THE ELDER - HIS WORK, HIS QUALIFICATIONS
March 7, 1999 AM
Sermon Outline
Acts 20:17,28-31
INTRO: There is no more important work or weighty responsibility on earth than that imposed upon elders in the Lords church. The spiritual health of the congregation depends on its elders. The future of the local congregation depends on its elders. Whether or not the local congregation maintains its identity as the Lords church depends on its elders. So, it is not overstating to say that selecting elders may well be one of the most important and grave events in which a congregation engages.
I. CONSIDER THE ELDERS WORK (Titus 1:7 STEWARD)
A. They feed the church - Acts 20:28
1. note: 1 Tim 3:2 apt to teach and 1 Tim 5:17 they who labor in the word and doctrine
2. certainly, they must know what teachers teach
3. a church not fed well in the word and doctrine is ripe for Satans onslaught
B. They watch for wolves - Acts 20:29-31
1. so, they protect the church from danger
2. error, immorality, divisive spirits, etc. are threats to the security of the church
3. so, Titus 1: 9,10
C. They oversee - 1 Pet 5:2
1. note 1 Tim 3:4,5 and 5:17 a rulership function
2. but a word of caution is at 1 Pet 5:3
3. men selected, serving must be understood to have authority and responsibility granted by the Holy Spirit - when selecting, one question might be, Is this person one to whom I Can submit? (Heb 13:17)
D. In doing these things ...
1. there is a great expenditure of time, energy
2. too, there is often the agonizing that is emotional
3. to shepherd the flock of God is a giving life out of the glare of bright lights - no glamor
II. CONSIDER THE ELDERS QUALIFICATIONS
A. First, he is an example of faith
1. 1 Pet 5:3 example, pattern
2. if he is not this, other qualifications really do not matter ... he would be unqualified without reference to 1 Tim 3 or Titus 1
3. I think, too, of the beatitudes (Mt 5) and how those qualities should be present in any man who would be an elder
B. Then, what about 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1?
1. 1 Tim :1-7 & 11 with Titus 1:5-9
2. not all faithful Christian men must or can meet these qualifications
3. these qualifications equip a man for his service as an elder ... and the must is not optional to the text
C. The man, his wife, his children
1. all are part of the qualifications
2. when considering a man, we must consider his wife and children as well - faithfulness, submission, example ... willingness to share him?
3. this man, family will go from relative obscurity to considerable visibility ... at times, the microscope
D. His desire?
1. not to use office as status, for personal advancement or advantage, to follow personal agenda
2. simply to be the steward of the Lords heritage ... the shepherd of the flock
3. further, to see to the advancement of Lords kingdom
CLOSE: As we engage in the search for additional elders, let us do so with prayer, with the word, with concern. Indeed, this should be a time of fervent prayer.
Cecil A. Hutson
07 March 1999