How to Study the Bible III - Elders
Vern Peterman · Oct 23, 2016
How to Study Bible (2016), No. 41
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492654131158

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

OK, so you've got this package of paper. It's a lot of paper. Sorry about that. We won't be going through all of it, so it won't be a flyby. But one of the questions that Marilyn Berg asked is what we're going to address first. And that's the last sheet of paper that you have in your package.

And that's the question is, where was the Temple Mount? back in biblical times. And the reason that that becomes a question is right now there is an area that is recognized as the Temple Mount. It's shown here in the white outline. And we went there when we visited Israel about a year and a half ago now. So we went there and walked around in what's called the Temple Mount. However, there have been a few folks in recent decades who have proposed that the Temple Mount was significantly south of there, and that this Temple Mount is something else. OK. So this is the location of what is ordinarily recognized as the Temple Mount.

And over this corner over here would be the Antonia Fortress. This would be the fortress that was built under Herod. It would be the place that the Roman soldiers would overlook the Temple area. And it would be the place, remember when Paul gets into trouble after his third missionary journey and they pull him up into the fortress because there's a set of stairs that were there, right? And they pull him up into the fortress because the Jews are starting a riot. And so, anyway, so this is the area, this is the old city of Jerusalem that you see here an outline, and these are the main gates. So the proposal is that the actual Temple Mount was to the south significantly. So Ernest L. Martin has been one that has proposed that. He's dead now. These days, Bob Cornuke is one of the major proponents of this.

Yes. Is there geological evidence that it was there? Well, that's what I want to address. Okay. Yeah, that's a very good question, though. This is the proposal that this, what is now the Temple Mount, was actually Antonia Fortress. And that there was no temple there, but the actual temple was significantly to the south, down here. So that's the proposal.

Yes? I couldn't hear what he said, but topographically, does that fit? Well, we'll get there. So here is what it looks like now. And so the idea would be that the temple was actually down here. and that this was the Antonia Fortress. The whole thing? Yeah.

Now, here's one of the big problems with it, and that is that a lot of archaeological studies have been done in that area, and from the time of David, and even before, up until New Testament times, there were lots of other things going on in that area that wouldn't allow for the temple to be over the top of it. And I've been there and seen the things that are there. For example, Nehemiah's wall is underneath that area. So how could Nehemiah build it if it was all covered with tumble. Where did all the rocks go? Yeah, where did the rocks go? So what is there presently, that's a problem. The other thing is this wall here is already quite large. It's huge. We're talking about a height of wall that is much, much, just outrageously high.

It would mean that the Jews are wailing at the wrong wall. Because the Jews think that that's where the temple was and that they're next to where the temple was at this wall. I think the Jews know where their temple is. And also, here is the rubble from dumping the temple materials off the edge. That's the rubble. It's in the wrong place. If the temple was actually south. The bottom line is I can find no support at all for that idea. What you have is the last. Yeah. What is the significance of it being either way? Like, why would we care?

The third temple, there's the first temple, Solomon's Temple, right? The second temple is the one that Herod upgraded and Jesus was in, right? And that was destroyed in 70 AD. There's the rubble from where they dumped it off the edge, right? Where's the third temple going to be built? So this is significant to that question. Where's the third temple going to be built? Is it going to be built in some way at what is recognized now as the Temple Mount?

Or is there not really any issue to resolve? Why are the Jews squabbling with the Muslims over the Temple Mount and that area? Why are the Jews at that wall? where they're at. It's a piece of cake if it's to the south and there's nothing to resolve. You've just got to build the temple to the south and the Muslims have their area and the Jews have theirs.

What information are they using to promote the other ideas? That again gets to the question. What I'm providing are some links which of course aren't going to be terribly useful because they're a bit too long. So I'll put this up on the website, and you can click on the links if you want.

But the reality is there isn't any information that supports these Southern temple deeds. Ernest O. Martin put up a website, it's still up, askELM. Bob Cornuke has written like nine books now, and this book about the temple is one of them. And if you go on Amazon and read the reviews, thumbs up reviews, because people are completely ignorant, there is no way, there is no evidence that the temple was there.

There is lots and lots of evidence that other things were going on in that area. Houses, possibly even David's palace, Nehemiah's wall, lots of things were going on in that area. They continue to have ongoing archaeological excavations in that area. One of them is the cistern that Jeremiah was dropped into is in that area. A number of different archaeological artifacts have been found in that area.

So, in the end, let's see, I mentioned, and I'll mention it again today, Leon Rittmeier, he believes the Bible is the Word of God. I wouldn't necessarily say he's the exact same kind of Christian we are, but he believes the Bible is the Word of God. He's probably the world's foremost expert on the Temple Mount And it's archaeology in that area. And he just sees this as a ridiculous proposal. He has spent his lifetime on the archaeology of the Temple Mount. And he believes the Bible is the Word of God.

So that's significant. So he sees the problem. Essentially, one of the reasons people propose this is it gets rid of the tension between the Muslims and the Jews. Problem. None of the Jews believe this. Right? So the Jews don't say, oh, we don't have a problem.

Instead, they have this wall right up against the edge, and they're not allowed up. It's amazing here. Nancy and I and Courtney and Ingrid could go up on the Temple Mount, but the Jews can't. We can go down to Jericho and visit Jericho. The Jews can't. Why not? Because that's Palestinian territory. You're an Israeli citizen, they'll apprehend you and you're out of there.

I have met Gordon Frams, who's referred to a couple of times in here. I met him, it was a little over a decade ago, and he's one that's written several articles just correcting this, saying this. No evidence for it whatsoever. And then I've also met Dr. Randall Price, and he also has an article there. There's no way. Not happening.

So the tension between the Jews and the Muslims over the Temple Mount remains. And the question is, how can you get the Jews to build their third temple? when you get the tension between the Jews and the Muslims and the Antichrist is going to pull it off and then break the treaty in the middle of the tribulation period. So that tension remains. This doesn't resolve it. I know of no Jew, Jewish scholar who gives any serious consideration. This is essentially among Christians that this has been proposed, but it's basically fraud. It's bogus.

So anyway, now let's get on to the other question here, and you'll need to take the next last single page here on elders. And so you have page 1 of 1, which is at the end of your handout, on elders. The larger attachment is basically something that Hal and I developed back in 2002, pulling together the information on elders. This is a good example.

When we go through the Bible, we look at certain books. How do we study this book? One end to the other. We look at certain passages. Just like Craig did with looking at Ephesians chapter 5, and looking through what's the structure of Ephesians 5 and 6, and looking at that passage. So we can look at books, we can look at passages, but we also have topical things.

You know, we could ask questions like, what does the Bible say about angels? And study that all out. We could say, does the Bible teach the Trinity? Does the Bible actually teach that? And you could ask that question. And so you can pull together topical studies. Why are topical studies helpful? answers questions to topics. Yes, answers questions to topics.

If you were just simply to say, what does the Bible say about angels, and you just looked at one verse, would you have the whole story on what the Bible says about angels? No, you wouldn't, because are there angels in Genesis? Yes. Are there angels in Revelation? Yes. Are there angels in between? Yes. So what does the Bible say about angels is from one end to the other, right?

Wouldn't studying a whole topic also give you leverage? Ah, this is something we'll be covering. Studying a topic will oftentimes give you leverage. That is, you learn something that you can carry to lots of different places. Oh, I know what angels are, and they show up in Revelation, and they show up in Genesis, and now that I know what angels are, and what the Bible says about angels, I can go in with knowledge.

Ruth? I was just going to say, sometimes topical studies can be difficult because if the person hasn't studied it in-depth enough, they can misinterpret. Very good point. And take something out of context that doesn't agree with in Revelation versus in Genesis. Right, right. Let's take one that's very frequently, very frequently misunderstood.

Is the church-age believer under the law of Moses? Any part of it? No. And you could study a lot of the Bible and not understand that. You could study a lot of the Bible and not understand it. So your point is well taken, that people who don't look at things adequately can end up with a very wrong conclusion. So, yeah, good point.

So let's take a look at this one on elders, and let's ask this, what are the different ways that churches are governed or managed? What are some different ways that churches are governed or managed? They have corporations now. Yeah, some churches are run like a corporation. You've got the senior pastor who's really the, that's code for he's the CEO, right? And then you've got the assistant or associate pastors and the others are the VPs. So yeah, you've got corporate entities, yeah. You've got congregational rule? Congregational rule, and Holly Hills was actually one of those years ago. They voted out voting. Some decades back. So congregational rules were everybody votes. Where did that come from? Yeah, it came through the Baptist line, but essentially this was from the Greek idea of democracy. Everybody votes, right?

Then, is there anything else? You have the corporate model, and you've got the everybody votes model, right? Well, then there's the scriptural model with, you know, certain elected officers that vote and manage the church. Okay, so, and we'll be looking at that model with elders. Is there anything else?

There's also the one where you have, it's not quite the corporate model, but you have like a pastor who's the head of everything and then you have the elders underneath him. Yeah, and that's essentially the Baptists do that. Here's the pastor, and then they essentially have deacons. That's the next highest thing.

Yeah? I'm assuming that there's probably some federal and state regulations that rule admirals or the churches and what they can do. Essentially, like at Holly Hills, we file with the state, and so we have that filing, but that doesn't determine how we operate, because other churches do as well. Yeah?

I don't know how you put this, but there are some churches like Mormons and probably Jehovah's Witnesses that have prophetic input, prophetic ruling, like Moses Smith. Yes, and where essentially you have ongoing revelation about how things are to be done. Both the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons have a president. This is kind of the corporate model, but they also have an ongoing revelation about things.

So you've got that. Another significant and historic one is what's called apostolic succession. And so this would be the idea that the apostles then appointed people who would be the successors, and then that person would be one who appointed the successors, et cetera. The only problem is that there's no evidence for that. It's a tradition.

So far as we know, it was started by Clement, who was the bishop of Rome. He started it by writing to the church at Corinth. which, of course, he had no authority to do. But he took that authority and that stuck. Ignatius was the bishop, I believe, at Antioch. And he said, you can't even get baptized without the bishop being there.

So you end up having regents. And that's actually what held sway. By the second century, it was well established. And when Constantine made Christianity legal, about 312, he then made Christianity not just legal, but the only allowed religion. He called together the Council of Nicaea, which was a council of the bishops. Here's a bishop over a certain region. And so that got established.

It became the Catholic and the Orthodox churches. and then that went on to Anglican and the Methodists broke off from the Anglican Church and so you have the Methodist Church as bishops. So, pardon? Where does the Church of England fit in that? That's the Anglican Church. So, Church of England, because what happened is the Church of England was created, Anglican Church was created because Henry VIII wanted Marianne Boleyn, and they wouldn't let it. So he's just cutting it off right here in the English Channel. We're now separate.

So they're kind of combined Catholic and Reformed, but that's where it comes from. So you have bishops. The problem with voting, the problem with the bishops, the problem with the ongoing revelation, like the Mormons and all that, is that what's biblical is elders.

The apostles had delegates that they worked with, like Timothy and Titus, but they weren't really bishops, were they? As a matter of fact, both Timothy and Titus were told to appoint elders. Paul went around on his first missionary journey with Barnabas, and he evangelized, and he looped back around. And what did they do when they looped back around? They appointed elders. So an elder is the highest level of ongoing authority. And ultimately, it's not apostolic succession in that sense.

The Catholic Church, for example, will claim that Peter was the first pope from Rome. The only problem is that there's no evidence for that. In fact, you can look at various places in the Bible and say, OK, is Peter in Rome? Is Peter in Rome? Here's Paul writes to the church at Rome. Does he greet Peter?

I mean, this is a major faux pas, right? This is a major faux pas. So this is where we come to saying, what does the Bible actually say about how churches ought to be run longer term? And it's not any of those other answers. It's elders. So let's look at this here. So two Sundays ago, we looked at what the Bible teaches on a topic by investigating the Book of Life in the Old and New Testaments. We went from One end, essentially starting in Exodus, all the way into Revelation, looking at the book of life and those passages. In this case, we're talking about elders in the church.

So are there passages in Genesis that have direct bearing on elders in the church? No. So that's one thing to recognize, that we're talking about elders in the church. As a matter of fact, the word elders is used in places where it's definitely not a model for the church. Elders, if the word occurs in the gospels, so Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, what does that mean? Who are called the elders? These are the Pharisees and Sadducees and Jewish leaders who didn't believe. So are they any kind of a model for the church? No. Right.

So just the use of the word elders by itself doesn't give us any real clues. We still have to look at it in a church context. And one of the things in the third paragraph, we even list passages in Acts where the word elders is used and it's referring to the leaders of the Jews who don't believe. And so just because we find it in Acts doesn't necessarily mean it's indicative. We've got to look at what? Context. So we're going to look from Acts to Revelation, for that word elders, and we're always going to look at context for each one. If I just look up in, say, a Bible concordance, look up elders, plural, is that going to give me everything that I need to know about elders?

And why not? Because it's also singular. Yes. So sometimes it's singular, so plural isn't always going to do it. So sometimes it's singular. Good. What else? You have to know who they're talking about. You have to look at the context. You have to look at the context and make sure they're talking about church elders. They're not Sanhedrin or Pharisees. Yeah, so I've got to separate out those passages that are talking about the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the leaders of the Jews, right?

So I've got that, and then what? There might be, instead of using the word elder, it may use a synonym or another word which would be used in place of elder. Ah, okay. So there might be synonyms. And how can we tell it's a synonym? Like or as. Pardon? Like or as. Like or as, okay. This would be a simile, right? But how can I tell it's a synonym? Ah, context.

Believe it or not, I'm going to have you grab your Bible. Grab your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 20. And we're going to look at Acts chapter 20, verse 17. So here is the Apostle Paul. He is making a beeline to head towards Jerusalem. He's going to get to Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost. So he's aiming to get there. So in Acts 20, verse 17, from Elitist he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. So how many elders for each church? Plural. Plural. It's not a definitive number. Plural for each church.

So do I have a pastor who is the head of a church? No. No. As a matter of fact, do we know their names? No. This is another key observation about elders, is where in our culture, we're inclined to have somebody be high profile. High profile enough that this guy is well-known and we may know him before we know even what his church is named. Can you think of some names of pastors, elders, who are well-known and you can name them readily? John MacArthur. Joel Osteen. Joel Osteen. These are names that get around, but the elders are anonymous here. We don't even know any of their names. Hal asked me 15 years ago, how would you like your name out front? I said I wouldn't. Right?

But that falls into the same idea and probably reason that a lot of people go to certain churches, and it's not necessarily because of the belief system, or the organization, or the philosophy, but they come because of the pastor, and they like hearing him speak, or what he says, and most of the people that I know, they go to the church that they go to because of the pastor, and they like what he says. So, that's the wrong way of saying it.

It tends to center around personality, very frequently. And even a lot of church thinking these days is you're selling the pastor's brand. Like Gerald Osteen. I mean, if you go out there and read his books, why wouldn't you go to that church? Yeah, even though he apologized for mentioning the name of Christ recently.

Okay, so here we go. And when they had come, verse 18, and when they had come to him, he said to them, you yourselves know from the first day I set foot in Asia how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which come upon me through the plots of the Jews. Now, I'm going to jump ahead here, verse 25. And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock." This is a key word. So, all the flock. among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood." Alright, so now, let's think about this. All the flock, why did he use the word flock? Who does the word flock refer to? The church that is under the care of these elders, right? So why use the word flock? It goes all the way back to Jesus saying that he was a shepherd. Okay, he was a shepherd.

Okay. Alright. And we're going to see even more... The elders are not shepherds. The elders are not shepherds. Because Christ is THE shepherd. Ah. Here's a distinction that we'll see. I hope we get time for it. But the elders are in fact shepherds. are in fact shepherds, but they don't get it as a title. They don't get it as a title. So let's take a look, because this verse is big here.

For all the flock, so the church body is a flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. So is this a synonym? So these elders are also overseers. And what's the Greek word for elder? Presbyteros, where we get our word Presbyterian, so Presbyteros. And then, Overseers, what's that word? So the word for Overseers, the Greek word for Overseers, Episkopos. And that's where the, you know, and now you've got all these denominational names starting to crop up, right? But that's the basic idea is an overseer who is also an elder, right? And then we've got one more thing cropping up here. To shepherd. Is that a noun or a verb? That's a verb. To shepherd the Church of God. Now, here's something very interesting.

What we translate as pastor or pastors is only used of elders once in the entire New Testament. And yet we'll go around and say, well, this guy's a pastor. People will occasionally refer to me as pastor, and I don't feel up for it, but I also don't embrace the thing. Ephesians 411 is the only place in the entire New Testament where elders who are overseers are actually called pastors.

They're just really shepherds. That's the word. And so here in Acts 20, 28, it's shepherd verb, the Church of God. Yeah, it's really shepherd, right? It's really shepherd, the Church of God. And what that tells me is God's a whole lot more interested in action than titles.

And guess what? 1 Peter 5, 1 through 4, Peter writes up to the elders and gives them some instructions. And guess what he does? The same thing that Paul does here. He says, shepherd, verb. The Ephesians passage where it says, refers to pastors, is that also a verb? That's the one place where elders are called shepherds, and it's a plural noun. That's it. The other observation, and this is out of Hebrews, this is out of 1 Peter chapter 5, Hebrews 13, 1 Peter chapter 5, the other observation is that the only way that the word shepherd is used as a title is for Christ.

And that's one of the reasons why I don't quickly run to that, because as a title, Christ gets that. He is the shepherd and guardian of our souls. He's the chief shepherd. And so that's one reason I don't readily embrace that as a title. Christ gets that as a title, but not me.

So we have, let's turn your hand out to page 9 of this multi-page package here. So page 9, and one of the things you'll see is a chart there on the bottom half of page 9. And you'll see from Acts 20, the package we just looked at, And the 1 Peter 5 passage, something very interesting.

So elders show up as a term for those leading in the church in Acts 20.17 as presbyteros.

That's also 1 Peter 5.1 where Peter is talking to the elders in the church.

You also have 1 Timothy 5, 17 and 19, and Titus 1.5, the word elders or elder is used. So this is one term.

The next thing that we see is overseer, episkopos, shows up there in Acts 20.28, that passage that we just saw.

Also in 1 Peter 5.2, but what's interesting is there it's a verb. There it's a verb. So then, to oversee, and then we have this term, and people tend to gravitate towards this term, pastor. Oh, let's ask the pastor, or they'll come up and call me pastor, or something like that. Then here's the one place where it shows up as a noun applying to elders in the church, and the word is poyman.

And that's Ephesians 4.11. That's the only place it shows up as a noun and not as a title in the entire New Testament. And yet that's what people tend to gravitate towards often.

To shepherd is poimaino, you can tell it's a related word, in Acts 20.28 and 1 Peter 5.2. And that's where both Paul and Peter talk about shepherding as a verb, it's action, but not as a title, and not even as a noun. So shepherding, God's very interested in shepherding. He's not interested in taking on titles.

So in each of these roles, mentioned above, the cultural source of these Greek words place the selection with those who are presently in that role at a higher level of authority. Now, so when you see elder, overseer, and shepherd, each of those words, although we call them synonyms, has a different implication. So what does an elder imply when you hear that term? What does that imply about an elder?

Age and wisdom? Yeah, in other words, age. So this is not like your 19-year-old elders that come to the door with a little plaque, and they're from the Mormon church. Don't look that responsible. That's just bogus, because you're an elder, right? At 19? No, not so much. So that would be one thing, is looking more at age.

So that's one strong implication. Now, how about overseer? What does that imply about the role? Because we have it used both as a noun and, in 1 Peter 5, too, as a verb. What does that imply about the role of an elder with regards to the church body?

A leader, okay. But they also are responsible for the entirety of the fellowship and all the different priorities. The whole fellowship. The whole fellowship. If I were to say, you know, okay, I'm an elder here, but I'm going to spend all my time with just this guy. And everything is focused on that one guy and his needs and what he wants and all that.

Would that be biblical? No. That would not be correct. So an overseer, someone who's looking over the whole a church model and seeing what's going on there. Then we have shepherd. What does that imply? Safety. When you think of the different things a shepherd does, when you say safety, what do you mean by that? Sheep are not especially why is about how to keep themselves out of tough places. Okay, keep themselves out of tough places, getting into trouble, the way they react to, you know, some predator coming is not good.

And then down to the shepherd. I'm sorry, what? The shepherd lays down at the gate as the, you have to get through the shepherd. Okay, so here, the shepherd sits at the gate when the sheep are in the fold, right? And so Jesus uses that analogy. Yeah. And? I would say responsibility and accountability. Okay.

Because he's in charge of the flock. He takes care of us all. He's in charge of the flock. And in fact, one of the characteristics of a shepherd is that the shepherd in the Palestinian model, in the New Testament model, the shepherd would beware with respect to the sheep. with them. And so that's key. So this is not someone who sits above and distant, but someone who is in with the sheep. And he doesn't own the sheep. Ah, yeah. And what did Acts 20 say? Whose flock is it? God's. Right. Purchased with his own blood, right? Yes?

So would he also be somewhat responsible for the teachings to make sure that God's being taught to the flock? You know, let's think about that. That's a very good point. Let's think about that when we look at what does the flock need in the way of teachings. That is equivalent to, you know, where's our next pasture? Where's the next place we're getting water? So looking at that, and so this is something, looking ahead, what does the flock need in the way of And so that is one of the reasons we offer electives, because you have different people with different needs.

It's personal because the sheep hear the voice. They understand, they can distinguish the shepherd's voice from anybody else's voice and they're responsive to it just because there's a relationship. Even though in true shepherding there's a human being and there's these animals, they understand, okay, this guy He's the one that feeds us, he's the one that takes care of us, he's the one that we hear. specifically because they need green pastures, they need still waters, but they need to be led into the paths of righteousness. They need somebody to be with them through the shadow of the valley of death. They need grace and mercy and all those other things that David is talking about in that psalm. And a shepherd also doesn't have to flock of all one age.

It's young and old. new believers as well as people who have been believers for years. Yeah. Yeah, so that's another thing is it's very diverse as to what the needs are. We've got little tiny ones that we're taking care of and some that are brought up and we offer a Sunday school curriculum and then you get on and there's a spectrum of different ages, there's a spectrum of different kinds of needs. Some have been Christians for just a little while. Some have been Christians for a long time. Some have been Christians for quite a while, but may not have had great teaching. Let's turn to page 5. There's a set of bullets I'd like us to be able to go through.

So the ministry of elders, and that's not the only thing that the Bible describes, but the ministry of elders we have in these bullet points, to shepherd the flock, which will entail, speaking figuratively, protecting, guiding, leading, seeking out pastures and waters, selecting paths, correcting the path of some, rescuing, mending wounds and illnesses, and this will involve teaching, counseling, correction, consolation, training, spiritual discernment, and the like.

Then, next, to be an overseer. Multiple times as both a noun and a verb. In bold, overlooking the character and condition of the church, taking both proactive and responsive measures to keep the church under its care in such a way as to produce a spiritually healthy and growing flock. Next, be on the guard and the alert for themselves and for the flock.

This is what we saw there in Acts chapter 20. be ready to take on the spiritual wolves who will attack the flock. And what might those spiritual wolves look like? False teachers. It can come in as false teachers. And at times it's necessary to say, no, we've got to address this guy's issue. They can also look like sheep. They can also look like sheep. They can be wolves in sheep clothing, right? They look like sheep. Yes. Pride. Pride? Particularly when you get in positions of authority and responsibility a lot of times, that's one of the things that... Yeah.

And the other thing is different kinds of wolves. We had a fellow some years back who went to one of the electives once, another one of the electives once, and then said, OK, I'm going to settle in on this third elective, and went in there and tore things up.

I had to let him know, you're not going to do that again. Never seen him again. Anyway, I also was in a different church situation as an elder, where there was a guy coming in, and the women felt like, this guy is going to eat me alive. And so I had to confirm. I said, you know, you're welcome to come here and fellowship with us and learn, but you may not go after the women such that you're being a wolf. Never saw him again. Teach standing on and being able to discern and convey sound doctrine.

Titus 1.9, an elder should be such as he can establish what's true and refute what's false. Refute doctrine that conflicts with the faith, to rule, lead, and superintend well, to work hard.

So it's an elder's job, one for lazy people. No. It's not a job for lazy people. To help the weak. Other tasks which have become associated with being an elder but can be performed by others are conducting weddings, funerals, memorial services, leading services, baptisms, and work table.

So what you have is quite a job description. Is the ministry the only thing that's described to Bill? Do we have other things? What other things do we have described as elders? Well, Timothy, the character of how the person spends their life. So what you have on this one page handout on elders, you have three bullets at the bottom of the page, and one says character qualifications.

He's a great shepherd, but I sure wish he wouldn't get drunk every Friday night. Is that a problem? This guy really teaches well, but boy, he sure loves money. Does everything for money. Is that guy qualified? No. So there are character qualifications. Those are given primarily in 1 Timothy 3, verses 1-7 and in Titus 1, 5-9. Those are the character qualifications. So we have that.

What if an elder meets it upon first becoming an elder, but then falls out of qualification later? Is he still okay? No. So he has to have it to begin being an elder, and he must maintain it to continue being an elder. Let's also talk about operating guidelines. I'm sounding like a management guy here. Are there ways that elders should or should not do things? Yes? Alright. And what are some of those?

Here's 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1-4. Peter tells the elders, don't lord it over the flock. Don't go bullying people around. But how do you lead? By example. Is the 1 Peter 5, that first part, does it link back up to the end of 2 where it talks about Christ and the example he set by his death? Are those supposed to be linked?

And that chapter is not for now. Well, I think this gets into the subject of examples and imitation and following, which is a subject we'll get into in the Book of Acts. It's a bigger subject. And I think it makes sense there. Peter actually maintains kind of a trail of thought. And they do connect. That's a quick answer to your question.

So what you find is the Bible describes Character qualifications for an elder that an elder must have and maintain. The Bible describes the ministry, which is big, we can look at that on page 5, the ministry of an elder and the Bible describes ways in which an elder should and should not operate. Brad Mastin was telling me at the Fort Collins Bible Church, there was a pastor there previously who was a tyrant. He says, if you're not here, I'm going to check up on you.

And he says, I want you to triple tithe. Triple tithe. You know, 10% is not enough. Triple tithe. And so here's this guy, you know, really getting heavy handed on me. Nancy and I were aware of a group in Ukiah, California. where the elders wanted to review each member's checkbook register regularly. And then they wanted them to all move within a few little block areas. You're all supposed to move into this area. So we can keep tabs on you. That sounds more like a cult. Yes.

That's not a church. And that's not, those things are way out of bounds for what scripture describes. Way out of bounds for what scripture describes. So anyway, as you look at these, there are plenty of examples of how it's been done wrong in church history. Churches governed wrongly. people that are in fact elders and are not qualified.

Here's one more thing. Suppose someone is reluctant to be an elder, but under coercion, pressure, exhortation, they step into being an elder. Is that person biblical? No. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 has desire to be an elder. That word desire is used twice. And one of those times, it means to pant after. The Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Acts 20, 28. And there is therefore a God-given desire to be an elder, even though the job description is tough. You're going to work hard. It's really hard work. Sometimes it gets messy. Yeah. That kind of a person, if he really wants to, he really loves people and he really wants them to become more mature. Yeah, yeah. And the other thing is the shepherd is not centered on himself. It's all about the people. That's right.

And that's why we find, actually we don't know the name for sure. of any elder in the entire New Testament, except for James, the half-brother of Jesus, elder of the Church of Jerusalem. That's it. So elders are not there to be high-profile, and, hey, I'm an elder, and this is all, but rather Christ is the chief shepherd, and that ought to show.

At the church we went to, which was a Baptist church, they had so many problems with the elders that they actually did away with the elders, the pastor, I guess, became the chief elder, I don't know, he was never called that, he was called the pastor. Basically they only had deacons. Yeah, different things happen in churches, I mean, churches can be a mess, right? But different things happen a lot of times because people are not looking at what's biblical.

So, almost every time I've gone over Uganda, I've taught on elders. And the handout that you see there, that's the handout we give them and we go through this thing. And it's because without looking at biblical teaching and understanding the full range of what the Bible says about elders, it is very easy for people to go off track. What is typically done, for example, in Uganda is they'll go into a village where they're going to build a church building.

They'll build the church building, they'll have an evangelistic crusade, and then they'll appoint elders. And so the elders start off in every single case as brand new believers. And they don't have any teaching like this. They don't have any teaching like this about what are you stepping into. And so it is almost uniformly a mess in every single Ugandan church.

The elders squabbling with the pastor sometimes, the elders standing up in the middle of the church service, and, you know, eh, it's not right, eh, you know. Lots of disruption. The church that Hasan is at, at Naujo, eh, they have a problem with an elder going off and kind of doing his own thing, leading off, you know, people astray. So it is a real common problem. The Bible has the answers, but we have to be able to search that out and know what those things are. Yeah, Ruth?

I'm thinking about some of the churches that I work with. I'm sure you run into very interesting situations. I've had people say to me, well, I don't go to that church anymore because I don't like the way they run. their church body, or the pastor's too domineering, or whatever. So people leave the church because they don't like the way it's run. But if it was run biblically, I'm wondering if that would draw more people in.

Well, here's what's interesting. What I find is biblical eldership will drive out those who are wolves, drive out those who have some other motive in mind. One of the things I've observed is sometimes you don't know why people are coming to the church until they leave. What's their motive? And so that's kind of an interesting observation. If you have a biblical elder-governed church, then people will be drawn to that, but not everyone. There will be some people who will be driven away by that, because they have some other motive in mind. And some people left Holly Hills because of me. And that also speaks to seeker-friendly churches, just to be out there. Yeah.

There are churches built on the let's just bring everybody in without any sort of discernment. We don't really necessarily want everybody in because that may not be safe on the clock. And people know when they are safe spiritually and when they're not. Sometimes they don't know what it is, but they can sense, okay, this is not a place that I'm safe. Okay, let's call it good there and get close.

Lord, thank you for what you have revealed in your word about elders and about many other things. And we just thank you that you've revealed these things because you love us, you care for us, you love us eternally. Even for the joy set before you, you endured the cross. We just give you thanks for it all. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.