victorious commitments of a strong congregation. So we've been exploring the things that a strong church should be committed to. And again, I know I probably sound like a broken record in this regard, but we take our cues from the scriptures to find out what those commitments are. And you can talk to a variety of supposed experts in the area of church growth that may have all kinds of opinions about what the church should be focused on, but we take our cues from the Bible. And so that has been our goal in this series. Of course, it's an interruption, in a sense, of the book study that we have been doing in 1 Peter, which we will get back to eventually, if you'll bear with me in that regard. Of course, that means that it will take me longer to get through 1 Peter, right? And I know I've already been moving, if you're familiar with the late Martin Lloyd-Jones, we've been moving at roughly a Martin Lloyd-Jones type of speed through 1 Peter. He, I think, was in the book of Romans for about 20 years, so. But we praise the Lord that there's so much depth in the scriptures, so much that we can glean. And I trust that this series will be helpful for us in just helping to orient ourselves about where we are as a church, what should be important to us. These are things that are near and dear to my heart, and I trust that they will be near and dear to your heart as well. So we're gonna start here in Titus chapter one verses five through nine this morning, and we will be actually looking at a number of different passages. We're continuing, this is really the second part of a message that we started last week. One of the commitments of a strong congregation is the bold leadership of godly men. So this is really part two to what we started last week. So if you wanna hear part one, of course that's on sermon audio. Titus chapter one and verse five, we'll begin there. Paul writes, for this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Your father, as we come to your word this morning, it's a humbling thing for me to read these words. Lord, I don't know that I ever read this passage in Titus 1 or the similar passage in 1 Timothy 3 and ever think in my mind that I've nailed these qualifications. I thank you that there are those that have apparently counted me worthy to serve in this office. But Lord, I'm humbled by the fact that this is a sacred calling. Lord, I thank you for the structure that you've given to the church, and that's, of course, what we're going to be considering this morning. And Lord, give us understanding of these things. Give us light from your word. And Lord, we pray that we can each be encouraged as we think about these precious truths. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let all things be done decently. God is a God of order. We see evidence of God's order in the things that He has made. The psalmist testified in Psalm 19 that the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth His handiwork. And one of the things that we're going to see on Wednesday nights in the near future, we're gonna be going through the evidences for the existence of God, various arguments that demonstrate for us that God exists. And one of those arguments is called the teleological argument. Now you don't need to memorize that term necessarily, but the teleological argument argues from the existence of design. Now you could take a very simple example. How do you know that a building Well, you know it, because that building demonstrates design. We know this structure that we are sitting in this morning could not have been assembled by random chance. There had to be intelligent designers that put this building in place. And so it is with the creation. The existence of the creation points to the existence of the creator. There is design. We hear scientists speak of the idea of irreducible complexity. Even the tiny cells in our bodies are irreducibly complex. And that points to the fact that there's an extremely wise creator that put those cells in place. Now the same God who provided structure to the universe is the same God who provides structure to the local church. You should understand, friends, that the local church is not just this kind of loosely connected body of people with no discernible authority. Rather, there is order. We even see that in the instructions that Paul gives to Titus here. Titus had been commissioned to the island of Crete to minister there, and there were two specific purposes. First of all, to set in order the things that were wanting. Of course, that speaks to order. But also, the second purpose, that he should ordain elders in every city. That speaks to order. That there is not simply just this haphazard group of people coming together, but there is actually recognizable leadership in the congregation. So it is this morning that we will be considering the need for structure in the local church. And what we are examining this morning builds on the foundation of what we saw last Sunday, that God calls qualified men to be the teachers and primary leaders in the local church. Now that does not mean that women have no role to play in the local church. They in fact play a vital role. And we will see that even in this message this morning, that every member of this local assembly, whether male or female, has been tasked with the privilege of decision-making. But even this idea of male headship, as we considered last week, directs us to the reality of order in the local church. There is leadership, and because there is leadership, there is also submission, just as there is in every other sphere of life. Imagine the chaos that would ensue in our world apart from discernible leadership. The fact that there is a speed limit here on US 45 demonstrates that we have leadership. There are government leaders who limit the activities of vehicles on this road so that drivers and pedestrians will be protected. Were it not for leadership, this highway might very well be a no-man's land. Everybody going whatever speed they want, people stopping and starting whenever they feel like it. Every man would do that which is right in his own eyes, and I don't imagine that the consequences would be too pleasant. So it is that we need leadership in the local church. We need order. We need structure. A strong congregation is committed to the bold leadership of godly men. Now, we've been considering three great needs for leadership in the local church. And these needs begin with what we saw last week, the need for men in local church leadership. Now we want to consider this week a second great need for leadership in the local church, the need for structure in local church leadership. The need for structure in local church leadership. If you bear with me a moment, we have to deal with some things that might not be the most exciting, but I think there's benefit in being aware of these things. Throughout church history, Protestants have taken three different views on the structure of the local church. what we call church government. And that is not exactly, I had one professor that would say things like, well, that's not the type of matter that would bless Miss Betsy's socks off. Certainly this is not one of the things that we typically think of that's going to be of tremendous devotional value in our Christian lives. But there is value in this because we have scriptural information that's relevant to this topic. The first view of church government is the Episcopal view. Episcopalians and Anglicans fall into this category, they follow this type of structure. In Episcopal government, the highest office is the Archbishop. The Archbishop then has authority over bishops, who each serve over a diocese. And underneath each bishop are rectors. The rectors are the priests of the individual churches in the diocese. Now in the Episcopal view, this chain of authority perpetuates what we call an apostolic succession. The bishops are the successors to the apostles, and they continue to exercise, in this view, apostolic authority in the church today. Of course, you may know that the Roman Catholic Church also holds to the idea of apostolic succession, with the pope being the successor to Peter, whom they consider the rock on which the church was built. I would argue that there's no biblical evidence for this complex type of authority structure in the early church. In fact, even many advocates of the Episcopal view will admit that there is no developed Episcopal system in the New Testament. Furthermore, I would point out that there is no biblical support for the idea of apostolic succession. Let me read to you Ephesians chapter two. verses 19 and 20. I think this is a vital passage in understanding the role of the apostles in the early church. Ephesians 2 verse 19, Paul writes, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. The role of the apostles is not supposed to be this ongoing oversight in the local church throughout all of its history. Rather, the apostolic ministry is part of the foundation of the church, which is laid, of course, once. Additionally, scripture requires that the apostles be eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ. When the disciples selected Matthias to replace Judas, they noted that he was a witness of the resurrection in Acts chapter one and verse 22. Also, we must note that the apostles were connected with miracles that authenticated their unique ministry in the church. Second Corinthians 12, 12 references the signs of an apostle which were wrought among the Corinthians in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. There is no documented evidence that these supposed successors to the apostles are performing these same kinds of works. So that's the Episcopal view. The second view of church government is the Presbyterian view. Presbyterian churches and other churches that would call themselves reformed would operate according to a Presbyterian style of government. In this structure, each local church elects elders to a session. The elders include the pastor who is considered equal in authority to the other elders. The members of the session are also members of what is called the Presbytery. And the Presbytery has all authority over the local churches in a particular region. And some members of the Presbytery are also members of the General Assembly, which then has authority over all churches in a nation or a very large region. Now I know, that's quite a mouthful. But those who advocate Presbyterian church government often point to the example of the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15. They argue that there's a pattern where the elders of the individual churches exercised authority over other churches. Advocates of this view will also argue that this style of government protects churches from falling into moral or doctrinal failure because of the checks and balances that are set up. I would argue that the appeal to the Jerusalem Council is not decisive here. First of all, we have to remember that that council occurred while the apostles were still living. They were the ones that guided the course of the meeting. And second of all, the meeting was held in Jerusalem, and we don't have any indication in the text that the elders at that meeting were anyone other than the elders of the church at Jerusalem. We don't have evidence that there are elders from other churches that are suddenly weighing in on this matter. As we will see in a moment, I don't think that Presbyterian government, though I would argue it's definitely an improvement over Episcopal government, but I don't believe it gives sufficient attention to the role of the congregation. This is a role that is given significant attention in scripture, as we will see. And it's a role that I believe provides the needed checks and balances to preserve the purity of the church. The view that we take at Graves Baptist Church is the third view, which is what we call congregational government. And congregational government is followed by Baptist churches and historically has been held by those that call themselves congregational churches. In congregational government, the ultimate authority for decision making rests with the congregation. The congregation selects its own leaders. The congregation is responsible for administering discipline. Now congregationalism as we will see can operate with either a single pastor or a plurality of pastors. Now to understand the structure of the local church we need to consider two things. First of all we need to consider the role of the congregation and secondly we need to consider the role of the officers. So let's consider first the role of the congregation. What I want to do over the next few moments is survey for you several passages that establishes the critical role that the congregation plays in making decisions in the local church. And I would argue that the best place to start is with the teaching of Jesus himself. In the Gospels, Jesus does not say much about the church directly. In fact, there are only two chapters in the Gospels that mention the Greek word for church, Matthew chapter 16 and Matthew chapter 18. So I want us to go to the second of those, Matthew chapter 18, for a moment. If you turn your Bible to Matthew 18, Matthew chapter 18. Of course, this gets into the topic of church discipline, which is a topic that we will be considering in more depth in a later message. But for now, I want us to consider the role that the congregation plays in this passage. Look at Matthew 18 and verse 15. Jesus says, moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. So there's a very clear strategy that is given by the Lord Jesus Christ for dealing with sin that takes place in the context of the church. First, you see that your brother sins, your first approach that you are to take is to go to that brother or sister individually, just you and that other person, and you are to deal with that matter in that way. So there's the hope that maybe that individual confrontation might result in a successful outcome. that you may find that that brother or sister recognizes their sin, they repent of that sin, and if so, the text says that you've gained your brother. Now, verse 16. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. So if that fails, then you take one or two with you in order to confront that person. Okay, verse 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. So you go from individual confrontation to two or three witnesses to the entire church. This matter is brought before the entire congregation. In fact, William Tyndale, that's how he translates this word, the word church, throughout his New Testament. It's the congregation that hears this matter. And the congregation, it is implied here, actually extends a rebuke to the offender. Now if the offender does not hear the rebuke from the congregation, then the congregation is tasked with the responsibility of regarding this individual as a heathen and a publican. You say, what does that mean? He's basically regarded as an unbeliever, as outside the fellowship of Christ. But friends, Notice that it is not just the pastor, it is not just the elders, it's not just the deacons that are given this responsibility. This responsibility is given to the church, the entire assembly, the entire congregation. Now, if we go over to the book of Acts, Acts chapter one, And the book of Acts gives us some hints into the operation of the early churches. Notice Acts chapter 1 and verse 15. And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names together were about 120. Men and brethren, the scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake concerning Judas, which was a guide to them that took Jesus. So this passage gives us a context in which Judas is being replaced in what we call the 12, right? the apostles. And when the time came to replace Judas, it was not just the apostles that were committed with making the decision. Peter actually appeals to all 120 early Christians that were gathered there in the upper room. Now, we remember that this is before the establishment of the church. I would argue, and I don't have time to get into it this morning, I would argue that the church began in Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost. But even prior to the establishment of the church, the decision making is not just given to the apostles here, it is given to all 120 disciples that are gathered. And as you read in the subsequent verses, you find in verse 23, and they, that's the 120, appointed to. Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias, and they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou has chosen that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. So the congregation here is very active. They are selecting two candidates to serve in this role as an apostle. They subsequently, the congregation prays, and then the congregation casts lots to determine which of these two will be taking Judas' place. All throughout here, you see the role, not just of the apostles, but of these all 120 that are gathered in the upper room. Now as you move to Acts chapter 6, you see this again. Acts chapter 6, and I know we've considered this passage previously in this series, but I want to think about this specifically through the lens of church government. Look with me at Acts chapter 6 and verse 1. And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. So here you have the 12 calling the multitude of the disciples. Again, this is not just church officers. This is the congregation. And the apostles are recognizing that there's a crisis that is taking place. You have these Greek-speaking widows that are not getting their provisions met when they are distributing food and goods to the widows. But the 12 are also recognizing that they cannot abandon the word of God in order to perform this task. So notice verse three. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. You see here, there's really a balance because you have the apostles all along taking the initiative. The apostles recognize the problem. The apostles draw the congregation together. The apostles ultimately are the ones who pray over these men and appoint them to what we would call the office of deacon. But you also see the key role of the congregation. Because the congregation gets together and they select from among their number seven men that are filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom. So yes, you see leadership taking place with the apostles, but you also see decision making being exercised by the entire congregation. Now, as you continue in the book of Acts, go over to chapter 15. Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15 in verse 22. And of course, this is in the context of the Jerusalem Council, which we mentioned earlier. Notice verse 22, then pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. So you see again, apostles and elders here taking a key initiatory leadership role in all of this. But it is mentioned that it is not just these men that commission men for missionary ministry. In this case, it is mentioned that the whole church is involved in this process. The whole church is tasked with commissioning these men for this critical ministry. Now if you turn over to 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Another passage dealing with church discipline, and I don't want to get ahead of ourselves because we're going to deal with that topic in greater depth in a later message. But again, what I want to focus on here is the role that the congregation plays. Notice 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 1. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. So the man here is committing this gross sin. He's living in an immoral relationship with his stepmother. Notice verse two, and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Now, it's notable here that in these instructions that Paul gives regarding this offender, this man that is living in this unrepentant, sinful lifestyle, Paul does not just appeal to the pastors of the church. All throughout here, he is appealing to the congregation. Notice, by the way, this is notable in our King James, that all throughout this, you see second person plurals. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, it means that it's you, but it's talking about more than one person, okay? In the King James, whenever you see thee and thou, it's talking about a single person. Whenever you see you and ye, it's talking about a multitude of people, right? At least more than one. We would say in the South, y'all. If you go up to Chicago, you might hear people say, youse guys, okay? So you have Paul not just speaking to a pastor or a deacon, he's speaking to youse guys, the congregation, right? And what are they told to do? He says, ye are puffed up. This person should be taken away from among you. In verse four, he mentions when ye are gathered together. The whole congregation is tasked with dealing with this disciplinary matter. Now, these passages, I believe, are quite definitive in designating significant decision-making responsibility to the entire congregation. The congregation administers discipline. The congregation elects church officers. The congregation commissions missionaries for service. The idea of congregationalism is also closely connected to the idea of the autonomy of the local church. Notice that even though the church at Corinth had very significant problems, and I know in recent messages we've been in this epistle a number of times, and you see that this was a very dysfunctional church. But you notice that Paul does not call on a group of elders in some distant city to manage the problems in this church. Rather, Paul addresses this local body individually. And the same is true consistently throughout the New Testament. You find Paul addressing the church at Thessalonica. He addresses the church at Philippi. He addresses the church at Ephesus. The church at Rome. Each of these individual bodies is responsible for its own affairs. It is not to be some outside group or denomination that dictates what is done in these fellowships. Also worth mentioning is that at the root of congregational church government is the priesthood of the believer. This is something we saw in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 2 and verse 5. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. You notice that Peter there, rather, is not simply talking to the pastors. He is not simply talking to deacons. He is talking to the entire church. He says that all of you are priests before God. All of you are offering up sacrifices that are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. There's a reason, by the way, that I am not called the priest of this church. That's because all of us here, if we belong to Jesus Christ, are priests. and I don't wear the turned up collar, you don't come and confess your sins to me, right? Because we believe that each of us has individual access to God. Christ alone is our mediator. It is not any man in a position such as mine that mediates our relationship with God. Now, it's worth mentioning, friends, that the priesthood of the believer only applies if you're a believer in Jesus Christ. You see, friend, if you are not a follower of Christ, if you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior, I must tell you, you don't have access to God. Listen to the words of John 3.18, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. If you are without Christ, then this morning you are under condemnation. God's wrath is on you even at this moment. But friend, this very day, you can call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. You cry out and say, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner, I have broken your law, but I recognize that you died on the cross, you lived a perfect life, you rose again from the grave, and you're seated at God's right hand now. I turn from my sin, I put my trust in you. And friend, if you will do that, then you can gain individual access to God. You can come before him boldly, as we're told in the book of Hebrews. Friend, that's a precious truth. The priesthood of the believer, that's what informs our idea of congregational church government. And if there's anything that I could say as an advertisement for church membership, it would be the fact that every member of this congregation gets a voice. And it doesn't matter, you know, even if you're a new Christian, even if, you know, you're from a different background, whatever, If you come into this church, if you come under the covenant of this church, you have an active role to play in the life of this congregation. You can participate in business meetings, you can have a vote, you can have a voice in the things that we do as a congregation. And I know that church membership can be one of those things that we might sometimes feel inclined to beat people over the head with. But it's really a delightful thing. It's a joyous thing that we can covenant together and we can all have individual access to God and we can all have a voice in the things that take place in this congregation. So that's the role of the congregation. Now, I want us to consider the role of the officers. When I speak of officers here, I'm speaking specifically of the offices that are mandated in the New Testament for the local church. These would be the offices of the pastor and the deacon. Now, let's speak first about the pastor. The only time that we find the English word pastor in our New Testament is in Ephesians chapter four. So let me draw your attention there for a moment. Ephesians chapter four. And I know we looked at Ephesians 4 in some detail some weeks ago, but notice what is said here in verse 11. It mentions, and he, the he there is Christ, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. Now, this English word, pastor, the Greek word that underlies that word actually does appear with greater frequency in the New Testament. But every other place that it is found in the New Testament, it is translated shepherd. Jesus uses this term of himself in John chapter 10. Let me just read it for you. John chapter 10 in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, but he that is an hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. The shepherd has a love for the sheep that causes him to sacrificially gives to supply their needs, even to the point of laying down his life. And you notice, as Jesus explains his role as the good shepherd, he explains that he has a role in guarding the sheep from predators. As your pastor, I have a deep burden to protect you from any wolves that would come into this fellowship and attempt to promote false teaching or any kind of false living that is inconsistent with the scripture. And that's, of course, why, again, we'll get to this in a future message, but that's why we're concerned here with the practice of church discipline. Discipline is what guards our sheep from the wolves. And friends, I dread the possibility of someone coming in here to stir up trouble, to promote false teaching. Discipline is what guards us from that possibility. Now, our call to worship this morning also explained the role of the pastor. 1 Peter chapter 5, you can flip over there a moment, 1 Peter chapter 5, notice verse 2, Peter here speaking to elders, we'll see in a moment that's another term for the same office. He says in verse two, feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. As your pastor, I am called to feed the flock. Ephesians four lays out for us a little bit more clearly what that feeding entails. Now, in our English Bible, you see that reference there that he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. And it is clear that when you look in the Greek construction of that passage, that pastors and teachers are not referring to separate individuals. In that context, it is referring to those who hold both of those positions. It is really pastor-teachers. Now that's not to suggest that there aren't other teachers in the local church. We have some here and we're thankful for them. But it is to say that the pastor is given this sacred responsibility of feeding the flock through the ministry of teaching the word of God. And so this is the sacred task that I've been given as a pastor. Of course, we saw in Acts chapter six, did we not, that the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. That was their primary task. Those are my primary tasks as your pastor. You know, the other day I saw an advertisement online for a resource that would provide pastors with these pre-prepared sermon outlines. The advertisement for this particular resource said, you can spend your time on more important things besides sermon preparation. I thought, what are those more important things? We recognize, obviously, there are more things that I do besides preparing sermons. But this is a sacred responsibility I have to feed the flock of God. And I can't simply give that responsibility to someone else and continually give you week after week the labors of others in the word of God. I need to do my own labor in the word of God and pour out my own heart to study the scriptures and to give you food from the word to nourish you spiritually. So this is the task of the pastor. So this term pastor, of course, designates this role of a shepherd. But if you look through the New Testament, you will find that the word pastor is used interchangeably with two other words. There's the word bishop and the word elder. Now the word bishop appears in First Timothy chapter three. So you can turn there for a moment. First Timothy three. In verse one, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3, in verse one, this is a true saying, if a man desired the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. And then he goes on, a bishop then must be blameless. He goes on to give those qualifications. The Greek word for bishop refers to an overseer. And in fact, this same word, bishop, is used for Christ himself. 1 Peter 2, verse 25, for ye were a sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd, Greek word for pastor, and bishop, Greek word for a bishop or overseer, of your souls. Now, I am a strong believer in the need for pastors to delegate so that they can concentrate on prayer and the ministry of the word. And yet, when I delegate certain responsibilities, I don't completely take my hands off and just ignore those areas. Again, we consider Acts chapter six. When the apostles delegated the responsibility to oversee the care of the widows, they were the ones that took the initiative. They were the ones that identified the problem. They were the ones that gathered the congregation. They were the ones that laid hands on these seven men and prayed for them and commissioned them for their task as deacons. And so it is, friends, that as a pastor, there's much that I think would be great for me to delegate, but there's also a responsibility I have to maintain oversight of these various areas. That's a sacred responsibility that is given to me as your pastor. When I worked at BJU Press, we had a chart that distinguished work departments between being accountable and being responsible for various things. And if you look in our church constitution, there is quite a bit of church activity that I am not directly responsible for. Many of the details, for example, related to facilities, to maintenance, things of that nature are given to the deacons. But even if I'm not responsible, I'm still accountable for those things. This idea of accountability is indicated for us in Hebrews chapter 13. Let me draw your attention there a moment. Hebrews chapter 13. Thank you for having nimble fingers to flip through the Bible this morning. Hebrews 13 and verse 17. The author of Hebrews writes, obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. He's speaking here specifically of the pastors and the churches. He says, for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. So we distinguish responsibility and accountability. I'm not responsible when a church member falls into gross sin or immorality or heresy, but according to this text, I am accountable. I have oversight not only of the entity of Grace Baptist Church, when you think of that as a legally organized organization in the state of Illinois, but I have oversight of your souls. I'm called to be your spiritual caretaker. And that's a hefty load, friends. Now this brings us to something that I admit is uncomfortable for me to talk about, but it's in the text and we have to address it. Notice the command that's given in verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. I do have a measure of God-given authority in this local body. Now, I don't take that lightly. I even feel uncomfortable saying it. But there is a biblical expectation that church members will follow the spiritual leadership given by their pastors. There's an expectation that as I come to you with the word of God, Lord's day after Lord's day, that you will obey the things that are said from this pulpit, insofar as they agree with scripture. There's an expectation that as I lead the spiritual affairs of this congregation in accordance with the scriptures, that you will follow the direction that is provided. Now, we have to be careful because we've all probably seen situations where pastors have abused this position of authority. The fact that I have authority in the local church does not mean that I have broad authority to micromanage every detail in your life. And I have seen situations where this has been done. where the pastor thinks that because he's the pastor that he can tell you what vocation you should have, he can tell you where you should live, he can tell you who you should marry. Now, I can give counsel about those things, I can give wisdom. but I do not have the authority to be the Holy Spirit in your life. I do not have the authority to manage things that God has given you as responsibilities, as a father, as a husband, as an employee. Those are things that fall outside of my sphere of authority. My sphere of authority is limited by the word of God. And when I get outside the confines of the word of God and what the word of God clearly teaches, then I no longer have authority to manage those areas in your life. One last term that is used for the primary leadership office in the church is the term elder. And that's kind of a weird thing because as I'm looking in this congregation, most of you are older than me. I won't ask for specific ages. I know many of you, what your ages are. But that title elder, it does speak to a measure of spiritual maturity and it speaks to a dignity that is associated with this office. And it just grieves me to see the contemporary church where you see the guy with the torn jeans sitting on the bar stool and trying to have a casual conversation and trying to be hip and cool. There are no scriptural directives that tell me to be hip or cool. But there are those that tell me to be dignified, that tell me to be sober. And that's all wrapped up with this identity of being an elder. Now, something that also might be a bit uncomfortable to talk about, because it's not something that we're really doing right now, but I think bears mentioning because it is found in the New Testament, and that is that there is a normal pattern in the New Testament for there to be a plurality of elders in the local church. For example, James chapter 5 and verse 14. Listen to what James says. He says, Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders, plural, of the church, singular. it is assumed that there is more than one elder in the church. Again, what we read in our text earlier, Titus chapter one and verse 15, that Titus would ordain elders, plural, in every city, singular, there would be more than one elder in the context of a local body. Now the dynamics of this come through in First Timothy chapter five and verse 17. where Paul writes, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. And so this text seems to distinguish two types of elders. First are the elders who simply rule. Second are those who not only rule, but who also labor in the word and in doctrine. Now all elders, I believe, are to exercise some gift of teaching because 1 Timothy 3 mentions that they are to be apt to teach. But there are some who are particularly given over to this task of laboring in the word and in doctrine. So it is my belief that it is not necessarily commanded, but I believe it is ideal to have more than one bishop, pastor, elder in the context of a local church. And that ideal is not always possible, but it is something that we should aspire to. And the dynamics of how that works I don't think are all that important. We call it lead pastor and assistant pastor. You've at least got a plurality, right? It doesn't matter if you call this a board of elders, whatever you call it, but I think it would be most wise to have some kind of checks and balances, so that you don't have one guy up there trying to be an autocrat of sorts. And that is something I've carefully tried to guard against since being here, that even though we have a single pastor, I have sought to lean heavily on others in this congregation, especially those who are our elected church officers, our deacon, our treasurer, and our assistant treasurer. Because I realize that these men, they've been around much longer than I have. They know the people here better than I do, because they've been here longer, and they have more wisdom than I do, because they're older than I am. No offense, guys. And in fact, it's a compliment, really. But I don't want to be up here as the little pope running the little Rome, right? We don't want that. There should be some measure of accountability. And so I do believe that this plurality is a normal pattern, though it's not necessarily something that's commanded. Now, we only have a brief time left, so let me just mention this quickly. there is also a secondary office of leadership in the local church, and that is the office of the deacon. Now I say, and some people are uncomfortable using this language, but it is language that I believe is biblical. Some people are uncomfortable with saying that the deacon carries a position of authority, but I do believe that this is an office that is connected with some measure of authority. The word deacon means a minister or a servant, We recognize, obviously, all of us are to be servants, right? We're all to serve the local church in various ways, however God has gifted us. But this is a unique office because there are qualifications that are connected with it. It is not just that any given person in a church can serve in this office. There have to be qualifications that are met, which are laid out in 1 Timothy 3, verses eight through 13. We'll talk about the idea of qualifications more next week, but I would simply note at this point that qualifications are evidence that there's leadership connected with this office. I would also point to Acts chapter six. Recall what the apostles said about the first deacons. They said in verse three, wherefore brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. It's a measure of authority. And specifically here, it's the idea of overseeing the needs of widows, waiting on tables. Now I need to hustle here, but when you look in our church constitution, you find that the description for deacons is actually longer than the description for the pastor. Let me enumerate for you some of the ministries the deacons are to oversee according to our constitution. Benevolence funds, ushering, audio and recording, cleaning, building maintenance and groundskeeping, nursery and kitchen. And there are several other responsibilities, and I would direct your attention to that lovely document that I know that you are engaged in reading all the time, the Church Constitution. Now you say, why does the deacon get so much attention? Well, I would suggest it all comes back again to Acts 6. The deacons oversee these tasks so that the pastor can devote himself to prayer and the ministry of the word. And I can tell you that Lowell Mest has done a tremendous job in his role as a deacon. And he does so many things that you all probably don't see. They're behind the scenes, but they are what enable us to do what we do week after week after week. But I would also commit to you that this is a matter of prayer, because we do have an anomaly here, and that's the fact that we only have a single deacon. And when you read in the church constitution, you find all the responsibilities that are given to the deacon, it's hard to envision one man having to do all those things. And yes, we've delegated and all of that, and I think all of that is wise, but certainly we can be praying that the Lord would raise up someone else to help serve in that role, and help support the work that we're doing here. So there is structure, dear friends, in local church leadership. And that's not really all that I would want to say about this topic or all that I maybe even need to say. But next week, we're going to have another installment as we consider the need for qualifications in local church leadership. but praise the Lord for his infinite wisdom in ordaining structure in the local church. May we endeavor to recognize the order that he has set up and submit ourselves to his perfect design. Father, we thank you for the thrill of examining these things this morning. Oh Lord, I pray that you would guide us, open our minds to understand the importance of the local church, help each of us to understand our role as members of the congregation, and help us to appreciate the offices that you have set up. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand once again and turn to number 124 as we consider this congregation and the leadership