The Requirements of Elders, Part 1

The Necessity of Biblical Church Offices

0:01 As I announced this morning, we will be resuming our studies this evening in the general subject of the scriptural teaching concerning biblical church offices. Now, for the benefit of the visitors with us, perhaps a word of explanation is in order.

0:19 A little more than a year ago, we were newly formed as the Trinity Church of West Essex, and since that time, the general direction of the church has been in the hands of a steering committee appointed by the congregation,

0:35 and it has been my conviction that the time has come that this committee must give way to biblical church officers, and yet this time has been necessary in order that we as a church might be able to recognize the presence or absence of the gifts and graces requisite for biblical church offices. And so we are focusing our attention upon those sections of the Word of God which deal with this subject in order, that our action with regard to this matter may be, in a very real sense, an expression of the kingship of Jesus Christ over his people. In a series of studies on the subject of the local church, you will remember that we asserted that Jesus Christ is the head of his church. But sad to say, his headship in many a church is sort of like the headship of the Queen of England over the affairs of English life. It's just a very limited monarchy. In fact, it's nothing more in most cases than a respectful title to call him King Jesus.

1:43 But as far as his kingship being realized in implicit obedience to the revealed Word and will of God, there is precious little practical recognition of the kingship of Christ. And it is my own deep conviction that we face as a church at this juncture the greatest acid practical test of our submission, to the kingship of Jesus Christ. Are we going to act according to the Word of God, both in the recognition of biblical church officers and in the administration of those officers according to the Holy Scriptures? Therefore, we are going through in some detail those passages which are the directive of our King as well as our Savior, our Prophet, Priest, and King. Thus far in our study, we have considered that our directive will be the Word of God. We will not be guided by pragmatism. We will not be guided by the principle of expediency.

Review of Elder Function and Plurality

2:51 The specific subject we are studying is that of those special offices appointed by Christ, the head of the church. We have seen that there are only two recognized in Scripture, the office of a bishop or elder and the office of a deacon. We have considered the function of an elder, or a bishop, as basically that of an overseer, with three analogies in Scripture. The father overseeing the household, the shepherd overseeing the flock, and the ruler overseeing those who are subject to his rule.

3:24 Then we have looked at what those duties will involve in the light of Scripture. And then we, last week, studied how the duty of oversight is administered. And it is administered basically through elders, some who teach and rule, and some who, more exclusively, simply rule. And then we concluded our study by considering the fact that the general situation in the New Testament churches was that there was a plurality of eldership.

3:53 The concept of a mini-pope that we call the pastor, who is supposed to have all the gifts of prophecy and teaching and exhortation and the gifts of ruling and governments and all of the rest, we saw was an utterly unfounded concept that, generally speaking, the weight of Biblical evidence is in favor of a plurality of eldership in every local church and a parity amongst the eldership. That is an equality. So that when the ruling and teaching elders sit down to discuss matters together, it is not as though the man who is the teaching, ruling elder has an office that is a bit higher. No.

4:30 The Scripture says we are to give special honor to those who rule well, and in particular, those who labor in the Word and in doctrine, but that honor does not project the teaching, ruling elder into another class of a church office. Therefore, of bishops and archbishops, bishops and district superintendents and cardinals and popes, the Word of God knows nothing, and from such may the good Lord ever deliver us. Now, tonight, having considered the basic function of the office of an elder and how that function is administered in its two-fold relationship, of teaching, ruling elders and ruling elders, we want to grapple with this question from the Scriptures, what are the Biblical requirements for teaching, ruling elders? And the two passages which will be the focus of our study tonight and then, God willing, again next Lord's Day morning, are 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1. These passages have been my meat and drink for days now. If you don't believe me, ask my wife or anyone who visits in the home.

Introduction to Elder Requirements from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1

5:43 All the conversation around the table comes to 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1. Everything in my devotion seems to have something about eldership in it. I was having, in my regular reading of the Psalms the other morning, it was Psalm 77, is it? Thou lettest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

6:03 And there I was, struck with it again. I get a tape letter from Errol Hulse in England, and how does he close his letter? But by reading Hebrews 13, which has three references to the eldership. And so it seems that everywhere I turn, I'm being confronted with these passages.

6:18 And I hope that will be the experience of all of us. For nothing is more vital at this juncture than that we as a church be conversant with these passages and walk in the light of them. 1 Timothy chapter 3. I shall read the portion here and then in Titus, and then we will begin to seek to expound and exegete and lay open its truth.

6:40 1 Timothy chapter 3.

6:43 This is a true saying. If a man desire the office of a bishop, that is, an overseer, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must, a bishop then must, he blames, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must, he must, he must have a good report of them that are without, lest he fall into reproach and snare of the devil.

8:00 Now Titus chapter 1 and verse 5. For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting or lacking, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. If any be blameless, a husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Now here are two specific passages which state in very clear terms the requirements that King Jesus has set down for the installation and recognition of the office-bearer of an elder in the church of Jesus Christ.

The Gravity of Appointing Qualified Elders

9:27 And before we actually begin to break open this passage tonight, I want you to consider with me several tremendously important issues that are at stake as we think of appointing elders in the light of these passages. The first thing I want to set before you is this truth that we are warranted as the people of God to admit no one to this office. But such as meet these requirements at every point. To do other than this is to act without the directive and the blessing and authority of Jesus Christ.

10:05 Let me illustrate. Suppose a king was to send from his very court an envoy, an envoy, to a certain part of his domain, to a certain province, with the explicit command that that particular province was to elect as its governor one or two or three its governors, men who met the following requirements. And then there were following fifteen specific requirements that must be met for these people to elect a governor or governors which would rule over them in that province in subjection to the king. Governors who were to receive all of their directions from the king and who were to administer their government with an eye to the king and with an eye to the good of those over whom they ruled. Now, you see, it would be absolute impudence for the people to say, well, we like so and so over here and we think he's kind of a nice fella. Let's elect him as our governor. And someone says, oh, but wait a minute, look at the envoy.

11:12 The envoy has given us the list of fifteen requirements. And the person says, oh, yeah, but really, I mean, fifteen, we like the guy, we think he'll do it. Let's go ahead and elect him. You see, to act with indifference to the express wish of the king is disrespect of the highest order to the authority and the wisdom of the king.

11:34 And then to place over themselves governors who do not meet the king's requirements is to act in such a way that they cannot in any way expect the blessing of the king upon the administration of that governor's responsibilities. And so, dear ones, as we consider this matter of a biblically based eldership, we're going to have to do an awful lot of unlearning like we've had to do in every other area. As I've been soaking my soul in these passages over the past few weeks, I've just come down out of my study time after time and said, how could we have gone so far? For I'm convinced if everyone in the evangelical church, Reformed or non-Reformed, were to take seriously these passages and every single office-bearing elder, be he a teaching, ruling elder or a ruling elder, were to vacate his office, if he did not meet these requirements, we would empty half our pulpits and probably two-thirds of our sessions in our church boards, but we might see the breath of God upon the church. It is nothing less than absolute anarchy that churches would install as office-bearers men who do not meet the requirements of the king. And so as we approach this subject, dear ones, this is serious business. I feel that we're on holy ground.

13:01 We're in sacred territory. For the word used in 1 Timothy 3 that the bishop must be is the same word that's used in Luke 24 when it says in verse 45, Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer. The same word in the original.

13:24 How necessary were the sufferings of Christ to the accomplishment of the redemptive purpose of the church and the righteousness of God? Absolutely. The same word is used here. The bishop must be.

13:36 This is not up for grabs. It does not say it would be nice if he were all of these things. It will be more healthy for the church if he happens to meet all of these things. The bishop must be.

13:48 It's a mandate from our king, the head of the church. And after we go through this list it would be far better if you do not feel that I meet that standard or any others among us that continue to exist as a church without God-appointed office-bearers but seeing the standard pray and labor and teach until we see men qualified of God than to install one person who does not meet the biblical requirements. And I will not be hurt if when the time comes as our constitution states that any potential office-bearer whose name is put in nomination will be asked to leave the room and be taken to the church and be taken to the church and be taken out of the church but gets대�iyet to leave the room and thus this to be read and these matters freely and openly discussed you would not hurt my feelings I would admire your obedience to Christ if by your common suffrage you said Pastor Martin does not meet those requirements at points 4 and 7 and you refused to officially recognize me as an office-bearer until such time as I met the requirements. Now I'm not just talking silly I mean this with all my heart if we do anything other than that, we are expressing anarchy to the rule of Christ.

Jeopardizing Souls and Forfeiting Blessing

15:12 Second, to do so, that is, to install any office bearer who does not meet these requirements is not only to express anarchy to Christ, but it's to jeopardize our souls and our own well-being. For you see, the scripture places the bishop, the elder, in the place of oversight who must watch over the souls of men, and you are to render to such overseers due subjection and obedience for the sake of your soul. But how can you render due subjection with respect and confidence when the one who bears that office does not meet the very requirements for the office? How can he with authority lay upon you the command of Christ if by his very office he is living in open disobedience to the clear command of Christ? John Brown, the great Scots commentator, has said some words that are profound in their insight and yet beautiful in their simplicity on this very subject, and I want to read them to you tonight. Inferior in importance to this, but only inferior to it, is the second prerequisite to the right discharge of the duty of submission or obedience to church officers. He's saying what's involved if people are to really submit to church

16:40 officers. He's saying what's involved if people are to really submit to church officers. He's saying what's involved if people are to really submit to church officers. He said in the first place there must be a conviction that the office is an office of authority. Then secondly, there must be respect for those invested with the office. Then he goes on to say, no man ought to become a member of a church where the office bearers as a body do not command his respect for their personal qualifications. He sports with his own edification if he does so, nor ought he to continue a member of a church where as a body they forfeit their claims of authority.

17:10 None of this is true. none of this is true. this is obvious for how, in this case, can he have Christian fellowship with them. In churches, in any good measure rightly constituted, the office bearers are likely to be men worthy of esteem for their own sake as well as for their Master's sake. If they are not, it must reflect much discredit on cannot occupy without dishonor to Christianity and injury to the blessing of the church. This consideration ought to have a powerful effect on the minds of church members in electing office bearers and of Christians fixing or settling in particular religious society with which permanently to connect themselves. They ought to see to it that the elders of the church which they belong to be such men as that nothing in their private character and deportment shall throw obstacles in the way of the discharge of the duty due to them, that is obedience, as public offices.

18:22 But that on the contrary, the respect which they cannot but feel for their worth as Christian brethren shall make it a very easy thing to render to them the honor and submission due to them as Christian elders. Isn't that beautiful? That's it. We must see to it that we so respect those who are placed in authority over us because of their Christian character that it's comparatively easy to submit to them as Christian elders.

18:57 That's why the scripture says the bishop, the elder, must be, for he cannot discharge his duty under God, and you thus jeopardize your own soul and your own spiritual life. Well, then the third thing that happens if we install any office bearers, starting with this man who stands before you and any others considered for this office,

19:23 they do not meet the biblical requirement, is in a very real sense to tell God at the very early stages of the Trinity Church that we really don't want the blessing of the outpoured Spirit upon us.

19:38 For the scripture makes clear that the ever-increasing measures of the Spirit's grace and power upon an individual and upon an assembly is commensurate with the obedience of that individual or that assembly to the revealed will of Christ. For our Lord Jesus Christ said, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, I will manifest myself.

20:03 In Acts 5.30 we read, He hath given the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. And it's in the path of obedience to the light God has granted by the grace He has imparted that makes us candid. He candidates for greater light and greater measures of the Spirit's grace and enablement.

20:22 So if you want a surefire way to show anarchy to Christ, to jeopardize your soul, and to forfeit any grounds to expect blessing, then just treat with indifference the list of 1 Timothy 3 and of Titus chapter 1. And as I've sought to analyze this, I've come to a conclusion that sharing it over the table for the past few days, has deepened my conviction as to its validity, and it's this. You know what's happened in most churches? Starting in the sacred place of the teaching ruling elders whom we call pastors and moving right down to ruling elders, I believe this is what's happened.

The Unwritten Agreement of Mutual Excusing

21:03 There's sort of been an unwritten agreement.

21:06 It operates like this. Now I know that there's some glaring areas of inconsistency where I don't meet up to that list, but if you'll tolerate me though I'm unqualified, then I won't quite discharge. The pressures that my office demands upon you so we'll have a sort of unwritten rule that you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.

21:30 See?

21:32 And I've found all across this country men standing in the position of teaching ruling elders whose kids are a scandal to the church in cause of Christ, who are known to be careless with money, careless with women,

21:50 men of trigger temper. Yet the scripture takes all of these things and says he must not be this. He must not be this. He must be that.

21:58 And yet they continue to stay in office. Why don't church members rise up and say in the name of God how dare you bear an office when unqualified. I'll tell you why. Because there's this unwritten agreement.

22:13 If you don't make us shape up, we won't make you shape up.

22:17 We'll have a mutual excusing society. And so there's the flabbiness of discipline, the carelessness, the lack of respect, people able to flaunt the commands of Christ, people, people able to wreak havoc in the church.

22:33 If there's any grief in heaven in the heart of our glorified Lord, then certainly this is one area that must cause him grief. So as we come to this list, beloved, that's just how serious the matter is. Just that serious. Now, how are we going to approach our study of these lists?

Guidelines for Studying Elder Requirements

22:51 I've been wrestling with them for several weeks, many hours spent in them. And I've sort of danced around the table like Smurgasbord, wondering where to begin. How do you begin? How do you begin?

23:02 There's all that spread. How do you begin?

23:05 Well, I think I've come up with a few guidelines. Let me share them with you. As we study through these lists of 1 Timothy and Titus 1, which, remember, are the requirements for the office of an elder. I haven't touched on beacons.

23:20 Principle number one, always remember that these requirements are given in the light of the task of an elder. So we're going to relate them all the time. If I were to say today, I need five construction workers, a construction worker must be, then I give a list. I'm absolutely confident that if I were to say, on the other hand, I need five stenographers, they must be, the list would be different.

23:50 The requirements would be different. Why? Because the task is different. And the requirements will be determined by the task.

23:56 So when it comes to the matter of the requirements of the elder and the deacon, there are many similarities, but there are some differences. And the differences are determined by the difference in the task. So that as we go through this list, I don't want us simply to see, well, the elder must be blameless, one wife, husband, temperate, all of this. You see, Paul did not simply sit down some night and say, well, we've got to have some office bearers, and they ought to be men of piety.

24:25 Let's see now, what's involved in piety and godliness? Oh, let's scratch them off. No, no, no, no. There is a beautiful relationship between the requirements of character, and of gifts, between gifts and graces, and that office of oversight, the father in his family, the shepherd with his flock, the ruler in the assembly.

24:45 And as we study the list, each characteristic, I want to lay out what it means, and then see its relationship to the office and the task of a teaching, ruling, or simply a ruling elder. Then the second thing that we want to keep in mind as we study this, we always want to relate the individual part to the whole. We don't want to get so lost in understanding what's it mean, temperate, what's it mean, husband of one's wife, a one wife, that we don't keep the individual things in relationship to the entire picture. For what do we see as we study these lists?

25:24 We see a description of a well-balanced, practical godliness. We see a description of mature Christian character, and a description of the necessary gifts for the office of an elder. So, not only in our study do we want to recognize that the requirements are determined by the task, but they are also related to each other, and they form a beautiful picture, a symmetrical description of practical, mature godliness. Then the third thing, guideline, principle, as we study through these passages, we want to remember that apart from the spiritual gifts, all of these graces of the elder are required of every Christian. This has been an interesting thing. As I've been checking each of these words, almost without exception, everything that's required of the elder is somewhere else required of Christians in general. So you're not going to be able to breathe easy.

26:30 You say, oh well, I'm a lady, I can just breathe easy the next three weeks, but I know I'm not supposed to be an elder. Or I just know I have no aptitude, that won't include me, so I'll just sort of ride down easy street and stuff. No, no, no, no, every single thing required of the elder, with the exception of the peculiar gifts to rule and to teach, are elsewhere required of every Christian. So as we go through this list, God is saying what practical godliness will mean in your life as well.

26:59 Now the difference is this, whereas every Christian ought to be blameless, Philippians chapter 2, that she may be blameless and harmless, the elder must be blameless, see? Where every Christian ought to be given to hospitality, the elder must be marked as a hospitable man. Where every Christian ought to be mild-tempered and not trigger-tempered, not soon angry, the elder must be marked by his calm spirit, see? So that the requirements of general godliness and ethical demands for the life of every Christian are going to be set before us.

Three Directions of Observation: Upward, Inward, Outward

27:42 The difference being that what should be there in every believer must be there in anyone assuming the office of an elder. And then the last principle that I hope will guide us in our study is this, we should be looking in three directions as we study these passages. You say, Pastor, wait a minute, I've only got two eyes and usually they work together. Once in a while I've met someone who seemed to have independent control, like the chameleon that does, he can have one eye looking at a fly over here and one eye at a bug on the leaf over here, and it's a very weird thing.

28:22 And once in a while you'll meet someone who seems to have that independent control of the eye muscles, but for the most part we can only look in one direction at once. But as we study the passage, I'm going to call upon you to do something that's impossible physically, but not spiritually, to look in three directions at once. Each time we come to one of these requirements, we must first of all look upward, upward that God in grace would grant us illumination, that God would grant us to understand what He meant when He said the elder must be blameless. For one of the most frightening tasks of a Christian teacher is that he must seek, with all the power God gives him and all the grace and wisdom and gifts and tools at his disposal, that he does not slap his own meaning upon a word that God has given, but seek to strip away from that word all human, all self-imposed meanings, and to set it out in the beauty of the meaning that God intended when He gave it through the inspired pen. So we must look upward to God for illumination upon the passage. Then secondly, we must look inward, asking God, Oh God, is that true of me?

29:44 For remember, what must be in every elder, outside of the peculiar gifts to teach and rule, ought to be in every Christian. So I need to look inward, Lord, is this true of me to the extent that it's not? Oh Lord Jesus, grant me grace to be that. And then some others of us who aspire to the office of an elder, and there's a proper sense of having this holy aspiration.

30:08 If any man desire the office of a bishop, he's sinning, and he ought to get humble and not desire it. That isn't what Paul said. He said if any man aspires to be an elder or a bishop, he desireth a good work. He commends this holy ambition of seeking to be an office bearer in the Church of Christ.

30:26 So some of you who aspire to that office, who have secret longings that you might serve Christ and His Church as an office bearer, you must be looking inward and examining your life in the light of the standard, as I have been doing and must continue to do. And then thirdly, as a church, we must be looking outward to those who among us meet these requirements. For the command of God is to us as it was to those in Acts 6, look ye out among you seven men, and then the requirements were given for what could be, I will not be dogmatic, but what could be the first instance of the diaconate, of the installment of men to the office of a deacon. But the principle is this. That the assembled people of God, they were to look out among them men who met the requirements. Now again, we've got to unlearn things. We've been taught all our lives, we're not to judge.

31:22 Or we're not. Well, how am I to know then if a man is temperate or not? I can't go get a Ouija board and ask the Ouija board, is he temperate? I've got to be able to observe the man.

31:34 If it says not soon angry, not a striker, not a brawler, not given to much wine, if I see him staggering into his home every Saturday night, is it judging for me to say, look, that fellow's lingering too long by his wine? No. I need to observe. That's my responsibility.

31:53 And when God says, judge not that ye be not judged, He's not talking about this. This is a responsibility you have. To not only look upward for illumination, inward in self-examination, but outward in evaluation of those who may stand among us equipped with the necessary gifts and graces. Well, you say, Pastor, that was a long introduction, wasn't it?

Expounding "Blameless" and "Husband of One Wife"

32:18 Yes, but I feel it was necessary. And with all the material that's before us, I have not done this just for filler. Beloved, life's too short to weary you and waste my own breath with filler. But I feel these things are necessary to help us now to come to these passages and to handle them with a sense of the great importance and also with a sense of their practical relevance to each one of us as we sit here in the presence of God.

32:47 Now, let me just begin to consider with you 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Now, you noticed, I trust, in reading 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1, that there is a marked difference in order. What is put first in Timothy is put toward the end in Titus, and the reverse is true.

33:19 A few things are mentioned in Timothy that are not mentioned in Titus. A few things mentioned in Titus that are not mentioned in Timothy. So what I will do as I go through these things, wherever something that is quite similar but not mentioned specifically in Timothy is mentioned in Titus, I will bring it out of Titus and insert it into the list here in Timothy, so that, in a real sense, we'll be expounding both passages, though we will be only following the structure of 1 Timothy chapter 3. Now, we could approach this, subject from many angles, and what I want to do is to go through the passage with you, just verse by verse, word by word, and then at the end, seek to take all of that material and show how it can be classified under three general headings. The requirements for the bishop, for the elder, can be classified under these three basic headings. A blameless life, then he mentions three areas that that must be true. Secondly, doctrinal stability, and thirdly, the requisite gifts to minister as an elder.

34:25 So you have his blameless life, you have his blameless doctrine, and then you have his God-given abilities to function as an elder. But rather than impose that man-made structure on the passage, let's study the passage as it is, and then when we're done, seek to classify it under that structure. This is a true saying. If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

34:54 A bishop, then, must, and I hope you'll underline that, circle it, star it, red, purple, green, underline it, there it is. A bishop, then, must, it's imperative, be blameless. And then he goes on to describe what a blameless life is, particularly as it comes under the observation of those who are within the church. And the greater part, the greater part of this list in Timothy deals with the observations that will be made by the body that is going to recognize its office bearers, the church.

35:34 Then he says in verse 7, there is a second sphere in which he must be blameless. Moreover, he must have a good report of them that are without. So the two circles in which this work of self-examination and observation are to go on are the circle within the church and the circle without in the world. And it's in those two basic areas that the bishop must be blameless, must have a good report.

36:10 All right, let's then begin to consider this first circle. The examination, the requirements, the virtues, the graces that will be manifested within the context of the church. A bishop then must be blameless. This word blameless stands as sort of the canopy under which all of the other virtues are clustered.

36:37 It's sort of the umbrella and all the others are the people gathered under that umbrella. All the other virtues mentioned are an explanation of what it means to be blameless. But what does it mean to be blameless? Well, the word used here in Timothy means literally no grounds to apprehend or lay hold of a man as a criminal.

36:59 If a man's a criminal and he's going to be apprehended for his crime, there must be some grounds for that apprehending of the criminal. And the word used here means there must be no grounds to apprehend him and lay hold of him. The word used in Titus for blameless is a different word. It means no grounds to call him to account, no grounds to send out even an indictment on him, no grounds to indict him.

37:30 People may bring charges on his character and conduct, but they will hold no water, no grounds to charge him, no grounds to lay hold of him. He is a blameless man. Now, that cannot mean that he is sinless, that he is faultless, for James, an elder, said, in many things, we offend all. It does not mean that he is without problems and without struggles, that he is perfect, there is no room for growth, but it does mean, and can mean nothing less than this, that there are no dominating sins or character traits which disqualify him for the proper respect of the assembly and for the proper administration of his office of ruling and teaching. See the difference? A man may be a construction worker with some scars on his face where he got banged up on a job a few years ago. He may have one knuckle that doesn't bend because he dropped the sledgehammer on it.

38:43 He has some defects, but if he is paralyzed in his left arm and in his right leg, he is not a construction worker anymore. See the difference in the relationship? There are some defects physically which utterly disqualify a man for a certain job, other defects that don't. Now Paul is saying he must be blameless.

39:03 He must have no obviously paralyzed limbs of Christian character. There must not be those areas which by their very nature will mean that the assembly cannot respect him. They will be unable to discharge his ruling, teaching, oversight, commanding the respect of those who are to submit to him. So that the primary requirement for all elders is an unassailable, demonstrable piety and godliness.

39:38 That's the first requirement. The elder, the bishop, must be blameless. So that when he comes to an individual to seek to administer the law of Christ, whether it's in exhortation, consolation, discipline, no matter what it is, that person will not be able to turn and say, ah, but wait a minute, you're seeking to lay the word of Christ upon me in this area, let me take hold of you and show you where you need the word of Christ laid upon your life. No, no, there's no grounds to lay hold of him.

40:14 If he has sinned before the assembly, his confession and repentance before the people of God has been just as extensive as his sin before. If he has fallen, his repentance has been as open as his sin. If a defective character is broken out in any of these specific areas, then his repentance has also broken out before the eye of the people of God. Frankly, beloved, this is why I have been forced on more than one occasion, as you who've been here know, to confess particular sins to you as a congregation.

40:57 And I frankly do not see how a teaching, ruling elder can do anything less if he is to walk before men blameless, blameless, blameless. Frankly, I do not care if people are disturbed as they sometimes are. I have a letter from California. A pastor where I ministered said his people somewhere upset.

41:21 They didn't like the manner of delivery, the length of preaching, a lot of other things. Well, that doesn't disturb me, beloved. What would disturb me is if they write back and say, had that fell in our home, I can't listen to him preach after having him in my home. He's boastful.

41:42 Arrogant, hot-tempered, argumentative. Ah, you see that? That's the kind of thing that would crush a servant of God and send him to his grave. The only fault they can find is too long or too loud.

42:04 That's no problem. That's got to be true of every elder. Teaching, ruling, or simply a ruling elder. Blameless.

42:16 Now, Paul then launches in to what this blameless, unassailable, life will involve, positively and then negatively. And notice the structure. And if we could read the original together, we would see this. He gives all these positive things.

42:32 And there's just one word for each one. Then he gives the negative. And you have the little ah, the alpha, the ah before a word. Like we say, a man is amoral.

42:42 He has no morals. Well, all of these words are just one Greek word with the ah in front of it. So you see the positives lined up. Then you see the negatives lined up.

42:50 He must be this. He must not be this. Now, under those positive things that make a man blameless, no cause to lay hold of him, no cause to charge him, you have at the top of the list this matter of being the husband of one wife. Literally translated, one wife's husband.

43:10 So that what Paul is doing is saying that the elder, the bishop, must be unassailable in the realm of his marital relationship. The practice of polygamy was rife both in paganism and both in much of Judaism at this time. And so Paul is saying that the man who stands as an overseer must be one wife's husband. In fact, no extracurricular activity, one wife, true to that one wife.

43:47 And it must be obvious that he is not only one wife's husband, in fact, but in heart. And in conduct. So that in his whole relationship to those of the opposite sex, there is never any ground to question his absolute purity and uprightness. Oh, the shame that's come to the cause of Christ.

44:11 That anyone could ever write a book like Elmer Gantry and bring upon the ministry that terrible, terrible, besmirching kind of accusation. But it's been all too true down through the history of the church where men have used the opportunities of the office bearer of a teaching, ruling or ruling elder to give vent to immoral passion and uncleanness. Now, the bishop must be blameless and the first area touched is this matter of one wife's husband. Now, a very practical question is, in the light of this, must an elder or a bishop be a married man? You told us, Pastor, it says he must be. Does that mean then that any man who is single has no right to the office of an elder or a bishop? I think not.

45:13 What he's doing in this passage is not demanding the married state, but assuming the married state, demanding that the married state is preserved blameless. See? He is no more saying that an elder must be married here than he's saying later on that he must be married. He's saying that he must have children.

45:35 He's assuming that the average man of sufficient maturity to be an elder is old enough to be married and most men of marriageable age get married. Nine out of ten of them. More than that. What is it?

45:47 Ninety-something percent. I forgot what it is. So, he's assuming that if you're old enough to meet these other qualifications, you're married, and if you're married, then this must be your conduct as a married man. In the same way, most people that are married have children.

46:02 So, he says later on, if, assuming he's married, he has children, then, having children, he must rule them well. But in neither case does Paul teach that this is imperative for the office, for he himself teaches elsewhere, in 1 Corinthians 7 particularly, that there are some times when one may serve the cause of Christ more effectively in a single state, and then it has been obvious that Jesus Christ has graced his church through the years with office bearers teaching, ruling, ruling elders who have not been married or being married have not had children, but who have been God's gifts to his church. You see, the moment we are willing to say, without any real biblical basis, that this is an imperative, then we must live with a terrible, terrible conclusion that men like McShane and Brainerd were assuming offices never, never rightly assumed in the will of God. I'm not quite prepared to take so undefendable a position. Now, have you looked in? Does God require this kind of purity just for the elder?

The Importance of Purity in the Elder's Office

47:17 No. 1 Thessalonians 4 lays this subject out as the requirement for all of the people of God that in this whole area of the relationship of husbands to wife, purity and godliness and honor and respect should characterize it so that when people look from an immoral society to the assembled people of God, one of the marks of that whole group of people is purity, discretion, honor. There's the holy veil between the men and women of that assembly. And, beloved, this is a lost virtue in our generation.

47:52 The virtue of the holy veil where men have a heart that's locked up to their wives and wives have hearts that are locked up to their husbands and even in their talk one with the other, ladies with ladies and men with men. That veil is never torn away.

48:14 They maintain the absolute purity of the married state. Now, that virtue that should mark every single Christian must be eminently seen in the elder. Why? Remember I said every one of these requirements are related to the office?

48:33 If you've got even the slightest question that an office bearer, an elder, a teaching, ruling elder or simply a ruling elder has got any little area of budding hanky-panky in this area, are you going to have any confidence going to him as a woman? How would you husbands feel sending your wife for counsel to such a wife? Huh? Huh, you'd have apprehensions.

48:58 And rightly so. Rightly so. You wouldn't feel confident to bear the deepest needs of your soul. You see, this is directly related to the discharge of the office of oversight.

49:11 For involved in that oversight is entering into the needs and problems and concerns of the sheep. And many times those problems are related directly or indirectly to the whole matter of men and women relationships, to sexual matters. There are times when it would seem in my own counseling that three out of four problems that come to my study are in some way related to this. And if people do not sense in your presence, if you cannot sense in the presence of an office bearer that absolute purity and unquestioned integrity in this area, there's an absolute breakdown of the whole pastor, the whole shepherd, the whole overseer-sheep relationship. Therefore, this requirement must be in every true elder and bishop. And then, let me mention just one or two briefly. I hardly know where to quit. I hope to get further than this

50:14 and I feel like I'm not only stopping in the middle of the stream, I'm stopping with one foot in the air. That's even worse yet. Perhaps this might be a good place to stop. I believe perhaps we'll stop here.

Concluding Exhortation and Call to Christ

50:30 Let me commend to you a serious study now of the passage before you. The next requirement in the King James says, vigilance should be translated temperate. The next, sane, orderly, hospitable, ruling well his own house. Ponder these passages. Soak your mind in these scriptures.

50:53 And do so by the grace of God with that threefold look. Upward for light. Inward in self-examination. Outward in evaluation.

51:04 So that as the time draws nigh when we, by God's grace, must do what these people had to do in recognizing such, look out among them such, we shall be able to act intelligently and scripturally. I close now with trying to draw you back with me a number of years, about 1900 years to be more specific. When one morning Titus, the apostolic representative, enters into one of the churches at Crete. And when he enters into that church he says, this week I received a letter from our beloved apostle Paul.

51:40 And he believes that the churches here in Crete are now ready to recognize God equipped, God prepared office bearers. And therefore this assembly this morning is charged by the apostle and by me as his representative, to look out among you men who thus qualify to be elders. In order that the church might not only have being but well-being. That it might not only exist but prosper under God appointed office bearers in the administration of their office and tasks in the power of Christ.

52:16 Then he would then say, now the letter says that those who are to act and serve as bishops and elders must be, and then he starts to read the list. And he's reading it in Greek. And there you have all those one words, individual words, and then the word, the positive, then the negative, however it is. What do those people do as they sit there?

52:39 What should they do? Well, you see, Paul writing in a language that was understood by them, wrote with the intention that when Titus would read that list, the people sitting there would say, ah, now we know what that word means. And they'd have the upward look, the inward look, and the outward look. And then they would act in the light of that clear direction.

53:01 Now the problem we face is this. We're not Greeks. We're not sitting there in a church back there. So a word that had very obvious and clear meaning to them, it may take us 10, 15, 20 minutes before we can understand what Paul meant when he wrote that word.

53:18 Now let me illustrate. If I say to you, if you're going to have someone to teach a certain class, please don't get a joker. Now the word joker means something to us. Now what we mean by that is, don't get a man who has a raw, kind of a caustic, forced, artificial sense of humor and who will display that humor at the expense of others.

53:48 But you try to explain to someone just learning the English language what joker means. Well, let's say you mean you don't want someone with a sense of humor? No, a joker is someone who not only has a sense of humor, it's a certain kind of a sense of humor. Well, what kind?

54:01 Well, it's not an innocent kind of humor. Well, what do you mean not innocent? You see, it might take us 15 minutes to explain to someone to whom the word joker has not through the years built up a real, clearly defined meaning to explain precisely what we meant by give us a teacher but not a joker. Now that's the problem we face when we come to deal with these requirements.

54:24 When Paul said, blameless, that word had a particular meaning, it's taken us 15 minutes to try to at least begin to understand the meaning of that word. When he said, not a striker, that would immediately convey a thought. The closest thing we can come to it, as we'll see, is the concept of not trigger-tempered. Now that means something to you, you see.

54:46 But this is going to take time. And frankly, beloved, I thought I'd get done in a couple of weeks, but if it takes me six more weeks, I thought I must administer the word of Jesus Christ in some way that I have reasonable confidence that we've understood so we can act scripturally. So I'm not in a hurry. I hope you are.

55:07 If you are, you're going to get awfully impatient. And I hope you realize that such impatience is impatience with the word of Christ. Well, may God help us to take to heart these matters. Can you keep all that material in your head?

55:22 I hope you can. And to help you, we'll give you out some salmon-colored sheets next week, setting before you again the tremendous importance of this matter. If we put anyone in office unauthorized by Christ, it's anarchy. If we put anyone in office unauthorized by Christ, we jeopardize our souls.

55:43 If we put anyone in office unauthorized by Christ, we forfeit any grounds to hope for blessing. And as we study that list, we're going to study it, seeing that every requirement relates to the office, that every requirement is indeed for us as well, but must be found in the elders. We're going to study it, recognizing by the grace of God that threefold direction, upward for life, inward in self-examination, outward in evaluation. And by God's grace, at the end of this time, and under the direction of His Spirit, the Trinity Church will be blessed with God-equipped, God-qualified, and God-appointed office.

56:25 Am I being an idealist to hope that there will be a church that will simply mind the Lord? Am I being an idealist? I've been accused of it for years. I hope by the grace of God I'll be able to look back and say, no, it's Christian idealism that has become a reality by a people of Jesus to the Word of Christ.

56:54 There may be some of you here tonight who think all of this is a temptation to the people. The racial riots in the world about to blow up. What in the world are you doing as a preacher who thinks that way? You see, if you think that way, it's because probably, probably, you've never been confronted with your sin and with the glory of Christ and the restraint of Jesus Christ.

57:18 And my word to you is, look to Christ, the great Shepherd in His feet whom He purchased with His blood, who invites to Himself all those who, conscious of their sin and their need, realizing that they cannot in any way cleanse that sin of themselves, believe to Christ, the one who laid down His life for His sheep, and throwing yourself upon God's mercy and strength, you might come unto the great Shepherd and Bishop of the souls of men and enter in to that blessed relationship that His people have to Him, the Great Shepherd. Let us pray.