The Requirements of Elders, Part 2

Review of Elder's Office and General Requirements

0:00 With us, we have not been exposed to the previous three expositions on this theme, and just in case one or two of you don't have a perfectly retentive mind, so that perhaps a little has been lost between last Lord's Day and this morning, I will introduce our study by trying to capture the main thrust of that which we have considered thus far. In the light of the fact that we purpose under God within a few weeks' time to recognize in our own midst by common suffrage, by the vote of the congregation, those who are equipped and qualified to assume the office-bearing positions in the Trinity Church, we felt it necessary to go into a detailed exposition of the relevant scriptural passages on the subject of the officers of a New Testament church. What they are, what their function is to be, what requirements must be present in those who assume such offices. We have seen that in this whole subject the word of God and the word of God alone must be our guide. We must not order the church according to a pragmatic view, whatever works is good, or the expedient view, whatever is easy is good, for this is an insult to the head of

1:20 the church and the great architect of the church, even the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is an insult to the head of the church and the great architect of the church, even the Lord Jesus Christ. So that this subject is by no means a technical, unspiritual subject. It's a very practical expression of the kingship of Christ within a church.

1:35 If he is king, if he is Lord, if he is head of the church, will we then follow his directive in this matter of the constructing of the church in terms of its officers and the function of those officers? Therefore, the word of God alone is to be our guide. We have sought to clear the ground by showing there are only two officers or offices recognized in the New Testament, that of bishops or elders and that of deacons. We have sought to understand then the function of the elders, general function oversight as a father in the family, as a shepherd in the flock, as a ruler in the assembly.

2:16 And we are presently considering the general theme of what are the requirements for the office of an elder. Whether it be a soldier or a bishop. Last week, we introduced this subject by showing the tremendous importance of every church member being articulate in knowing what God requires of those whom they place in office-bearing positions over them. If it were a matter of having some bishop from the outside come in and appoint office-bearers, then it wouldn't make too much difference as to whether or not Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones sitting out where you sit, really understood the requirements. You'd leave that job to someone else. But since God has vested in the congregation the authority to recognize its office bearers, the apostolic pattern set forth in Acts 6, look out among you, and then the requirements are given. It is absolutely imperative that you know what those requirements are, and this is why we've made the outlines available in the salmon-colored mimeographed papers that you might have this material before you. For if you as a congregation install to the office of elders or bishops,

3:31 those who are not biblically qualified, you act in direct anarchy to the rule of Christ, you jeopardize your own souls, and you forfeit all claim to blessing within the framework of the Church. All of that material is in sheet number three, which is available on the table at the rear of the Church. The Bible's Bible, Psalms 1-3. 1st John 12, chapter 11, verses 7-8-10, and 1st John 3-14. 1st John 12, chapter 11, verses 7-8-Wow, what a healing time it was! The Bible says, 1st John 12, chapter 11, verses 7-8-10, and 1st John 14, verses 27- option for the copy of the Bible, and 2nd John 24, make those requirements for the elder or the bishop. There is a direct relationship between

4:29 the requirements for bishops and elders and the task and function and position they have within the church, and I want to emphasize that all the way through the study. Secondly, we must always relate the individual part to the whole. There must be that concept of whole mess so that this list is not looked at in terms of an isolated requirement here and one here and one here, but rather individual parts of a general expression of mature piety and discernible godliness. The third guideline, we must remember that apart from the special gifts to teach and to rule, every other requirement mentioned as requisite for an elder is an injunction to believers in general. Some other place in scripture. So it's not as though you fold your arms and sit back and say, oh, well, we're seeing what the elder or bishop must be. In a very real sense, you're having a lesson as to what you must be. You're having a laying out of practical godliness for each one

5:36 of you. The only difference being is that though all believers ought to be this, elders must be. And then the last thing that will guide us in our study, we must try to have that threefold directive. We must look upward to God for wisdom, asking the Holy Spirit to give us illumination as we study. We must look inward and ask ourselves, if we exhibit these characteristics of godliness, any among you who aspire to the office of an elder, and there's a proper sense to do so, according to 1 Timothy 3.1, you must be soberly evaluating your lives. And then not only must we look upward and inward, but as a congregation, we must look inward and ask ourselves, if we're you must be looking outward to see if there are among us those who scripturally qualify for the office of an elder. Now, turning to the passage itself, we've merely or barely touched on the first two requirements as set forth in 1 Timothy 3. This is a true saying. If a man desire the

6:41 office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. A bishop, then, must be a good work. And underline, put in red stars, no exceptions, these are the requisites. The bishop must be blameless. And here you have that word, which stands as a canopy over everything that follows, literally means no just grounds to apprehend him. He not only has the reputation for godliness, he is a godly man. He must be blameless, and then he's going to explain in terms of positive and negative virtues what it means to be blameless. We are not to determine what a blameless man is. God the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, has given us some details as to what blamelessness involves. The first requirement, he must be one wife's husband, above reproach in his marital relationships. And we saw how necessary this was. For in the administration of oversight, if there's any question as to a man's morality, as to his governing all of his sexual life within the bounds of Scripture, then there will be loss of respect, loss of confidence, and great reproach to the cause of Jesus Christ. Now, that's our

Requirement 3: Temperate (Sober)

8:05 review, and we want to pick up with the third of these general virtues mentioned in this particular passage. He must not only be blameless in a general sense, one wife's husband, the King James says, vigilant, sober of good behavior. The list should read this way, temperate, sane, and orderly. There's been some change in the order here with the better manuscripts that we now have since the King James Bible was translated, and these words, remember, are 16th century words, and many of them have changed their meaning. So I'm giving you the meaning that is closest to the original in terms of 20th century. Americanese. I don't think we should call it English, because it's not English as such, it's really Americanese. Now, the third of these requirements, he should be a temperate man, that is, a sober, controlled man. The root word here means sober. It's translated that way in 1 Thessalonians 5, 6,

9:14 where all believers are exhorted, Now, there's a difference between somberness and soberness. A man may be somber without being sober, and he may be sober without being somber. Now, it's the opposite of a man being asleep, according to 1 Thessalonians 5, 6. What's it mean to be sober? Well, it means the opposite of being drowsy and sleepy-eyed. You see, when you sleep, you're out of control. You're out of control. You're touch with the world of reality. You can have dreams and imagine yourself to be handsome, beautiful, wealthy, important, influential, and then the alarm clock goes off and you're brought right back down to the world of hard facts. You look in the mirror and you see that you're not handsome. You walk down the street and nobody recognizes you and you realize you're not too important. You see, sleep takes you out of touch with the world of reality. It's the same word used

10:22 to contrast drunkenness as well. What happens when a man is drunk? He moves into that world of non-reality, the world of the alcoholic, the escape world, to get away from his problems, inward or outward, a man will drink. Now it says here that the bishop must not only be blameless in the general sense. One wife's husband, absolutely beyond reproach in his marital relationships, but he must be a temperate man, a sober man, a man who is in touch with the world of reality. He's not living in a fool's paradise. He's living in the light of the facts as they really are. He's a moderate, well-balanced, calm, careful, steady, and sane man. The best way I know to describe it in terms of our own idiom,

11:13 we say that so-and-so, was calm and collected. He has all his wits about him. Now, do you see why this is required of all Christians? In 1 Thessalonians 5, 6, this is required of all believers, that they be temperate, they be sober people. How can you live wisely if you're not living soberly? If you don't have the ability to really assess the world as it is, to assess yourself as you are, to assess the will of God as it is, how can you live wisely if you're not living soberly? How can you live wisely if you're not living soberly? Lots of professing Christians, and even some Christians, are sleepwalking. They live and act and think and spend their time as though the world was heaven, as though it were not an emergency situation, as though the devil had died, as though the flesh had suddenly all been put out of the way. They don't live soberly. They expose themselves unnecessarily to all forms of

12:14 temptation. They jeopardize their lives. They expose themselves unnecessarily to all forms of temptation. They jeopardize their lives. They jeopardize their lives. They jeopardize their spiritual condition by living in a fool's paradise and not being watchful and sober and recognizing there's an enemy about us. There's the flesh within us. Now that's why every Christian ought to be sober, but every elder must be a temperate, sober man. How can you lead the flock of God aright if he's living in a fool's paradise? If there develop attitudes and doctrines and dispositions with the flock, and he is supposed to guard the flock, how can he do so if he's not a temperate, sober man living in the world of reality? Absolutely impossible. All kinds of problems could be emerging in the assembly of God, and he's out here in a fool's fantasy, you see, unable to cope with the problem. Therefore, it's required of the elder that he be the man marked by this quality of soberness.

Requirement 4: Sane (Self-Controlled)

13:18 Soberness of a temperate disposition. Then the next word is sane or self-controlled. It literally means a man who has learned to curve his desires and impulses. It's the opposite of mad. Not mad in the sense of angry, but mad in the sense of insane. It says of that man whom our Lord healed, that demoniac in Mark 5.15, he was found clothed and in his right mind. Same word. Before, he was a madman, breaking asunder all the bonds with which they could bind him, cutting himself, throwing himself into the fire. But after the Lord Jesus delivered him, he was found clothed and in his right mind. He was sane. Romans 12.3 uses the same

14:09 word. Let every man judge soberly in terms of his own gifts, as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. You see, it's the picture of a man not controlling himself, controlled by sudden impulses, but a man who acts intelligently, who acts in the light of principle. Now, again, the Scripture requires this virtue of every Christian. In fact, Titus 2.12 declares one of the ends for which Christ died was to make us sober, sensible, to make us sane. Titus 2.12 says, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.

14:48 I'm sorry, the grace of God hath appeared. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly. There's the word. The grace of God hath appeared, teaching us that we should live soberly. Sane lives. You see, sin is a form of moral insanity. Moral insanity. Anyone here this morning who's not savingly joined to Jesus Christ, there's a sense in which you are spiritually insane.

15:19 Let me illustrate. If you were to drive down Bloomfield Avenue today and see a house that was being destroyed, it was being demolished, maybe a new highway was going through, you saw one of these huge cranes with the big two-ton balls, and the crane comes and the ball follows behind and clobbers it. And you knew that that wall was about to be knocked down and the next blow. What would you say of a man who, claiming to be an intelligent man in his right mind, were to go and stand right next to the wall that was about to receive the next smack of the ball?

15:54 Say, a man who did that was either bent on self-destruction or he was what? He was insane. He didn't have all his marbles. He doesn't realize what's happening.

16:06 Well, you see, every unconverted person in this building is in a worse condition than that. For hanging over your very head this morning is the wrath of Almighty God. According to John 3.36, the wrath of God abideth on him that believeth not.

16:23 And yet, unless God is pleased to awaken, you know what you'll do? You'll go out of this place just like all was well. Whistle and Dixie.

16:32 Insane. You see, an unconverted man is insane.

16:38 The first move to conversion is generally God bringing the mind around to some degree of sanity. As it says of the prodigal, he came to himself. He got sane and realized his condition. And so this sanity is required of every believer.

16:54 It's one of the marks of a saved man. But it must be evidenced in a very marked way. In the light of the demands of the overseeing bishop or elder. Think of the opportunities for good and for blessing.

Requirement 5: Orderly (Well-Arranged, Modest)

17:13 Think of the problems that arise within a local assembly. If the elder is not a sane or self-controlled man, if he's a man who acts by impulse and passion and not by reason, then you see all of the harm that can come and all of the good that will never be done within the assembly. Therefore, the bishop must be not only blameless, generally, specifically one wife's husband, temperate, sane, but now the next word, sort of an extension of these two, he must be orderly. Now that word means well-arranged, modest, or virtuous.

17:50 It's the only other place it's used in this same sense. I mean, in a sense near this is 1 Timothy 2.9, where it speaks of women must dress in modest, modest apparel. Now the word modest is the same word that's used here.

18:06 What is modest apparel? Well, it's apparel that is well-arranged, viewed of itself, and is befitting the profession of the woman who has it honored. Does she profess to be godly? Does she profess to be living for the world to come?

18:21 Does she profess to be concerned primarily with inner beauty? Then what is modest apparel? Well, it's apparel that fits that profession, right? It becomes that profession.

18:36 If you see a woman with her knees exposed halfway up her thighs and dressed in such a way that she's imitating the world with its preoccupation with sex, you say that's not what? Modest apparel. There's something wrong. Or if you see a woman who may be modestly dressed as far as the length of her dress and the cut and the size, but she has on all kinds of grotesque colors mixed together, all besmirched with dirt, you say that's not modest apparel.

19:09 It doesn't fit, you see. You say, usually it's people who are beginning to be demented. This is one of the things that a psychologist or a psychiatrist will look at or be observant about in counseling with someone who indicates perhaps some symptoms of mental imbalance, how they keep themselves physically. Well, you see, the elder must be the person marked by this whole demeanor of a well-arranged, modest and virtuous life.

19:39 The outward attitude and its outward expression in conduct. Perhaps I can best explain it by stating its opposite. He's not a scatterbrain running off in a hundred directions at the same time. The root word is the word which means order.

19:54 It's cosmion. It means order. So in the use of his time and energies, he indicates discipline of time and of energy. Punctuality.

20:06 Dependability at meetings. Dependability. If he makes a promise, his promise is good. When he's given a task, the task is accomplished.

20:14 Now, this should mark all the people of God, because God is a God of order. And when we're walking with him, our lives will be lives that are ordered. But it must mark the elder, for there's too much to be done, too many demands, too many problems. And if the elder is a helter-skelter person, you see, who doesn't display orderliness, then that's a problem.

Requirement 6: Hospitable

20:36 That helter-skelter attitude and climate will be projected upon the church, and the church will suffer. So, there must be some evidence of this requirement of orderliness in the life. And then, the next one mentioned is hospitable, or given to hospitality.

20:59 I don't need to preach long on this, do I? I hope most of you remember the two studies we had in the scripture several weeks ago. In fact, I had several of the people say, Pastor, I think you over-preached it. They said, we get so many demands to go out to eat that we can't keep up with all of them.

21:14 And that was greatly encouraging to me, to know that you had not only heard, but seemed to be walking in the light of that requirement of scripture. It means basically generous, kind to guests, particularly to outsiders. For in a day when there were not the provisions that we have in our day, we didn't have any holiday inns, and credit cards given to you by your denominational executives, so that you went into a town you could just put up at the holiday inn. This was a day when if there weren't some people who opened the doors to you, you'd sleep out in the street.

21:49 And sleeping out in the streets then was as dangerous business as sleeping out in the streets in the middle of the 7th Ward in Newark today. So, this was a virtue that had to be very evident in the life of the elder, because the open doors we saw in our lives, in our study previously, bespeaks the open heart. And God wants the love of the heart to be expressed in the open door. Now, this is required, of course, of all believers.

22:17 1 Peter 4, 9 were to be given to hospitality. But it must, in a peculiar way, be the mark of a bishop of an overseer. Why? Remember, this is not an arbitrary requirement.

22:29 Why must the bishop, the elder, the overseer be given to hospitality? Well, if he's going to oversee his people, he's got to know them. And the way you get to know people many times is in the context of the open door.

22:43 If he is to minister to his people, many times. Some of the ministries I've been privileged to have over a cup of tea on a Sunday night have been some of the most precious ministries, or over some meal that my wife prepared. In some weeks, we haven't kept track of this, but some weeks recently I know it's been anywhere from four to six times a week there's been someone else at the table. In fact, to get so now, the kids, when it's just, the five of us sit down and wonder, what's the matter?

23:10 Mommy, when are we going to have anybody? How come we're eating by ourselves? And the wonderful opportunity for ministry this affords. And then, of course, in this way the elder sets the example to the flock.

23:24 And according to Peter, he's to be an ensample to the flock. And if all the flock of God are to be given to hospitality, what greater way to manifest this than that its overseers demonstrate this virtue? You know, it's been a shocking thing. to me, to have some folk in the home, especially some of the students who've been in their own local churches, some of them for years, and they said, you know, Pastor, this is the first time we've ever been in the home of our pastor.

23:49 Grew up in an evangelical church and never felt that they had a home so that there could be this kind of communication that God wants his people to know, one with the other and especially with their office bearers. Now you have, in these first six requirements, what we might call a well-rounded, practical piety, all the way from a man's married life, absolutely unquestionable in his morals, the husband of one wife, one wife's husband, all of his affection and his sexual life locked up in that one woman, and nobody ever has reason to suspect that there's anything left over for anyone else. Then he is that man. That is, temperate, sober, he's not living in the fool's paradise of the sleepwalker or of the drunken man. He's a self-controlled man, orderly, well-arranged, given to hospitality. And now we come to one of those peculiar requirements that God does not require of the average saint.

Requirement 7: Apt to Teach – Grasp of Scripture

24:55 And I mentioned earlier that there are but two, this ability to teach and this peculiar ability to govern. But this is a virtue that must be manifested in the Lord. In the life of the teaching, ruling elder. Now notice how he expresses it.

25:10 He must be apt to teach. Titus 1.9 describes it a little differently. Will you look for a moment, please, to Titus 1 and verse 9, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able, underline the word able, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince.

25:41 So we might read it, if we get the core of the structure, that he may be able to exhort and to convince. The word able and the word apt indicate that one of the things that an elder, a bishop must have, that the ordinary saint need not have, and even as we'll see later that the deacons need not have, is an aptitude to teach. This is translated in different ways. I'm reading from four different versions now to give an idea.

26:12 An apt teacher must have the gift of teaching, a good teacher skillful in teaching. So it's obvious that the words mean what they say. The bishop must be skilled in teaching. He must have ability given by God and proven in experience to communicate the truth of God.

26:37 Now what does this involve? If a man is to be an apt teacher. If a man is to be skillful. If a man is to be skillful in teaching.

26:45 What are the minimum requirements? May I suggest three? Number one, he must have a grasp on the basic content and doctrine of the Holy Scriptures. Notice in Titus, this is expressed in the word, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught.

27:07 It's a beautiful picture. It's the same word used in Matthew 6 where Jesus said, no man can serve the Lord, but he must have the grasp of the basic content and doctrine of the Holy Scriptures. Notice in Titus, this is expressed in the word, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught. It's a beautiful picture.

27:13 Plus he will have the most knowledge in the direct teaching and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. It's the picture of grasping with affection and attachment from the heart. Now the requirement of every elder, every bishop, is that he be apt to teach this hearty present tense grasp upon the Word of the living God. The contents.

27:43 content of Scripture and the basic structure of doctrine revealed in Scripture. It's called holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, or the faithful word which is according to the teaching. In other words, he's a man who hasn't played footloose and fancy-free with the Word of God. He's received the teaching from God. He has the mind of a disciple. You see, dear ones, all of these people parading up and down our land who've had the hands of the elders upon them and have been ordained to the so-called Christian ministry, standing in pulpits, spewing out their opinions, have no more business in the pulpit than a barking dog at your table. No business. The bishop must be a man who holds the faithful word which is according not to his own notions, not according to his own insights, but is according to the teaching of the gospel. The teaching, that revealed truth that comes from God. He's a man with that intellectual and

28:54 spiritual humility that causes him to bow before that book with the black covers and say, O God, take my mind like putty and stamp upon it and shape it and mold it according to the book.

Requirement 7: Apt to Teach – Ability to Communicate

29:10 The elder must be apt to teach, involving first of all a grasp on and submission to the basic content and doctrine. You see, this is why the apostles did not immediately ordain elders. They'd plant a church and then they'd go away and either come back or send their representatives back months or even years later, because it takes time for a man to get a grasp on the basic content and doctrine of Holy Scripture. This is why in our Constitution we require of all elders that they hold without reservation to the expression of Christian doctrine as set forth in the Bible. This is why in the London Confession of Faith or the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, because we're convinced it's the closest expression to the word of God. Everybody says, yeah, I believe the Bible, but there needs to be some touchstone of doctrine so that they can be held to that faithful word as it has been delivered. Then secondly, this ability to teach, apt to teach, not only involves a grasp on the basic content and doctrine of Scripture, but a proven ability to communicate that truth to others. 1 Timothy 3 says he must be apt to teach. Titus says he must

30:27 be able to exhort. Well, how do you find that out? Except by proving whether a man has aptitude to teach, whether he has ability to exhort. Now, what does that involve in the minimum? Well, it involves an ability to communicate on a man-to-man basis in order to defend and propagate and apply the truth of God. Elders, as we saw in our study of their function, stand as representatives of the Lord Jesus to administer his word in the assembly, to apply the word of God. They rule by the word of Christ. No more, no less. The extent of their rule is the extent of Holy Scripture.

31:12 Therefore, there must be some ability to communicate that word at least on a man-to-man basis so that an elder who's dealing with a disciplinary problem can be able to communicate that word. Can take that person through the scriptures and show the direction that scripture would lead must be sufficient grasp upon scripture, sufficient ability to communicate. For it's obvious that not all elders have the ability which leads them to give themselves wholly to teaching in a public way, or else 1 Timothy 5.17 will be meaningless. The elders that rule well are worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in doctrine, indicating that some elders rule well and are worthy of double honor. The elders who are worthy of double honor are well who don't labor in the word and in doctrine, but they must be apt to teach. They must be able, at least on that man-to-man basis, to defend, to propagate, and to apply the truth of God to others. Then, of course, on the other end of the spectrum, the maximum requirement, they must be able to stand in the assembly and use their peculiar gifts of teaching and exhortation for the blessing of the entire assembly. This is why we read

32:22 in Romans 12.8, he that prophesieth is to give himself to his prophesying, he that teacheth to his teaching, he that exhorteth to his exhortation. 1 Timothy 5.17 again, some men rule well without this continual labor in teaching, some men rule by laboring in the word and in doctrine.

32:44 Apt to teach, number one, grasp on the basic content and doctrine of scripture. Number two, approve an ability to teach. Number three, a proven ability to teach. Number four, a proven ability to communicate that truth to others. And then thirdly, there must be such a love for truth and for people, which will make the first two operative. Some men have a grasp on truth, they have some ability to communicate it individually or corporately, but they don't have sufficient love for the truth or for people to do the work of communication. Their whole attitude is let John do it, let Henry do it, let Pete do it. You see, some of you are not going to do it. Some of you, I'm sure, are sleepwalking when it comes to the function of a teacher.

33:33 Any man who takes that office seriously at times wonders if he was sane when he took it. For the scripture says, be not many of you teachers, knowing that you should receive the heavier judgment. No man ever called of God ever said, well, you know, Lord, I've been sort of sitting in the wings waiting for you to call my number. I've been convinced for a long time that I'd be a great blessing to your church. And I'm so glad, Lord, you caught up with my notions. No, no, whenever God called a man, he wanted to run. You find in scripture when God called a man, he wanted to run. He says, oh, I'm going to make you my mouthpiece. And Jeremiah says, oh, God, I'm a child. Moses says, I can't speak. Ezekiel's overwhelmed. Why? They had a concept of the awesome place to stand as a dispenser of divine truth. And yet, if there's such a love for truth, you're constrained in spite of the awesomeness of the task.

34:30 In spite of the frightening judgment that'll come to those who teach, you're constrained to give yourself to the task and such a love for people. You see, teaching is not like a computer operator or an IBM punch card operator. You just feed information into that feelingless, soulless box. Teaching God's truth isn't doing that. You see, the guy who's feeding information into the computer, he can call that computer all kinds of names and even kick it once in a while. It'll never talk back. It won't hinder the information going in unless he busts a tube or something. But you see, when you're dealing with the realm of God's truth, ruling by the Word of God in the assembly, you're dealing with people made of flesh and blood. It's sad to say lots of

35:17 sinful flesh still crawling around, and sensitive flesh, and people of different degrees of maturity and different backgrounds. So there must be this third element, and the Word of God so beautifully describes it in 2 Timothy 2. Let the Word of God comment on what it means to be apt to teach. Will you look at 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 24?

Requirement 7: Apt to Teach – Love for Truth and People

35:42 2 Timothy 2, verse 24, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, that means he must not be argumentative, a debater, always ready to throw down the gauntlet and come to sword's points, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, and patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. That's what it means to be apt to teach, having not only a grasp upon truth and proven ability to communicate it, but such a love for truth that will make you go right on communicating it, even though it's not received, and in that interim period doesn't make you cut off the people who won't receive it. You're patient to them. You're meek before them. See? Sufficient love for the truth and for

36:41 people that makes the first two operative. We often say of a certain man, well, you know, I don't question his ability as a doctor. I don't question his knowledge as a doctor, but I don't like his bedside manner, or he has no bedside manner. He has no heart for his patients. When I was in California, the first day there, I spent some time with a fine Christian doctor who sort of said, I don't like his bedside manner. I don't like the patient's habit towards oralquently patients. He's a sort of a patriarch in that little town of some maybe 5000 people. He's delivered, I imagine three quarters of the babies that are born there over the past 20 to 25 years, and he's taking care of all the bunions on the feet of the old ladies. They know him and does premarital counseling with the young couple. He's sort of a patriarch in that town, and he has an associate with him. When I began asking how this worked out, he said, well, fellow is sharp, he knows his business, but many of my patients, he said, after they've had one visit with him, come back and say never again. Why? You don't trust his ability?

37:47 Not at all. Very evil. You don't trust his knowledge? No question of his knowledge. What is it? It's his manner. It's his manner. Now that's what I'm talking about, you see. It's not enough for a man to have a grasp on the content of Scripture, a proven ability to communicate it, but he's got to have a proper bedside manner. Does that communicate? Does that say something? He must have that love for truth and people which will make the first two operative. Now this is the one thing with the matter of ruling that is not required of all believers for the simple reason that the Lord Jesus, the head of the church, has not been pleased to convey the gift of teaching upon all believers. Ephesians 4.11 speaks of the ascended Christ giving to some. Some, apostles, some, evangelists, and to some, pastors and teachers. We read in 1 Corinthians

38:42 12.28, but God, and this is the important thing that we need to see with regard to this matter of this aptitude to teach, 1 Corinthians 12.28 declares, God hath set some in the church, teachers, governments. God sets them in the church.

39:02 It is he who sets them in the church. It is he who sets them in the church. It is he who grants these gifts. It is he who confers them. Now we should covet the better gifts according to 1 Corinthians 14.1. We should long after the better gifts, and there should be among us men who are crying to God if it would please them to equip, please him to equip them with gifts to teach and seek to prove those gifts. But be that as it may, it is no aspersion upon the character of a man if God has not endowed him with the gifts of the Lord Jesus.

Implications for the Church and Ministerial Training

39:33 This aptitude to teach. Now you see, of course, why this is necessary for the elder. For if he rules in the assembly and the measure of his rule or the source book of his rule is the word of God, if he can't communicate it, if he doesn't have sufficient grasp upon it to be able to defend it against all those that would undermine its authority, if he doesn't have sufficient grasp to know what portions apply in given situations, how can he rule? It's like a president trying to rule who doesn't know and isn't conversant with the Constitution. Impossible. And one wonders if the past presidents we've had have had much familiarity with the Constitution. Now do you see the implications of this in our own assembly? I trust you do. The only people we are warranted to recognize as office bearers

40:37 in this realm of eldership or bishops are those who have demonstrated that they have a grasp upon the Constitution. And if we really believe this, then you see, we're not going to look upon the word of, quote, the pastor when he expounds the Scripture as coming with more authority than when an elder comes to us and opens up our scriptural duty. No, no. We will recognize whether it's the one we call the pastor or another elder. Whenever an elder comes and opens the word of God to apply it to our situation, that comes with an equal authority in the directive of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've got to get away from this idea that somehow the pastor stands in an office that's a little bit above an elder and the rest. It's not taught in Scripture. And any elder who administers rightly the word of God, whether it be for instruction, for exhortation, for discipline, for prayer, for prayer, for prayer, for prayer, for prayer, for discipline, whether it be personally or corporately on a man-to-man basis in the home or whether corporately from the pulpit, that word comes as the word of Christ and is to be submitted to and obeyed. Therefore, you dare not set over you any elder whom you

42:04 do not have reason to believe has a grasp upon the basic content of Scripture and has himself submitted to it, who has some proven ability to communicate it, and who's demonstrated that he has a heart loved by God. By the way, similar to what you said about the disciples, God said, We shall not submit to the church but to ourselves. It's not a phrase you can use toamentos. It's a phrase you can use in a sermon. You can use in a sermon, or you can use in a prayer. It's a phrase which we use not in a sermon. It's the phrase we use in a sermon. Let's put it absolutely straight in a sermon. You think it's a phrase we use in a sermon because it's a very difficult phrase to put in a sermon, but it's a phrase you can use in a sermon. It's another phrase I say sometimes, That's the idea that we give young men an opportunity to prove their gifts. We give them an opportunity to exercise those gifts that may be there in germ form. How in the world can a young man, fresh out of seminary, sometimes who's done nothing but preach a few artificial sermons in the artificial climate of the homiletics classroom, how is a congregation, after hearing him preach one time, to know if he's apt to teach? And yet this is the way it operates again and again.

43:20 And I'm convinced when I go from these different places and hear the complaints that come of the fact that hungry sheep are looking up week after week and are not fed, many men are trying to be teaching, ruling elders who have no aptitude to teach.

43:36 Maybe godly men. Maybe Christ-loving men.

43:42 They have this aptitude to teach.

43:47 Start at 11.30 and when they're done at 10 after 12, you don't know where they've been or where they'd even hoped to go. They love the Lord. But, beloved, a flock of God doesn't grow on my love to Christ.

44:01 They grow on the word of God.

44:08 Laid out so they know where you've been and where you're going and what you've said. So they can go home with some substance in their hands.

44:17 Therefore, I trust as a church we will respond to this concept of an apprenticeship kind of ministry with young men whom God brings to us. It struck pretty close to home when I sat in my study two weeks ago, last weekend ago. Ted Hagen was with us. And he poured out his heart to me on wondering if he's called to preach.

44:37 And here Ted, for six years now, has done nothing but go to Bible school and seminary with a view to preparing himself for the ministry. And I went down the requirements of 1 Timothy 3. And by the grace of God, I'm not aware, nor is Ted, of glaring inconsistencies in his life. Areas that must be strengthened.

44:53 But as far as the general characteristic of godliness, I believe I see them manifested in him. As far as the domestic characteristics, he seems, after having been married only about a year, to be ruling his house well, having a wife who takes her proper place. But then in this third area, apt to teach, he says, I don't know. I haven't had any chance to prove myself.

45:13 What could I tell him? Well, all I could tell him was, Ted, we'll do everything in our power by God's grace as a church to find that you do have an opportunity to prove yourself. Try to get some contacts. You can get somewhere and preach for a summer.

45:25 And if that doesn't open up, if you want to come up and live in the area and give you a chance to take a class and sit in and observe, then we'll have to do it. This is part of it. Part of our obligation as a church. Do you want to be party to sending out young men to curse other churches who have no aptitude to teach?

45:41 Frankly, I can't do it with a good conscience.

45:44 I can't simply say, well, you know, we love him. He was with us. He's a dear boy. You ought to take him as your pastor.

45:50 This has implications, you see, for us as a church. It has implications in this whole matter of the pastoral call. This idea that you haul a man in, let him preach twice, and then have your meeting, and give the fruits. This idea of your personality contest, that's the way it is in most places.

46:08 It's utterly unscriptural. Men who are to take the place of elders, whether they be ruling elders, only are teaching ruling elders, must demonstrate some aptitude to teach. And it will make a difference in the kind of preparation we give our young men for the ministry. You know what happens in the average ministerial preparation?

46:33 Ninety-eight percent of all the preparation, is on this aspect of exposure to the content and doctrine of Scripture, and so little to help a man determine if he has aptitude to teach, and to cultivate that aptitude, and so little to emphasize that even though he may have the content and the doctrine, the aptitude, if he doesn't have a real godly life, he utterly, utterly is unqualified for the ministry. And I believe any seminary students would say amen to what I've said. The emphasis is not where God puts it. So something's got to be done, beloved.

47:15 What's going to be done, I don't know. But I'm encouraged. I talked with a preacher in the car just before I flew back from St. Louis, and he's being instrumental in seeing a seminary started in France where their whole concept is you take young men and you put them under the shadow of a man of God.

47:30 And that man of God takes him into the study with him when he prays for his flock and says, here's how we do it, and he prays with them. Then he takes him out when he goes out to preach evangelistically. He says, here's how we do it. Then he lets him preach and works with them.

47:43 I believe, dear ones, this is scriptural. It's how Paul trained young men for the ministry. And then he passed on to Timothy and said, now you do it the way I did it with you. The things you've heard of me among many witnesses, commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

48:00 And Timothy was a companion of Paul. He learned by watching. What's it mean to preach with power? He'd heard that little hook-nosed Jew preach with such anointing that Timothy could never be content to just stand up and give his cute little free speech.

48:13 And he'd point, outline, and throw it out as being biblical preaching. He'd heard a man preach! And in his soul some fires were kindled that would cause him to never be content with anything less than real preaching. See?

48:26 What's it mean to watch over people? He'd seen Paul weep. He'd seen Paul shake with holy rage when he heard of false teachers coming into the assembly. He knew what it was to love truth and to hate error.

48:37 He learned it by the contagion of a light. Well, beloved, I'll leave it to you to work out. I'll work out some of the other implications. But I remind you that this is not some unattainable idealism that says elders would be better off if they were this.

48:55 But the bishop must be blameless, one wife's husband, temperate, sane, orderly, hospitable, apt to teach. May God grant that we shall recognize such if they exist amongst us. And if they don't, let's pray. Let's pray that God will give us such men for our well-being and for the glory of Christ.

49:22 Let us pray. Our Father, we pray that thy spirit may illuminate our minds as touching thy truth. It's so hard, Lord, to unlearn old patterns of thought.