Sermon Outline

Elders (2) 1 Timothy 3.1-7 [Titus 1.5-9]

Introduction

The Biblical pattern is a plurality of leaders called elders/overseers/pastors. Their function is to teach and preach and model the Christian life, to maintain doctrinal and moral purity in the fellowship, to oversee the direction and finances of the local church, and to pray for the church. [From sermon on Sept 20^th]

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The Holy Spirit has made you overseers Acts 20.28

-Placed as overseers for use by the Holy Spirit to lead the local church. The church is a living expression of Christ.

1) Biblical leadership pattern and qualifications

2) Find mature, proved, qualified men, recognized by all and evaluate them against Biblical qualifications.

-Above reproach: “nothing to take hold upon”, A good

reputation with everyone inside and outside the church

-Husband of one wife: Faithful to his wife and morally pure

-Temperate: Calm, balanced, clear-headed behavior

-Self-controlled: “to be sound in mind”, sensible, prudent

-Respectable: “kosmion”, orderly, honest, well-behaved

-Hospitable: “loving the stranger”, serving others

-Able to Teach: public, encouragement, refuting what is false

-Not given to drunkenness: “not an excessive drinker”

-Not violent: “a bruiser”, no retaliation, 1 Peter 2.23

-Gentle: listens to people and is not reactive but reasonable

-Not quarrelsome: “disinclined to fight” avoids arguments

-Not a lover of money: Free from greed, generous

-Manages his own family: A well behaved family

-Not a recent convert: Not a new Christian

3) Present them to the congregation for affirmation

-This is not an elective vote but a vote of affirmation by the congregation of the Holy Spirit’s choice of these men as elders.

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Conclusion

God works by His Spirit, through His Word, and through His people to accomplish His purposes.

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Sermon Notes

Elders(2)             1 Timothy 3.1-7 [Titus 1.5-9]

-This morning I will not be presenting to you a Thanksgiving message and I apologize for that. I will be completing a message I started two weeks ago on elders. I intended to complete this message the last week of September but could not because of our sudden trip to Tennessee. We will be affirming elders in November and no other Sunday was available before then to give you the Biblical qualifications for elders, and to present the proposed elders to you, and to explain to you the process we have undergone to get to this point. So I am needing to do take this Thanksgiving Sunday to speak on elders.

-As a local church we are transitioning toward the Biblical pattern of a plurality of leaders called elders/overseers/pastors. The function of elders is to teach and preach and model the Christian life. They are to maintain doctrinal and moral purity in the fellowship. They are to oversee the direction and finances of the local church. …And they are to pray for the church. …We covered these interchangeable terms for leaders and the function of church leaders two weeks ago and the message is on our website.

-Turn with me to Acts 20.28. [Read]

-I want to draw your attention to the phrase, “of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”. A couple of weeks ago we saw that the Biblical pattern for the local church is a plurality of leaders called elders or overseers or pastors. Here we are told that these men are placed in their leadership positions by the Holy Spirit. God has both ordained a pattern of leadership in the church, and He has appointed those leaders in the local church by the Holy Spirit.

-The word used here means “to place” and is in the middle voice. How this is to be understood is that the Holy Spirit has placed overseers over the local church for Himself so that He might direct the affairs of the local church through them.

-What I would like you to recognize this morning is that the local church is more than a charitable organization or a religious group. The local church is a living expression of the body of Christ and the Holy Spirit is the One who oversees the operation of the local church. His first task is to place leaders, called overseers/elders/pastors, over God’s people so that He can direct the church through them. Godly leadership is very important to God and should be important to all of us.

-How does the Holy Spirit place elders over the local church? Let me share with you how I believe this process works, and then explain to you the process that we have taken at Rosedale.

1) The Holy Spirit begins the process of placing elders over the local church by revealing His pattern of leadership in the Bible and the qualifications for leadership. That is the pattern we have come to understand and want to follow.

2) The next step is the search for men who are able to fulfill the Biblical qualifications given in the Bible. These qualifications are summarized in Titus 1, and 1 Timothy 3. As we review these qualifications I would like you to notice that they are not special super-spiritual qualifications but a description of the Christian character that all Christian men and women should possess and display. There are two qualifications in these lists which are particular to elders. They are the ability to teach, and that he not be a new Christian, but otherwise the character qualifications of the elder are no different than the qualifications expected of the Christian in the pew. So as we go through the qualifications you can measure your own character by God’s Word.

-What attracts attention in our search for men to be elders is their pursuit of Christian maturity, their display of these qualities over a long period of time, and their proven service in the local church. They exhibit proven godly character, a knowledge of God’s Word, and spiritual maturity and experience that is recognized by all those around them. As elders these men will be required and are responsible to faithfully model godly character to everyone on a consistent basis as they lead God’s people.

-Now lets have a brief look at the qualification mentioned in these two lists. Please turn to 1 Timothy 3.

-v2a, 7 Above reproach: The proposed elder is to have a good reputation both among believers as well as unbelievers. Literally this word means “nothing to take hold upon”. It describes the overall characteristic of the elder. The leader of God’s people is to have nothing in his life with which the enemy can bring disgrace to him and to the local church.

-v2b, The husband of one wife: The proposed elder is to be faithful to his wife. He is to love his wife, to be loyal to his wife, and to be morally pure in his marriage. An elder does not have to be married and if single must live a pure life. An elder can remarry if his wife passes away. An elder can even be someone who has gone through a divorce, depending on the circumstances of the divorce. If a proposed elder cannot be trustworthy, honest, and loving, to his wife he can not be trusted in the areas of integrity and honesty in the church.

-v2c, Temperate: This term has nothing to do with drinking but focuses on the proposed elders temper. It describes a man who is calm and free from any kind of excess or rash behavior. This man is stable and thinks clearly. He is a well balanced man. The NIV translates this word in another place as “keep your head in all situations”.

-v2d, Self-controlled: Literally this means “to be sound in mind”. The proposed elder is to be sober-minded, sensible, prudent. He is to have a serious attitude and be earnest about his work. This does not mean that the elder has no sense of humor or that he is always solemn and somber. Rather because he has an eternal perspective and knows how serious the issues of life are, he does not cheapen the ministry or the gospel by foolish behavior.

-v2e, Respectable: The Greek word kosmion used here is the root of our English word cosmetics. It describes an orderly, honest, well-behaved life that is attractive to others.

-v2f, Hospitable: Literally this Greek word means “loving the stranger”. This characteristic refers to the way the elder uses his home and food and other resources to serve others.

-v2g, Able to teach: This refers not only to the public teaching of God’s Word but also to private instruction and encouragement as well as refuting false doctrine. (See 2 Timothy 2.24). Titus 1.9 describes this characteristic as “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it”.

-v3a, Not given to drunkenness: Literally, “not an excessive drinker”. The proposed elder does not have to be an abstainer but drink must not master him.

-v3b, Not violent: Literally, “a bruiser”. One who is ready with a blow. The proposed elder does not retaliate when provoked. Let me remind you of the behavior or our Lord. “When they hurled insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” [1 Peter 2.23]

-v3c, Gentle: Rather than being a bruiser the proposed elder is gentle. The proposed elder must be able to listen to people and take criticism without being reactive and then he must be fair and reasonable in his response.

-v3d, Not quarrelsome: Literally, “disinclined to fight”. This is a man who avoids unnecessary debates and arguments for the sake of peace. He is not someone who is always looking to win a theological dispute.

-v3e, Not a lover of money: Free from the love of money and greed. The proposed elder is not out for profit but values truth and God’s glory more than money. They are to model generosity and the importance of heavenly pursuits.

-v4-5, Manages his own family well: The behavior of the children of a proposed elder reflects on his spiritual maturity and his ability to properly care for and lead the church. His children are to obey him and respect him.

-v6, Not a recent convert: Finally the proposed elder must not be a new Christian but one who has been instructed in the Word, proved himself in the local church, and is recognized as mature and Spirit filled by others.

-We have gone over these characteristics quickly this morning. If you have any questions please ask me or email me.

-This morning we have 3 proposed elders to present to you as we transition to an elder led congregation – Myself, Gary and Glen. The three of us have developed an evaluation form based on these qualifications and the Administrative Board and four congregational representatives filled out these evaluation forms a few weeks back. On Wednesday Gary and Glen and myself went over these evaluations and we are satisfied that these qualifications have been met. We did not do an evaluation on ourselves but on each other.

-As a final evaluation I would like to ask for your feedback. If you have any concerns or positive comments or questions about these three proposed elders please direct them privately to me or to Gary or Glen by the end of the week.

3) We are examining how the Holy Spirit places elders as leaders over local churches. After the Biblical pattern and qualifications for leadership in the local church are understood from the Bible, and men with spiritual maturity and proven ability are recognized by fellow leaders and the congregation and are examined against the qualifications of an elder, then they are to be presented to the congregation for the congregation’s affirmation. We will be doing this at our November Budget meeting. I want you to understand that this vote is not an election of elders by the people but an affirmation by the congregation of the Holy Spirit’s choice of these men as elders. It is God who has ordained elders over the local church, and it is the Holy Spirit who places elders in the local church, and the process is not an election by the congregation but a recognition of the Holy Spirit’s placing these men in the position of elders in that local church.

-In Acts 14.23, we read, “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church”, but in Acts 20.28 it says, “of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”. These two verses focus on the same leaders and on a common process. God works by His Spirit, through His Word, and through His people to accomplish His purposes. The appointment of elders that we are going through is a good example of God working among His people. I hope you see what is happening from that perspective. As you pray and participate you are part of God’s plan and purpose to reach Welland and the world for Christ, to make disciples in Welland and beyond.

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During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, “Sir, I am a corporal!” The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, “Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again.” With that George Washington got back on horse and rode off.