So I want to begin in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and just look at one verse. And that's verse 17. And in this verse we can kind of use it as a jumping point to talk about some different things relating to elders. So 1 Timothy 5 and verse 17 says this, Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. especially those who labor in the word and doctrine." Okay, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. So if you notice, first of all, the elders in the plural, and that's what I want to talk about first. that there is a case in the New Testament for a plurality of elders. And remember, when I use the word or the term elder, I'm not talking about elderly. I'm not talking about older people. but the unique use of this word in terms of the leadership in the church. It is used interchangeably with overseer, oftentimes pastor. We normally use the word pastor, and it's okay to use that word. I just want us to really get a good grasp of the idea of eldership or a plurality of elders as opposed to or in contrast with the idea of the pastor. And I know that it's probably the most common thing you've been used to, and there may be certain circumstances within a local congregation where there may be only one qualified elder, and he would be the pastor. But ideally, and under God's purpose and design, he desires for his churches to have a plurality of elders. Matter of fact, all evidence in the New Testament is that individual churches were led by a group of multiple elders. Elders within the New Testament church are always spoken of in the plural. And so we've already kind of talked about this. So I want to talk, maybe answer some questions that you may have about elders, like, for example, how many? Does the New Testament speak of a limit or a minimum on elders within a particular church? No. A church can have as many as the Lord provides. There's no minimum. There's no limit. I think the more the better. God sends or God brings together, and I say it that way because I think we're used to thinking of a particular pastor over a church usually is brought in from without the church or outside the church. In other words, when a church is looking for a leader in their congregation, at least Baptist churches, churches we are familiar with, The norm is to go outside of that local body and bring someone in. But I don't think that's the ideal in the New Testament. Ideally, there should be, within a congregation, qualified men. qualified men and that if there is a leadership vacuum that they would be able to step in and take that role. There's nothing against calling a pastor outside of the congregation but I think ideally we should look within ourselves first. So this would also require that in a local congregation there are men who are qualified or at least aspiring to be pastors or at the very least the bare minimum that they are willing and able to step in until maybe another qualified elder can take that spot. So anyway, there is no minimum, there's no set number to how many elders a church should have, but there should be a plurality if possible. And there are many benefits to a plurality of eldership. First one being biblical accountability. There is a great danger, not always, but many of the times there is great danger if one man has been given all the authority in a local congregation. It is dangerous because ultimately he's not accountable to anybody and that power can really ruin not only that individual but a congregation as well. it can cause great harm. But a plurality of eldership of elders can create kind of this safety barrier when the elders are watching out for another, holding each other accountable and so forth like that. Because I know all of you just heard of one yesterday. I was listening to a radio program about a very prominent Bible teacher that's been around for years and years and years. And it was a one-man show. And he built his entire ministry around himself. and end up later, after his death, finding out that he was involved in all sorts of grieve and heinous types of sins. And his leadership team, or the people that were under him, said that he wasn't accountable to anybody. And they tried to confront him, but he just wouldn't listen. So, it's a great safety barrier for the church to have a plurality of elders. Plus, there's wisdom and a multitude of counselors. Proverbs is clear on that. And there's great balance There's just one man and his perspective. It's hard to see things any different other than that one man's perspective. So if you have a plurality of elders, there's great balance there. And so that is beneficial to a church. And then there's, of course, burden sharing. One man cannot carry the burden of a local congregation. He's not strong enough to do that. He may think he is, but he's not. Therefore, there should be around him a group of men to help care and share that burden as they care for the church. And then fifthly, to be an example, to set an example for the church. Having a plurality of elders demonstrate that the work of ministry is not reserved for a select few, rather provides an example of maturity for every man, particularly when some of the elders are men who work ordinary jobs and are not paid by the church. So there are many great benefits, just practical things that go along with having a plurality of elders or plurality of pastors in a church. But of course, the biblical precedence is our number one go-to. The scripture is clear that If a church is able, it should have multiple or plurality of leaders. So what do they do, though? We talked about the qualifications. What is the New Testament's teaching concerning what do they do? And I'll tell you what, this is a very big deal, because in the last several years that I've been pastoring, I've had many people ask me things like, so you only work one day a week? It's like, man, that must be a good little gig. I need to get in on that. But they were serious. They were serious in saying that. It kind of made me wonder. It hasn't happened just once. I've had many people. A guy asked me just two weeks ago. He was inviting me to this event on Sunday. Well, actually, it was a Friday, Saturday, Sunday event. And he knew that I was a pastor. And I said, oh, it's a weekend. It's a whole weekend thing, right? He said, yeah. Well, just give them homework. And I mean, he was dead serious. He's talking about, y'all, just give them homework to do. What do you got to be there for? And it's like, so some people have some very odd ideas of what pastors do. Like, you know, all you do is just stand up there for 30 minutes, talk to them. In your case, Pastor Ben, it's like more like an hour. But anyway. So what does scripture describe and what are the duties of elders? What are they supposed to do? Well, there's four basic things, okay? And of course, under these four basic ideas, there's going to be a whole host of other things. Well, first of all, he must teach, all right? All of the qualifications of an elder require him to teach. Also, he must lead. Just as shepherds lead their flock, so elders lead local congregations. They oversee in this sense, but leading in the sense of kind of going before. Meaning that they don't kind of prod like this. They're the first ones to get out there, and they lead by example. They lead by example. And they model. That kind of goes along with leading. Elders lead by example. And then fourthly, to pray. Elders should take up the apostolic shepherding mantle and say, we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry. That's Acts 6. And that's very instructive for us as we think about leadership, because if we don't have these kind of four basics down, it's very easy. And I say we as a collective Christian community, if we don't have these four basics down, what will happen is, is that other things will creep in to these duties and responsibilities. And so therefore, I want to talk about what elders are not okay, what elders are not. So on the backside of your outline, I've got just there's just four. And there's a whole lot of things that can be listed here. But an elder is not the sole authority in the church. The elder is not the sole authority of the church, nor are the elders, in plural. We get this in passages like 1 Corinthians 5, when Paul is addressing the congregation to take up a matter in and of themselves. Now granted, it will be under the leadership of the elders and under their oversight, but that authority for the elders is still under Christ. And the church itself has an authority. So an elder or a pastor, even if it's a single pastor model, and that is common in most congregations, he is not the authority in the church. That authority sometimes can be exploited. Secondly, he is not the only one called to ministry. He's not the only one called to ministry. In Ephesians 4.12, the leadership is giving for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. Meaning that a church should not put all their eggs in his basket. and say, buddy, it's up to you. Now grow this church. We pay you a good salary. We even got you a place to stay. We pay all your bills. Now do what you got to do. Make this church grow. That's kind of been the paradigm over many, many years. But it is not up to him. It is up to him to equip the saints for the work of ministry. All of God's people are in ministry. And number three, like we mentioned earlier, he is not without accountability. First Timothy 5.19 very clearly states that there is an accountability structure even among the elders. He should be held accountable just as everyone else is. And fourthly, he is not the hope of the church. He is not the hope of the church. And this is very important for us to grasp because especially in America, and we've kind of brought this to other places, we are a very much event-oriented type of people. I'm talking about American Christians, and we are very much a person-oriented type of people. Just take the last four years of presidency to kind of be a little proof of that, that from a political party to an individual can go in about 0 to 60 real fast. not to say anything against our previous president but what happens is that we tend to gravitate towards a particular person and a particular style of teacher and then we just tend to focus on that one person and then we start to thinking in order to bring about the most fruit or effectiveness among Christian people what we need to do is to create an event and at that event have that particular particularly gifted individual come and speak to random strangers and there's nothing Inherently wrong with that. But in terms of just the fundamental growth of the church, fundamental growth of the body, a local body, the best way to do that is to have qualified elders or individuals who know the flock, who know the sheep intimately and deeply and can speak to their needs. Now, I grew up, in my Christian experience, I grew up on that kind of idea. I had particular teachers that I listened to that I still listen to. But I found myself putting so much emphasis on their teaching, on what they were saying and how they articulated something. And then I failed to realize that the particular pastor that God placed over me, I would kind of interpret what he's telling me in light of what this other person was saying who had no idea who I was. Now, he was saying lots of true things, and they were valid, and they were educational and informative, and they helped me to understand a lot of things, but we need to understand that the way God has designed the local body is that the elders of a particular church, that God has placed there for that particular time and for your particular situation. Now, I may not be as eloquent as the most. There may be a few out there that can preach better than I can. I don't really know them. But if they're out there, it's okay. It's okay to learn from other teachers and pastors and preachers and things like that. But guard yourself against the idea that I really like this teacher and this teacher and this teacher. I'll kind of put up with him on Sunday because I can't go to this other guy because he lives so far away. But no, think about it this way. That this is where I live. This is a congregation I'm a part and God has placed me in this particular congregation with that particular yahoo to speak to me and so I'm going to look past him and his character flaws and all those other things and realize that God in his sovereignty has placed these elders for me and my family at this particular time. Now, all that being said, I want us to kind of bring this into Ezekiel chapter 34, okay? Because in Ezekiel chapter 34, there's absolutely an amazing passage that teaches us about leadership in the New Testament. One more point though. Another thing we bring out, we can see in 1 Timothy 5.17, that's important for us, before we go to Ezekiel 34. If you look at verse 17 again, "...let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine." So all you Bible nerds out there, with that comma and the word especially there, he's kind of making a distinction, isn't he? that he's implying that there may be elders who do not teach or maybe who do not teach as much. And so, historically, many have taken this verse to mean that even among the elders in a local congregation, there may be a different level of responsibility or different degree of responsibility. Meaning that all elders must meet the qualifications set forth in the New Testament, but not all elders must have the same responsibilities. Some may be supported by the church for this specific task of teaching and preaching while others who may also teach and preach may do so with less frequency but with no less authority. In 1 Timothy 5.17, the idea of, may them be counted worthy of double honor, has the idea of remuneration. Not only respect, but remuneration. That means that elders can be supported, but they don't have to be supported. They can be supported, but there should be a special emphasis on, particularly, maybe a elder who, his calling, his particular emphasis is a heavier load of preaching and teaching. In other words, exactly what we're doing now, that I'm supported by you guys so I can devote myself more to the study of Scripture and prayer, and Jonathan additionally teaches occasionally, so this is what we're doing. But I want to just articulate this and make this clear of the reason why we do it this way. The reason why we find it necessary to support one particular elder, but maybe not somebody else who preaches. Although we do take care, we've always done this in our church. We've paid every preacher that comes in through here. We give them a bag of peanuts and a soda pop, tell them, good job, brother. Get them out of here. Just kidding. Just making sure I still follow with me. But again, God has a particular plan and purpose for leaders in their church. Okay. And so I want to show you where this all starts. And now let's take a field trip to Ezekiel chapter 34. So turn to Ezekiel. And I've phrased this in kind of an interesting way. If you notice on your outline, the function of shepherds and the eschatological people of God. Doesn't that sound fancy? Let me show you what I'm talking about, because it's significant. Ezekiel chapter 34. In Ezekiel chapter 34, he is writing to people of the exile, people of judgment. He's writing to a people who are under the judgment of God, but always in the prophets, there's always after the pronouncement of judgment and the indictments upon them, why God has brought about the judgment. He always peppers in there the hope of what is to come. the hope for the future. In Ezekiel chapter 34, God is going to tell, he's going to, we're going to read the indictments of what's going to happen and what God is going to do about it. And then we're going to finally going to see how this is fulfilled in the New Testament and how it applies to us. So is everybody with me at Ezekiel chapter 34, beginning at verse one. In the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God to the shepherds, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flocks." Now, to be clear, often times in the Old Testament, the word shepherd is referred to the king. But it's in the plural here. And he's referring not just to the king, but all to the leaders of Israel. So this would be anyone entrusted with the leadership role among the people of God in the Old Testament. And God is pronouncing a woe upon them, and it's because they fed themselves. He keeps going. Look at verse 3. You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The wink you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back which was driven away, nor sought what was lost, but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill, yes, my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. So this is a good description of what a shepherd's supposed to do. To seek, to heal, to mend, to go find, to feed. All of these sorts of things that we see the corollary in the New Testament. But that wasn't happening in Ezekiel's time. And God pronounced a woe upon the shepherds. So what did God do about it? What's He going to do about it? Well, go to verse 10. Skip down. to verse 10. As a matter of fact, this wasn't just from Ezekiel and Jeremiah, if you've seen your notes. He said the same thing. Woe to those who scatter the sheep of my pasture. But what is God going to do about it? Look at verse 10. Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand. I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more. For I will deliver my flock from their mouths, that there may no longer be food for them. Thus says the Lord God. Indeed, I myself will search out for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among the scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and the valleys and all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture and their folds shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock. I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen which was sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment." So God Himself says, when you return from exile, Under the restoration, which we remember at Sunday School this morning, we talked about what that was going to look like. It was going to be a renewed temple, a renewed earth, a renewed Eden. Now we see here there's going to be a renewed leadership. God Himself said He was going to do this. But how? How is God going to do this? I mean, is God Himself physically, literally going to come down here and do this? In what sense is He going to accomplish this promise? The way He tells us. Go to verse 23. The first thing you're going to do is establish one shepherd over them. You say, well wait a minute, I thought God was going to come out here and do this. Okay, well think about it. God has always been the shepherd of His people. Psalm 23, right? But in Ezekiel, the shepherds have failed to do their jobs. God says, I'm going to do it myself. But this is the way in which He's going to do it. The first thing He's going to do is He's going to place one shepherd over them. But let me just pause on that for a moment. But He's also going to raise up other shepherds to shepherd them. Look in your notes real quick in Jeremiah 3, verses 14 and 15. The same context, return, O backsliding Israel, says the Lord, for I am married to you. I will take you, one, from a city, and two, from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And again, chapter 23 of Jeremiah, verses 1-4, But I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. Now, just pause right there for a moment, because we've been studying Genesis during Sunday school, right? And we talked about how Eden looked forward to a restored creation, a restored temple presence, a restored temple sanctuary, a restored people. Now we're seeing that it's going to be a restored leadership, but we see in Jeremiah also that in this restoration, and that when God gathers His people, they're going to be fruitful and increase. Do you think that? Do you think that's Genesis 1-2 language? It is. But He says, I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says the Lord. So in the context of the restoration of all things, what is included in that is shepherds. But not just shepherds, there's going to be one shepherd over all those other shepherds. And that's where we're back in Ezekiel, in verse 23. I will establish one shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, will be their God. And My servant David, a prince among them, I, the Lord, have spoken." Now, who do you think that Prince David is? Now, it can't be King David, because he's dead and gone at this point. But I think we all know what the descendant of David, who was to come, who it's going to be. And if you don't know who that is, Jesus actually tells us exactly who that is. So look at John 10, towards the bottom of your notes there. Verses 14 and 16. This is the significance of Jesus' words to His original audience when He says this. When He says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I know them by my own, as the Father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them I also must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd." Jesus knew His audience. He knew by uttering these words, they're immediately going to be going to Ezekiel 34, Jeremiah 3, Jeremiah 23, and they're going to be saying, are you claiming to be David's prince? The one that was to come, that God talked about, that God Himself would come in and through? Because that's what's significant about God in the flesh, Jesus Christ Himself. Because when they read Ezekiel 34, they understood that in some way, God in His very presence will be here on this earth. But how can God do this since God is a spirit? How is God going to shepherd over His people? How is He going to give us shepherds after His own heart under this Davidic shepherd? How is all that going to happen? Because in their mind, it's impossible. Unless... God comes in the form of a man, in the line of David, and unless this Davidic king accomplishes something in his conquering work as a Davidic king, conquering Israel's enemies, conquering God's enemies, and somehow he just so happens to distribute those gifts, as the spoils of His victory to all to the subjects of the Davidic Kingdom. Now, if that happened, then yeah, that would have plotted Jesus absolutely. Well, it did happen. It's exactly what happened. And that's why Ephesians chapter 4, verses 4-12, that's exactly what Paul is saying. There is one body, one spirit, just as you recall in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." Now what kind of gift is this? It's not like a Santa Claus kind of gift. The cross work of Christ wasn't merely something that He attained for us, gifts that He attained for us, that He gives us like a father would give his little child. It's not that kind of gift. In one sense it may be because there's this love there. But for this particular context, it's conquest. It's that kind of gifting. And how do I know that? Because he quotes a psalm, which is a Davidic psalm, of the conquering acts of David, who he goes in, conquers God's enemies, and he gathers all of God's people, and they share the spoil together. And the Davidic king says, I have conquered all the enemies, now here is all the spoils. All the gifts that I have attained, I am giving it to you. And David said that's exactly what Jesus did according to the measure of Christ's gifts. And then in verse 8, Therefore He says, when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and He gave gifts to men, or spoil to people. Now this, he ascended, what does it mean that he first also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. By the way, that's more creation language. And he himself gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Why? For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So in Paul's theology and Peter's theology, in Jesus' theology. He understood that in the person and work of Christ, being the Davidic king, the true shepherd of Israel, he is accomplishing all that God promised he said he was going to do. Now, Christ is the true chief shepherd. He's the one good chief shepherd. That's how Scripture describes it. In 1 Peter 5, we saw two or three weeks ago, that's exactly what Peter says. That when the chief shepherd comes, he exhorts the elders, the elders who are among you, I exhort. He says, I've seen all of Christ's glory. And including in that glory is all that he's accomplished. Now, Peter says, now elders, because our chief shepherd has accomplished everything for us, shepherd the flock of God. And he tells them to do it in a particular way, which is strikingly just like Ezekiel chapter 34. Let's keep reading in Ezekiel 34 because there's another way God is going to accomplish this purpose. He's going to do it by giving shepherds after His own heart, by giving one shepherd over all the shepherds and thus over all the sheep, but He's going to do it through a covenant. Verse 25 of Ezekiel 34. I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land, and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around them my hill of blessing, and I will call showers to come down in their seasons, and there shall be showers of blessings." Y'all know that song, right? Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I am the Lord when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them." Y'all hear the creation overtones in that? Verse 28, and they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely. No one shall make them afraid. I will raise up for them a garden of renown. Now, if there's no more creation language clearer than this, this is it. In other words, saying, this is what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to raise up a prince under the Davidic line. He is going to be the ultimate good and chief shepherd. But not only am I going to give you that one good shepherd, I'm going to give you shepherds after my own heart. And this is how I'm going to secure that. It's going to be a part of a covenant. Jeremiah calls it a new covenant. Ezekiel calls it a covenant of peace. And in this new covenant, this covenant of peace, it will secure all the promises God has for His people. And in doing this, what He's going to do is essentially begin the reversing of the disorder in creation. We saw everything this morning in Genesis 2 functioning as it was supposed to do. You had the man of God, as it were, the Son of God and the daughters of God doing and fulfilling their mandate as their kingly and priestly role. They are fulfilling all that God has called them to do. But we know through the progress of time, they failed in their mission, so God raised up another one. He failed in His mission, He raised up another one. And all throughout Biblical history, there are these men that God raised up, and they were types, and they were shadows, and they looked forward to someone greater. He raised up Abraham. He raised up Isaac. He raised up Jacob and Joseph. He raised up David and Solomon. And then all the prophets spoke of a day that there's going to be a prince of the line of David. There's going to be a new son of God, a new son of man. There's going to be a new Adam, a second Adam, the last Adam. He's not only going to be the Davidic king, but he's going to be the one to restore everything like it's supposed to be. But what does that look like for us? How is He doing it now? You say, Matt, because it snowed. It was an ice storm last week. Or the week before, how do we reconcile all of this beauty and glory and grandeur? We're not in Eden yet, Matt. We're not there. I understand that. But what God has done in Christ has begun a new creation, but in reverse order. He began the initial creation with the earth and everything in it. Then He placed man in that garden, in that creation. What God has done in Christ, we are new creations in Christ. We are one new man, Ephesians chapter 2 and 3, 1 Corinthians 5 or 2 Corinthians 5, 17. So now that in Christ what God is doing is bringing about the newly created world. But He starts with humans and then He's bringing in the earth at the last. So why am I going through all of this? Because what we're doing right now, as a local body, as a group of Christians gathered in Christ's name, united by the Spirit, united by the Word, under the Shepherd Christ, with shepherds in this congregation, what we are seeing right before our eyes, unfolding right before us, is the eschatological kingdom of God, the age to come, that all of this that we're reading, we're seeing it in its seed form. We're seeing it little bit by little bit by little bit. We're waiting for it to be accomplished in all of its fullness. That garden of renown is on its way, but it's not simply or merely some pie-in-the-sky idea and we're in a middle timeout period where nothing's happening and there's nothing significant going on. We're living in a very real sense of the accomplishments of Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23. Obviously, not all in their fullness. Look at verse 30 of Ezekiel 34. Thus, they shall know that I, the Lord, their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, my people, says the Lord God. You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are men and I am your God, says the Lord God. In other words, God is saying when I do what I'm promising to do through this Davidic king, that there's going to be a unity among the people. There you're going to be united under this one prince, under this one priest, under this one king, under this one son of man, son of God. All of the things that Scripture talked about. But in the outworking of that, in the in-between time, between the ages, this shepherd has given the church leadership. giving it clear qualifications, clear structure, clear duties. And that when we function under those duties, what we are doing is essentially seeing the unfolding of God's plans right before our very eyes. That means everything we do as a church is a little taste of heaven to come. As someone once said, if that doesn't get your fire hot, your wood must be wet. That means every time we come to church on Sunday, every time we open our Bibles together, every time we do Sunday school, every time we have the Lord's Supper, and every time somebody joins a church. we are seeing a restored humanity, one person, one family, one individual at a time. It's great when you see numerical growth in a church, but it's even greater if we can see past that and beyond that. That's good, but when we see God is restoring this earth, and He's starting with individuals, So it gives us hope, it gives us joy, it gives us proof that what God said He was going to do through the prophets, He has done, He is doing, and He will do. And when the good chief shepherd returns, then all the earth will be restored, better than it was in Eden. That's what we have a glorious picture of in the book of Revelation. And I hope we see that church leadership is not a job It's a fulfillment. And I'm not elevating elders. I'm elevating God and His purpose and God and His work and what He's doing. But I want us to see the nature of church leadership as Scripture describes it. as the outworking of God's purposes and plan through Christ. That's what this is. And when we think of it that way, we won't think of it as a corporation. We won't think of the church as some company that we have a CEO or president over, or a a board of directors or something like that. No. We have shepherds that Christ has called and equipped and given to His people to shepherd the flock of God under these circumstances and in this context. Amen.