Our Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of your grace and glory and in reverence for your voice that speaks to us with such power and clarity through your word. And we pray as we wait upon you that you will speak to us because your servants are listening. Bless us now, we pray, through this ministry. In Jesus Christ, our Teacher's name. Amen. Please be seated. Our scripture reading this morning is from the first letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy. First Timothy, chapter 3, and we read from verse 1. We come near the end of our series of studies on Sunday mornings in the New Testament's teaching about the church and we come today to the subject of leadership in the church. And a few weeks ago I promised the nominating committee for elders and deacons that when we came to this theme I would particularly and specifically preach on the subject of elders and deacons. There are, if my memory serves me, only two passages in the whole of the New Testament where elders or bishops and deacons are brought together in the same place. One is in the greeting in Paul's letter to the Philippians and the other is in this passage in a more extensive way in 1 Timothy chapter 3. Let us hear God's Word, page 992 of the Pew Bible. The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, which in the New Testament, the word overseer or bishop is the same ministry as the elder, if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an 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. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. they must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives, or possibly the women who serve as deacons, their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. All over the world today people are crying out for leadership Perhaps in some measure that is because in our media conscious and media driven society we are more and more aware of the fragilities and the frailties of our world leaders and of the enormous and perplexing burdens that they face. whatever the reason, in almost every country in the world to which one goes, people are saying, would to God that we had real leaders in our country. And we might say exactly the same thing about the church of Jesus Christ. We need leaders whose absolute integrity we can respect. whose lives we can admire, whose discipleship of Jesus Christ serves as a wonderful inspiration to us in the fellowship of his people. We desperately need leaders who are spiritually tall enough to be able to see where we should be led. We need leaders that we can love and who serve to us as models of the life of Jesus Christ. There are some famous words of the American writer E. M. Bounds that have rung in my ears since I was a teenager. God is not looking for better methods. God is looking for better people, because people are God's methods. And hence, from the very beginning, our Lord Jesus Christ selected men whom he could train and equip and then send out to serve. And they, in turn, the apostles in every place where churches of Jesus Christ were established, selected people whom they trained. and prepared and equipped and then sent into the work of spiritual and material ministry. And because we are in the process in our fellowship of beginning to look to nominating elders and deacons in our church, it is salutary, vital for all of us And not least for those of us who are already elders and deacons, or who may become such, that we be very clear-minded about what it is that we are looking for from our leaders. And so I might say this morning, if you are a leader in this church, this sermon is for you. And if you are a member of this church, This sermon is also for you, so that we may wisely lead, so that we may spiritually nominate, so that we may become a church that is strong in our leadership, in our service in the kingdom of Jesus Christ here. And so, for a few minutes this morning, we turn to this extraordinary passage in 1 Timothy chapter 3. It has many remarkable elements about it on which we cannot linger, but one of the most remarkable is this. Did you notice what this passage says about what elders and deacons do? You would be very shrewd if you did. Because these passages tell us almost nothing about what elders and deacons do. Perhaps this was assumed in Ephesus, where Timothy was, because the Apostle Paul had spent almost three years there. He had given a very special address to the elders from Ephesus. It's recorded in Acts chapter 20. And perhaps all that was assumed. But perhaps what the Apostle Paul is really saying that what elders and deacons do flows from what elders and deacons are. We have a couple of little hints in this passage that elders engage in spiritual oversight, that deacons and their wives or deaconesses need to be the kind of sensitive individuals, wise and practical individuals who are able to deal with practical and sometimes material matters. But in a sense, for the Apostle Paul, what we do is always secondary to what we have become by the grace of Jesus Christ. And it's for that reason that if you reread this passage, you'll notice something very interesting in the description of the elder and the description of the deacon. Almost identical things are said about both. In the New Testament, a deacon is not a second-rate elder. A deacon is not somebody who hasn't quite made it in the spiritual stakes. Deacons and elders are children of God given different gifts, but the quality of their lives, the apostle is saying here, is to be one and the same. And for that reason, most of what I want to say from this passage this morning applies to both elders and deacons. And there are three things I want you to notice with me. First of all, the privilege of this calling. Second, the primary qualifications for this calling. And thirdly, the priorities of this calling. First of all, the privileges of this calling. You'll notice that Paul refers to these in the case of the elder in verse 1. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. And then later on in verse 13, those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves. It's two different ways really of saying the same thing. that there is great nobility, there are high privileges, there are honors for those who serve as elders and deacons, as leaders of the people of God. Now we might think is that not a form of arrogance and pride that the Apostle Paul is encouraging here when he says if anyone aspires to the office don't we sometimes say if somebody really wants to be an elder that's a sign we should never make them an elder. Not in the Apostle Paul's book for this reason. that the aspiration to be a leader in the church of Jesus Christ is an aspiration to get down lower in the service of God's people, to bear their hearts, to share their suffering, to help their spiritual lives and to be their bond slaves for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in that sense, we could aspire to nothing higher in the Kingdom of God than going down lower. Because the Church of Jesus Christ, as our Lord says in the Gospel, is not a multinational corporation with shareholders. In this Kingdom, Leadership is humble service. Leadership is costly ministry. And of course, in the New Testament church, leadership, as in many churches throughout the world today, meant you would be on the front line of all the suffering that the church might ever endure. So, the Apostle Paul is not blissfully ignorant of the costliness of becoming a leader. I have, in the last version of the New International Version I used, written across the top of a passage in which the Apostle Paul speaks about the costliness of Christian service and leader. I've written some words of Martin Luther where he says, if I were to tell people of the troubles I've had in Christian leadership, nobody would believe me. And so to aspire to this is to aspire to bear the burdens of others, to lead the people of Jesus Christ in such a way that the knocks and the difficulties will come to me as a spiritual father rather than be borne by the rest of the family. But you see, when we engage in that kind of leadership as elders and deacons, when we stand out as leaders in that humble way, oh, the nobility of the task and oh, the honor that the children of God give to us. And so we need to be clear, says the Apostle, that there is enormous privilege in this high calling. And it's because it is such a privilege, it is such a high calling, that he also emphasizes not only the privilege, but the primary qualifications of those we call to serve in this ministry. Paul details them here in very many different ways, but essentially I think he is saying three things. He is saying those we call to be leaders among us must first of all in their personal life be marked by deep spiritual integrity. Verse two, in the case of the elder, he must be above reproach. He must be sober minded. That means he must be a serious Christian. He must be self-controlled. He must be respectable. Now, that doesn't mean he must do the decent thing. It means he must be worthy of our respect. He must be hospitable. That doesn't mean he must have a big house. It must mean he must have a big heart. He must not be a drunkard or violent or gentle, not quarrelsome. Isn't that interesting? I've met some of the most quarrelsome people in the church who believe they should be elders simply because they have a gift to quarrel you into the ground. And Paul is saying we don't want that. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ was never, even in controversy, he was never quarrelsome, but gentle, not a lover of money. And similarly, do you notice with the deacon verses, he mustn't be double tongued. His word must be his bond. He mustn't be addicted to much wine or anything else for that matter. He mustn't be greedy for dishonest gain. They must prove themselves blameless. The women must be dignified, not slanderers, serious Christians, faithful in all things, in personal life marked by the deepest and the most manifest spiritual integrity. Second, in family life, they must be, if they have a family, marked by parental stability. Verse 2, in connection with the elder, the husband of one wife, or perhaps most simply, a one woman man, absolutely committed resolutely to his wife. And, verse 4, he must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. Why is that so important? Because, says Paul, if a man can't manage his own bairns, his own children, how is he going to cope with the bairns, the children of God, in the fellowship? And you notice similarly with the deacons. The deacons must be, verse 12, the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. The Apostle Paul recognizes, as C. H. Spurgeon once said, it's possible to be a deacon in the church and a demon in the family. It's almost as though he's saying, If you were nominated to be an elder or a deacon and you came home on the Sunday for lunch, would your children say, Dad, you are just the right kind of man? Mum, you are just the right woman to serve as a deaconess in this church? Or would they be surprised? So spiritual integrity and personal life parental stability in family life, and doctrinal orthodoxy in spiritual life. The elder must be able to teach. The apostle elsewhere speaks about the elder needing to know the Word of God so that he can use the Word of God to instruct and direct the people of God. We ought to be able to go to our elders and say to our elders, How does this work out in my life, this biblical exposition I'm getting from the pulpit, what I'm learning in Sunday school class, what I'm reading in the scriptures. And don't you notice how interesting it is that something very similar is said about the deacon. Verse 9, the deacon must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. You see, the difference between a deacon and an elder is not that the elder loves and knows scripture and the deacon, it doesn't matter. The only difference is that as the elder receives the scriptures, his gift is to use Could I put it this way, his tongue to impart the wisdom of the scriptures to those to whom he ministers, the deacon receives the same glorious gospel from the scriptures and his gift, or if she is a deaconess, her gift is, as it were, to use her hands and her feet. in order to take the wisdom of Scripture into the life of the congregation, that we may in some measure meet all the needs of our fellowship, and none may go away spiritually or physically empty. One of the most telling things the Apostle Paul says about this, and I've often wondered it because I've never in my life known a church that has ever done anything about this. Paul says the elder, verse 7, must be well thought of by outsiders. Isn't that something? Isn't that something? What's he like to work with? How is he as a manager, as a business owner, as an employee? Now, why is this so important? Because the church of Jesus Christ has always been judged primarily by its leadership. So, Paul speaks about the privileges. He speaks, too, about the personal qualifications. And he speaks, thirdly, about the priority in our tasks. There's much here. Let me simply point you to one thing that Paul says to the elders that I think is equally applicable to the deacons. Verse 5, if someone does not know how to manage his own household, How will he now notice the word? How will he care for God's church? That's what we're looking for, my brothers and sisters. Elders and deacons who will care for God's church. We are grateful for the care for our buildings. But you know, that's not what Paul is talking about here. For Paul, the church is God's people. elders, deacons, who will, in the name of Jesus Christ, care for us. And you see what that means. They must be those who know us and our needs as they move among us. They must be people who know the resources of God in his word and the resources that God has provided in the gifts of our fellowship. They must be those who can lead us in prayer and wisdom for the blessing of God upon our congregation. They should be those to whom we can go without fear for spiritual and practical help. They must, in a word, be people who simply love the church of Jesus Christ. and its members. And so I want to suggest, as we close two simple applications, for those of us who are elders and deacons, this is our calling. I challenge you in the name of Jesus Christ to give yourself afresh all over again and yield to these claims upon your life that you may serve us well. And to all of us that we pray and long for such leadership, that we give honor to such leadership and that we are blessed by such leadership. No wonder when Paul speaks about this kind of thing for himself, he says, oh, who is sufficient for these things? Where is our sufficiency to be found? My dear friends, especially those of you who are elders and deacons, our sufficiency is to be found in this. that these two ministries, the ministry of the bishop elder, the ministry of the deacon, are both, first of all, the New Testament tells us, the ministries of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is described both as the great shepherd and the chief bishop of our souls, and as one who was a deacon among the Jews for the sake of the salvation of the Gentiles. Our resources do not lie in ourselves, but only in Jesus Christ. And so our great task as elders and deacons is to look to Jesus Christ to supply all the resources we need for leadership. And our great prayer as a fellowship is Lord Jesus Christ, King and Head of the Church, Bishop of our souls, Deacon of our lives, Pour out your spirit upon our fellowship that we may have leaders whose hearts beat in tune with your heart for all you plan to do among us. Oh, may God give to us such leaders. Our Heavenly Father, We pray that in your grace you would not only teach us your word but grant that in our very midst we may see your word at work in those who lead us. And this we pray for Jesus Christ our Savior's sake. Amen.