As Nicholas mentioned, we're in the book of Titus,
the letter of Paul to Titus, and today's exposition
will be focused on verses 5 through 9, but I'd
like to start by reading from verse 1 all the
way through verse 9. I'd like to read this aloud
as you please follow along, and remember that
this is God's fully inspired and inerrant word.
Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of
Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of
God and the knowledge of the truth which is according
to godliness, in the hope of eternal life which
God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
but at the proper time manifested, even his word,
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted,
according to the commandment of God our Savior.
To Titus. my true child in a common faith, grace
and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus
our Savior. For this reason I left you in Crete,
that you would set in order what remains and
appoint elders in every city as I directed you,
namely, if any man is above reproach the husband
of one wife, having children who believe not
accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the
overseer must be above reproach as God's steward.
not self -willed, not quick -tempered, not addicted
to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,
but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible,
just, devout, self -controlled, holding fast
the faithful word which is in accordance with
the teaching, so that he will be able both to
exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those
who contradict. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly
Father, as we come to your word yet again today,
we ask that you would give us understanding.
Your word is truth, and through it you instruct
us in righteousness and reveal how your church
is to be ordered and led. Help us to see clearly
what you require of those who shepherd your people.
Guard our hearts from pride and from worldly
definitions of leadership. Instead, Lord, please.
Shape us according to the wisdom of your word.
May Christ be honored as the true shepherd of
the church. And may your spirit, the author of
scripture, give us ears to hear and hearts ready
to obey. These things we ask in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen. Please be seated. I literally took
a pink post -it note and a black sharpie and
stuck a note on the first page of my... sermon
notes that said something to the effect of no
tangents. It's important, I think, to handle
a larger swath of Scripture like this in an efficient
manner, and I know it doesn't seem all that big,
verses 5 through 9. You've got a mere five verses
there, but there is so much truth packed into
these verses, so much instruction, so much teaching
that we can absorb. that we need to do it in
an efficient manner. So I'm going to try and
have some self -control here today as God's steward
and get through the message in a timely fashion.
I did make the joke to Nick that I forgot my
phone this morning, and that's usually what I
use to tell time, so you guys may be at a disadvantage
when it comes to that. As we continue our study
of Paul's letter to Titus, we now arrive at a
foundational passage that is so important for
us to understand how the church should be ordered
and led. Now, in some ways, this is going to
sound a little bit like preaching to the choir
today because the particular type of biblical
church leadership that is described here in Paul's
letter to Titus. also happens to be the type
of church leadership that we prescribe to here
at Grace Fellowship Church. One might argue that
the reason for that is because we simply see
it as being biblical. In the previous verses,
and when we spent time there in verses 1 through
4, Paul's salutation, his greeting to Titus,
his true child in a common faith, Paul introduced
the purpose of his apostleship and reminded Titus,
that the gospel message was entrusted to him.
Paul, in his apostolic authority, has delegated
some of that to Titus as he ministers in Crete.
But now Paul turns to a very practical matter,
the organization and leadership of the churches
that have been established on the island of Crete.
These congregations were young. The gospel had
taken root. But the work of establishing healthy,
ordered churches was not yet complete. So Paul
left Titus on the island with a clear task, to
finish what had been started and to ensure the
churches were properly structured. This passage
explains why Titus remained there in Crete, and
it also explains what kind of men must lead Christ's
church. I want to get right into the meat of
the matter. So Paul first describes the purpose
of Titus' assignment, and then he lays out the
qualifications for elders who will lead these
congregations. So we'll begin first with just
that, the purpose. Why did Paul leave Titus in
Crete? The answer to that question is found in
verse 5. He says there, for this reason I left
you in Crete, and then notice what he says next.
that you would set in order what remains. You
know, we serve a God of order. Just as Paul writes
to the Corinthian church to order their worship
service in a particular way, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 14 and verse 33, he writes, For God is
not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all
the churches of... Now, most of you know that
passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Most of
you are very familiar with the book of 1 Corinthians,
and most of you know that it was very much intended
to correct bad behavior in the church. And in
that particular chapter, that whole section there
in the middle toward the end of 1 Corinthians,
Paul is dealing with the abuse of spiritual gifts
and the chaos that that had created in the churches
at Corinth. Namely, that they desired to use
those gifts, speaking in tongues and prophesying,
as a way to bring attention to themselves. Many
people in that church had fallen prey to a desire
to make much of themselves, and this was causing
chaos in the church. It led to disorder. But
order is a hallmark of Christian ministry, particularly
in the church. God has prescribed the manner
and the means by which his church should be ordered.
Paul goes on in verse 5 here in Titus to tell
how to attain and maintain order in the church,
and that is to be done through elders. Note what
he says, for this reason I left you in Crete,
that you would set in order what remains and
appoint elders in every city as I directed you.
Building on this notion of orderly churches,
Paul tells Titus to appoint elders to lead the
various congregations that have been established
in those cities on the island of Crete. Elders,
how do you maintain order in the church? You
maintain order in the church through the ministry,
through the work of elders. Between Paul's command
here and what we find elsewhere in Scripture,
it's clear New Testament churches, early New
Testament churches, were led by elders. In fact,
they were led by multiple elders, multiple elders
within the same congregations. And that should
be the case for us today as well. The New Testament
consistently supports the notion of what we commonly
refer to as a plurality of elders. And of course,
elders are also called overseers, pastors, shepherds,
and so on. These folks are intended to lead local
churches rather than a singular leader. Rather
than having just one elder in a congregation,
it is clear from the Testament of Scripture that
there should be multiple elders. And you know,
if you're taking notes, you can write these references
down. It had kind of been my intention to look
at each one of them, but I think it would just
take up too much time to do so. But there are
several biblical passages that you can turn to,
lest you question what I'm saying right now about
the need for multiple elders or a plurality of
elders in the local church. In Acts chapter 14,
verse 23, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders
in every church. In Acts chapter 15, during the
Council of Jerusalem and leading up to those
events, Acts chapter 15 in multiple places in
verses 2, 4, and 6 and verses 22 and 23, there
is the mention of a plurality of elders at Jerusalem.
In Acts chapter 20, Paul calls for the elders
of the church at Ephesus. Kyle just preached
through Acts chapter 20 not that long ago and
went through that whole conversation that Paul
has with the elders as Paul leaves from Miletus.
In Philippians chapter 1, Paul greets the overseers
and deacons, plural, in Philippi. In 1 Timothy
5 .17, there is a reference to elders in the
plural form who rule and labor in preaching.
In James chapter 5 and verse 14, James, who was
an elder in the Jerusalem church, James, the
half -brother of our Lord, tells sick believers
to call for the elders, plural, of the church.
In 1 Peter 5, Peter addresses the elders to shepherd
the flock. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 12 and
13, it mentions that those who labor among you
and are over you in the Lord. This implies that
there was a group of them, those who labor among
you. There is significance to the notion, to
the idea of a plurality of elders, and there
are benefits. that come along with it. Just from
a practical standpoint, having a plurality of
elders allows for mutual accountability. It prevents
a single individual from having unchecked authority.
We hear much about fascism in our day, don't
we? That is kind of an en vogue word to use.
And fascism, while I don't believe we live in...
a state of fascism quite yet here in the United
States. Fascism is something that can work its
way into even the church. Authoritarian rule
can work its way into the church, and there have
been instances throughout the church age where
this has happened. And it happens even in churches
today, though it may not look like it. like it
did in the past. We may not have a supreme pontiff
or anything like that, but in the churches today,
this is still a danger that can occur in the
churches. But having a group of men who lead
the church, who are equally accountable, mutually
accountable to one another, prevents that one
singular and gifted person from attaining unchecked
authority. Another benefit of a plurality of
elders is shared responsibility. It allows for
shared oversight, protecting the church from
errors in judgment. Shared responsibility is
good not only for the elders themselves in that
it spreads the load across many shoulders, but
it's also good for the congregation. It allows
them to be more efficient and more effective
in dealing with the needs of the congregation.
It is a representative form of leadership, and
we see this in the Old Testament with the elders
of the Old Testament. But when you have multiple
elders who have the opportunity to fit into the
church and to be among the people of the church,
it gives the people a voice when those elders
meet together. How often have you had one of
the elders of this church call you and ask you,
how can we be praying for you? We'll be praying
for you tonight at our elders meeting. Is there
anything that we need to remember for you tonight
as we pray? Those are good things. Good things
for the elders themselves and good benefits for
the church. And of course, there is the focus
on pastoral care. This enables pastors to focus
on teaching and prayer while others help manage
church affairs. There is no question in our own
church, Kyle does the lion's share of the preaching
and we're grateful for that. Kyle's title actually
is Elder, Pastor for Preaching. It doesn't mean
that Kyle's function in the church is somehow
more important or more prominent, but it does
mean that that is the task which he has been
assigned. Though Nicholas doesn't really bear
a title, he is an elder of our church, and I
would argue that in many ways he is an administrative
pastor for our church. Then there's Josh and
I, and we just kind of float around. There is
some truth to that. But it does allow for a focus
on pastoral care. So there are benefits. This
is a significant thing for us to note, that there
is, in God's design for the church, meant to
be a plurality of elders. not just one singular
individual. I don't know if you're aware of it
or not, but many pastors who serve in churches
where they are the only pastor, maybe there's
a board of deacons, or there are men who have
the title elder, but they really don't serve
in the biblical function as an elder, oftentimes
those singular pastors struggle with burnout.
Oftentimes they leave congregations because they
just can't meet. all of the expectations that
are placed upon them. So what a blessing and
a benefit it is when elders come together as
a group of men to share the load. And it's good
for the church as well. So we understand the
purpose of elders to help order the church, but
also we must understand that elders should meet
certain qualifications. Now, this passage is...
one that is a little bit harder to preach because
there are things that are contained herein that
oftentimes I myself struggle with, and I know
many other men who serve as elders in their church
feel the same way. Verses 6 through 9 really
lay out the qualifications, and I would just
ask the question, how do we identify elders?
How do we identify elders? There's no doubt.
we are constantly looking for opportunities to
see men in our own church who might well serve
as elders. And I can tell you that Titus chapter
1 and 1 Timothy chapter 3 are the two most prominent
passages on those qualifications. And we look
to those to try and understand who might best
serve our church at some point in the future
as an elder. So these questions are here, or
this question. is here answered. How do we identify
elders? Frankly, and this is going to seem very
basic, frankly, a biblically qualified elder
must be, I hope I don't get in trouble here,
must be a man. A biblically qualified elder must
be a man, a dude, a guy, a bro, right? I was
just trying to use some Gen Z language to be
contextual. This is something that we need to
do. We need to get it out of the way quickly.
But in every instance in the New Testament, when
discussing the leadership of the church, the
office of elder is reserved for men. Notice how
Paul says in verse 6, if you look there again,
Namely, if any man, if any man. Look back at
all the references that I gave you earlier if
you're making notes. Put a little question mark
there. Were there any ladies included in these
references?