Truth in Love... Eph 4:15 (Elders)

Ephesians 4:15 and Growing Up Into Christ

Ephesians 4 15 But speaking the truth in love We are to grow up in all aspects into Who is the head even Christ? Good morning. It's beautiful outside a Few clouds it's cold outside, but it's sunny. It's not raining right now.

Imagine that I Want to talk with you pray with you? So whenever you join in let me know that you're there and If you would like for me to pray for you or with you type me so that I can pray for you. I was doing the video Thursday night.

I was messing around with my program and I'm not able to stream through my program to Facebook like I like I wanted to do. And I couldn't fix it again this morning so We're going with the original Facebook live but We're going with truth and love.

Again.

Don't know why I need a title. I just just wanted to throw one out there and. But I still want to talk with you want to pray with you. If you have any questions ask a question. If you want to chat interact, I'd love to interact with you.

Let me know that you're watching if you want prayer. So that I can pray for you and with you that's the main reason that I wanted to get on Facebook on a regular basis is to let you know that Someone is there.

I'm here. Wanted to be in your community wanted to reach out to you and pray for you if you Need a prayer. I hope you're doing well. Let's see if anybody joins us if you caught the post. Earlier in the week where I said that.

This was coming up on Saturday morning and the subject that I wanted to talk about. It's gonna be different than the subjects. I've talked about before. This is this is one of those subjects that I think there's a lot of folks that that don't understand and I think that it The the subject gets neglected that it's not talked about in church among Christians but I think we need to talk about it because it's biblical and I wanted to share it with you and maybe it will start a conversation.

And I wanted to speak this truth from Scripture in love it's one of those aspects that verse 15 talks about that we are to grow up in and Because it represents Christ and who he is and how he wants to do things.

And we want to represent him we want to glorify God by doing things His way and not our way no matter how hard it is to change or how hard it is to to admit that We may be wrong. We had to do that at salvation, right?

When the Holy Spirit opened our eyes and we realized that that we are sinners that we've sinned against him that we are wrong. And how we live. We had to admit that we had to repent of that apologize for that and and turn towards Christ in his way which was Trusting in him for our salvation and not ourselves and trusting in his way of doing things and part of that is is reading scripture learning scripture and And doing things his way.

And we should be doing that and growing all throughout our lives and the Holy Spirit says that's The scriptures that's part of the Holy Spirit's role is sanctification. Growing us through his through God's Word.

Inside out changing our hearts changing our minds and then changing our behaviors into More like Christ into him the head even Christ The Messiah. So good morning. Again, ask me questions chat interact with me if you would like prayer type me.

I want to talk with you want to pray with you and I kind of just talked from the Bible just to have conversation and and just to encourage you. But the main reason I wanted to get on here is to pray pray for you and pray with you and and reach out to You throughout the week.

If you're there say hi, let me know that you're there. Morning, mom and dad morning Pam. Good to have you with us. This is an important topic that I want to talk about this morning, I hope it will spark discussion.

So, let's go ahead and get started so that I don't ramble on and on.

What It Means to Speak the Truth in Love

But.

The subject that I want to talk about this morning from scripture is the subject of elders. I'm going to give you two stories. Before we talk about what the scripture says about elders Kelly and I have started watching a show together.

One of the shows that we watch together. And I'm not going to give the name of it. But one of the shows that we watch together is one of the new Hospital shows that that's on TV. I think it's in season two now and.

And.

We watched we asked what's the episode for it for this week together and there was. The the hospital has a counselor there. I'm sure I don't know the protocol, but I'm sure most hospitals have a counselor psychiatrist someone to work with with people outside of a chaplain or pastor.

This particular hospital has Has a counselor that works there and a couple Came in and and they were recommended to them the this counselor was. And they wanted they needed some counseling for their relationship so the the couple comes in and he has them sit down and this couple Was actually engaged.

They met in college. They they dated and they become engaged and And obviously to to progress that far in your relationship you begin to know each other. They had written their vows. They were they were going to be or they're supposed to be married in 16 days.

And.

So they had written their vows they had grown in a relationship the morning Sean and Gail. They had they'd written their vows. They had progressed in their relationships where they they knew each other enough to where They could write their vows.

They knew they knew why they loved each other and they knew for what reasons they loved each other. They they began to know each other very well. So much that they they knew why and and for what reasons they loved each other.

Well, there was a wrench thrown in this relationship. The counselor began to ask well, you know, what's the real problem? What's going on?

And.

The the girl in the relationship she said Well for a wedding gift my uncle sent Sent us a DNA test. Can you imagine where this story is going. So the couple Both took a DNA test. They sent it off and then they got the results back.

Then guess what? The problem is they found out through the DNA test That they were actually brother and sister. So I can imagine why they needed counseling why they needed to to work some things out because the DNA test Revealed that they're brother and sister.

So.

With that information revealed. You've got two options. You you continue to walk in the same path or based on this new information. You begin a different path. Right, I'm not going to tell you how the story ends in the TV episode because I think maybe Television shows and Hollywood today have a hidden agenda.

And so maybe you can under maybe you can guess which direction this couple chose to go and how the counselor counseled them to go but here you have a couple who Dated became engaged. They knew each other.

They knew each other so well that they they knew that they loved each other while they loved each other. But they dug a little bit further with the DNA test to get to know each other even more and They found out that they were brother and sister.

And so based on that new information, they had to make a decision Continue on the same path or go in a different path. And I thought how fitting is that? Example for. Not just this Bible study. Or studying this subject, but but any part of Scripture as you study Scripture.

And the Holy Spirit reveals things to you. Things that you didn't see before and new things the Holy Spirit Decides that you're ready for wants to change in your life, you know. Do you apply that you go in the same direction that you were going or do you follow?

And they're beating to the Holy Spirit and go in in the new direction with the new information. So that's what we have to decide when we're in Scripture. And what we have to decide with the subject and the subject this morning about elders.

The the second story that I want to tell you is not really not really a story just more of an example.

The.

If you've ever been to The city within our hometown of Lincoln County the city in the middle there is Lincolnton. If you've ever driven down Main Street You'll see that there are several churches or church buildings.

You'll drive by one that looks like a church.

And.

It actually used to be of the first Baptist Church of Lincolnton but if you look at the sign, you'll see that it is now the Lincoln Cultural Center and But on the outside it looks like a church. But on the side and if you go on the inside You will see that it is not a church anymore.

You.

Worship is not there by the first Baptist preaching. Sunday school giving. Church is not practiced. Assemblies are not gathered there for for church of the first Baptist anymore. But on the outside. You could be mistaken.

I think that that looks like a church that looks like churches that we build today. Morning Amanda, if you're watching, let me know that you're watching. If you want to ask questions. If you want to chat.

I'd love for you to do that. Love to interact. If you would like prayer type me. I'd love to pray for you. That's the reason why I'm doing it. This is is to reach out to you and pray for you and with you.

You don't have to say what it is. We don't want to air out dirty laundry. We don't want to gossip. The Lord knows what is on your heart? So if you'd like me to pray for you with you. Just type me and I'd love to do that.

But the the The Cultural Center, which is formally the first Baptist Church of Lincolnton. On the outside looks like a church inside. It's not anymore. They've moved locations. So, what does that have to do with our subject?

Well.

Imagine this we have. Maybe you go to a church. There's churches. Everywhere here in the South here in America. Churches everywhere. And just picture Your church building or the closest church building if you don't attend.

Just imagine it. Morning Robert. Just imagine a church building in your mind has the name of the church out front and you can you can see the bricks and the roof and the steeple and.

And.

There's actually folks that assemble there as a church congregation for worship. But if you observe the practices We can look like a church but we can also as we assemble as we gather. Not follow The biblical practices like we should.

It's just like our life. We grow on sanctification. We're not going to be perfect. The Holy Spirit will grow us and and change us and we have to be willing like I said to to change direction to Go in that different path with the new information.

But overall all Christian churches Their practice comes from the same book the Bible God's Word and so there should be Some similarities between our churches in in how we practice and what we look like.

From scripture we get our mandate from Christ and he he created the world and he gave us his word and that's where we should Get our mandate from from him not ourselves not our ideas not from somebody that we hired that has a wonderful vision.

We should always get our mandate our practices how we do church from scripture one of those things Is elders and this is going to be new information to a lot of people. Because it's not talked about and we're going to talk about why at the end.

But it's new information and so we've got to decide what we're going to do with that information. I wanted to share with you My first experience with the word elder in Scripture, and I don't remember how old I was.

I don't remember how many years ago. It was Thank you, Pamela. But it was a long time ago when I was a lot younger and I looked at scripture. And this this verse is used in other ways. And you'll see why when I read it, but this was my first introduction to to the word elders.

And it comes from James 5 14 and says is anyone sick among you. Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of The Lord so you can see why this verse is used In a different way other than focusing on elders.

We go to this verse when when we're sick our loved ones are sick and We want the church to pray for them and anoint them with oil and we want the Lord's blessing and hand on Those who are sick, and so that's that's the direction that we usually go with this verse.

But it was my first introduction to the word elders.

And so.

Back then younger young Christian. Just beginning to read the word. I asked myself. What what does elders mean? And I. I never asked I never investigated. I just kind of always assumed that.

Elders.

Using.

Common sense common knowledge meant maybe the the older more mature folks of the church would go and Lay their hands on anointing with oil. Those who are sick. So that was that was my understanding and the Lord has grown me in in this area.

And it took a while. This is this is not something that Don't learn right off. The Holy Spirit revealed this to me through other ministries. That that maybe you or maybe your pastors are familiar with one of them is 9marks ministry and I have a couple of their books here who try to explain scripture and Practices from scripture.

So it.

It wasn't always Knowledge to me. The Holy Spirit grew me in this and I want to share the truth in love so that. Maybe a conversation can be started. So that we can our practices can be more biblical the way they should be the way Jesus mandated for them to be.

Elders, Pastors, Bishops, and Overseers in Scripture

So if.

What does elders mean here? Do we see the word elder or elders other other places in Scripture. Yes, we do. The answer is yes.

The word.

And this is information I'm just going to turn into a different text so that I'm ready for it. The word elder. This is from By whose authority elders in Baptist life. And Of course, I'm I'm a Baptist.

So I'm gonna kind of speak from it from that perspective. But as I said before all Christian churches, no matter what your your name is on the outside We all get our mandate from the same place.

So.

It talks about here in this section The the Greek word. The Greek root from which the word elder comes from I occur 75 times in the New Testament nine times. It speaks about the those who are advanced in age that the elderly nine times four times speaks to ancestors of the Hebrew nation.

John uses Such words twelve times in Revelation to refer to the heavenly elders or rulers. 29 times all in the Gospels and Acts. The word is used to refer to Jewish non-priestly leaders. Get that Jewish non-priestly leaders either in the Sanhedrin or the local synagogue and the remaining 20 uses refer to elders in churches in Jerusalem Lystra Iconium and Antioch and Epsos and the towns of Crete and other general references.

So the word elder comes up other places in Scripture, not just there in James 5. So this briefly kind of gives us an idea that there's more uses for the word elder Than just the the elderly that the mature and aged It has a different usage in Scripture.

And that Greek root that Greek word Also is the root for for other words.

And so.

Whenever the word elder is used in Scripture and it's in it's not referring to the mature and aged. But it's referring to church leaders. There are other words that you could put in its place and it would mean the same thing.

Morning Sherry. So, let me give you the list of those words whenever you see the word elder in Scripture and it's referring to leaders. You can use the word shepherd pastor Bishop or overseer. All of those words are interchangeable.

So whenever you see the word pastor, you can put in elder. Whenever you see the word bishop you can put it overseer. They all mean the same thing and they're interchangeable. And all all the people in Scripture that hold this office are also in in one verse called Bishops and then the next verse they're called overseers.

All these words are interchangeable. So.

Elders.

Using Scripture that doesn't mean maturing age. That means when it's referring to a church leader. We can use any of these words. Our most common word that we use today is Pastor, but we can also use the word elder and be biblical.

Okay, so they're the morning James and Karen so there's no difference in meaning or word or title. So your your pastor at your church could be called elder bishop overseer or shepherd. We just we're just used to calling The pastor at our church the pastor or the preacher that's what we call them in the south the preacher.

So we we've got that out of the way and that part of this topic is not controversial. Because From my understanding all all pastors all scholars Bible students. They would recognize they would agree that all these words are interchangeable.

There there's no disagreement there. You can use any of these words for those positions. Here's where the controversy comes in and this is. This is the this is the part that That will cause us to think this will be the new information and this is where we need we'll need to.

Begin our conversations begin our thoughts. Good morning, Jean. Jenny, excuse me. So I want you to be open-minded to scripture. Closed-minded to.

Our.

Worldly influences but open to scripture and and test it to see if it's true. Study it and have the conversation. But here's the controversial part of Elders and having elders and what the scripture says about it.

The question is Do we have one? Or do we have a group multiple pastors multiple elders in our church. That's the question and that's where it becomes controversial. So what is what is the practice in scripture?

What is the mandate from? From Christ for our churches through scripture. Again looking at the same book The the practice in the Old Testament.

Was.

Was for Jewish towns be typically be governed by multiple elders. The this practice of calling the local town leaders elders had its roots in the Old Testament.

So.

It's not new to the New Testament, it's it's a practice that was that was in the Old Testament that Began that was also practiced in the New Testament. And here when you when you leave the Old Testament and go to the New Testament.

The statement from this book says the normal pattern in the New Testament is for congregations to have more than one Elder this is where it gets tough because we're thinking about our church. We're thinking about the church that we go to and remember the word elder can be replaced.

It's the same word same meaning for pastor shepherd overseer bishop, so When you think when I say elder think pastor when I say pastor think elder and this is where it gets tough. This is where we have to engage our brains and and open up our hearts to Scripture.

The pattern for the New Testament for New Testament congregations was to have more than one elder or pastor. Isn't that interesting? We the typical practice for us is. We have an open position. We we let that be known.

We receive resumes or recommendations. We conduct interviews. We listen to trial sermons. And then we pick a pastor and then that position is filled and our churches. We have one pastor. That's been the typical practice that most of us are familiar with.

But that's not the normal pattern that we see in the new the New Testament. Let me read to you some some New Testament verses and you may have a question. That that I had and I we wouldn't have discussed that question after I read these verses.

But but I want to read these verses. From the New Testament that when you hear the word elder. They do not use the word in singular. They use it in plural. The author is writing to a church and he uses the word elder in its plural form elders.

As as it's the common pattern for there to be more than one elder there at the church.

So.

First Peter 5 1 through 2. Therefore I exhort the elders among you. Remember James 5 14. Is anyone among you sick? We're speaking to a congregation. Therefore I exhort the elders among you as your fellow.

Elder.

Remember that this is from Peter and he's saying your fellow elder and Witness of the sufferings of Christ a partaker. Also the glory that is to be revealed Shepherd the flock of God among you exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God not for sordid gain, but with eagerness and.

There's another key section of this verse that is so important when we're talking about this subject or any subject that has to do with Leading our church according to Scripture. Peter is speaking to the elders and he says Shepherd the flock that congregation shepherd the flock of God among you.

There's that among you again According to the will of God. Listen to that mandate shepherd the flock of God among you According to the will of God. That's where our hearts have to be as a as a member of a congregation.

I want my leaders to To live in this verse that they shepherd the flock according to the will of God. That's the kind of church. I want to go to That every aspect of their ministry not just the pulpit ministry, but they're leading of the congregation.

They're shepherding of the flock is according to the will of God and this This subject of elders is a part of that. So do you we want our? Shepherds our elders our pastors.

To.

Lead us biblically and to what church leadership should look like. Not to be silent. Not to not to hold on to that truth. But to reveal that truth from Scripture and lead us according to the will of God that is so important.

And that's why I wanted to start with this verse. Even though it speaks to our subject. He's speaking to the elders there among you. He's giving them a mandate as well to shepherd according to the will of God.

Toss one file. For this reason I left you in Crete that you would set in order What remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you? So he leaves them there in Crete. To set things in order he putting things in place putting the ministry in place.

Having a certain order of a way of doing things. And one of those Ways of doing things is he was to appoint elders in every city. Leaders pastors of the congregation. Used in the plural acts 21 18. Excuse me.

And the following day Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present.

X 2017.

For my latest he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church at 16 for Now while they were passing through the cities They were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the Apostles and elders Who were in Jerusalem? for them to observe and X 14 23 Paul and Barnabas appoint elders for them in each church and With prayer and fasting committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.

So here we have examples from the New Testament where elders are put in place in each church as the normal pattern practice of the New Testament. So why today? Here's a question that that maybe you had or it's a question that I had.

In our churches today, like I said earlier The most common practice that we have is we have we have one pastor. But the other office is what? What's that other office? It's the office of deacon that we have in our churches and we're familiar with that.

We practice that the other biblical office. But in our churches, what's what's the common pattern today we have one pastor but we have a Board of Deacons a group of deacons. So, why do we do that why do we have.

Why do we have a group of deacons but only one pastor. First Timothy 3 8 says deacons it's you know, there's there's nowhere no verse in Scripture that says You must appoint a Group of deacons a.

Group.

Multiple more than one. It does the scripture does the same thing as it does with elders. It just uses it in the plural form not the singular. So when you in first Timothy 3 8 when you look in the qualifications of pastors and elders and deacons It says deacons Likewise must be dignified not double-toned not addicted to much wine not greedy and for dishonest gain.

So The the scripture mandate is to have deacons in your church using the plural. Just won't take a second to Say hey to those who are watching. Let me know that you're watching say hello. Ask questions chat interact with me.

The main reason why I'm doing it this Is to pray for you and with you to let you know that that I'm here that somebody's here. That I want to be a part of your community. I know that we we don't ever see each other hardly ever we're on our.

We're doing our own things we're going to work we're at home we have our own responsibilities. But we we do get on Facebook. And I want to let you know that somebody's here that will pray for you and pray with you.

If you watch this during the week and you would like prayer just type me and The Lord knows what it is. I don't need to know nobody else needs to know. But I want to be able to pray for you and pray with you.

So, let me know that you're there talk with me and and let me know that you would like prayer. No, I'll pray for you and with you. I'd love to do that. So back to deacons. What why is that our tradition today to Elect a group of deacons.

And then but not follow the same pattern that we see from Scripture and Have a group of one engineer have a group of elders like we do with deacons. So one of the answers I thought that that some might say.

And I'm gonna have to put my coffee aside because it is getting cold. Act 6 act 6 2 through 5. This is appropriately used. I think for deacons. But this is this is where we would come to and say well the reason we have multiple deacons is this church is because our our example in Scripture comes from acts and.

They.

Elected or voted upon or chose. Good morning. Good morning, Teresa. You want to Trent if you want to interact. Interact chat with me have a heavy questions if you would like for me to pray for you. I'd love to pray for you.

So just let me know that you're there. Let me know that you're watching. So we would go to acts and we would say they elected they chose a group of deacons to. And we're we're all in agreement that deacons are to serve.

That's their position. That's their role. That's the meaning of the word they're to serve. And they elected chose multiple deacons here in acts 6 2 through 5. It says in the 12th summon The congregation of the disciples and said it is not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God In order to serve tables, but select from among you.

Hear that language from among you Brethren seven men of good reputation full of the Spirit and of wisdom Whom we may put in charge of this task. So this is this is why we we choose multiple deacons and and only one pastor because this is our example.

We need to look at it in context. Who gave? The command to the church. To choose from among them brethren To be deacons who gave them that command? Was it one pastor the 12th summon the congregation and Said it is not desirable for us To neglect the Word of God and in order to serve tables us the 12.

So.

The group of.

Leaders.

Informed the church To choose another group to serve. And you say well. That was the that was the Apostles. That was the Apostles. They're not pastors. They're not. They're not yeah elders. They're not pastors.

They were the Apostles. But think about this. What were they before they were Apostles. They were just the disciples, right. And after they were the disciples. They're known as the Apostles. Are they also known by any other title?

They are. You remember our verse in first Peter. First Peter chapter 5. Therefore I exhort the elders among you as your fellow Elder. And John in second and third. John refers to himself as the elder so in that context.

You have they were disciples. They were Apostles and they were also known as as elders. So these Apostles these elders this group of leaders informed the church To choose another group to serve so that they did not neglect the Word of God.

Which.

Quickly informs us of what the role of elder in distinction between deacons is. The role of the elder or pastor is the Word of God leading us in the Word of God. Leading us spiritually that is their role.

So what's the New Testament pattern in the church? To have a group of elders. Group of pastors. Who lead us in the Word of God all all elders in? That group must meet the same qualifications as that one pastor that you would hire from first.

Timothy and Titus. They they all must meet those qualifications and their role is to lead us in the Word of God and lead us spiritually to inform the church of. What practices from Scripture? They should lead us in Scripture in all things as first Peter says they should shepherd us according to the will of God which is found in Scripture and.

The role of the deacon. The role of the deacon is to serve and that's common knowledge there. There's no disagreement there however, there's. That doesn't translate into practice a lot of times from my personal experience from what I've seen we we elect a group of deacons and.

Before each election there's usually a sermon that says all right before you choose your deacons. This is the qualifications and this is their role. Their role is to serve the church. However, once they're elected.

The church allows them to gather as a group and. And lead the church in these decision-making the decision-making processes, which is designated For the.

Elder board.

The group of elders and. So once they're elected they take on a role that is not given to them from Scripture. Instead of serving as as which is important in Scripture is what their role is. They take on that role of leading spiritually and making decisions.

Spiritual decisions of the church. How do we handle this situation spiritually? How do we handle this situation biblically? Those decisions conversations are handled by the deacons and we get the roles mixed up.

If we follow the New Testament pattern that elders. Lead us according to the will of God Lead us in Scripture and lead us spiritually. And the deacons.

Serve.

That's what the New Testament pattern looks like. And yeah, you may ask. Well, well, we're Baptist or we're this we're that. That that's not how we do things and and we've always done it this way so it's got to be right.

I Just wanted to point out to you that that's not always the case just because that's the way we We've done them in the recent past. That's not always how it's been done. There's another book.

And.

It's called polity which means I guess another way to put it would be church politics how we How church leadership should look like. There's a better way to put it and the. The rest of it says biblical arguments on how to conduct church life.

Biblical arguments on how to conduct church life and what is this book? It's a compilation a collection of historic Baptist documents from the 1600s 1700s and 1800s and in Baptist life Baptist had a plurality of elders and they had a group of deacons and Didn't practice the one pastor model not every church.

But it was it was common for Baptists to have a plurality of elders at one point in the 1600s 1700s and 1800s. At some point it changed. I'm not familiar with the history of how it changed or what changed but it was a practice in Baptist life that we would have a plurality of elders.

So it makes us think right. It makes us think. We've got new information we've got a path to to follow the same path or the path that with this new information. Just wanted to hit on one last thing I thought about the the dangers of having a single pastor.

And there there's you know, so many things that we could say On this the subject this issue. But just a couple of things but mainly two things that I thought about. When you think about the the dangers of having just a single pastor and this doesn't come from scripture, it's just the repercussions of Not following the biblical model and just having the the one pastor model.