be involved in the ministry of the Word, which would entail teaching, preaching, instruction, discipleship, counsel, study. And interestingly enough, I put this in parentheses 'cause I want you to think about it.
We're not called to be evangelists. Again, you might think that's weird 'cause we are to preach the gospel, and personally, we should share our faith. But interestingly enough, Paul, in Ephesians 4:1 distinguishes the office of pastor-teacher from the office of evangelist. So I'm not saying pastors shouldn't preach the gospel.
I'm not saying elders shouldn't personally evangelize. But our job is to disciple. Our job is [00:33:00] church-focused, church-oriented And as much as I love the unbeliever and as much as I'm concerned with the unbeliever, my primary role is you, the believer, the professor
A word about deacons, and then I want to come back to the job description of the elder. But I think it's important because a deacon, as I said, is not a ruling office. It is-- It-- A deacon receives delegated authority. A deacon is to be respected. A deacon is worthy of honor, so much so that in the, the Book of Phili- Philippians, Paul mentions the deacons.
Listen to Philippians 1:1, "Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers," the elders, "and the deacons." And you can find the qualifications of deacons in 1 Timothy [00:34:00] 3:8-13. And just so you know, 'cause we kind of passed over it, when Paul addresses the women, I am convinced he's speaking to the wives of the deacons.
I don't hold to deaconesses. I don't believe that's an office in the church, but it is the deacons' wives. Because oftentimes the deacon is involved intimately in the lives of people in the congregation, and he needs a wife that's willing to come along and be at his side. If you have more questions concerning that, please ask.
But listen to, uh, at least part of the, uh, qualifications or instructions for deacons. "Deacons like m- likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued," not liars, not talking out of both sides of their mouth, which is what the word actually means, "or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain." And then at the end of the instructions in verse 13, Paul says, "For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the [00:35:00] faith that in, that is in Christ Jesus."
Deacons are an honorable role in the church. And I want to remind you of something because... And I think this is my fault. I've waited too long to, to remind you, but we have a man currently in the process of becoming a deacon, Rich Hilson. Rich took over the finances more than a year ago, and we've asked him to become a deacon.
So we've been doing some things with Rich. Rich has been going over the Westminster Confession of Faith, and, and we've met with him, and we have a few more things, but we're looking at a couple of weeks. And a year ago when I announced this, uh, I, I, I told you, and it's the same thing with Neil, who's in the process of being an elder, you have a whole year, if you have any concerns with Rich, go to him.
Well, you've got a couple of weeks left. So if you have any concerns, any questions for Rich, you need to go to him and ask him. Don't bring it to me. Don't bring it to Matt. And just so you know, in terms of the deacon process, there won't be an ordination exam like Matt underwent [00:36:00] But I do want you to know this, Rich has been a great help to me to get rid of the finances and let him do it, and he does an excellent job, and I appreciate it.
But again, if you have any questions, if you don't know him, now is the time. But again, deacons possess delegated authority. Back to the elders and their job description, and I'm gonna do this fairly fast because I want to get to the congregation. But elders are commanded to keep the church pure, and what I mean by that is pure from sin.
Elders are to protect the flock from wolves and unrepented sin. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 5, "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife." Now, this is a church that wasn't practicing discipline, [00:37:00] and listen to how Paul describes it.
You're not practicing self or church discipline. You're not protecting the flock. Listen to what he says, "You have become arrogant." Trust me when I tell you this, talking to other pastors in other churches, today it is considered arrogant to practice church discipline. I've had pastors tell me, "We don't like to get in the personal lives of our people."
I will be all up in your business. That's my job And I am far from perfect. And if you have an issue with me, you need to come to me in private and you need to call me out because that's the job of a member. That's the job of a congregant. We are to love each other that much But to not practice church discipline, Paul describes as arrogant, inflated, puffed up, having an exaggerated self-conception.
You have not mourned, you have not grieved [00:38:00] over sin instead so that the one who has done this deed would be removed from your midst. Elders are to protect the flock from sin. Elders are to remove unrepentant sinners. And we will get in a little more detail probably next week into this process called church discipline.
It might be next week, it might be the, the week after, but it falls under the category of discipline, of law in the church. Elders are also supposed to keep the church doctrinally pure. We're to keep the church doctrinally pure. In 1 Timothy Chapter 4, if you're still in that chapter, look at Verse 6, 1 Timothy 4:6, "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ, constantly nourished on the words of faith and sound doctrine."
Literally, that, that word there translated sound doctrine is good teaching, which you have been following. So an elder should be somebody who is constantly in the Word of God, who is constantly being [00:39:00] trained in the Word of God, who is constantly learning, who is constantly challenging himself because he is to keep doctrine pure.
And if you jump to Verse 11 in Chapter 4, after Paul has given these instructions, he commands the elders, "Prescribe and teach these things." Another job of the elder, we're to teach. We're to prescribe certain things. And let me just-- let me deal with the elephant in the room. There's heresy and there's orthodoxy.
And just so you know, so there's no misunderstanding, we're all heretics somewhere, 'cause all heresy means is you got it wrong. And all of us, none of us are perfect, none of us are infallible, none of us have it perfectly right. I've told you this before, I know I'm wrong somewhere, I just don't know where.
And I will spend the rest of my life looking for the where and correcting myself and being corrected by godly brothers and sisters[00:40:00]
So there's a fine line in the church today. What falls under heresy, it can't be taught here, and what falls under orthodoxy, although we might not agree with it. And I wish I had more time to delve into that in more detail, but just understand that i- at any individual church, it is the elders that make those decisions.
It is the elders that will say and dictate what can be taught and what cannot be taught. That doesn't mean you can't believe certain things, just simply means you can't teach it here, that we think it's wrong. We think it's harmful to the church. I will give you one example. Dispensational theology will never be taught at this church.
I believe it to be heretical. I believe it to be harmful to the people of God, and so that's not gonna happen. And yet we allow for differences in baptism. We believe that if your child is in your family and you're a believer, he has, she has the right to [00:41:00] baptism because they are born into the covenant.
But not everyone believes that here, and we allow a certain amount of freedom. Same thing with the table. There's some freedom and some choices you can make. Same thing with the mode of baptism, because we would argue right now in the history of the, the church, those things fall within orthodoxy. There can be biblical arguments made.
I think the line between heresy and orthodoxy will change as the church matures, but it is the job of the elder to teach, to keep the church pure
As I said, it's the job of the elder to practice discipline, but we'll get to that in the future. Now it's your turn. What's your role? What is your role in the church? And kids, there's a question on your handout that asks this question: Who is church about? And let me try to be specific. When we gather on Sunday morning, who or what is church about?
Is church about the believer or the unbeliever? [00:42:00] And let me answer the question very clearly. Sunday morning church, Sunday morning worship is all about the believer. It doesn't mean we don't care about the unbeliever, doesn't mean they're not gonna hear the gospel, but the primary role of Sunday morning, something that is missing in most churches because most churches are focused on the unbeliever, it's the believer.
You come to church to be taught. You come to church to bless. You come to church to worship God. And the focus of this pulpit will always be on the believer, and I think I have good scriptural warrant for it. Again, we've read this verse, but 1 Peter 5:1-2, "Therefore I exhort the elders," the leaders of the church, "among you as your fellow elder, and witness of the sufferings of Christ and partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed: Shepherd the flock among you."
It is the flock, it is professing believers that my focus is on. I am to shepherd [00:43:00] you. I am to instruct you. I am to exhort you. I am to correct you. I am to lovingly come alongside of you and disciple you, and your role is to be willing to be discipled, to be willing to be challenged. And this is fascinating because we live in a day where people balk at church membership, and yet listen to the passage again.
"Shepherd the flock among you." Literally in the Greek, "In you the flock shepherd." You see, it speaks of church membership. My job is not to shepherd anyone who claims Christ. My job is to shepherd the members of this congregation. You're not gonna find a verse that says, "Become a member." It's gonna be throughout the scriptures Just like the Trinity, you're not gonna find one verse that explicitly explains in all detail the Trinity.
It is throughout the scripture. So is church membership. We are to fle-- [00:44:00] we are to shepherd our flock. We are to offer oversight to our flock, and we're to do it with eagerness. We're to do it with joy
So what is your duty? Number one, and I always start with the one that you like the least, your duty is to obey. Your duty is to submit. Your duty is to follow the leadership of the church. According to the writer of Hebrews, your duty is to imitate the leaders, and if you're going to a church where you can't do that, you're in the wrong church or you're arrogant So rule number one is submission.
Rule number two, assemble. We are commanded to meet once a week on a Sunday. We've covered this verse, so I'm gonna read it one more time. But in Hebrews 10:25, "We are not to forsake our own assembling together as is the habit of some." If we were to update that verse, as is the habit of most nowadays. [00:45:00] There are very few legitimate reasons for missing church on Sunday.
Yes, you might be on vacation, you might miss church here, but do you look for a church where you're vacationing? Do you look for a place to worship God while you can't be here? We don't take this serious enough. Yet the author of Hebrews did, and one of the reasons we're to get together is to encourage one another.
And I've seen that with you guys. I've seen relationships form. I've seen encouragement. I've seen moms come alive because I've got somebody who can relate. I've seen dads and men, we don't like to talk, we don't like to admit that I need another guy in my life, but I've seen transformation because of relationships formed here.
We are to assemble. Again, you get to choose. We don't. Number three, we must serve. Do you serve in this congregation? [00:46:00] Listen to the words of Ephesians chapter 4, beginning at 11. And listen to these words, because I didn't cover them before. Listen to the gifts that God has given the church. Because earlier in the passage, uh, Paul makes it very clear that Jesus has given gifts to the church.
And now when we get to verse 11, it begins, "And He gave." So contextually, these are the gifts that Jesus has given. "And He gave some as apostles." They don't exist in today's church anymore. "And some as prophets." And I would argue contextually, this kind of prophet no longer exists in the church today. "And some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers."
And what's our job? "For the equipping of the saints." So we're just supposed to make you good Christians, right? No. "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service." That is your job. You are to be serving in some capacity, and that [00:47:00] will look different depending on where you're at in life, depending on your age, depending on the number of children you have, depending on the makeup of your family.
It will look different, but it does not dis- excuse you from serving. You are to serve. You are to do the work of service. Why? "To the building up of the body of Christ." You have a role to play. And again, I've seen it in this congregation. Keep it up. And this congregation is in an interesting time in its life because we're big enough and everyone's serving.
I can honestly look around and tell you I don't see anyone that's not serving, and yet there's more to be done
Spiritual gifts. I'm not gonna get into spiritual gifts, but Paul makes very clear in 1 Corinthians that spiritual gifts are for the common good. They're not for you just to have. They're for you to exercise. Spiritual gifts are to abound for the edification of the church. Next, we are to worship. And I [00:48:00] just, I wanna introduce a few things, and we're gonna go in detail next week.
But there's a few things that we wanna begin, and we're gonna start to roll them out next week. And one of the first things, and you may have noticed this, and this is heavy, heavy on our hearts We come to meet with God. We come to meet with each other to fellowship, and I am so thankful that at the beginning of service, you're talking, you're enjoying one another.
The kids are playing with each other. My grandkids love to come to church. They love to see their friends. But we need to start preparing for worship. And one of the things that the, the elders have labored over, and we're just gonna start implementing it, is you've noticed the last couple weeks, five minutes prior to the beginning of service, we've started playing music.
That is your cue to get your children and find your seat. That is your cue to start preparing your children and yourself for the worship of God. That is [00:49:00] respect for who we're coming into the presence of. And for the next several weeks, Matt and I and Neil will gently remind you when the music starts to play so that in the future when the music starts to play, you're getting your kids, you're getting your seats, you're getting ready for worship.
You're preparing your hearts for worship because we stand or we sit and we sing and we worship before God Almighty, and I think we can do it more respectfully. We're coming out with a new bulletin format starting next week is all, that, that will helpfully, uh, walk us through the process. Uh, if you haven't noticed yet, and you'll notice it more in the future, my dress is beginning to change because I think it's time to be a little more honorable to God.
So in the next couple of weeks, you'll see a tie and a jacket. And as I get used to it throughout the winter, you'll see it throughout the, the summer because I think it's God-honoring, because I think it sets a [00:50:00] tone. And last but not least, and we'll end with this. Well, two, two last but not least, is number one, you need to be discipled.
You need to be... If the job of the elder is to disciple, you must be willing to be discipled. You must be willing to be challenged. You must be willing to challenge what you've learned because God has you here for a reason, and maybe He wants you to learn something different. That's a tough one and I wish I had more time but we'll come back to it.
And last but not least, and I will come back to this one next week, you need to give. I've never preached a sermon on tithing. You're gonna get that next week. So if you don't come next week, everyone's gonna know why. No, I'm joking. But I am gonna address that topic 'cause it is part of worship. Giving to God is not an option.
It's not my rule. It's God's rule and it is part of worshiped, worship. Self-government leads to family government. Good family gov- government leads to strong God-honoring church government.[00:51:00]
And let's just be honest, and I wanna be really careful here because we are not a perfect church. We don't do everything right. Matt and I, and Neil has been joining the convers- conversation, what can we do better? I'll give you one example, the amen. We're trying to figure out a way, how can we do amen in unison?
Because if we're gonna say amen, it needs to be a congregational thing, and it needs to be in unison. And so we're coming up with some ideas. How are we gonna do this better? We're not a perfect church. We've made mistakes. We've added to our liturgy where we see it to be weak But self-discipline leads to good families.
Good families lead to strong churches. Strong churches is the only thing that is gonna lead to a strong state, that is gonna lead to a strong society. So I exhort you, I leave you with this, choose wisely and with commitment. [00:52:00] Choose wisely and with commitment. Do not be part of the problem. Seek a church that strives to obey God.
Not a perfect church, 'cause there's none out there, and as Josh McDowell once said, "If you ever find a perfect church, don't go, 'cause you'll ruin it." But seek for a church that works hard at this. Seek for church leadership that is humble and yet has convictions and is not afraid of those convictions.
Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for the Church. Thank you for her role in our lives. Thank you for what she does. And Father, help us to have confidence in the churches that we go to. Help us to have confidence in this church, Lord. Help us to, if we lack confidence in some area, to be humble enough, gracious enough to go to the elders to talk to them But Father Help us to perform our [00:53:00] role, to be teachable, to be willing to be discipled, to submit, to worship with vigor, to sing, to give to practice submission and obedience.
Father, thank you for the church. Jesus, thank you that you structured it exactly the way you wanted it. Help us to get better at it. For we ask all this in Christ's name. And all of God's people said? Amen. Amen
