All right. If you have your Bibles, you'd like to follow along with me this evening, I would invite your attention to the book of Acts, in chapter number 11. The book of Acts, chapter 11. Last week, I introduced you to the idea that it is God's design, and I believe the clear biblical pattern that New Testament churches are to be led by a group of God-gifted elders or a plurality rather than a single pastor or elder. Now for some of you, I realize that this is something new or perhaps even something different. But I promise you, this is not a new teaching, it's just a neglected teaching. Now I don't wanna ask for hands because I'd probably lay down in the floor and cry. But do you remember last week when I said I double dog dare you? to go home and study this and see what the Bible says. And I won't ask for hands, but I wonder how many of you went home and said, I'm going to prove Brother Lewis wrong. Or I hope he's right. But more likely, maybe it didn't garner all that much attention. But I do think, friends, this is something that's important. And if I didn't think it was vital, I wouldn't devote this time to it. I think it's important. Now, you have to understand that where we are in this passage is only, and we're guessing here, 10, 15 years, maybe 20, but probably somewhere between 10 and 15 years out of Acts right here. 10 to 15 years from like the day of Pentecost. You remember where Pentecost, where Peter preached, 3,000 people were saved, major deal. So the church is still very young. The gospel is being preached. The church at Jerusalem begins to spread out. Other churches are started. But it is imperative that as we go tonight, we'll see that even when the churches of Christ were very, very young, they were established with a plurality of elders in those churches. It's going to be more like sword drill than it is going to be a long exposition of a certain passage. So I started to, I really did, I started to print out each of the passages that we're going to look at tonight. I started to print them out and hand them to you. But let me tell you why I didn't do that. Because I want you to look with your own eyeballs into your own Bible. and to see that what I'm saying to you is in God's Word. That it is in your Bible that's in your lap that you hold. Now, I can print it out and put it on paper and that's fine. I don't have any problem with that. But I want you to see that Brother Lewis hasn't gone off deep yet. I may have, but not on this point. That's another story. But what I want to show you this evening, I want to show you multiple scriptures. And now listen to me. I'm not even showing you all of them. But before this evening is over, I want you to see that there were numerous churches in the New Testament age, here in the first century, numerous churches, that it is clear that they had a plurality of eldership. Okay? Now, let's jump into the narrative right here. Acts chapter 11. We'll read verses 27 through 30. And again, I'm not going to develop all this. My goal this evening is just simply to walk you through a number of Bible passages, okay? But Acts chapter 11, verse 27, And these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch, And there stood up one of them, named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth, or famine, trouble, and tribulation throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. which also they did, and sent it to the, do you see that next word? The elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. So very quickly, what we learn from this, just this meta-narrative right here, this piece of the narrative, is that God had revealed through the mouth of some prophets, early in the New Testament, that there was going to be great tribulation during the days of Claudius Caesar. And that in particular it was going to affect the saints in and around Judea. And so a number of men and women, probably around the city of Antioch, began to take up a love offering. And they determined that they were going to do what they could to help the poor saints in and around Jerusalem and Judea. And so they take up this love offering. And they send it to, you see in verse 29, the disciples, every man, according to his ability, as he was able, they determined to send relief, that is financial aid, unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. And they did this and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. So a love offering was taken up in one city, to send to another area. And that love offering was put into the hands of the elders. Plural. The elders, plural. Now, I don't want to run ahead of myself, but in the New Testament, the word elder is used primarily in three different ways. First of which, the word elder is used to speak of the Jewish elders. Now you know, you gospel, you know, saturated saints, you know that it was the Jewish elders, the scribes and the Pharisees that were ultimately responsible for crucifying the Messiah. Right? That was the elders. They were called elders. In that sense, it is a negative use of the word because of their behavior. So there's one sense, talking about Jewish elders. The second sense in which the word is used just talks about an older brother. He is an elderly saint, an elder. The second way that the New Testament uses this word elder is just talking about a seasoned saint, an older brother in Christ. But the third way and how it applies to our study this evening, and it's the same Greek word that is used, it's just the context determines how it is used. But the third word, or the third way, not the third word, the third way that the word elder is used is speaking of one who is in a position of leadership in a local church. Now, I'm gonna get into this more next week. Next week, we'll talk about the terms and the qualifications of an elder. But right now, I want you to understand that when we talk about elders, bishops, or overseers, Those words are all talking about those who are in leadership positions in a local church. Those terms can be interchanged. They can be used in between different verses. In fact, the same Greek word is translated different ways in our New Testament English Bibles. But nonetheless, what I want you to see out of Acts 11 in verse 30, is that there were a group of elders, plural, right? Isn't that what your Bible says? That received this love gift and they in turn would determine how that money was to be dispersed to the needy saints. Is that in the Bible? Do you see that? Do you understand what I'm saying? That it was this group of elders that received this love gift by the hands of Barnabas and Saul, who would then in turn take that love gift and say, here's how this money needs to be used, or they would help disperse it. So what does that teach us? That elders should be involved in the dispersing of financial things. Again, I am not saying, I said this last week, I am not suggesting through this study that I'm saying the church as a whole, the congregation, should not be involved in voting on things. I'm not saying that, but I am saying that I think it would be good for the most part, as much as is practical and possible, that the church as a whole votes on as little as they can. It's just, listen, I say this with love and tenderness, but I just hate business meetings. Y'all have not had the track record I've had. I realize that. Y'all probably haven't been through the bloody business meetings I've been through, but I've been through some ugly ones. And every time you have a business meeting, it's like cracking open the door and asking the devil to come in. Every time you have one. Now you can have them and you can have difference of opinion and love, but isn't it just a fact we don't, sometimes we don't get our way on things and it can cause some problems. That's just the way it is. And sometimes some of that stuff, church don't need to be voting on it anyway. It could be handled by a group of gifted, trusted men. Okay? Now I'm going to take the Bible and show you this, and you can believe it or not, or you can do what you want with it or not, but I'm going to take the Bible and I'm going to show you nonetheless. So here we have clearly early, early, early in the history of the church, they had a plurality of elders. Let me read this again because this is one of the key verses, Acts chapter 14. And now we're just going to start working our way through some text. So you can just get your thumbs out and get them warmed up. Acts chapter 14. We read this last week, but it is such an important verse that I want you to understand. I want you to get familiar with it. I want you to know what it says. Acts 14. The Apostle Paul is on his first missionary journey. Look at verse 21. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, I want you to see the plurality of elders. and the singleness of the church. Do you see that? They ordained a plurality of elders in every single church. Now every jot and tittle is inspired. All the little nuances of the Bible matter. It matters whether it's single or it's plural. And 1423 makes it clear that they ordained elders, plural, in every church, singular, and had prayed with fasting they committed unto the Lord on whom they believed. My sweet, loving wife, who's at work tonight, she's not here to defend herself, but she said, you come across real strong last week. And I said, well, you got to understand, honey, it's been bowling for a long time. I've been holding this in for a long time, so I don't want to come across as accusatory or point any fingers. But the text says what the text says. And if you want a preacher that's going to apologize for it, you got the wrong one. Because I'm not going to apologize for what the Bible says. We'll get into this more. Am I saying then that a church has to have a plurality? I'm going to say if a church has gifted men, then yes, they should have a plurality. If they have Holy Spirit gifted men, to fulfill that role, then yes, they should. And in fact, if they have that, I think they'd be wrong if they didn't. Not every church has that. I realize that. The church I pastored in Tennessee, we had like five men in the church. One of them was a deacon, and now that you understand, there's some small churches around. There's some churches, again, that don't even have a Pastor and elder let alone a plurality I get it, but I am saying That if a church has God gifted men they ought to be using them The church should ordain those men just like Paul did into the role of an elder to serve in that capacity for the benefit of the body Again, we'll get into some of this later, but Romans 12 makes it clear that God has gifted us differently. 1 Corinthians 12, same thing. God has gifted us uniquely and differently. And some men have the gift of eldership, some have the gift of beaconship, some have the gift of music, some have the gift of charitableness, some have the gift of hospitality, some have the gift of prayer, like a prayer warrior. God has gifted us differently and we need every man and woman using the unique gifts that God has given them to edify the whole. That's why I'm teaching this, because I believe I want this body to function as strongly as it can function. All right? Chapter 15, Acts chapter 15. Again, we're still early in the church, but what did we find? We find a pattern of plurality. Acts 15, we don't have time to develop all of this. Verse one says, and certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. So there's these men who come into the church and they begin to sow discord by saying, you cannot be a Christian unless you become circumcised. Well, they're trying to make salvation about Jesus plus the old law, Jesus plus some work. And so how do they address that? They address it by talking to the apostles and the elders. Notice this, verse 2. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them. In other words, they had a big verbal brawl about it. When you start saying salvation is not by grace alone, you're going to get a godly preacher riled up, and that's what happened here. They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders, plural, about this question. Verse 4. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders. Plural. And they declared all things that God had done with them. Verse 6. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider this matter. So put that in its brief context. There is a doctrinal issue. The matter of salvation is at stake. Is it necessary in order to be a Christian to be saved that you have to be circumcised? They're trying to make a decision on this matter. And in order to reach this decision, they go to the church at Antioch, if I have my memory right here, they go to Jerusalem and ask Jerusalem, The Church of Jerusalem, they specifically asked the apostles and the elders how to handle this situation. So do you see you have apostles and elders who are understood to be doctrinally sound and able to refute heresy? And that's the way that it should be. We don't have apostles today. We don't have modern day apostles. But we still have elders who can and should be depended on to be able to stand for the truth, stand for doctrine, refute error, especially, especially about the matter of salvation. Especially about that. And so here when there was a doctrinal dispute, they went to the apostles and the elders, plural. In Acts 15, right where you are, look at verse 22. Then it pleased, I'm sorry, then pleased it, verse 22, then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church. Do you see that? There's a distinguishing mark between the apostles, the elders, and the whole church. To send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren, and they wrote letters by them after this manner, the apostles and elders Now let me just, at the risk of being sarcastic, how many times would we have to read that before we just up and said, you know what? The church there in Jerusalem had apostles and elders, a plurality. How many times would we have to read it before we just let the Bible say what it says? I don't mean to be a jerk, don't mean to be sarcastic, but I mean it's there, is it not? Okay. So the elders worked with the apostles in helping to squash this doctrinal heresy that had been brought up. Look at chapter 16, verse 4. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. So there again, you see the elders and the apostles working together, declaring what is biblically true and sound and then delivering that into the hands of the missionaries and they go out and they teach that. So that was, all of that was centered around the church at Jerusalem. Now, if we're going to be honest with the scriptures, we have to say the church at Jerusalem had a plurality of elders. Acts chapter 20, this is where we were last week, so I'm not going to develop this, I'm just going to mention this. Paul is now gathering together the elders from the church at Ephesus. Acts chapter 20. Remember, he wants to get back to Jerusalem, but he doesn't want to go all the way inland to Ephesus, so he calls for the elders. Acts 20 verse 17, and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. Verse 28, Paul writes in Well, Paul speaks and Luke writes, but nonetheless, verse 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, and it's interesting, you'll find this interesting next week when we study these words, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. So there we find the church at Ephesus. Clearly, we made our way through Acts 20 last week. The church at Ephesus has a plurality of elders. You cannot dispute that. Jerusalem, plurality. Ephesus, a plurality. Well, there's always some that will say, well, they were great big churches, and because they were great big churches, they needed a plurality. And I'm not going to argue that. But I'm going to ask you, how big does it have to be before you would give the idea of having a plurality. My simple answer is if you've got men that God's gifted, then they ought to be in that position. Philippians chapter number one. Philippians in chapter number one. I've tried to put these in order so you just keep turning towards the back of your Bible. Philippians chapter one. This is just biblical evidence. That's all this is. I'm just showing you what the Bible says. Philippians 1 verse 1, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons. I'll give you this little nugget and come back next week if you want some more of that word bishops. is the Greek word episkopos, where we derive the English word episcopal from, that's where they derive the episcopal church, that's where they derive their name from, from this Greek word. And that term can be used as pastor, bishop, overseer, or elder. But did you notice that Paul is writing to the church at Philippi, and he says, at the church of Philippi, that they have bishops, again, that's plural, and deacons. So, Jerusalem, plurality, we know for a fact. Ephesus, plurality, we know for a fact. Philippi, plurality, we know for a fact. Right? Turn with me now to the book of Titus in chapter number 1. The book of Titus in chapter 1. I realize, folks, from a very practical sense, y'all probably not as excited about this as I am. But I like learning things out of the Bible, and when I find out maybe I've not been right about something, I'm interested in getting right about something. I know y'all don't get paid to study all this stuff. I do, and I'm glad, because I enjoy it. But I think it's important. If this is what the book says, let's see what the book says. Chapter number one. Now Paul is writing a letter to Titus. And he has left Titus on this tiny little island called Crete. And he's going to tell us why he left Titus there. Paul on his journeys. He sends Timothy to Ephesus at some point, and now he's going to leave Titus on the island of Crete with a purpose. Now look at Titus 1 verse 5. For this cause I left thee in Crete, a small island, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee." Now, here I will concede that it doesn't say elders plural in every church, but it says elders plural in every city. But now doesn't it stand to reason that if there have been plurality, evidence plurality in every church so far, and that's been Paul's custom so far, and Crete is a small island to begin with, and it has a number of small cities on it, that probably what Paul is saying is, I want you to ordain elders in every church in every city. Now, I don't want to read into the text, I'm not trying to exegete the white spaces, but we can use some God-given common sense when we study the Bible. And though he does say in every city here, the strong implication is that he is saying in every church, I'm sorry, in every city that there's a church, you ordain elders there. So there we find, again, plurality. I'm not giving you all of them. The book of James now, if you would. The book of James. There are other verses that I could use that I'm skipping just for the sake of time because I've got about a minute and a half left because I told my kids I was preaching 30 minutes tonight. They didn't believe it when I said it, but nonetheless. They were hopeful, mind you, Book of James. Now I'm going to read this familiar passage to you, but maybe now, as you read it, you'll see something a little bit different about it. Okay? James chapter 5. James chapter 5, verse 13. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any married? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church. And let them, the elders, pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. So here's James now, who is instructing his readers, when you're sick, call for the elders of the church. So now do you see now I'm not making this stuff up? And I'm not skipping out the parts that doesn't fit this. I've told you, go home and look up the word singular elder and compare it to the plural usage. So here again, James writes with an underlying assumption. But there is a plurality of eldership in the church so that when you're sick, you don't just call brothers such and such, you call for the elders plural. There it is. 1 Peter chapter 5, just over a few pages now. 1 Peter in chapter number 5. Verse 1, 1 Peter 5 verse 1 says the elders plural which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder." And see, when we use the term elder, not as the Jewish elders, not as just an older man, but as an elder, a leader in a church, this is one of the few times when it's used in the singular form. And he's just identifying himself as an elder. He's not saying the church should only have one. He's just saying, I'm one of a number of elders. But verse 1, he says, the elders plural, which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." And then he goes on, "...feed the flock of God which is among you." And he is instructing the elders to feed the flock of God. Now again, I don't want to overstate, this is a general epistle. In other words, 1 Peter was written to a number of different churches. It's not specifically written to the church act. You study it and you'll find out that this is a general epistle. It means it was written by Peter, but it was sent general to different churches to be read and learned from in different churches. But do you see that assumption there? When he writes to numerous churches, The elders which are among you. Now I can't be dogmatic and say that he is saying that every single church that read this had a plurality, but there is that assumption about it. And for more than that, it fits the New Testament teaching. Now these are some. of the biblical evidences that teach that very early on and as the gospel spread all the way to Ephesus, to Philippi, to Antioch, to different places, even to general areas, as the churches spread, as the gospel spread, there were in each church that we understand that there were a plurality of elders. Let me read something to you. Wayne Grudem, who is a biblical scholar, By any estimation, that doesn't mean, every time I quote somebody, it doesn't mean I agree with everything they write, okay? The only person that's right on everything is me and Jesus. Nah, you know I don't mean that. He's the only one that's right on everything. But Wayne Grudem writes and he says, listen, no passage suggests that any church, no matter how small, had only one elder. The consistent New Testament pattern is plurality of elders in every church, and then he quotes Acts 14, 23, and then Titus 1 in verse 5. And he says, secondly, we do not see a diversity of forms of government in the New Testament church, but a unified and consistent pattern in which every church had elders governing it and keeping watch over it. If we can establish that it is the clear biblical pattern that churches of Christ had a plurality of elders, we might ask them, how many elders should a church have? The answer? As many as are qualified. Now that's the answer. How many elders should a church have? As many as are qualified. We'll look at the qualifications again next week. Now, it's not my place to tell every local church how many elders they ought to have, because I'm not the Holy Spirit, and neither are you. And we can't say for sure what God's gift is to other churches or individuals within those churches. Yet we've got to admit, if we're going to be honest, that we have every scriptural reason to believe that it is God's purpose that a church that has Holy Spirit gifted men should put them in the role that the Spirit has gifted them to perform. Again, again, why? Why? Why does this matter? And I don't have time. I still got that list of ten things. Why does this matter? Because it's about us fulfilling the role that God has given us. It is about us being yielded to the Holy Spirit. It is about us using the gifts that God has given us. It is about a church developing leaders within it that fit what the New Testament qualifications are. It is about you. Being more like Jesus. I said this last week and I am convinced. The very heart of this is that it strengthens you. It helps you become a stronger Christian when a church is blessed with a plurality of elders. It just helps you be a more rounded, well-rounded, spiritually mature Christian. Because you don't just hear from one voice, or one opinion, or you don't just have to trust one man's judgment. If God has gifted and qualified a number of men in a church. God doesn't do that in every church, I realize that. But if he has, in order for us to become what we should become, we should be willing to submit to what the Bible teaches in this matter. Now I realize and I know that it's going to take you all a little while to pray on this and process this and I'm glad of it and that's good. If I could come in here in two weeks and change your mind, somebody else could come in two weeks and change it again. So pray about what I'm teaching. Pray about it. Think about it. Again, look at our church body. See if God has blessed different men in different ways. And let's try to put the right people in the right place. as it pleases the Lord.