Well, it is so good to be back here this morning, and again, I'm so thankful for Pastor Aaron for covering for me last week, but it is good to be back, and we're gonna pick up where we left off in our series in the church, and we're gonna do that in Peter's first letter in chapter five, so please, if you would, turn there with me to 1 Peter chapter five. And in this beginning of this chapter, we'll see Peter's instructions as a fellow elder to the elders of these churches. And so please look with me. Chapter five, beginning in verse one, this is the word of the Lord. So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, you are our savior, you are our elder brother. So bless us through your spirit as we hear the word preached. Impress it upon our hearts. Lord, we pray that you would bless the elders of this church whom you've called and the men sitting here whom you are calling even right now to this noble task. And it's in your name that we pray, amen. We've been considering the doctrine of the church in this series over the summer. We actually began this series earlier in this letter in 1 Peter 2. And that's where Peter says in verse nine that, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. And so from that, we got the name for the series, that we are a people for himself. We're a people that God has called out of all the peoples of the earth. This is a people that he's chosen, that he's saved, that he's made holy. This is a people for his own possession, a treasured possession. And we've seen how this kind of relationship, it's only true within the church. There's no other institution or society or group of people that you could find anywhere else in the world that has this kind of relationship with God, with Christ Jesus as the only mediator, with him as king of the church, of his kingdom, as the head of the church, as the bridegroom of the church. And so we've seen how there's many different expressions of the visible church. We've seen that as well in different traditions, different denominations with their own distinctives and theology and church government. Yet out of all of those traditions, where there are churches that have the marks of the true church, where the gospel is faithfully preached, the sacraments are rightly administered, discipline is done lovingly and in accordance with scripture, Where that is true, all of these visible churches are true expressions of the invisible church, of the household of God. And we are just one of those many expressions of the visible church. And that's led us then to consider our particular church. and what we believe, and our own form of church government, our own concept of that polity, and so we considered that in previous sermon in the series a couple weeks ago. We looked at how we do what we do in this church and in our denomination, and today we want to consider another part of that, and that is the office of elder. That's what we want to consider this morning. And there's so much that we can learn about the elder from this passage. And as I was working on it, decided that there's actually two sermons here. And we're going to consider this passage this morning, and we're going to consider it again next week, looking at different aspects that we see in this passage. This morning, we want to consider three aspects. of the office of elder. So the first thing we want to consider is the office itself, the office of elder. Then we want to consider the ministry of the elder. And then thirdly, the qualifications of the elder. Next week, we'll consider another very important topic regarding this, and that's the authority and power of the elder, and by extension, the authority of church government and what that means. That's such an important topic and sometimes so misunderstood, it's gonna be worth it to consider that on its own. But this morning, let's consider those three things, the office and the ministry and the qualifications of the elder. That's what we want to consider this morning. So first, the office of the elder. This passage is so important in our consideration of this, and that's because there's three New Testament words that all describe the office of the elder, and all three of those words show up here in our passage. And so look back with me in the first couple verses, and I'm gonna read this again, and be listening for these three words. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. That is, in a nutshell, simply put, the office of elder. He is elder, he is also shepherd or pastor, And he is also overseer, the one who exercises oversight, which is the same Greek word from which we get the word bishop. So he's an overseer and a bishop slash overseer. So in the New Testament, these three words, elder, shepherd, and overseer, they're used interchangeably, each highlighting different facets of the responsibilities of the one office of elder. And they all show up right here in this passage. Now it's important for us to note that there is disagreement on this point within different churches and within different traditions, especially whether or not the overseer or bishop is its own distinct and separate office from the rest. And it's out of much humility and much respect to those different traditions that we disagree on this point. And I want to give us a few reasons why we should understand overseer, shepherd, and elder to be three descriptions of the same office. It's going to be a little technical. Bear with me. It'll be good. The first reason is found right away in this very passage. If you're using the ESV like I am, you'll see that there's a footnote right after the words exercising oversight. That footnote points us down. It notates for us that there are some ancient manuscripts of 1 Peter that do not include this word here. So this is a participle from the root word for overseer, and if this word is original, then what Peter is saying is that the elders are to shepherd the flock of God, oversighting, being and exercising oversight over them. That's what Peter's saying. All of this is wrapped up into one. That is, doing the work of the overseer is part of doing the work of shepherding and of being the elder. But the question for us is, is this word original to Peter's letter that he wrote? Did he write that word, or was it added later for some reason? There's so much debate about that. People have different opinions, but, and I would suggest to us, the ESV and most of the English translations, they include that word here, and they're right to do so. It is most likely original to what Peter was trying to say. Peter addresses his audience as fellow elder, in verse 1. He gives no indication that he understands himself to be functioning in any kind of bishop or overseer role, but he understands himself as one elder among many. that is not a distinct office. And so that's the first reason we understand these words to all be pointing to the same office of elder. But we find many other reasons throughout scripture as well. So consider some of these this morning. Another reason is found right away earlier in the letter. In 1 Peter 2, verse 25, Peter identifies Christ in terms of these offices, the office as the shepherd and the overseer of our souls. And as Christ is given these two titles of shepherd and overseer, and because the office of elder is the calling to be under shepherds to the chief shepherd, then it would follow that the work of overseer also belongs to the elder. And Paul, he would agree with Peter that these are the same office. And in Titus chapter 1, Paul is writing this letter to his young disciple Titus who is, he's doing the work of being an elder in that church and putting things into order. And so Paul gives Titus these instructions. He says to appoint elders in every town, as Paul had directed them. And then two verses later, in chapter one, verse seven, Paul says, and he gives the qualifications for these elders whom Titus is to appoint, and he says, for the overseer is to be such and such and do so and so. So he understands that, and he's using these words interchangeably. Likewise, the same qualifications are given to Timothy in Timothy chapter three. Paul uses similar language that he does when he writes to Titus. It would seem unlikely that Paul has different offices in mind. And finally, and most convincingly, I think, is in Acts chapter 20, where Paul gathers the elders of the church in Ephesus. He gathers them together and he gives them this farewell address in which he reminds them to pay careful attention to their flock in which Paul says the Holy Spirit has made them overseers. And so it's right then for us to understand the office of elder to be one office in which the men that are called to that office do the task of shepherding and overseeing. All of it is in one office. They are different titles that express the different and various duties and responsibilities of the elder. So that's the first thing we want to take away from this passage, from this text, that the office of elder is one office in which the New Testament will use at different times different words of elder, shepherd, and overseer to describe the responsibilities of this one office. But what exactly do those words mean? What can we say about the responsibilities of the elder? That's what we want to consider in our next point. What is the ministry of the elder? What is his ministry? Each of these words, elder, shepherd, overseer, they're used of the same office, but they describe different and sometimes overlapping responsibilities that are given to this one office. They have the responsibility to exercise oversight over the church. And so in that regard, it's proper to refer to the elder as an overseer or as a bishop. That's simply what that word means. To exercise oversight over the church. And so the elders, they're the ones, like Paul says in Acts chapter 20, they're the ones who the Holy Spirit has given responsibility to watch over the church. This level of responsibility is given to the elders primarily. So listen to Acts chapter 20. I'm going to read verse 28 for us in its entirety here. Paul says, pay careful attention to yourselves and of 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. See, the elder, he is given the responsibility of caring and watching over that which is so precious to God because he purchased this group of people, this church, with his own precious blood. Jesus loves his church so much. And dear Christian, he loves you so much. He shed his blood for you. And so he gives you the church, he gives you these elders in which it is their responsibility to be overseers and to watch over and care for your souls. That's how he has set up this divine institution of the church. They are to pay careful attention to the flock. Careful attention. They're not to be delinquent in their responsibility, but to exercise oversight in such a way that no one falls through the cracks, that everyone is cared for, that everyone is being accounted for. Paul says they are not only to pay careful attention to the flock, but he also says to pay careful attention to ourselves. And why is that? We see why in the next verse of Acts 20, Paul gives this reason. Acts chapter 20, verse 29, Paul says, because 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 that it not ceased night or day to admonish everyone with tears. Paul reminds them of his own example in those three years he spent in the city of Ephesus. He reminds them of the sober warning that these elders, they must exercise oversight, not only over the flock, but even more so amongst their own number, amongst themselves. Because while Jesus loves his church, there is an enemy that hates the church, that viciously hates what we are doing this morning. The world mocks us and ridicules us. The devil, the enemy, hates what we are doing. That we would proclaim the risen Christ, that we would proclaim the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. He would have none of us have that kind of peace and assurance that only comes through Christ Jesus, our Lord. And so we must always be vigilant as those called to the oversight of the church to be careful. Because there will always come false teaching, Paul says, even amongst our own number, even within our own churches, those who have lost their way. And we can think of those examples. We can think of well-known teachers and preachers and even maybe within churches you've been a part of. And God forbid, us too, no one is safe from this. If not for the grace of God, so too would we all go. That is why we always must be going back to the Word. We always must be dedicated to it and be vigilant to not let any kind of twisted or false teaching arise anywhere. And that's also why it's so important, and we're going to talk about more of this next week as well. It's so important that the elders of the church work together. That it's a group, there's a plurality of elders. There is no individual that can decide these things. No points of doctrine, no teachings can be done just by one single person declaring it, but it's always the work of the elders as a group, not individually. At every level this is true. And while it's all of our responsibilities always to seek after the truth, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength to the elders, God has given the important task of oversight, of protecting the church, of protecting the teaching and the doctrine of the church, and of caring for the souls of these people. And so with regard to that task of caring for souls, for the souls of the flock of Christ, then elders are also rightly called pastors or shepherds. We are in the business of soul care, of providing for the chief shepherds, his flock. We are the under shepherds of the chief shepherd. There is one good shepherd. There is one savior of your souls. Our job is to always point to Him. to point you back to him, to minister his good gifts to you, of the sacrament, of scripture, of prayers, of all these things, we give them to you. We can supply none of that out of our own strength or out of our own power. We have no power within ourselves. We have no salvation. There is no salvation you can find within me, within any of the elders. There's no peace that we can offer you from ourselves, but rather we point you to the one who has everything. That's the office of the elder as he is shepherd and pastor of your soul. Psalm 23, it begins by saying, the Lord is my shepherd, that most beloved psalm. The Lord is my shepherd and because that's true, I shall not want. Or we could say, there's nothing that I lack. as pastor and shepherd, we point you to the chief shepherd in whom you lack nothing. So the ministry of the elder, like the office of elder, is one of oversight, of caring for souls, it's one of being a pastor-shepherd, of pointing you back to the chief shepherd And as we are called to be spiritually fruitful and dignified in what we do, and as an example to the flock, governing wisely the household of God, in doing all of these things, then we are rightly called elder. or presbyter. That's the Greek word where we get elder, and that's where we get the name of our tradition of being a Presbyterian church is because we have this plurality of elders that govern and watch over the church. So in each of these words then, they describe different aspects of the ministry of elder. And so in our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, we have a book of church order. Like the name suggests, it's a book that orders and provides for us instructions on how to govern and do the work of the church. And I'm gonna try something that is never recommended that you ever do, and I'm gonna read a section of the book of church order in the sermon. So please hang in there with me. We have this description of the office of elder in our book of Church Order, and I think it's so beautiful, and I wanna read just a portion of it, and you can hear how the authors are pulling the language right out of Scripture. Everything we've just read and considered from the text of Scripture is found here. So listen to this description. It says they, that is the elders, They must exercise government and discipline and take oversight, not only in the spiritual interests of the particular church, but also the church generally when called thereunto. They should visit the sick and the people in their homes. They should instruct the ignorant, comfort the mourner, nourish and guard the children of the church. They should set a worthy example to the flock entrusted to their care by the zeal to evangelize the unconverted make disciples, and demonstrate hospitality. They should pray with and for the people, being careful and diligent in seeking the fruit of the preached word among the flock. See, that is the office of the elder. That is the ministry of the elder, laid out for us in Holy Scripture. The elder is to be shepherd of souls, overseer of the church, and always, always an example to the flock and trusted to their care. But what are the qualifications for that? Who can attain to such a lofty, noble calling like that? That's the third thing we want to consider this morning. That is the question of qualifications. So let's consider that as well. And what we see in this passage is that the qualifications for the elder are seen within the ministry that is described. They're tied to one another so beautifully. So look back in 1 Peter 5, beginning in verse 2, Paul exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. And then he says, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. So we can already get a picture of the kind of man who is called to this ministry. He's one who would not do this work under compulsion, but with a willing heart. He's not one who would do this for any personal or for any shameful gain, monetary or fame or otherwise, but eagerly to see the fruit of righteousness grow among his people. And he is not one who desires power in order to dominate or to bully or to intimidate or domineer or lead harshly, but rather he's one who would lead by example. doing his best to model his life after Christ, who describes himself, Christ Jesus himself. He says, I am one who is gentle and lowly of heart. And so even in this brief exhortation from Peter, we get a glimpse of the kind of qualifications that are needed to be a pastor, overseer, elder in Jesus's church. And these descriptions, they match up exactly with what Paul lists in the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and of Titus 1, those main passages we look to for qualifications. I wanna read for us 1 Timothy 3 just so we can hear these qualifications laid out for us for the office of elder. Paul says, the saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. So many things there, we can't consider all those things, but did you hear all those descriptions of this office? Above reproach, husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, gentle, not violent, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, manager of his own household. There's so many things in there. We don't have time to go through any of them in detail. But notice out of this list, this is what I want us to notice just this morning. Notice in this list the abundance of character qualifications. as compared to any qualification of competency or ability. We see among that list, able to teach, that is one clear cut qualification that is necessary. But that is in the middle, smack in the middle of many qualifications that have nothing to do with a man's ability and everything to do with a man's character. It's in no way to diminish or belittle the importance of receiving a good education, of being able to teach and to preach and to do all these things, but rather it's to elevate also what is so important and sometimes so woefully missing and neglected, and that is the character of the man who would be an officer in Jesus' church. And it can be best summarized by that very first word, which is above reproach. And so see how scripture agrees with itself, how Peter and Paul, they agree about what makes a good elder. He is first and foremost one who understands that he is a sinner in need of grace and that he has dedicated himself body and soul to his faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, that he would do everything in accordance with his holy word. And that does not mean that he's perfect, far from it. And it is so hard to preach sermons like this when I'm putting myself under the microscope and I see how often I fall woefully short. But this is the one who has given his life to Christ and who is seeking to make Christ known in his own example, in his own words and actions, and in everything that he does. That is what Christ has called this office to be. He's given this church to be under the care of these elders. And so that's why Peter says, again, he says, to shepherd the flock, exercising oversight, Not under compulsion, but willingly. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Not domineering, but being examples to the flock. That is what the elders, that is what your elders here at Christ the King, that is what we are aspiring to do. Always imperfectly, but we are aspiring to do that. And so please, we need your prayers, so be praying for Clint and Cody and Craig and myself. Be praying for us, that we would do all these things well and in accordance with God's word, and pray for our own protection, that God would spare us, that he would protect us and keep us in this time. And for those listening, maybe you're listening to this sermon, and maybe the spirit is pricking your heart, with these words. And Paul tells us that he who aspires to the office of overseer and elder aspires to a noble task and a noble calling. And maybe listening to this, you have felt the Spirit prodding you to such a calling. And if so, I wanna be clear that you ought to consider that calling. And so I've come to talk to myself or one of the other elders and talk to us about what that looks like in more detail. And as a church, we are going to talk more about this and we hope to have a period of nominations and officer training sometime very soon. And you'll hear more about that for both for elder and for deacon. And finally, as we wrap up this sermon, we considered briefly these three topics about the elder, the office of the elder, the ministry of the elder, the qualifications of the elder. But in each of these things, we must remember that Christ stands above them all. Look back at verse four with me, and we'll close with this. Peter says, and when the chief shepherd appears, there is one chief shepherd. He is coming again. He is the chief shepherd and overseer of your souls. He is the only one who is and ever will be perfectly above reproach and sinless in life. He is the only head, the only one from which the church receives her power. And at the end of the day, the best elder is the one who simply points back to Christ. We are ministers of his gifts. We are undershepherds directing the flock to the shepherd. We are those who like you, like everyone, we are in need of a savior. And so as much as this sermon points us to the noble office of elder, may it point even more to the one who stands above and behind this office in glory and in honor. And so may we be like John the Baptist, who always was a voice pointing to Jesus Christ. May we always decrease, may Christ increase. May he do so even now in this moment. And let's pray to that end together. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are the shepherd and overseer of our souls. If you are our shepherd and if we are your sheep, then we can rest confident knowing that you will always protect us. You will never leave us, never forsake us. And in fact, your promise to us is that you will always go and find the sheep who wander and are lost. We know that was true of all of us. We were all once like sheep that had gone astray, but you have saved us, you have found us. We were lost and now we are found. Thank you, Lord Jesus, thank you. You are our savior, you are our elder brother, you are our friend, and it's in your name that we pray, amen.