Elders in the Church — Titus 1

0:04 Good morning. See if I can remember my password even while I'm that nervous. So as I'm getting set up here, you'll notice I'm going to try and do something a little bit different than my, we'll call it, normal style. I'm attempting to paint a picture as we go here and to try and help me to explain what I think are maybe a little some things that are a little bit confusing or maybe difficult, but hopefully, they're just difficult for me and it's easy for you. There we go.

0:44 There we go. So elders, you may wonder how did the rookie get that short straw. And the answer is that I did volunteer for it. So I can't lay it on any one of the guys. It was my effort and maybe that was the Holy Spirit's leading and saying you need some study here.

1:03 So let's hope that that's the case. So here's what I hope to accomplish today. Brief introduction, I want to talk to you a little bit about the requirement in the New Testament for elders, and that leads us to a discussion of organization. And I'll probably spend a little bit more time here in those areas than you might have considered earlier, but or you might have anticipated. I guess that's one of the dangers of having the subject announced before you get up there.

1:35 People have expectations or maybe you've studied ahead. So I hope that's a good thing. But then there's requirements of elders, the individuals themselves and the body together. How a recognition of an elder would come about, I think there's a pattern there that we can talk about. And then maybe we'll have time to talk about activity of the elders as well as, again, if their time and my energy allows, warnings, rewards, and then briefly talk about the church at Ephesus.

2:05 So with that, let's pray. Father, we're grateful that you've you've given us your word, that we might study it, we might be able to learn from it, and the depth of it is amazing to us. And we just pray, Lord, that as as you speak today, that the messenger and the the the message technique doesn't get in the way of the message. Lord, we just pray that you might deliver that which which is important to you today. And it's in your son's precious name that we pray.

2:36 Amen. So I may be jumping around and and here. I won't be flipping my bible. I'll be reading off of some copies that I've I've made there. So here are the references that I'm going to go to.

2:50 I won't hit everything in here. Okay? So I'd encourage you, write them down. Feel free to go look them up later. I may have missed one even up there, but there they are.

3:01 So again, one thing we're not going to talk about, elders and deacons kind of coming together in a discussion and people would say, Oh, they all ought to go together. Maybe you're right, but we're not going to hit that today. We will hit that in our study. Even if I have to get back up here myself, we'll make sure that we hit that subject. So if you came here thinking we're going talk a little bit about that, sorry to disappoint you, let's move on.

3:26 Now the thing I was trying to do was come up with an idea or a word, a single word where I could try and summarize the point I'm trying to make today, okay? If there's one word, I would say it's relationship. Relationship between the elders and the body, the elders and the Lord, the Lord and the body. So it's really about relationship. But relationship, one word, you can't really describe it, okay?

3:54 So a picture might help a little bit better, right? I mean picture is worth 1,000 words as they say. So I tried to find one picture that I thought could wrap it all up, save me 1,000 words and we could get on with it. So that's the one I came up with. I'm glad you laughed because I was concerned.

4:16 I see some eyes like this though, but it was intentional to say this is not the right picture, okay? Some of you may be able to expound chapter and verse about how the guy in the bottom is the body and the foot is the elders. But there's a few of you out there that could say that sometimes it feels like it's the other way around. So that's the wrong picture and let's move on from there. So turn with me if you will to Titus chapter one verse five.

5:25 I had a lot of faith in him. I think it says that he said he's my partner and fellow worker concerning you. So, Titus was a great guy and Paul had left him or sent him to Crete to do many things but in part to set things in order. It was important that there was an order, that there was an organization, that elders were part of that and that they should be appointed at Crete. It was not just a good idea.

5:54 It was something that was commanded. You get the same same concept if you look at first Timothy chapter three. That's where another strong portion of Paul's teaching is and we'll we'll we'll stomp around in that garden a little bit today too. But if you understand that this is an important part, the organization of the church, it's not only important, it's something that Paul had done before. If we move on to Acts chapter 14 verse 23, I'll begin in verse 21 and read through verse 26 for context.

6:30 Acts chapter 14 beginning in verse 21 says, and when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Strengthening the strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of god. So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the lord in whom they had believed and after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamplia. Now, when they had preached the word in Perga, they went on to Antalya. After there, they sailed to Antioch where they had been commanded to the grace of god or commended to the grace of god for the works which they had completed.

7:17 So this was Paul's first missionary journey. He saw many saved in many different cities and before he left these cities, it was important to him to appoint the elders. Paul and Barnabas thought this was a critical part of their ministry. So in the case of Crete, Paul had left Titus to do the same thing. It wasn't only an idea of Paul though.

7:43 It was certainly a pattern in other areas. If you look at Acts chapter 11, you'll see the story where they talked about the brothers and the brethren at Antioch concerned about a famine and where they had gathered up some money to send to the other saints and they carry... Paul and Barnabas carried that that gift, if you will, to Judea and they presented it to the elders. So there was a pattern there. Again, Acts chapter 15, it was a discussion about the the the controversy over circumcision and the the the saints that had come from Judea or those that had come from Judea had had taught Antioch that circumcision was a requirement.

8:34 And and there was no small dispute, they said. And Paul and Barnabas were dispatched back to Judea to take a look and... Or not to take a look, to carry that message forward and say, is this really right? They consulted with the apostles and the elders. So the elders, it was not just something that Paul dreamed up.

8:55 It wasn't something that he only told Titus or Timothy to be about. It's something he had practiced, something that was well established in the local and early church there and a requirement going forward. So that leads us to discussion about biblical organization. Okay? What is the church supposed to look like?

9:40 And those that work for him, her, them, others are a worker, one, maybe 20. You might even have somebody that's a team leader that organizes a group of folks and pulls them together. So that's all you really need for a company is an owner, worker or many, right? Pretty simple, but we try to make it a little bit more complicated because when you get past one worker, the owner, you have to organize somehow, right? And when you get to many workers, like 1,000 or 1,200, you start adding levels of management, okay, to be able organize this.

10:18 You've got a supervisor or three that's required to manage over 20 people, a manager at a particular physical location that might be responsible for, you know, 10 to 120 or 30 people in our case, people that are required to manage those facilities regionally. There's maybe 19 of them in an area. And then you've got that level of the VPs right in there that they start branching out and doing different things and we got a general manner of one thing and a VP is something, VP is something else, the VP of nothing. That's my job. That's my job today.

11:01 I'm not trying to cast dispersion. If anybody is listening on this that I work with, I apologize in advance. But then there's one neck to choke, right? This is one company. We got one neck to choke.

11:11 That's the guy that we're going to hold accountable for everything, my boss, the CEO. But he reports with some advisers to the owner. So there's this complicated structure. It's put together with wise intention and it's based on many years of combined experience knowing how people act. Okay?

11:32 People are people and they need to be led. They need to be managed. We need to organize. We gotta have a way to do it. So if that works for business, why shouldn't it work for the church?

11:43 In this particular case, we've got god at the top right? And I got a question mark there. I'll tell you why. And then maybe some worshipers at the bottom, right? People are still people, so how should it work?

11:55 We might have somebody that's responsible for just a little bit more like leading the songs or you know, giving announcements, something like that or maybe even leading a Bible study, a group of people get together, right? Well, they gotta be led by somebody, maybe a pastor and you might have several if there's a big organization or a senior pastor that's, you know, that one first one person for many locate or that one single location, it rolls up and it rolls on and it sounds like a good idea, right? I'm not picking on anybody. I'm not casting stones at any ecumenical organization at all. I'm just saying this sounds like a good idea and it's the way people organize from time to time.

12:39 You know, once you get up into a big organization, you got to have a radio leader and maybe even payroll and benefits, a publisher so you can make money. And there might be one person that's responsible for a country or a region and then the world, but really ask the question, with all of that, is God really on top? Is God really controlling what's going on with those number of layers in between? So what about Westlake Bible Fellowship? You might say that, well, we just we make it a lot easier, right?

13:14 We got a flatter organization and it's one that is just simpler. So, that's the way we like to do it and we're a little bit smaller. So, maybe maybe it looks more like this, right? We got god. He's big around here, right?

13:28 We we believe in him. I'm not trying to minimize him in any way. I'm just trying to make the point here and then we got believers that are a lot closer to god, right? And then, Sunday school leader might be responsible for coordinating some of the activities and then we stuff a set of elders right in the middle of that, right? And say, well, these are the leaders of this local church, right?

13:50 This might be an organization. This is tongue in cheek. Please follow with me. You know, that we might have a set of elders, maybe even four, one of them is the lead guy or the organizer or maybe the person that's in charge, right? Well, I submit to you that these all these organizations are not the biblical picture, Okay?

14:14 It's important to remember and that's why I'm spending so much time on it that I want you to understand this is not the picture that the Lord creates or pictures in the Bible. I'd like to tell you about three organizations or three organizational pictures, I'll call them that, in the scriptures that teach us how the body should act, how the church should be organized. Okay? And the first one I want to talk about is the bride of Christ. If we read Ephesians chapter five...

15:26 For no one ever hated his own flesh, flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the lord does the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So there's a picture there of the church as the bride of Christ.

15:56 And, you know, if you've ever been to a wedding, if you've been part of a wedding, you know that there's no day when a bride looks more beautiful than on her wedding day. She never looks more beautiful as a bride, as the wife of a husband than on that day. It's a very special day and she she prepares. She cleans herself. She makes herself beautiful for her husband.

16:24 Well, Christ is making our bride or he's making his bride beautiful by cleansing her, the washing of water, by sanctifying her, making her perfect for him, okay? But you can't talk much about a wife or a bride until you see what's close standing by, and that's usually the husband. I mean there's no such thing as a bride without a husband, right? That is the purpose of having the bride. That is the wife is part of the husband.

17:01 And they become a unique entity. The two shall become one. The two shall become one. Now how does that happen? Do they all of a sudden become some, you know, morphed human being?

17:16 No. We know better than that. There's two sitting there, side by side as I look out there. And yet they're one, okay? So when you look at it, you see one new entity, one entity we call a couple or a married husband and wife, right?

17:33 And there's my lovely bride. And now that's not on our wedding day, but that is on a wedding day. Thank you to the photographer, Doctor. Meng took that picture many a couple of years ago. I think this is at the Woodham's wedding, John and Jess.

17:52 So there's my lovely bride. But there by herself, she's not a couple until the two of us are together, right? And and I'm I'm very thankful that I have her and I'm very proud to to have that picture up there. So, the two become one. Pride of Christ and Christ become one.

18:16 That's a mystery that even Paul couldn't explain here. He said, that's a mystery. They speak of concerning Christ and the church. The church and the lord will come become one. So, let's let's move on from there.

18:30 Let's talk a little bit about the body of Christ. Our brother Art Pyle spent some time stomping around in this weed patch yesterday or last week and and I thought that was a good thing, okay? Because if you look at Ephesians chapter one verses twenty two and twenty three says, and he put all things under his feet, meaning the father put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. So forgive me for using pictures to describe something that is holy and and difficult to explain but in this particular case, it's a pretty simple structure, right? A head and a body but we know there's more to it than that, don't we?

19:21 Because if we read in first Corinthians chapter 12 beginning in verse 12, it says, for the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit, we are all baptized into but one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?

20:14 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were the hearing, where would be the smelling? But now, god has set the members, each one of them in the body just as he pleased. It's all connected. Now the Lord set the body as he pleased.

20:38 This is the body as I pleased. Okay? This is just to illustrate a point, okay? How the body is connected. If the hands weren't connected through the arms, they wouldn't be part of the body.

20:50 But if the arm wasn't there, the hand wouldn't be useful. The foot doesn't stomp, the hand doesn't wave, the eyes don't blink unless it's part of the body. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, pick it up in verse 20, but now indeed there are many members yet one body and the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No, much rather those members of the body which seem to be weak are necessary and those members of the body which we think are less honorable on these we bestow greater honor and our presentable parts have greater modesty.

21:34 But our presentable parts have no but God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care, one for another, and one member suffers. All the members suffer with it. And if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. So there's my rendition of a body as I clipped it off of the clip art. And I've assembled it, and it may look kind of funny.

22:02 But have you looked around lately? The body is interesting and funny in and of itself. But we can't forget. This is an important part as we continue to move forward, okay? Talk about the the the the bride, the body.

22:21 We got it. We can't forget the head, okay? I think that's important part here. We talked about the head. The head of the body is Christ.

22:30 We know from modern medical science that without our brain, the hand doesn't move. Without our foot, the hand doesn't move. So if the head wants the foot to move, it's going to move. We want the head to direct our feet. The head, who is Christ, to direct our paths.

23:17 You know, if we talk about a flock, what do we need? We need one shepherd, one sheep, and we got a flock, right? A flock to a flock to shepherd. But it's very important. If you know anything about sheep, sheep aren't that smart.

23:33 They need help. They need somebody to lead them to water, to put them to drink, to help them to, you know, find the right food and to get protection. So let's talk about the good shepherd. John chapter 10 verse 14, I'm the good shepherd and I know my sheep and am known and am known by my own. As the father knows me, even so, I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold.

24:04 Them also I must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd. Remember that. One flock, one shepherd. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, and I give them eternal life. And they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.

24:22 My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. We know that that shepherd knows his sheep. He doesn't know one of the sheep that knows a bunch of other sheep. He knows each sheep.

24:39 And he also... We also know that he wants to build that flock, don't we? He added one sheep and then there were two and then there were many. And you know what? There were some that were not of this fold it says.

24:55 Some that weren't like the original, some that weren't like those that that originally came to him. Maybe it's in a different town. Maybe it's of a different look. Maybe it's of a different tradition. But he adds to his flock on a regular basis.

25:14 He even adds a bunch of little kids as they run around and create lots of opportunity for us. But it's important to understand that the flock grows, and there's part of the flock that we're going to talk about here in a minute. But I want you to look at the picture and remember. There's one leader in this church. There's one leader in the church.

25:43 His name is Jesus Christ. If we forget that, if we move past that, we organize around him, we made a mistake. Okay? There's one flock, one shepherd. He was a man who was born of a virgin birth.

26:03 He's fully man, fully God. He walked on this earth. He lived and taught, led people to himself. He died on the cross to save us from our sins. He rose again on the third day.

26:19 He ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of the father today and will return someday to gather his church, his bride. And while that's who he is, he's not here. He, the man, is not here, But he, the spirit, is here. He left three, what I'll call foundational support structures to help us. The apostles who had seen him, the apostles who had lived with him, the apostles who got talked directly from him were given special powers to show that they had knowledge that need...

27:04 That was necessary for the building of the church. They and others who had firsthand account wrote down these scriptures or these teachings, and it's recorded for us today so that we can know what it is. And he left us the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity to come and to live in our hearts. If we accept the Lord as our savior, the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and guides our actions. So while he's not here, you can see that there's a lot of responsibility distributed and delegated.

28:13 Serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Continuing on in Acts chapter 20, from Miletus, beginning in verse 17, from Miletus, he, Paul, sent to Ephesus, called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. I kept back nothing and what...

29:00 It was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me except that the holy spirit testifies in every city saying that change and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy in the ministry which I received from the lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of god. And indeed now, I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of god will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all men.

29:48 For I have not shunned to you... Shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of god. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the holy spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of god which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves.

30:19 Therefore, watch and remember and remember, to watch and remember that for three years, I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So this is my picture of how how it works. There's one shepherd, the lord Jesus Christ. One flock and you could take this flock as a picture of the the church in total in the world. You could take it as the church local here and we have many members, many people that look to that one shepherd.

30:51 But there's others that are distributed among the flock that are sheep in and of themselves that have the responsibility as overseers, ones that are maybe dotted in throughout the organization, if you call it an organization, that are there to do special function. I think it's interesting to see that both Peter and Paul said the same thing, shepherd the flock. That's the way that we should act. That's the way that we should advance. But we shouldn't replace the shepherd because the shepherd is the shepherd of the flock.

31:36 It was a pattern. Paul, near the end of his life, near the end of his journey, as he was leaving and said, you know what, I'm not going to see any anytime I will not see you again on earth. And it was important to him to talk to those elders of the body at Ephesus. Peter, nearing the end of his life, writing down what he would like us to know. He exhorted the elders to shepherd the flock.

32:08 So that's an organization discussion about organizational structure. It's the most important thing I wanted to talk about today, so I spent the most time on it. I hope I hope that's helpful for you. But now I want to talk a little bit about the requirement of elders. First thing I want to talk about is plurality.

33:24 You may relate to the elders of this body through many ways. You may relate through family ties. You may relate through experience, through job function, through you have some way of understanding one elder or another. But I think it's important that you understand that there is many and many are required. I want to talk a little bit about what I'll call one man ministry, okay?

33:52 I think it fits in here when we're talking about plurality. We've got to be mindful of the fact that we don't want to create an organization that replaces the Lord's leading with many layers, but we also don't want to replace them with one person who might have many gifts. Because if we replace or pay one individual to do all the work for everybody, then we have a difficult time because we might be stifling somebody else's gift. Could one man be a great preacher? Absolutely.

34:32 Could one man be a great pastor? I know several that are great. Could one man be a great evangelist? Absolutely. Could one man be all together?

34:50 Maybe. So if we invest in one person and try and get led by one person, we have difficulty and we have a concern that we might stifle somebody else's gift. Is the worker worthy of his wages? Yes. Matthew Chapter 10 says, worker is worthy of his wages.

35:13 Is it possible that somebody among us should be paid to work full time in the ministry of the lord? Absolutely. Has the lord called many to be just that paid to work full time somewhere in his church and in his kingdom? Yes. But should it be one person only that leads one body?

35:39 I think not. I think not. So let's talk a little bit about characteristics. My time is slipping away. I'm happy to talk to you a little bit more about any of these subjects.

35:53 But I just wanted to make sure that we understood that the danger of organizing, the danger of not keeping in keeping plurality in mind is that we end up replacing the shepherd with somebody else. So let's talk a little bit about characteristics or qualifications, you might say. These are well worn passages, okay? I'm not going to spend a lot of time expounding on each one of the qualifications, not because it isn't important, it is. I challenge you to go and look and see, read, consider and do all of that.

36:36 I will tell you a little I want to tell you a little bit about what they are not as well and some things that are important about it too. So just touching on it a little bit, we're going to go to one Timothy three, Titus one, and they are both crossover each other in several areas. In one Timothy three:three, these qualifications are, I think characteristics might be a more telling way of explaining it, characteristics that you should see in somebody that is an elder, okay? In Titus Chapter one, these are ones that are only listed there in Titus. And then finally, the ones that are doubled up or not necessarily more important, but listed in both areas, okay?

37:22 The characteristics of an elder should be that he is blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober minded of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having children not accused of insubordination or dissipation, not a novice, good testimony among those who are on the outside, blameless as a steward of God, not self willed, not quick tempered, a lover of what is good, just holy, self controlled, holding fast the faithful word as being taught. It's an important list. I'm not going to expound on all of them. I felt it was important to just read them because you should be looking around. You should be understanding what those mean.

38:23 You should be thinking about it. Things I will say about it, though, is that I think with this list, it's almost a standard. It's a pattern with which you can look. It's something that is recognized, a demonstration of what the person is, who they are, what they've done, what is known virtually by all. It's not something that is taught or necessarily trained by man.

38:56 Have I learned many things from many men, particularly the men that I sit with every week? Yes. But it's important just the same. It's not hereditary. My daddy was not an elder.

39:12 That doesn't make me an elder if he did. It doesn't mean that I'm successful secularly, doesn't preclude it either, but that's not a requirement. And I think it's local, not global. Because I'm an elder here, I've demonstrated something or the elders here have demonstrated something here locally, doesn't mean that they are an elder at any assembly they would walk into because they've demonstrated these characteristics among that body. So let's quickly I'm going to run over just a couple of minutes.

40:34 So, if you look at Acts chapter 20, there was a we read that passage. It said, the lord or the holy spirit made you an elder. Okay? You can go back and read that if you want but the Holy Spirit makes somebody an elder. This is not something that, you know, a college puts them out.

40:57 You know, when Peter and Paul said, this is what I want you to know, they didn't say, Timothy, make sure you establish that elder university. Titus, you've got to have, you know, that, you know, from the little guys, you got to bring them up from the little guys to, that's not the case. The Holy Spirit makes them. It's sort of the same concept as Ephesians chapter four when we're talking about gifts. The Christ gave gifts.

41:21 So, I give that one to the Holy Spirit. Recognized. It's not a word that's specific that I can point to and talk about the Greek but if you look at Acts chapter 13, you know that Paul and Barnabas were working and ministering amongst the group And the Lord called him... Called Paul and Barnabas, and it was obvious to that whole group that he wanted to separate them for a specific purpose. It was recognized by more than just them.

41:56 One Timothy three and Titus one, we talked about those characteristics and qualifications. Those are items that are there for all. It's written for all everybody to read. And and those are the characteristics that people should see. So I think the body as a total, in total, recognizes what's going on, what the Holy Spirit's about.

42:22 That doesn't preclude the elders or the leadership either. After all, we're all part of the body. Right? We're all interspersed and and part of the body. Appointed.

42:35 Acts chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders. Some translations will say ordained. That sounds a little too ecumenical, so I'll stick with the word appointed. But it really means, if you I search back just briefly in the Greek, to be a hand reacher, one that votes, okay? Now that doesn't mean this is a democracy, but it's to say that, that leader has said, I identify with that person.

43:04 That person we appoint as an elder. So that's something that's responsibility of the leadership to appoint and to actually direct and say, recognize publicly, these are the folks. This is a man that the Holy Spirit has gifted. There's another word, say commended. In each case, when you talk about the word commended, the commendation is to the lord, okay?

43:41 We commend you those workers, Paul and Barnabas, Barnabas to the lord. The elders in chapter 14 in in those various places were appointed and then commended, okay? They appointed. We recognize who you are. We recognize.

44:02 You all need to recognize who they are and then, we commend them to the lord. We put them beside. We put them beside the lord, okay? That's that's the Greek rendering. We put them in a position that's next to the lord.

44:15 One, in in a in a sense is my understanding is it's in a a reclined position, not a reclined position but a a reclined position where you're in a humble position before the lord, okay? And I think that the whole body as well as the leadership needs to do that. If you look at Acts chapter 15 and Acts chapter 20, it says that the body and the brethren, the leaders did that. So I wanted to hit that subject. Let me flip down here.

45:26 There's warnings. If you want to be scared, go be an elder and go read Ezekiel 34 or even one Timothy five. The Lord takes that very seriously. There are rewards as well. I won't dwell on those.

45:43 A good study about elders and the organization of a body, I think you could work your way through the church at Ephesus, Acts nineteen twenty, one Timothy three and Ephesians in total. But here's a summary. We have a little picture of what is not right, okay? Don't leave here without understanding that top left picture is not the right way. And neither is this organization that we might be able to figure out on our own behalf, wise men crafting things up.

46:20 But the pictures that you want to consider in the organization of the church are the bride of Christ, the body of Christ and the flock of Christ, among whom, among whom the elders serve. There are specific characteristics that we all should be looking for, okay? The elders in particular, there are some that are going to be the next elders, the next generation that we pray for, that we look for. There's, I believe, a pattern that's shown in Acts and other places as to how the Holy Spirit makes an elder and how we go from this is what one looks like to this is one that is here. There's other important information that you can study on your own.

47:17 I think you've given you a lot of areas to go. But that's what I have for you today. I pray that it will be useful to you. So let's pray. Father, we're grateful that you've given us a Savior.

47:32 A Savior, your son, who came to this earth, demonstrated who he was in many ways, was crucified that we might have a way forward with you. Lord, we're grateful though that he rose again on the third day. He's sitting at your right hand, that he will return. Lord, we thank you for that one shepherd who shepherds his one flock. We pray lord that we might be responsible to do what you would lead us to do, lord.

48:10 Being the head of the church, the body, the fullness of you. Lord, we don't understand these things, but we pray, Lord, that you might, in some way, cause us to follow you closer today. It's in Christ's precious name that we pray. Amen.