Amen. Thank you, Cheryl. Let's begin our time in worshiping God through the study of his word by taking our Bibles and turning to Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. We'll be looking at verses 5 to 9 today, picking up where we left off last week in the study of this pastoral epistle. Today's message is titled Biblical Eldership. Biblical Eldership. This is what God expects of leaders in the church. This is the structure of leadership that God has ordained for His church and the qualification of those who would serve in that capacity. When we talk about leadership today, whether you're talking about in the church or in the world, When you talk about the types of things that people are looking for in leaders, you will come up with a list that in some respects will prove to be very, very different from what we're going to find in Titus chapter 1 this morning. In fact, as I did a little homework this week in studying philosophies of ministry, and most particularly leadership, that a lot of contemporary philosophies of ministry is aimed at, that is kind of a business model for leadership, I looked at some of the best that I could find as far as instructions with regard to leadership qualities. And one article in particular that I came across was dated November of 2016. It was a little article in Forbes magazine. It's a pretty good article written by a guy who has a Navy SEAL experience. And you can see some of his Navy SEAL training expressed in what he says are the excellent qualities for leadership as well as his business experience. And it's actually a pretty good list. And when you consider what he has to say, it's actually a pretty strong description. And I read a summary of leadership that said this, a great leader possesses a clear vision, is courageous, has integrity, honesty, humility, and a clear focus. Great leaders help people reach their goals. They're not afraid to hire people that might be better than they are, and they take pride in the accomplishments of those they help along the way. In fact, the 10 keys the article lists are these. One, leaders have faith in their beliefs. Two, they make hard choices. Three, they earn the respect of the team. Four, they know the team. Five, they know that people are the key to success. Six, they articulate a clear vision. Seven, they push people to be their best. Eight, they serve a greater cause. Nine, they focus on helping the team. And 10, they do not lead by force. Frankly, that's better than most leadership lists that I've come across through the years. And those are good principles to study, even for elders to learn from in general principle. Many churches today with a contemporary philosophy of ministry are looking for men and women who are entrepreneurs, people who are really intelligent, people who are natural born leaders, by which they mean people look up to them naturally. They have the kind of a forceful personality or type A personality that naturally means that they're expecting others to follow them. They're the kind of people with vision, with drive, with motivation. They're the kind of people who are courageous and not afraid to make mistakes. They're the kind of people who are intelligent, charismatic. Are these the kind of things that God is looking for in a leader? If you were to look through the Bible and say, what is it that God expects the leaders of His church to be? Do you think you would find any of these things on the list? Well, if people made the list, they would be on the top of it. But it's interesting as we take a look at the text that sits in front of us this morning, and in lots of ways it's very much like a parallel text in 1 Timothy 3 that Paul wrote at about the same time as he wrote Titus 1, you'll see that none of these things really are what God is chiefly concerned about. Largely because he is the one with the vision. Largely because he is the one who has been innovated and has laid out his plan and he's just looking for leaders who will follow his directions and accomplish his purposes his way as he's instructed. He's not looking for people of ambition. He's not looking for people who are entrepreneurs or generals or battlefield commanders. He's not looking for people of vision. He's not looking for people of great intelligence or scientists. He's not looking for people who are managers or coaches or CEOs. He's looking for godly men who are faithful to Him and to His Word and committed to Him and committed to doing His work, His way for His glory. It's that simple. As we take a look at our text this morning, the question that we're going to address is, what does God expect of leaders in His church? What is a biblical philosophy of ministry with regard to leadership in the church? And the answer, quite simply, is biblical eldership. Biblical eldership. Again, that's the title of our message this morning, Biblical Eldership. And as we take a look at Titus 1, verses 5 to 9, we'll see this broken into two pieces. First of all, the appointment of elders in verse 5, and secondly, in the qualification of elders in verses 6 to 9. And as we take a look at both of these and come to understand exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying, you'll have a clear definition of what biblical eldership is. Biblical eldership essentially boils down to this, a plurality of godly men accountable to God who are able to handle God's Word and committed to handling God's Word faithfully and living in accordance with it in their own lives for His glory. That's biblical eldership. That is a biblical philosophy of ministry with regard to the leadership of the church. That's why this is the pattern here in this church, and that's why it will continue to be, because it is precisely the pattern we see reflected throughout the New Testament. Now, in order to show you this, I want to invite you to look with me at Titus chapter 1, starting in verse 5. Remember last week, as we introduced our study of this great little epistle, we saw that the Apostle Paul is writing to Titus, a true child or a true son in the faith, in a common faith, someone who has been faithful in ministry, someone who is a co-laborer, someone who has grown up under Paul and under his ministry, and someone who is faithful to carry on that work just as has been handed down by the Lord to Paul and now is being entrusted to Timothy and to Titus. And you'll remember the lengthy introduction of three verses, particularly in contrast to 1 Timothy, which is, like I said, written at the same time, is due to the fact that Paul is giving Timothy a charge that's a rather challenging and daunting task. It is to go around to all these churches on the island of Crete that have been started by Titus and by Paul, and to now bring them to a point of completion as independent local assemblies with godly ordained authorities over them. And so, starting in verse 5, Paul begins to instruct Titus with regard to what he expects him to do. He says, 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. And you don't see it in the English, but you can see it very clearly in the Greek. It's emphatic. As I myself have given you instructions. This is specifically the task to which you have been charged. to go around now to all of those cities where we have planted churches and to address the things that have yet to be set in order and to appoint elders to carry on the work after you're gone in other words i've left you behind to fix the few things that are wrong and to bring the ministries to completion so that we can carry on When it says, for this reason I left you in Crete, the expression, I left you, indicates that Paul originally was what? There with him. Now, according to the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 27, Paul was in Crete for a short time. It was tied to a little shipwreck, and he was under arrest, and he did not run around the island and plant a bunch of churches. So as far as church history goes and as far as the testimony of Scripture goes, the missionary work of Paul in planting these churches, number one, will include Titus being with him, according to verse 5 here, and number two, has to be sometime after Paul was released from his imprisonment in Rome that first time. And very likely, and most of the writers agree, what Paul did after he was released from prison in Rome that first time after Acts 28, he and Titus came here. They came to Crete. And they went around the island and they visited the cities, maybe because Paul had exposure to it during the shipwreck. We don't know. But he came to Crete. It's about a 160-mile island. It's about 35 miles across at its widest point. It's right there in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. And so Paul goes from Rome and he comes here to Crete and he goes around the island together with Titus and they start preaching the gospel and some people are getting saved and churches are starting and all started in all these cities. From there, the apostle Paul leaves and he leaves Titus now in charge of going back around and straightening out the things that are left to be done and to appoint elders now to turn them into essentially independent local churches accountable directly to God. If you take your Bibles, keep your finger in Titus 1 here. Let me just show you that this is always Paul's pattern. Look at Acts 13 with me. Acts chapter 13. We go all the way back to the church at Antioch. This is the one church that after the persecution in Jerusalem, when that first church was scattered due to the persecution, people went all around the area. Some went to Antioch, and they're the ones that were sharing the gospel, not just with Jews, but also with Gentiles. So you have your very first mixed church, Jew and Gentile alike. And the elders in that church, the leaders in that church, included Barnabas and Saul, the one that we know of as the Apostle Paul. Remember, Saul was just his Jewish name. Paul was his Latin or Roman name. And the reason he's identified by that throughout the rest of the New Testament is because his interaction is predominantly with Gentiles. So you have Barnabas and Saul are part of the leadership in Acts 13 there in the church at Antioch. And while they were there ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, that is the Apostle Paul, for the work to which I have called them. So they fast, they pray, they lay hands on them, and they sent them away on Paul's first missionary journey. And we're told the journey from verse 5 of Acts chapter 13 all the way through Acts 14 and verse 21, how he goes all the way through all these cities and finally winds up at Derbe. Now look at Acts 14 and verse 21. After they, that is Paul and Barnabas, after they had preached the gospel to that city, that is Derbe, and they had made many disciples, They returned to Lystra and Iconium and to Antioch. This is backtracking through the cities that they had gone to and planted churches. They backtracked and they were strengthening the souls of the disciples. They were encouraging them to continue in the faith. They were saying to them, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. And, now notice this, when they had appointed elders, plural, in every church, singular, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed, then they passed through all the rest of the cities, and finally, verse 27, they came back to Antioch, They got together with the church that sent them out, and they shared all the wonderful things that God had done with them. That was Paul's first missionary journey. What is it in a nutshell? He and Barnabas left from Antioch, they went to all these cities, they shared the gospel, they started churches in all these cities, and when they were done, they turned around and went back through all those places, and they ordained elders, plural, to be responsible to God to shepherd those flocks and to oversee those assemblies. That's the biblical model. When you come now back to Titus chapter 1 and verse 5, you'll see that the Apostle Paul is continuing that same model. This is a biblical philosophy of ministry with regard to church leadership. This is the pattern of the Apostle Paul from his first missionary journey. This continues to be the pattern of the Apostle Paul after his Roman imprisonment and all the way up to the conclusion of the pastoral epistles. This is a biblical philosophy of ministry. It is biblical eldership. It is a plurality of godly men appointed to oversee the church. Verse five, for this reason I left you in Crete that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders, plural, in every city, singular, just as I commanded you, just as I instructed you. This is what God expects us to do and this is what it takes to bring these works to completion and make these churches independent local churches. Notice there is no established structure for any hierarchy above these churches or above the elders. Each of these churches is accountable to its leadership and the leadership is accountable to God. You will find the same type of a principle laid out in 1st Peter chapter 5 verses 1 to 4, where Peter as an apostle says, I exhort you elders as a fellow elder now to shepherd the flock of God. Another thing worth pointing out here is that the apostle Paul says in verse 5 in the middle there, for this reason I left you in Crete. Here's why I left you behind and what you need to do. is that you would set in order what remains. That word set in order means to set something straight, set something right, fix something that's still wrong, something that's a little out of place. When this word is used in medical contexts, it refers to straightening and setting a broken bone. So you're talking about, if you've ever seen a broken leg or a broken arm. When I was a kid, I had both bones in my left arm broken clean off. I fell off a horse. I did. Granted, it was plastic, but... It was full size, I'll have you know that. But anyways, I was seven years old, and I grew up watching John Wayne movies, and my dad was busy getting my sister off the back, and so I thought I would be big and get off, and the whole saddle, because it was on a plastic horse, it slid, and I went off, and I put my hand down and broke bones, clean off. And I remember holding my arm like this, and my hand was down here like this, just above the wrist. Well, you know what they had to do? When I went to the emergency room and we waited and finally came time to... well first of all they splinted it and then they had to pull it out and line it up and snap it into place. That's this word set in order. It means that there's something that's not quite right and you need to straighten it out. And you know some of the things that Paul's going to have to straighten out? False teaching at the end of chapter 1. Some of the things that he's going to deal with in chapter 2, as well as talking about avoiding foolish controversies, genealogies, disputes about the law, etc., because they're unprofitable. And if you've got somebody factious there, you warn them once, twice, and then throw them out. There are some things that have to be fixed that aren't quite right. But see, I knew not to use that illustration of my broken arm because some of you are still talking about it. All right. That'll be the one thing you walk away with this morning's message with. Great. All right. So what the Apostle Paul says here is there are some things that you have to fix and straighten out. And then the other thing you need to do is place a plurality of elders in charge of each of these churches so that our work is done and now those churches are independent local assemblies accountable to God to carry on the work. This is Paul's missionary practice. This is a biblical philosophy of ministry and missions. And this is a biblical philosophy of leadership within the church. It is not congregational rule. It is not the senior pastor or bishop model. It is not a denomination. It is not a deacon board and the pastor works for the deacon board. It is not the pastor over a deacon board. It is a plurality of elders, period. That's it. Now, in line with that, let me address one other thing. I've already mentioned that he says that you would appoint elders. I want you to notice down in verse 17, he says, for the overseer must be above reproach. The word overseer is the Greek word episkopos. That's the word we get our word Episcopalian from. The word elder in Greek is presbyteros. That's where we get our word Presbyterian from. And by the way, the word poimain is the word pastor or shepherd. Those three terms are used interchangeably throughout the New Testament to refer to elders, overseers, pastors. It's the same position. It's the same role. It's the same job. It's the same function. Pastor simply is borrowing from Jesus' own description of himself as the good shepherd. It's borrowing from Jesus when He restored Peter in John 21 and said, Shepherd My sheep. Pastors are called pastors because that's their role, to take care of the flock of God. They're called overseers and elders. Why? Because in the synagogue, borrowed all the way back from Moses and the establishment of the 70 elders to oversee the nation of Israel, that term elders was used. Those who are older, those who are wiser, those who are more mature, assume responsibility for governing God's people. In a Jewish context, elder fits with the leadership model. That's what they had as a plurality of elders over the synagogue. In a Gentile context, the word overseer was always used to refer to somebody that was in charge and responsible for governing. Those three terms are used interchangeably and they all refer to the same office. It's not like there's the pastor and then the elders under the pastor. They're all the same level. They're all of the same authority. And there is not one in charge. They are all equally in charge. Now, it doesn't mean that there can't be a first among equals in various things. And it doesn't mean that you can't be a first among equals in some of the ministries while you defer in the other ministries. But it does mean that the biblical form of government and leadership and authority that God has ordained for His church is a plurality of elders. One other thing to point out here is, particularly given that Paul writes Titus and 1 Timothy at the same time, is to notice that the Apostle Paul has left some things out of Titus. that he has in 1st Timothy 3. And in both cases, he's talking about establishing leadership within the church. One of those, if you want to turn a couple of pages back to the left, one of those is in 1st Timothy 3 in verse 6. You'll notice he says in 1st Timothy 3, an overseer then must be above reproach, and he goes through all the qualifications. When you get to verse 6, he says, not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. There is no reference to not a new convert in Titus chapter 1. So the question is, why is that? Answer, because these are all brand new churches. These are all people who just came to faith in Christ. When Paul writes first Timothy to Timothy and sends him to Ephesus to straighten things out in Ephesus, Ephesus is a church that has already had elders ordained there. Paul even addresses them in Acts chapter 20. He addresses the plurality of elders that come to him from Ephesus and he charges them and says, and watch out because some of your own number are going to rise up and you're going to have to deal with them. There's already a plurality of elders in Ephesus. That church is 10 years old by the time 1 Timothy is written and Timothy is sent back to straighten some things out there. You know why it would be a big issue for Ephesus for you to lay hands on somebody that's young in the faith, somebody that's a new convert, even if he's really capable, even if he's really able to handle the word and qualified in all the other areas? Because since you're appointing him to being an authority over a bunch of people that have been Christians a whole lot longer than him, it would be easy in that context for him to think that he has arrived and he is better than them. In Titus chapter 1, this is ordaining brand new elders in brand new churches, and everybody's just come to faith. You're not above anybody else. This is a similar principle to the qualifications for an elder here, as opposed to the qualifications for an elder in a new church, or the qualifications for an elder in Grace Community Church. See the difference? You know most of the guys that are elders at Grace Community Church, most of them have seminary training. It's a 10,000 person church. The magnitude of the ministry is far bigger. They've had the same pastor for the last 50 years. You thought I was old, right? You thought you put up with me for a long time. Listen. Depending on the church context, laying hands on somebody younger or somebody newer can be an issue. That's why Paul deals with that in 1 Timothy 3, but it's not an issue here in Titus 1, because the contexts are different. There's another thing that I need to point out, and that is, you'll also notice there is no reference to deacons in Titus. There's no reference whatsoever to the appointment of deacons, whereas in 1 Timothy 3, the very next thing he covers after he talks about the qualifications for elders is deacons. Verse 8 of 1 Timothy 3, deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, fond of sordid gain, et cetera, et cetera. Why does he deal with deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and never mention them in Titus 1? Answer, because in a brand new church, you don't need deacons. Why do you need deacons in an older church, in a more mature church, in a bigger church? For the same reason that the apostles in Acts chapter 6 said, okay, we do have a serious practical ministry issue with regard to taking care of the widows in this church. And it is a spiritual issue. And it's essential for us to do this faithfully in a way that honors God and taking care of distributing the finances to the widows every day. And we need to have men of integrity that'll oversee that practical ministry and the allotment of funds to these widows. But we can't, as apostles, we can't take away our time and our focus and our energy from our primary responsibility, which is what? The ministry of the word and prayer. so the seven were not appointed to that practical ministry until practical ministry got to be together with the ministry of the word more than the apostles could handle that same principle applies in the church there's no need for deacons when when the ministry of the church can be handled by the elders. And as soon as the overall ministry of the church, managing meals, managing hospital visitations, all the different practical kinds of ministries that are going on. As soon as it becomes distracting from the ministry of the Word and prayer, that's when you ordain deacons. And the key that Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy 3 is those deacons need to be spiritually qualified as well. You'll notice in the qualifications for the deacons, there's never a reference to whether they can cut grass, whether they can fix a furnace, whether they can... All those things are handy abilities. But you know what the chief requirements are all about? Godly character and conduct. in the home and the whole of their life. So, as we go back to Titus now, I want you to notice first and foremost in the appointment of elders, what is biblical eldership? As the divinely ordained model for leadership within the church, it is a plurality of godly men responsible for each individual local assembly. Number two, let's talk now about the qualifications of elders. And I see that our time is flying by already. So I know that we have covered this in extensive detail in the past, not only in going through 1 Timothy 3 and our exposition of 1 Timothy, but also in the extensive series that we did on biblical eldership. So I don't want to belabor the point. I could easily break this into a whole series. But for the sake of our study of Titus, this morning I'd like to look at verses 6 to 9 and look in total at the qualifications of elders. And it really breaks down into two categories. The qualification for elders is number one, godly character, and number two, biblical competence. Godly character and biblical competence. Godly character is in verses six to eight and biblical competence is in verse nine. And again, it would be easy for me to wax eloquent and extensively in all of this, but for the sake of our study this morning, I invite you to put on your crash helmet and buckle your seat belts and just follow through the text with me as we hit each of these in turn. First, with regard to godly character. Elders must manifest, first, godly character in their home. Godly character in their home. Notice verse 6. If any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. They must exemplify godly character. They must manifest godly character in their home. Notice it says, first and foremost, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife. What's that tell you? An elder has to be a man. He has to be a man. He has to be a man who is above reproach. The word above reproach here is a different word than the one that is used in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 2. In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 2, the word above reproach is literally the idea of there's nothing you can grab hold of on him. There's nothing about him that you can seize and pull out and say, this is questionable. In Titus 1 and verse 5, the word above reproach is actually the word that means he has no accusations against him. Incidentally, that's the same word that is used in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 10 for deacons. He has above reproach there is he has no accusations against him. Now, most writers say those are just to be understood synonymously, and that's very possible. I think it's also reasonable to conclude that in 1 Timothy 3, above reproach means that you have seen enough of him because it's an older and more mature assembly. You've seen enough of him and you know him well enough that there's nothing about him, who he is, the way he lives, that you can say, you can grab a hold of this and say, yeah, he's not above reproach. as opposed to in a context like Titus 1, where you're appointing someone out of a bunch of people that are newer, that there just aren't any accusations. In any case, above reproach means, essentially, he's living the kind of a godly life that there's nothing about his character or conduct that you could point out and say, yeah, he's not a godly man there, at least not in this area of his life. He doesn't really honor God with his tongue. He doesn't really honor God in his marriage. He doesn't really honor God in his home. He doesn't really honor God in his personal dealings. He doesn't really honor God in dealing with problem people, or he doesn't really honor God with his finances, or he doesn't really honor God in some area. Above reproach is not sinless perfection. If it was, no one would be qualified. It does mean that the man must be beyond any charge or accusation that could undermine either his authority, the ministry, or draw into question his character and conduct with regard to whether it was Christian or not. This is what God expects an elder to be in order to be qualified as an elder. As a footnote here, and I don't mean to go from preaching to meddling, well, that's not true, but to go from preaching to meddling here just a little bit, you wanna know why an elder has to be of reverent approach in everything we're gonna talk about here? Because with the exception of the second point we're gonna get into with regard to biblical competence in handling the Word of God, God expects this, everything in this first point in godly character, He expects this of all men. That's why He expects elders to be above reproach in all of these things, because this is what He expects of all men. So, as we're going through this list, I encourage you to compare me with it, compare Chuck to it, compare Dan to it, but compare yourself to it first. These are the qualifications that God has for elders because these are what God expect. These are the qualifications, the characteristics that God expects of all of us as men. That's why it's a requirement for eldership. An elder must be above reproach. And it starts with above reproach in the home, the husband of one wife, literally a one woman man. A man who is fully devoted to the one woman who is his wife. An Ephesians 5 kind of a husband. A husband who loves his wife even as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. A husband who is committed to his wife and faithful to his wife even when she's not exactly lovely. Even when she's not exactly submissive. Even when she's not exactly easy to get along with. This is a man who lives out what Paul has given as far as exhortations to husbands, especially in Ephesians and Colossians. This is what God expects of the man, to be a one-woman man. A man fully devoted to the one woman who is his wife. Throughout, especially the last couple of hundred years, as I've read through the commentators and I've seen through the years, the expression has been debated frequently throughout church history. Some take it as a requirement that the man must be married. Others say that he can't ever have been divorced. And some suggest that if his wife dies, he can't remarry. Now, I don't want to belabor the point here because we've covered this in detail in the past. So we're not going to argue all these points today, except to say that if it meant he had to be married, he'd have said the husband of a wife, not the husband of one wife. Not to mention the fact that this would contradict Paul's strong exhortation in 1 Corinthians 7, where he tells everybody, don't get married. so that you're free to do ministry. Marriage is distracting. Marriage makes life more complicated. Can I get an amen? Marriage is a sanctifying challenge. And now you have bound your life, your ministry, and your availability to another person. So it's not that the man has to be married. If it was talking about that he has to have only had one wife his whole life, if it was suggesting that he couldn't remarry biblically, then it goes against Paul's own instructions regarding the freedom to remarry even if an unbeliever leaves. and particularly addressing widows. 1 Timothy 5 and verse 14, Paul instructs, I dare say, very strongly commands young widows to remarry. Romans 7, verses 2 and 3, Paul is very clear. Death frees a person from the marriage bond. When your spouse dies, your commitment to that person is done. And you're free to remarry. In 1 Corinthians 7, verses 39 and 40, the Apostle Paul says, you are happier if you stay as you are, that is single. But you're free to remarry biblically, that is free to remarry in the Lord. You know what that means? You're free to remarry as long as you're marrying a Christian. What about divorce? Well, I think this is the more complicated one, and I'm just going to summarize it this way. As far as divorce goes, God hates divorce. Divorce is a sin. There are times when there is an innocent party, right? Now, if it happened before you were a Christian, regardless of how it all played out, whether it's your fault, her fault, both your fault, whatever, Okay? Whoever you were before you were a Christian, that's who you were before you were a Christian. When you died to self and came to Christ, old things are passed away and all things become what? New. Some of you were effeminate, some of you were homosexual, some of you were drunkard, some of you, but now you are Christians. When you come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, the slate is wiped clean. You can be above reproach. The apostle Paul is above reproach. How on earth can Paul be above reproach? He hunted down and murdered Christians. Do you know when Paul first got saved? Do you remember one of the biggest challenges in the church in Jerusalem was? Christians didn't want to be around him. Why? Because all the other Christians that had been around him were killed for being Christians. You know, it took Paul a while to get over that stigma. It took Barnabas showing up going, oh, no, no, no, no. God changed him. Look. Yeah. Maybe you should take him out of Jerusalem. Till things settle down a little bit and we all actually believe he really is a Christian. And then he gets to a place where he is above reproach. Okay? Who you were before you were a Christian. Okay? Murderer, drunkard, drug addict, thief, swindler, anything that is part of your past, when you come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, it might take a while to become mature enough where you've got a reputation now of being above reproach. Nobody questions that that's who you are now because you're so different from who you used to be. No. God has clearly changed this person. Isn't that what salvation is? You're born what? Again, old things have passed away, all things become new. So, who you were in the past is irrelevant. Who you are in the present is a Christian. Now, what about if it's a divorce when you're a Christian? Okay, then it gets complicated. And I'll just say it this way. If you're the innocent party, then you are free to remarry. If you're not the innocent party, you're not free to remarry. In either case, you're going to have to get to the place where you can demonstrate unequivocally an above-reproach status where everybody believes you are a one-man woman. And I'll leave it at that. If you get an unbiblical divorce as a Christian, Okay, that's sin. And there is no open door for marriage again. Paul's very clear about that in the New Testament. If you're the innocent party, then that, at some point, will be confirmed by the church to demonstrate you went through that. And at some point, remarriage to a believer could be a possibility. But again, it really boils down to whether or not The way you're living today manifests an above-reproach status in all of these areas. The first one has to do with your marriage. The second one has to do with your household, most particularly your children. Now, the thing that makes the second half of verse 6 here the most difficult to handle is the way it's translated in most English Bibles. And I would like to invite you to be patient with me here as I walk through this. It says, "...having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion." Having children who believe. Does this mean that the children have to be believers? Well, that's certainly the way it's translated in most English Bibles. However, I want to direct your attention to a couple of things. First of all, I want you to notice in verse nine, where Paul says, holding fast the, what's it say? Faithful word? Okay, that's the same word. In fact, it's the same construction. The word faithful is the same word that's translated in verse six. As children who believe, it's translated as faithful word in verse nine. It's an adjective in both cases. What that shows you is that grammatically, if you could see this in the Greek, it would be very evident, this can be translated either children who are faithful or children who believe. Likewise, it can be translated in verse 9, holding fast the word which believes or the faithful word. It's the same basic construction. Now, if it means children who believe, then what does that mean? In order to be qualified to be an elder, your children have to be what? Believers. Now, I want you to take, and it's possible, it's grammatically possible, but I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me a couple of pages back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. And I want you to notice the parallel qualification in 1 Timothy 3, verses 4 and 5. Paul says, he must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children, what? Under control with all dignity. If a man doesn't know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? You see what the qualification is? The qualification has to do with whether or not your children are under control. There's no reference to saving faith. There's no reference to children believing. Why? Because the qualifications for an elder are not tied to things that the man does not have control over. They are tied to things that the man does have control over. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. That means even the means by which he exercises authority over his household and keeps his children under control is characterized by dignity, respect, honor. He's not a bully to his kids in order to keep them in line. He's not a tyrant. Even the very way in which he keeps his household, manages his household, and keeps his kids under control is characterized by dignity. Why? Because the qualification is this, if you can't manage your own household, then why would God put you in charge of managing his? Now you go back to Titus chapter one and verse five. Paul says, 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, namely, that if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who are faithful, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. That last little expression is what defines for us what children who believe or children who are faithful means. If it was children who believe, then why would there be the need to say not accused of dissipation or rebellion? If they believe, then they are by definition believers, that is they are what? Christians, and they're going to behave. You would expect them as Christians to behave as what? Christians. Children who are faithful though, needs to be further defined. Faithful in what way? Not accused of dissipation or rebellion. Believers, by definition, have turned from rebellion and submitted to God. Dissipation, by the way, is the same word that Paul uses in Ephesians 5. Dissipation has to do with be not drunk with wine, which is dissipation, which results in a numbing of your senses and a loss of control of your natural inhibitions and you behave in riotous and ridiculous ways. You do things that you wouldn't have done otherwise and that you shouldn't have done regardless. It's beyond just slurring words and having trouble walking straight. It includes saying things and doing things that ought not to have ever been said or done. That's the word for dissipation. The word dissipation means to be characterized by debauchery, reckless abandon, wild living, and the list goes on. You can compare it with the list in 1 Peter 4, verse 3. This isn't just alcohol either, this would be drugs, this would be wild behavior, riotous behavior. And rebellion, what is rebellion? A refusal to submit to authority. Unwilling to submit to God's authority structure. Undisciplined, rebellious, often in trouble. This kind of behavior undermines the credibility of the man's control of his own household. What's the qualification for an elder? That he has children who are faithful. His children that are not accused of dissipation or being rebellious. Not accused of doing things and living in a way that is wild and ungodly and immoral and not rebelling against authorities. I'll tell you one other thing. If it means that your children have to be believers, And a man is responsible for the salvation of his kids. Not that he's not responsible for sharing the gospel. Not that he's not responsible for preaching the truth and living the truth and confronting sin and pointing to Christ over and over and over again. But if you make the man responsible for the salvation of his kids, you're making him responsible for something that only God can do. Now, I have heard it said that, well, this is a faith statement. If God wants you in ministry, he'll save your kids. And if you want to take it that way, you can do that. But the grammatical structure is identical in verse 6 with the grammatical structure in verse 9, where it's translated, holding fast the faithful word, not the word which believes. And it is further defined in verse 6 as children who are faithful, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. That second half of that expression defines what faithful means. It's an evaluation of the man's character based upon whether or not the children within his household respect his authority, submit to his authority, and live in a way that does not discredit his own testimony, his life, and ministry. The man's marriage and the man's home life must be exemplary as far as it can be rightly regarded as his responsibility to control. And if you want more on this, we went through the same principles and the same exposition years ago, both in our study on elders, as well as when we went through 1 Timothy 3. He must manifest godly character in his home. He must second manifest godly character in his life. And Paul has five vices and he follows it with six virtues here in verses seven and eight. And I just wanna rip through them quickly. He says, for the overseer, and again, notice the change in term from elder to overseer, showing that these terms are to be used synonymously. It's the same person, the same office. The overseer must be above reproach, without any accusations against him in any of these categories, as God's steward. There's a whole sermon sitting right here on God's steward. Do you know what it means? Elders are responsible to God. It is not my church. It is not Chuck's church or Dan's church or our church. And just to be clear, it's not your church either. It's not even all of ours. The church does not belong to people. The church belongs to one person. Do you know who it is? Jesus Christ, who paid for it with his own blood. Do you know who's in charge of the church? Jesus. Do you know who he put in charge of the church as those who are stewards of his household? The elders. And if you were, you don't need to turn there for the sake of time, but if you were to look at Hebrews chapter 13, the Bible says, obey your leaders and submit to them. Why? Because they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Give an account to whom? To God. You need to submit to your elders. Why? Because your elders are accountable for their exercise of authority over you, and so if you're rebelling against them, you're really rebelling against whom? Against God. And you're going to answer for that. They're going to answer for the authority they exercised over you, but you're going to answer for what? Whether you submitted to their authority. That's the reason the second half of the verse says, let them do this with joy and not with grief, because this would be unprofitable for you. It's not going to go well for you if you make our job a chore. Not only because it'll rob us of our joy and make more work and make it more frustrating and difficult to work with you and lead you, but it's also not going to go well for you when you stand before God and have to go, oh, yeah, well, I just thought Brian was an idiot. Well, he was, but I still put him in charge. I thought Chuck wasn't out of his mind. Well, he was, but I still put him in charge. And actually, they were right here. Oh, believe it or not, that could happen. The overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, recognizing the church belongs to God. And those placed in a position as overseers, elders, pastors, need to be above reproach because we're being placed in a position of authority where we are responsible to God for the way that we exercise authority over this church and lead and guide and teach and guard the church. Now look at the negative list here, the list of vices, the list of the nots. Ready? Not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid game. This is the not list. Or maybe you could even say the naughty list. Not self-willed. Self-willed means stubborn, arrogant, having to have things your way. It essentially means you're preoccupied with your own interests and expect to have things the way you want them. I still remember when I first got here. The church had saved up, I forget, Harry, was it like $15,000 or $17,000 or whatever the church had saved up and set aside, something like that. And for those of you that go back this far, I know there's not as many as there used to be, but for those of you that go back this far, let's just say my office when I first got here wasn't exactly in the pristine condition that through the years you guys have made it. The windows used to rattle and dust. I used to come in in the morning and sweep the dust off my books because, well, it's windy up here. And the carpet was older than me. It was green, it had bare spots, and some, Dan's putting his head down, but it was, and I came in and I was told at my very first elders meeting, well, okay, you can go ahead and decide how you want to remodel your office. We've set aside all this money so that we want you to be happy here in the whole bit. Well, meanwhile, if you remember, out here there were the hard floors and the hard, but they weren't stadium. What were the, movie seats from a movie theater, right? They were the movie theater in town. They were so small, some people couldn't sit in them. And that's what's the seats in the church. And I said, wait, we got how much money? And why would we do my office instead of out here? It just doesn't make sense. Well, because we just want you to be happy and stay and be our pastor. I said, can we do this instead? Well, if you really want to, yeah, I do. So we did that. And we started talking about this. It wound up taking a while to even make the decision on the style of pews and the color of pews and carpet. It's my first real challenge in ministry. The whole discussion starts, some people suggested orange and green and I don't even know what all. And I said, well you know the most biblical color, can you guess what it is? Cowboy blue. Yes. I thought why don't we go with the gray carpet and the blue pew, didn't I Dan? Yeah. And and everybody looked at me like I had three nose. I just thought it was communist. I'd be biblical color. So we're gonna have a biblical church. Let's go with biblical colors. Well, I still remember having to work through in my own heart because everyone no, no, no, we need to go with maroon. Why? Because that's what they have a grace. I'm like, But I had to work through in my own heart and grab ahold of my tongue and just sit on it because I thought, you know what? These are the kind of thoughts that a young guy goes through. Well, I just said we're not gonna spend the money in my office, so surely I could use that as leverage to say we ought to do it my way in here. Now, you notice what color everything is. You know why? Because I decided to shut my mouth and say it doesn't have to be my way. Now, that was just a young guy at the very beginning. That's why you got to be all the time, though. You got to learn how to be that at home. You got to learn how to be that with your kids. You got to learn how to be that in ministry, in life. You have to get to the place where you recognize everything doesn't have to be your way. Okay? That's the first qualification. Now, I could go through all of these like that, but let me just summarize it this way. Not quick-tempered. You know what that means? You get upset easy. You fly off the handle quick. You get mad. You're a blow-upper. Or even a clam-upper because you get mad and you storm out. You can't be like that either. Not addicted to wine. Literally, not beside wine. Not somebody that's given to wine. Now this doesn't say you have to abstain. Now, that's a commitment I made even before I went to Bible college, even before I went to seminary. I made that personally and have held to it without issue because I wanted to be very different from who I was before I was a Christian. It doesn't mean you never drink. In fact, Paul tells Timothy you have to take a little wine because you're sick. And in those days you had to mix some alcohol into your water or else the water was going to make you sick. You know what it means? You never get into a position where you're not in full control of your faculties. You know what this would include today? Not just alcohol, but drugs. Not pugnacious. The word pugnacious literally means combative, argumentative. Actually, literally it means a bully or a striker. And it doesn't have to be punching. You can hit somebody with your words, can't you? And not fond of sordid gain. It's a word that refers to greediness. Somebody that's in it for the money. You can compare 1 Peter 5 verses 1 to 3 for proper motives of ministry and see again, greediness should not be a motivation. You don't do it for what you can get out of it. You don't do it for personal gain. These are the things you can't be. Why? Because these are the things men can't be if they're Christians. You can't be somebody who's self-willed. You can't be somebody who's quick-tempered. You can't be somebody that's addicted to wine. You can't be somebody that's pugnacious. You can't be somebody that's in it for themselves and what they can get for themselves. Because none of those things are characteristics of a Christian man. You know what you need to be? Verse 8, here's the positive list. But, and you can, if you underline key words in your Bible, underline that word but. That is the strongest adversative in the Greek. This is the strongest contrast Paul can possibly make. He says, not self-willed, not quink-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but rather hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, and self-controlled. Hospitable. is the word that literally refers to a lover of strangers. Many people read the word hospitable here. It's like the word hospitality, which, by the way, is required for all Christians. Romans 12, I think it's verse 9, and I have it written somewhere else. 1 Peter 4 and verse 9. It's Romans 12, verse 13, sorry. 1 Peter 4 and 9. We're all required to be hospitable. And most people wanna consider hospitality to be just having people in the church over at your house. Listen, that's the love of the brothers. That's the fellowship of the saints. The apostle Paul, or excuse me, Jesus says in the upper room, they will know you are my disciples if you have what? Love for one another. This isn't love for one another. This isn't love of the brothers. This is beyond that. This is the love of strangers. Hospitable means a love of a stranger. Somebody who meets the needs of people that they just meet. This is giving meals or taking people that visit the church out for meals. Some of you guys do this. A lot of you guys do this. Every year, Resurrection Sunday, we have a whole focus on this. Invite somebody from your workplace. Invite somebody from the gym. Invite somebody from school. Invite somebody from the neighborhood. Invite them to church and take them out to lunch, or have them over to your house for lunch. This is hosting the Ladies Bible Study every week for years, and letting not just the church, but anybody in the world come over. This is having a church family potluck feast, festival, and everybody in the world and all the extended family that wind up tagging along because nobody cooks like Gina does. That's what this is. This is, well she's not here today, but this is, This is my wife opening up our Sunday afternoon house for a bunch of girls to come and do book studies and facilitating a ministry with a bunch of people that are just from the gym and using that as a means to bring them into the church. This is showing love to people that are strangers. This is way beyond just the love of the brothers. This is a qualification for an elder because it's an expectation that God has of all of us. Loving what is good. Loving the things that are morally good and right and pure. The word good here is agathos. It's goodness on its highest level. Sensible. The word sensible here is a word that basically means wise, self-controlled in your behavior, avoiding extremes in your actions and making decisions after having carefully considered the consequences and the potential results. Just is the word for literally just, upright, righteous, fair, equitable. Devout has to do with the man's commitment to God. Pure, holy, pious, devoted to God and living in such a way as being committed to pleasing Him. This isn't just about spirituality. This isn't just about doing devotions or spending time in prayer. This is Romans 12, one and two, living a life of worship all day every day. Living a life characterized by pleasing God because you want to please God, not impress people. And the last one is self-controlled. This is a little different than sensible. Sensible means exercising self-control and behavior. Self-controlled here speaks of being self-controlled in your emotions, your impulses and desires. You not only master your behavior, you begin to master your desires. These are the qualifications for elders. Why? Because they are the qualifications for Christian men. The expectations that God has for every one of us as men. Now, there is one set of qualifications that are beyond what He expects of all of us, and that's in verse 9. See, in order In order to understand the qualifications for elders, you need to understand not only does God expect godly character of elders, He also expects biblical competence. And this breaks into two simple pieces, and we'll cover this maybe in a little bit more detail next week. One, that he is able to teach the truth, and two, that he is able to refute error, and he does both of these on the basis for what has been passed on from the beginning. Notice in verse 9 it says, "...holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching." Holding fast. Constantly clinging to the faithful word. And that faithful word, that trustworthy word, that reliable message that is in accordance with the teaching, the doctrine, the once for all delivered to the saints faith, the way Jesus taught it, the way Peter taught it, the way Paul taught it, the way the New Testament teaches it. He needs to be one who is holding fast, clinging to this as his single authority. And he is able to both exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. Able to exhort in sound doctrine. Exhort, by the way, is from parakaleo. It doesn't just mean teach. It means to teach it in such a way that you are encouraged to follow it. That you're encouraged to obey it. To put it into practice. This isn't just somebody who says, all right, there's five points here and it's worth our attention and learning it. Okay, it's there's five points here and we need to learn it because this is how it works out in the way we need to live and we need to live it. God is worthy to have his word honored in the way we live. To exhort in sound doctrine, to exhort in healthy doctrine. There's so much about this in the pastoral epistles that I could direct your attention to. In 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15, Paul says to Timothy, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed because he is accurately handling the word of truth. You're teaching what it says and what it means by what it says. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and for training in righteousness so the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. You want to know what it takes to be competent in ministry? an understanding of God's Word, and an understanding and appreciation of what it says and what it means by what it says, so you can bend your own life to be lived in accordance with it, and you can exhort others to follow it as well. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, Paul says, preach the Word. Not preach your own ideas, not preach your own philosophies, not preach your own innovations. Preach what? The Word. The qualifications of an elder are that they need to be holding fast the faithful Word, which is in accordance with the teaching, the way it was taught from the beginning. Why? So that he'll be able, by holding to that Word and preaching and teaching from that Word, he will be able to exhort in sound doctrine. Teach the truth that is healthy and able to help us live a life that honors God and to refute those who contradict. The word refute means literally to expose, to refute, to prove that it's wrong and why it's wrong. If you compare this verse to Ephesians 4, 11 and following, you know what you will see? God expects everyone in his church to know the Word of God, to be built up in sound doctrine and to be living in accordance with it, and to not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, to recognize error as error and stay away from it. Do you know what he expects of elders? All of that, and that they have the ability to teach what is true, and not just recognize what is wrong, but point it out and show why it's wrong, and authoritatively direct people back to what is right. You know, the world chooses leaders based upon their abilities, their personality, their charisma, their prominence, their popularity, their intelligence, their influence, their education, their experiences, their successes, their power, their wealth, or any number of other things. What God requires of those who would be leaders in His church is that they be men. They must be men who are morally right and above reproach, personally pure and spiritually mature, and biblically literate and capable of teaching the truth and refuting error. There is nothing in here about charisma. There's nothing in here about your family background. your heritage. There's nothing in here about your money or your education or your training or your experiences. Do you know what it's all about? Whether or not you really are a mature and faithful Christian in every area of your life and whether you know the truth and can handle it well for God and for His glory. The church does not belong to us. It doesn't belong to you and it doesn't belong to me. It belongs to whom? To Jesus Christ and him alone. And those who are elevated into positions of authority need to be those who are godly in, excuse me, godly in character and demonstrate biblical competence. Father, thank you for this day and for for the way that you have orchestrated the events in the life of this church to give us a biblical eldership. And I pray for those of us in eldership today in this church that you would continue to teach us, continue to humble us, continue to sanctify us, continue to grow and mature us, continue to give us a hunger for your word and a full realization and appreciation that we are accountable to you for not only for what we teach, but for how we live. Not only for the way we lead, but also for the way that we instruct in the truth and the way that we refute and confront error. Help us by your spirit to oversee this household of faith for the good of your people, but ultimately for the glory of you, our risen Lord and Savior, who owns it. And help all the saints in this household of faith to recognize that the standards that you hold us to as elders are what they are, because it's the same standards and the same expectations that you have for all of us. And help us, oh Lord, for your glory to labor together as one man for the faith of the gospel. In Jesus' name, to whom we pray, amen.