Throughout the Bible, we see the great importance of leadership. It was because Adam failed to lead his wife in obedience to the Lord that mankind fell into sin in the garden. We're told Adam was there. Right with Eve when she was deceived and ate the fruit that God prohibited. He failed to lead his wife. We see in the Pentateuch how the Lord raised up Moses to lead his people. Think of what would happen to the Israelites in the wilderness if they did not have a leader that God had provided. They would have never made it to the promised land. Think of how the Lord used Joshua to lead the people of Israel courageously into the promised land. Though there were giants there, to lead them in faith that God would give them the victory. Think of how the book of Judges shows us what happens when people do not submit to leadership. The book of Judges says that in those days there was no king in Israel and everybody did what was right in their own eyes. They didn't submit to God as king nor to any other God-ordained authority. And what happened? A terrible downward spiral deeper and deeper into terrible depravity. Think of the contrast in Scripture between King Saul and King David. Saul had all the outward appearances of a leader, but he did not have the heart of a leader. He did not have a heart for God. And his leadership was a terrible catastrophe. In contrast, you have David, a man after God's own heart, who was used by the Lord to lead Israel in battle, battle after battle. taking more and more of the land that God had promised to them. And think of how the Lord used the leadership of David to establish the worship that would be done in the temple. with all the Levites and the priests, all the music that he had put together to be used in praise to the Lord. Think of the leadership in the times of the kings of Judah and Israel during that divided kingdom. When the books of Kings and Chronicles many times tell us that the king that was in place was a man who did not do what was right in God's sight. but led Israel deeper and deeper into idolatry, deeper and deeper into forsaking the covenant of the one true God. But then you had those glimmers of lights when there was a good king, a good leader, like King Josiah or Hezekiah, who followed in the footsteps of David and led the people back to the true worship of God. Leadership made a huge difference. Think of how in the prophets there are rebukes. Rebukes directed towards the kings, the prophets, and the priests. The three different offices of leadership in the land of Israel. And how very often those leaders needed to be rebuked by the Lord's prophets. Because as the leaders went, so went the nation. Think about the perfect leadership of Jesus with his disciples. He calls 12 disciples unto himself, spends three years leading them, training them, equipping them, and then look at the fruit of that in the book of Acts. And then look in the book of Acts at the leadership of the apostles, the leadership of the apostle Peter, and the other apostles in the Jerusalem church. Then as the church expanded outward over and over and over again in the Bible, you see the great importance of spiritual leadership. And spiritual leadership is just as important in the local church. That's the subject of today's text. Leadership in the local church. Caring for the church of God. We come in the book of Acts to the only speech made by the Apostle Paul to Christians that is recorded in the book of Acts. We have other speeches from the Apostle Paul, evangelistic speeches, speeches when he was on trial before governing officials, but this is the only speech that Luke gives us that Paul directed to Christians. It's a very precious, precious text. Please look with me in your Bible at Acts chapter 20. I'm going to start at verse 13 and read through verse 38. Please stand in honor of the Word of God. Verse 13. But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mytilene. And sailing from there, we came the following day opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the next day after that we went to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not have to spend time in Asia. For he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and the Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself. If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. And all these things I have shown you, that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus. Have he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all, because the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. This is God's holy word. Please be seated. This is a farewell speech. Paul is bidding farewell to the Ephesian elders and through them to the Ephesian church and through the Ephesian church to all the churches in Asia. This farewell speech stands in a line of farewell speeches in scripture. From that speech that Jacob gave to his 12 sons just before the Lord took him home. To that speech that Moses gives, the whole book of Deuteronomy was his farewell speech to the nation of Israel. The speech Joshua gives at the end of his life, that Samuel gives at the end of his life, that Jesus gives at the end of his life in John 13 through 17. Such a rich section of the Gospel of John, such a large section is a farewell speech that Jesus gives to his disciples before he goes to the cross. And now we have before us the Apostle Paul's farewell speech. How did this farewell speech come about? Well, look with me at verse 13. We read, but going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there. For so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mytilene. And sailing from there, we came the following day opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos. And the day after that, we went to Miletus. Miletus is the location where Paul delivered this farewell speech that we are studying this morning. Now before Paul set sail, he had spent seven days with the young church in Troas. We studied last week that very eventful Lord's Day, the last day he had with them in Troas. Now, as Paul leaves Troas and heads to Miletus, he has with him Luke, for we see in this narrative that the narrator uses the word we. Luke was there, traveling with Luke. Plus, we've seen there were seven other men, they were listed back in verse four, who were representing the churches that Paul had planted on his three journeys. And his whole company is going to Miletus. Now Paul's goal is not to stay there at Miletus, that's just one stop. The goal is to reach Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. Look at verse 16. And the man, I'm sorry. Verse 16, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. So he has a layover in Miletus, and this gives him a perfect opportunity to call upon the Ephesian elders. Now, this is a significant journey. It's 30 miles north from Miletus to Ephesus. But in two days, Paul could send a messenger to the elders, and they could come by foot to the Apostle Paul to hear what he has to say in farewell before he heads on to Jerusalem. So important was this to Paul that he called them to make the 60 mile round journey to have this time together. Paul had spent more time in Ephesus than he had in any other place on his three journeys. In this speech, he refers to having spent three years in Ephesus. The church there in Ephesus was led by a plurality of elders. Note that in the text he calls upon the elders, plural, of the church in Ephesus to come. They were not led by one bishop. They were led by a plurality of elders. The church was to be led by a plurality of elders and still is to be led by a plurality of elders. For that is the Lord's design for every church. As Paul taught back in chapter 14, verse 23, when Paul was on the first missionary journey, he had gone through Asia Minor, gone through Galatia, planting different churches. And then he turned around and he retraced his steps. And he went back to every church that he had planted. And we read in chapter 14, verse 23, and when he had appointed elders for them in every church. with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. So just not long after Paul planted churches, he would see to it that there were elders who were appointed in those churches, not men from the outside, but men from that local church who were qualified, appointed to serve as elders of the church. Indeed, in the book of Philippians, when Paul addresses the epistle, he addresses it in Philippians 1, 1, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. Two offices in the church. Overseer is another term for elder. The term elder speaks of the spiritual maturity of the man who has that office. And overseer speaks of the responsibility he has. We'll talk more about that term overseer a little bit later on. But note in Philippians 1.1, Paul's addressing his letter to the overseers and deacons in the church, the two offices. Ephesus was no different from the church in Philippi. It was no different from the churches in Galatia. They had a plurality of elders. Now what follows is Paul's farewell speech to these elders, which is also a farewell to the church that they represent. As we look through, or as we study this farewell speech, we will see seven marks of biblical eldership. Seven marks of biblical eldership. Seven unchanging, unalterable marks. Marks to which every elder should conform. Marks that you as a member of the church must look for in identifying potential elders and calling elders. Marks that or you should look for in the elders of a church when you are looking for a church. When you move from here and you have to find another church, you should look at the men who are the elders of the church and look to see, are these men the sort of men that scripture calls to be elders? Is there a healthy eldership in this church? Very important. And the seven marks that we will look at. are marks in which you should encourage the elders in our church. It's not a one-way relationship between the elders and the congregation. No, every member of the church is called to encourage all the other members, and that includes encouraging the elders. How can you encourage the elders? Well, to start with, you need to study to see what is important for an elder. And we're gonna see that in these seven marks. Once you understand what is important for an elder, then you have a better idea of how you can encourage the elders in those marks. The first mark of a biblical eldership is shepherding the church as servants of the Lord. Look with me at verses 18 and 19. And when he came to them, I'm sorry, when they came to him, he said to them, you yourselves know how I lived among you. the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. Stop there. Now why is Paul speaking of how he ministered? He's talking about how he ministered when he was in Ephesus. He says that the elders know how he lived among them, that while he was among them, he served the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to him through the plots of the Jews. Why is he reminding them of this? It is because he is very conscious of what he will later say to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verses 1 and 2. He will write, you then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust the faithful men who will be able to teach others also. He's speaking about how he trained Timothy in ministry and trained Timothy in sound doctrine and how Timothy is to turn around and he is to train faithful men in ministry and in doctrine so that those faithful men will be able to turn around and train other men in faithful ministry and doctrine. And Paul understands that the faith and the Christian ministry are to be taught, not just verbally, but by example. For he says in 1 Corinthians 4, verses 16 and 17, I urge you then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. He was able to say to the church, be imitators of me. He even said in chapter 11, verse one of 1 Corinthians, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. But it wasn't just to the Corinthian church that he said that. To the Philippian church, he wrote in Philippians 3, 17, brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. In chapter four, verse nine, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things. And so understanding the mindset of Paul, and how he understands that he must pass down ministry training and doctrinal training to the elders, who then will turn around and train others, and knowing that it's done especially by example, he reminds them of how he ministered among them, because that is an example that they now must follow. What was the first mark of Paul's ministry? The whole time that he lived among the Ephesians, he tells us in verse 19, he was serving the Lord. You see, the eldership is not about bossing people. It's not about lording over anyone, but it's about serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Eldership is a stewardship from our Lord, just as apostleship was a stewardship from the Lord for Paul. It is the Lord Jesus who is the head of the church. And the work of an elder is work that has been entrusted to him from his master, the Lord Jesus Christ. The elder must shepherd the church with the heart of a servant, recognizing that even our Lord came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life for us. Even our Lord denied himself and washed the feet of the disciples, setting us an example to follow after. Now in what manner are we as elders to serve? The Apostle gives three answers to that question in verse 19. First of all, he teaches that the elder is to serve with all humility. Now understand that humility was not a virtue admired in the Greco-Roman world. Those in Ephesus who worshipped Artemis at that great temple did not admire the virtue of humility. But our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Philippians 2.8, humbled himself. This is the Lord Almighty. This is the Son of God incarnate. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And we in turn, who have been served by the Lord Jesus, must serve Him with all humility. So first of all, the elder is to serve with all humility. Second, Paul says, the elder is to serve with tears. With tears, that means with feeling, with loving concern, with compassion, as the elder comes face to face with the spiritual needs of those in his charge. And thirdly, Paul tells us in verse 19, that the elder is to serve with trials. That's how Paul served. He served with trials, and it would be no different for these Ephesian elders, and it is no different for elders today. Paul speaks, quote, of trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. He's speaking of persecution that he suffered from unbelievers as he heralded the gospel. The elder is to be such a servant of the Lord that he is willing to be persecuted for representing the Lord Jesus. Servants do not seek to receive glory, but to please their master, whatever the cost may be. What an example Paul is for us in this. Now, what sort of ministry has our Lord entrusted to elders? We find the answer in the second mark. He has entrusted to the elders a ministry of calling boldly for repentance and faith. That's the second mark of a biblical eldership, is calling boldly for repentance and faith. Look with me at verses 20 and 21. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both the Jews and the Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He says there, I did not shrink from this. I did not shrink in fear. from declaring to you anything that was profitable. I do not shrink in fear from teaching you in public and from house to house. I do not shrink in fear from testifying both to Jews and the Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And elders are not to shrink in fear from declaring to you any spiritual truth that would be profitable for you to hear. Others are not to be timid in bringing God's Word to bear upon your life. Paul speaks here about teaching in public and from house to house. In other words, teaching God's Word publicly and privately. Both publicly and also in a personal way to individuals and to families. He did not shrink from testifying of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Those words, repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, are spoken here as a summary of the message of Christ. These words summarize the message of Christ in terms of the final appeal of the message of Christ. The appeal of the message of Christ is an appeal to repent. To repent of sin, to turn from sin, to forsake sin, and to turn from it to Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. This is the appeal of the message of Christ. And that is used here to summarize the whole gospel message. And this is an appeal that the elders are to continue to make. not just to unbelievers, but to believers in all stages of the Christian life. For the Christian life is a life of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God's word always calls for a response from us. We're in the process of being sanctified and we're always being called by the word of God to grow in specific ways, to mature in certain ways, to put off certain sins that still have a hold upon us and to grow in the opposite virtues, the very character of Jesus Christ unto the glory of God. And so the ministry of the elders, is a ministry of calling boldly for repentance and faith. The elders are not to shrink back from calling upon unbelievers and believers alike to repent of sin and believe the gospel, to turn from sin to God and trust Christ. Now let me ask a question. Of those this morning who are members of CFC, and therefore are in the charge of our elders. Do you make this part of the elders' ministry a joy or a burden to them? The part of their ministry that involves calling for repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ, do you make this part of our ministry a joy to us or a burden to us? Hebrews 13 verse 17 says, obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. What we see here in Hebrews is that if you are responsive to the elders as they bring God's word to bear upon your life and as they call you to repentance and faith, then you make their ministry a joy. But if you resist the word of God and you resist spiritual correction, then you make their ministry a groaning. Oh, may we all be sensitive to the word of Christ. May we all be sensitive to his call through the spirit to live a life of repentance and faith. But no matter the response of the congregation, the elders must fulfill their ministry. As we will see in the third mark of biblical eldership, the third mark is being sacrificially faithful to the Lord's calling. Being sacrificially faithful to the Lord's calling. Look with me starting at verse 22. And now behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself. If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. The Holy Spirit was constraining Paul to go to Jerusalem. He was leading Paul there. He was commanding Paul to go there. He was constraining him to go to Jerusalem. You see, the Holy Spirit led the apostles and prophets in ways that he does not lead us. He may have verbally spoken to Paul. We don't know how he constrained him. We know as Christians today, after the apostolic period, the Spirit leads us through the words that he has written in Holy Scripture. These are the Holy Spirit's words to us. These are sufficient for leading us. But this was in the apostolic era. We don't know how the Spirit constrained Paul to do so, but somehow he constrained to Paul, made it very clear to Paul, you must go to Jerusalem. But the Holy Spirit didn't just constrain him to go. The Holy Spirit also warned Paul that imprisonment and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit was warning Paul of what he would face in Jerusalem, not so that Paul would avoid going there. Remember, the Spirit constrained him to go there. The Holy Spirit warned him of the suffering he would face in Jerusalem so that Paul would be prepared to endure that suffering. It's called here afflictions and imprisonment. So then when Paul knows that such suffering is awaiting him, how is it that he is hastening to Jerusalem? We saw that in verse 16. He's hastening to Jerusalem. He's trying to get there quickly. If you knew that in Jerusalem imprisonment and beatings were awaiting you, I don't know how quickly you would hasten to get there. But Paul's hastening there. How is it that he's hastening to get there? Look at verse 24. He says, I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself. If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. The course that was given him from the Lord required testifying to the gospel of grace in Jerusalem, the Jewish capital. We're going to study later on this book how Paul did that, how in Jerusalem he proclaimed the gospel of grace. That was his mission given him by Jesus. He knew that was the course that was set for him, that was the ministry he was called to. And so he was willing to lay down his life in Jerusalem if required. Our Lord laid down his precious life in Jerusalem in order to accomplish the Father's plan of atoning for our sins. And so Paul, he's willing to lay down his life in Jerusalem, if required, for the sake of testifying to this great news of Christ's death for sinners and victorious resurrection that he calls the gospel of the grace of God, the good news of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, in Jesus' death for sinners and his resurrection to give life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Fellow elders, We too are called to be sacrificially faithful to the Lord's calling, to testify to the gospel of grace. Like the apostle, we are not to account our life of any value, nor as precious to ourselves. If only we may finish the course and the ministry that we have received from the Lord. Verse 24 likens our ministry as elders to a race that is to be finished. We are to finish that course, finish that race, whatever the cost. Understand that serving as an elder is costly. It's costly in terms of time. It's costly in terms of energy. It's costly in terms of aspirations. You have to give up certain aspirations you have had for your life. And it may even take a toll on our bodies. But we must be willing to suffer the cost in order to finish the course, to complete the ministry. Quitting early is not an option. Neither is skipping parts of the course. When I think of a course, finishing a course, I think of a marathon course in Oklahoma. When I was in college, the Lord gave me the ability to compete at the NAA National Track Meet in the marathon event. And my coach did something that, in retrospect, was very foolish. Because he always had told me not to try something new before a race. He gave me to read on the airplane to the race a book about competitive running. And in that book, it suggested drinking a ton of sports drink starting at two hours before the event, leading up to the event. And I wanted every edge I could get in that race. This sounds like a good idea. It's new, but it's sound. I ran half the race, and then I started having diarrhea every two miles from that point to the end. Four miles to the end, I no longer was sweating because I was so dehydrated. My hamstring cramped up. I had to stop. I stopped and stretched and I was so surprised knowing how disgusting and filthy I looked. I was so surprised when a girl on another team came over and gave me her water bottle. Twice I had to stop like that, but the Lord enabled me to finish that marathon. Now, I say that just as an example, an illustration. We as elders must approach the much more significant race, the race that Paul is talking about here, in a similar but greater way. Yes, it will be difficult. Yes, there will be unexpected challenges. There will be times of being ashamed. There will be times of being in pain. but we must finish the course that the Lord Jesus has given to us, whatever the cost. Marathon, what does that matter for eternity? But this is a spiritual race. This is an eternal race. This is a race with eternal dividends. Oh, may we as elders finish the course, whatever the cost. Now to do this, to finish the course, Elders must do what is spoken of in the next section. That is, we must declare the whole counsel of God. This is the fourth mark of biblical eldership, declaring the whole counsel of God. Look with me at verses 25 through 27. And now behold. I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." Paul says here that he had gone about the large city of Ephesus proclaiming the kingdom. The kingdom, that's the good news, that Christ's kingdom has been inaugurated through Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension. The good news, the entrance is given into Christ's kingdom to all who repent of their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The message of the kingdom includes a warning that when Christ returns, all others, that is all who do not have their faith in Jesus Christ, all others will be cast into the utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's the message of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom. And that is what Paul went about Ephesus proclaiming. Now, when Paul gives his farewell, he is sure that he will never return to this area that he evangelized. He will never again return to Asia, is what he has in his mind. And as he is saying farewell to Ephesus, he can say in those verses that we read, that he is innocent of the blood of all the people of Ephesus. Some of the Ephesians will perish in their sins after Paul gives his farewell. Well, many in Ephesus believe, certainly not everyone in Ephesus believe. There were plenty who rejected the gospel. But those individuals in Ephesus who will never believe the gospel and will perish in their sins, Paul's saying they were warned of this. And they were urged to turn to the Savior because Paul did not shrink from declaring to them the whole counsel of God. Paul did not simply go through Ephesus saying, God has a wonderful plan for your life. He declared the whole counsel of God to the people of Ephesus. And the whole counsel of God is to be declared by each elder today. The whole counsel of God is everything that a person needs to hear from God's word in order to be fully warned of God's future wrath and fully informed of God's plan of salvation. The elder is to edit no part of this message. The elder is to omit no part of this message. The elder is not to otherwise modify even the smallest element of this message. Only after declaring the whole counsel of God can the elders say he is innocent of the blood of those who do not believe or follow the gospel. This thought of needing to be innocent of the blood of those who reject God's call to repent, this idea was ingrained into the apostle Paul even before he became a Christian by the prophet Ezekiel. He had read Ezekiel many times as he read the Old Testament many times. He was familiar with Ezekiel chapter three, verses 17 through 19, which say, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Very clear in the Old Testament. And God gives a message of warning to the prophet to give to the people. If the prophet doesn't give the whole message, he doesn't give the whole warning, and people do not turn to the Lord, their blood is on the prophet's head. But if he's faithful and proclaims the whole warning, and the whole call to repentance, the whole truth that he is to reclaim, and they reject it, then their blood is on their heads, not on the prophet's head. And Paul saw himself in just the same way. As an apostle, he was entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ, which contains a warning, a warning of judgment, and also the plan of salvation, the plan of redemption. And the whole message had to be declared. Fellow elders, it is not only the elder who preaches from this pulpit who is responsible to declare the whole counsel of God. Each one of us in the eldership is responsible to declare the whole counsel of God in our interactions with others. You must not let the receptiveness of others dictate what you declare to them. You must not let the fear of their response dictate what you say to them. Rather, you must let what God has revealed in Scripture dictate what you declare in love. Fellow elders, let me ask you, what drives the things that you say when you give counsel? Is it the whole counsel of God that drives your counsel? When you visit people, what is it that drives what you say to those members of the church? Is it the whole counsel of God? When you evangelize people, are you driven by the whole counsel of God? When you disciple people, is it the whole counsel of God that you seek to impart? When you correct people, do you include the whole counsel of God? When you teach in our meetings, do you teach the whole counsel of God? Or do you have a pet doctrine that you emphasize to the exclusion of other doctrines? If so, you do so into the detriment of others. And Christ will hold you accountable for that when he returns. Scripture is not a pantry where we can pick and choose what we will feed to others. No, scripture is the foundation on which people must stand. And if we avoid laying part of the foundation, people who try to stand on it will surely fall. When Christ returns, may we be able to say to him that we have declared the whole counsel of God. The whole counsel of God is so vital. that the enemy seeks to twist it. And therefore, we see that an elder must be keenly alert to spiritual danger. That is the fifth mark of biblical eldership, being keenly aware, keenly alert to spiritual danger. Look with me starting at verse 28. Pay careful attention to yourselves. and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." Paul is saying that because of spiritual dangers, Elders must pay careful attention to two things. First of all, in verse 28, he says that the elders must pay careful attention to themselves. Paul will elaborate on this in 1 Timothy 4.16, where he will write, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. The elder must keep a close watch on his life, on how he lives before God and before man. And he must keep a close watch on his teaching, his doctrine, his beliefs, and what he imparts to others. All that is summarized here in verse 28 is the elders keeping a close watch on themselves. Then secondly, Paul says in verse 28 that the elders are to keep a close watch on all the flock. Here, Paul likens the church to a flock of sheep because sheep are susceptible to many dangers. And they need shepherds to pay careful attention to them. That's why the church is called a flock, a flock of sheep. We are susceptible to many dangers. We need shepherds who pay careful attention to us. And so the elders. are to pay careful attention first to themselves and secondly to all the flock. Elders must do this because the Holy Spirit has made them overseers, as Paul states. How has the Holy Spirit made the elders overseers? He's done so by gifting them to be overseers and by calling them to this ministry in a way that has been recognized by the church. Here he uses another term for elder, the term overseer. The term that we saw in Philippians chapter one, verse one. This term for the office speaks to the elder's responsibility to keep spiritual watch over God's people. As a family, I'm sorry, as a father, I have responsibility to keep a watch over my family. I'm especially aware of this when we go on a trip or we go on an outing and there's eight little ones or bigger ones to keep an eye on. And I'm constantly, when we're in crowds, I'm constantly counting the four boys and the four girls. Do we still have everyone? I'm keeping a watch on them. I'm seeking to protect them. And in a spiritual way, the elders are overseers. They have the responsibility of keeping a close watch over the flock. paying attention to the spiritual well-being of each member. As Paul puts it in verse 28, the overseers are responsible to, quote, care for the church of God, or more literally, in the New American Standard, to shepherd the church of God. How weighty the elder's responsibility is for two reasons. First of all, his responsibility is weighty because the flock belongs to Almighty God. The flock is called here in verse 28, the church of God. It's not our church, it's God's church, the church of God Almighty. What a weighty responsibility to shepherd, to care for a flock of people that belong to Almighty God. We better do it well. And then the second reason Paul gives for the weightiness of this responsibility is that the purchase price of the church was nothing less than the lifeblood of the Son of God. In verse 28, he speaks of the church, quote, which he obtained with his own blood. That's a striking statement. God obtained the church with his own blood. God's spirit, he doesn't have blood. But the second person of the triune God, the son of God, became flesh in order to shed his blood for us. And so because it was the son of God who shed his blood at Calvary, Paul can say God obtained the church with his own blood. Absolutely stunning. that the almighty second person of the Trinity, who is holy, holy, holy, whom the angels adore forever and ever and ever, the second person of the Trinity stooped so much to humble himself to this degree. of suffering there at the cross, the wrath of God, the horrible death of crucifixion. As he bore our sin and bore our guilt, he shed his blood, his innocent, righteous, holy blood for us. We were the guilty ones. And he died for criminals, to set criminals free. Amazing. The church has been purchased with the blood of God. So how very precious the church should be to us. When you look around at your brothers and sisters, you are seeing a congregation of people who have been bought with the precious blood of the Son of God. How precious the brethren should be to you and to me. How precious the church should be to us. You see, speaking in collective terms, the church, we should love Christ's church because Christ loved his church. how diligent and attentive the elders should be in fulfilling a responsibility as weighty as this, caring for the church that was purchased with the precious blood of the Son of God. Verses 29 and 30 tell us about the dangers that threaten God's church. Look at verse 29. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 7.15, saying, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. We see here that the danger facing God's church until he comes again is not like the danger of small dogs that can bite you but you will heal from the bite. No, the danger that is facing God's church as we speak is danger like that of ravenous wolves who will not spare the flunk. The danger is wolves who will devour sheep. The danger is spiritually deadly. And Paul says, these devouring wolves come from two places. First of all, in verse 29, he says they come from outside the church. Note that. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you. But then in verse 30, he gives us a second place from where these ravenous wolves come, and that is from inside the church. Look at verse 30. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Even from the eldership of the local church, Paul warrants, wolves will arise. The danger is men who look like sheep, but speak what Paul calls twisted things. who speak false teaching dressed up as the Word of God, who teach perversions of the Word of God, a teaching that draws away the disciples from the Jesus Christ of the Bible. And so the elders are commanded in verse 31, therefore be alert, remembering that for three years, I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. He says, be alert. And then again, he gives us himself as an example. He says, you've seen it yourself, you experienced it. For three years, I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. He's saying, this is how diligent and serious we are to be in watching over the church. Just as diligent and serious as Paul was, as night and day, he admonished the church. Week after week, month after month, year after year. Now that word admonish is in the original language, Greek has a broader meaning than our English word admonish. It's a rich word that speaks of a combination of instructing, warning, and admonishing. And so he says that for three years, he did not cease doing this. Warning, instructing, admonishing. because he knows the wolves are coming. The people need to be prepared. They need to be built up in Christ. They need to mature in Christ so that they will recognize the wolves, they'll recognize the false teaching, and they will not be swayed by it, but they will hold fast to Christ. Members of Christian Fellowship Church, Do you draw near to the protective oversight of the elders? Do you avail yourself of their watchfulness? Do you seek to converse with the elders or to avoid them? When you are going to teach the word to others in our congregation, do you pass your planned teaching through an elder? We as elders certainly will make time to look over your lesson before you teach it. When we converse with you, are you an open book? Or do you hide your life from us? No, it is to your benefit to be known by your elders, because we are committed to protect you from spiritual danger. Well, after reading of how very weighty the elder's responsibility is, we as elders respond with Paul in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 16, Who is sufficient for these things? We know we're not sufficient for these things, for this high calling. And of ourselves, we do not have the sufficiency. But Paul points us to someone who is our sufficiency. The next section teaches us to depend upon God and the word of his grace. And that can be seen as the sixth mark of biblical eldership, depending upon God and the word of his grace. Look with me at verse 32. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. When Paul says that God, through the word of grace, is able to build you up, he is speaking from personal experience. Hold on to our text and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let's start at verse eight. 1 Corinthians 15, verse eight. He's talking about the appearances of the risen Christ. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God. Note that word grace. We just saw that in our verse. You are able to be built up by the word of grace. By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them than the other apostles, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. Whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. He experienced the empowering from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus empowered Paul for what he would see as a humanly impossible ministry. Christ's empowering grace abounded to him in this ministry. We've been reading about his ministry in the book of Acts, and it all was powered by the grace of the Lord Jesus. Now, you can come back to our text. You can put that in your mind there when we read this. Acts 20, verse 32. I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. We are not sufficient in and of ourselves, but the grace of God in us is sufficient. Fellow elders, as you lean upon God and the word of his grace, he provides your sufficiency. He equips you, he strengthens you, he builds you up individually, and he builds up his church to whom we minister. You see, it's not enough for us as elders to simply have the apostle Paul's example of what we should do and the instruction he is giving us, telling us what we should do. No, we need God's gracious empowerment to live out what Paul is instructing here. We need the Holy Spirit to make the word of God's grace effectual in our lives. As God works through the word of his grace, He brings his church all the way to what Paul calls in our text, the inheritance. The inheritance sums up all the blessings of final salvation. All the blessings that Christ will give to the believer upon glorification when Jesus returns and makes us fully like him the way we ought to be. All the blessings he will give to us are summed up here as the inheritance. God and his grace are able to bring us to the inheritance and are able to bring everyone else in the church to the inheritance to whom we minister. So there's our confidence, there's our trust, there's our reliance on God and the word of his grace. Fellow elders, let me ask you, where is your dependency placed? Is your dependency placed in your learning, in your wisdom, in your abilities, in your efforts, or in God and the word of his grace? If your reliance is upon him and his grace, then that reliance will be evidenced in fervent prayer for the flock. How frequently do you pray for the spiritual well-being of the flock? How sincerely do you pray for the spiritual well-being of the flock? I was so convicted of this this morning. I confess before you that I've been falling far short in this ministry of praying for you, the congregation, with your spiritual needs. I've asked the Lord to forgive me for that. I ask that you would forgive me for that. I need the Lord's grace to grow in faithfully praying for you, praying for your soul. It's very convicting to me. In fact, this whole passage has been working me over. Well, there's one last mark of biblical eldership revealed in our text, and that is giving generously. Giving generously. Look with me at verse 33. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands minister to my necessities and to those who are with me. In all these things, I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Paul's just talked about that eternal inheritance that the word of grace will bring us to. Since the elder is to seek the heavenly inheritance, he is not to seek an earthly inheritance. Far from coveting the flock's wealth, the elder is to give generously. Well, the Apostle Paul had a right to receive a living from his gospel ministry. In Ephesus, he did not use that freedom, as he says here. Rather, for the sake of the gospel, as he had done on occasion before, he set an example of working a trade to financially support himself and his fellow workers. That would be while he was lecturing for hours on end daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. Evidently, in the morning, he was working as a tent maker. setting an example of working a trade to financially support himself, and he says he financially supported his fellow workers. And he did so in order to be able to give to the weak. Who are the weak? Those who are needy and unable to work. Paul worked for a living not just to support himself, not just to support his spiritual family, he worked a trade so that he could give to the poor, give to the needy. And he set an example of that for the Ephesian elders. Well, whether we receive a living from gospel ministry or not, we as elders must have the mindset that was taught by the Lord Jesus. Paul quotes here a saying of Jesus that is not recorded in the gospels. Quote, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Now, you can find similar ideas in some of Jesus' teaching, but you will never find this exact quotation, this exact saying. Because there were many more things that Jesus taught that were not recorded in the Gospels. And the apostles certainly passed some of those things down in their day. And Paul learned that Jesus had taught this. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Think of that. More blessed to give than to receive. Think of how the Lord Jesus, who is the chief shepherd and overseer of our souls, embodied this saying, that it's more blessed to give than to receive, because he came not to take from us, he came to give his life as a ransom for us. And we as elders must give evidence in our life that we have freely received that grace by freely giving to others. This morning, we have seen seven marks of biblical eldership. What does this passage have to do with you? If you are not a Christian, you should seek to understand the message that Christ called Paul to declare, the message that elders are charged to proclaim. Paul has referred to it in so many different terms. In verse 24, he called it the gospel of the grace of God Verse 25, the message of the kingdom. Verse 27, the whole counsel of God. Verse 32, the word of God's grace. Verse 21, a call to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a message that centers on what Paul spoke of in verse 28, when he said that the son of God obtained the church with his own blood. You see, the Bible says that in our natural condition, we are fallen sinners. We're rebels against the God who created us. We're rebels against the God who has put his law on our hearts, who's put our conscience within us that testifies to us that certain things we do are not right before the eyes of the one who created us with that conscience. The Bible says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one. But the good news is that God did not just judge the whole world. He had every right to. He's a just judge. But in his love and in his grace and in his mercy, he put together a plan to save the church, to save a people, a community for himself. And so the second person of the Trinity voluntarily took on human flesh, lived an obedient life as a man in our place, and then voluntarily went to the cross where he purchased us. You see, we were in bondage to sin. We were slaves to sin and to death. There was nothing that we could escape the sentence of death because that's what we deserved and God is judge and he will enforce his just law. There was nothing we could do to escape the sentence of eternal death and judgment. But what we could never do for ourselves, Jesus Christ did in purchasing us. He shed his precious blood to buy us out of slavery to sin that we would belong to him as his servants and be adopted into his family as his sons and daughters. He didn't stay in the grave because he had fully satisfied the father's wrath. He was the righteous one, he was the holy one, and he was vindicated as such in the resurrection. The resurrection declared with power that he is the holy son of God. The father accepted the father's sacrifice for the sins of those whom he would call the church. And Jesus Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father. He sent his spirit out. He sent his apostles out with this message, that sinners are to repent of their sin, to forsake their sin against God, to confess it to God as sin, to turn from their sin with a change of mind about their sin, to turn from their sin to Jesus Christ, to follow him as their Lord and Savior in faith. Jesus promises salvation not to those who pray, simply pray a prayer, no magical words that make one a Christian. No, the promise of salvation is the one who will follow Jesus in a repentant faith. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless you are born again, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. The natural man has no place in the kingdom of God. To enter the kingdom of God, we must be born in the Spirit. We must receive a new heart from the Holy Spirit, a new nature from Him. We must be recreated in the likeness of Jesus Christ. And so that is what happens as a result of Jesus purchasing us at the cross. He purchased for us the benefit of regeneration. He purchased for us the new birth and all the blessings that come with it. And so one must be born again. They must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They must become a follower of Jesus Christ, trusting Him as their entire Savior, trusting Him as their sole Lord to follow Him forever and ever and ever. And what blessings, what spiritual blessings, what eternal blessings are given to the one whom God forgives through the shed blood of Jesus. What blessings are given to the one whom God imputes the very righteousness of Christ through faith? What blessings are given to the one who's adopted into God's family and is given the Holy Spirit who takes up residence within the new creation to change us and transform us and to finally conform us to the image of Jesus Christ? Oh, it's a glorious message that Paul proclaimed, and then he charged the elders to proclaim. If you do not understand this message, read the New Testament. Read Isaiah 53 as well, the prophecy of the gospel. Read these things, seek to understand, and ask a Christian to help you to understand the gospel. If you are a Christian this morning, but are not a member of a church, this passage should move you to seek membership. What is church membership? It is placing yourself under the scrutiny of the elders, first of all. As the elders scrutinize, is this individual a Christian? Is this individual a member of Christ's body? Submitting to membership is submitting yourself to the scrutiny of the elders and then submitting to the authority of the elders, the shepherding of the elders, the oversight of the elders, placing yourself under their oversight. And so if you're just an autonomous Christian, a Lone Ranger Christian who jumps from church to church, understand that this passage calls you out of church jumping, church hopping, into making a commitment to a local church and placing yourself under the shepherding care of the elders that is laid out for us in this passage. If you are a member of a church, this passage should move you to pray for your elders. And this passage should inform your prayers for your elders. This passage should challenge you to encourage your elders. This passage should guide you with the rest of the members in identifying potential elders and calling elders who match what Paul is talking about here. And this passage should move you to benefit from the ministry of the elders, drawing near to them and to their ministry. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this passage and we thank you for the glorious truth that you've purchased us with the precious blood of Jesus. May we now live lives responding to your grace in the ways that you intend in your church, loving your church as those who've been bought by the precious blood of Jesus. We pray in his name, amen.