Basic Theology of the Eldership, Part 1

Driving home: And there is no way on the basis of responsible exegesis that one can attach a fundamentally different significance to the use of presbyteros or episkopos when we find them used interchangeably.

Martin quotes Bannerman's commentary on Acts 14:21-23, highlighting Paul and Barnabas's deliberate return to dangerous cities to appoint elders, demonstrating the high priority of church organization and eldership in apostolic practice.

When they had appointed for them elders, presbyters, in every church, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed. Now, Douglas Bannerman, in his work on the scripture doctrine of the church on pages 5, 31, and 32, commenting on this passage that I've just read from the book of Acts, writes as follows. Derby, in which Paul and Barnabas met with much success, and apparently little or no persecution, formed the furthest limit of their first evangelistic tour. They had traveled far eastward behind the great mountain range of the Taurus. The well-known pass called the Cilician Gates ...

9:00 - 10:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section argues that the Bible explicitly provides a standard of qualification for overseers, primarily in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, using the particle of necessity ('must…

Martin references Jonathan Edwards' sermon on the Christian Sabbath, where Edwards argues against dictating how God must reveal His will, using the change from the seventh to the first day as an example of God making His will known through apostolic practice rather than explicit command.

In my thesis, I've asserted that the work of oversight, the assumed framework for that work, is one in which there is a plurality of scripturally qualified overseers. I'm thereby asserting that the Bible does give us a standard of qualification for overseers, and I want to set that evidence before you. Now, there are many aspects of biblical duty which must be understood by a process of careful deduction, and though some in our day are debating the principle that some things can only be extrapolated from Scripture by just and necessary inference, the Bible itself gives us that canon of discove...

17:28 - 18:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Singularity of oversight bears the hallmark of despite to Christ's institution.

Martin quotes Professor Murray's 'Collected Writings' on the New Testament's emphasis on plurality in church government, arguing that singularity in oversight is a 'patent deviation' and 'presumptuous contradiction' of Christ's institution, leading to abuses like the papacy.

call for the elders, plural, of the church. 1 Peter 5, 1 and 2. The elders among you I exhort. And so the assumption of all of these apostolic injunctions is, that the normal condition that obtained in the churches was one in which there was a plurality of overseers. Now, Professor Murray, in his excellent material on the subject of the church, volume 2 of his works, I'm reading now from the last few words on the bottom of page 345 to the top of page 346. The emphasis, or this emphasis, upon plurality indicates the jealousy with which the New Testament guards against government by one man. The...

33:04 - 34:03 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The moment one of these presbyters or two of them has a qualitatively different ecclesiastical office, there cannot be parity because now you're talking about a thing of a different kind.

Professor Murray's analogy of a handful of marbles (representing elders) and one becoming an egg (representing a qualitatively different office) illustrates how giving one elder a different rank fractures the parity of the eldership.

Now, Professor Murray has clearly pointed out the moment one presbyter or one overseer, one episkopos, one bishop, is given a position or rank of authority qualitatively different from others, plurality is fractured because you now have a thing of a differing kind. For instance, if I have a handful of marbles, all of equal size, I can say there is parity among the marbles. Now, there may be diversity of color, but there is parity in terms of size and shape. They're all marbles.

38:15 - 38:55 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section argues for the equality of power, value, and rank among elders, asserting that a qualitatively different authority for any elder fractures this parity. Evidence…

Martin quotes Dabney's 'Theories of the Eldership,' where Dabney addresses the surprise and displeasure of some Presbyterians at renewed debates on fundamental church principles, arguing that such discussions are 'to be expected and desired' as each generation must do its own thinking.

And when we come to the subject and say, well, will there ever be anything that doesn't come under debate in any given generation, we need to comfort ourselves with the statement that Dabney gives at the beginning of his article on Theories of the Eldership, page 119 of Volume 2 of his Discussions Evangelical and Theological. He says this, It strikes many Presbyterians with surprise that the General Assembly and the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Chur...

48:53 - 50:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not be careless or shoddy in wrestling through the matter of parity among elders, as conviction on this point is essential for nurturing biblical relationships with fellow overseers.

Martin contrasts Dabney's view with the arrogance of a radio preacher (Garner Ted) who claimed no one understood prophecy until he came along, illustrating the wrong way to approach historical theological discussions.

the creature he is, such discussions are to be expected and desired. Each generation must do its own thinking and learn for itself its own lessons in first truths and general principles. Each generation must do its own thinking and learn for itself its own lessons in first truths and general principles. Now, of course, a man like Dabney, and if you doubt this, just read his article when he was instituted as instructor in church history. Read his article on the uses of church history. He does not mean that we discuss an issue as though no one else had ever examined it before we came along. That...

50:05 - 51:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not be careless or shoddy in wrestling through the matter of parity among elders, as conviction on this point is essential for nurturing biblical relationships with fellow overseers.

Martin states that cultivating true parity among elders 'makes more demands upon you as a Christian man than any other relationship apart from marriage,' highlighting the personal cost and the potential for 'residual corruption' to be exposed.

Pages 43 to 102. And I would really urge you, brethren, not to be careless or shoddy in wrestling through this whole matter of the business of parity, because unless you are convinced in your own conscience on this, you will not be in a position to, in a way, to be in a position to nurture a relationship to your fellow overseers that is biblical, and it's a costly nurturing. The easiest thing in the world is to let a church drift, on the one hand, into congregationalism, or, on the other hand, into a mini-pope, one pastor, one overseer situation. As we shall see in greater detail next week, cu...

54:17 - 55:35 Read in full sermon

Driving home: With a convincing, I think, unanswerable argument that any attempt to make molestat descriptive as opposed to distinctive is twisting the sense of the Holy Ghost in the use of that word.

Martin references John Owen's masterful exegesis of the word 'malista' (especially) in 1 Timothy 5:17, arguing that Owen convincingly demonstrates its distinctive, not merely descriptive, emphasis, thereby supporting functional diversity among elders.

but also of parity, but a parity in the context of realistic and harmonious functional diversity. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those, so they are all presbyters. So as he begins to underscore this functional diversity, he does not relinquish the concept of ecclesiastical parity. They are all presbyters, but within the rank of the presbyters, some will be, found laboring in the Word and in teaching. Now much of the debate and the exegesis of the passage hinges on the significance of the word molestat. And as Owen, the masterful exegete that he is, ...

58:28 - 59:40 Read in full sermon

Driving home: With a convincing, I think, unanswerable argument that any attempt to make molestat descriptive as opposed to distinctive is twisting the sense of the Holy Ghost in the use of that word.

Martin uses the example of 'especially to those of the household of faith' to illustrate how 'malista' distinguishes a specific group within a broader category, reinforcing Owen's argument for its distinctive use in 1 Timothy 5:17.

Let us do good unto all men. And molestat, especially to those of the household of faith. Now, is the household of faith all men? No.

60:46 - 60:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Christ's sheep are governed by the crook of his word.

Martin quotes Dabney on the meaning of 'apt to teach,' arguing that it does not necessarily mean having the gift for public, congregational instruction, but rather the ability to convey truth effectively, even in private, one-on-one settings.

Though there was some functional diversity, and James obviously had a place of prominence, the point of Bannerman is that we cannot establish from Scripture that he was anything other than a presbyter in that church, with a place of prominence due to gift and other factors. Yes, likewise in the passage before us, not all presbyters will labor in the Word and in teaching, though all presbyters must be apt to teach. And may I urge again the comments of Dabney on this point. He said, When we think that the word apt to teach means that a man must have the level of gift that would warrant his publi...

63:51 - 65:20 Read in full sermon