To Exodus 18. You can find that on page 46 in your pew Bible. We'll be looking at Exodus 18 verses 13 through 27 as we continue our consecutive preaching through this book. Again, God's Word is holy. It's our only rule of faith. It's the only rule of practice of our faith. Take heed how you hear it. Exodus 18 verses 13 through 27. And so it was on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people And the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, what is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening? Moses said to his father-in-law, because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me. And I judge between one and another. And I make known the statutes of God and His laws. So Moses' father-in-law said to him, the thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. This thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel. and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, You shall select from all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure and all this people will also go to their place in peace. So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people. Rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. So they judged the people at all times. The hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land. Amen. Whether we're conscious of it or not, all of us are very involved with government. There is, perhaps most pervasively or most obviously, a state, a national government. We're aware of that. We have government in this congregation. We have elders. We have those who rule over us in the Lord. And children, you may not look at your parents this way, but your parents are governors. They're governors in their home. Church government is, or government is something that we're all very aware of and accustomed to. And no one in this room, okay, I know I don't, we don't like corruption. We don't like it when rulers are unfair. We don't like it when institutions such as a congregation split. Because rulers either don't do a good job or they don't, problems occur. Maybe there's a structural problem with the congregation and their church government that contributes to that. And this is something, of course, that's very prevalent in our day. By God's grace, not our congregation, but to some degree in our denomination and certainly throughout the evangelical Christian community. There's friction, there's problems. How can we prevent that? What has Christ given us to help prevent that? And I say help because it's not the only thing that keeps the church splits, that is a proper church government, but it certainly helps. And I want you all to see these things from today's message. This message this morning, this passage of scripture is all about church, government. The book of Exodus, we've been going through the book of Exodus and we know that God's people are a people, they are a nation, they've been saved, they've been redeemed, they've been going through the wilderness, they've been learning lessons. And God this whole time, the Lord wants them to come to Mount Sinai where they're going to worship Him, where they will meet with Him and then Moses as their mediator will receive the law. But before that, That basically starts in chapter 19, certainly in chapter 20. Before that, we have this Jethro narrative, where Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, is converted. He's evangelized. He, as a Midianite, comes to Moses, hears the gospel. He knows that the Lord is the true God. And not just that, we have this passage of scripture where before we get to the wall, before we get to Mount Sinai, Moses, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, puts this section for us to consider. God is concerned about church government and so should we. And our lesson this morning is this. Church government is based on the Bible and is conducted by qualified men who are chosen representatives. That's the lesson. Church government is based on the Bible and is conducted by qualified men who are chosen representatives. And I want to bring this message to you under three points. It's moving in and out of the passage a bit. There's no set verses, as you can see in your bulletin. But three key ideas that build on one another. You have the source of church government. what it's based upon. Secondly, the form or structure of church government. And then thirdly, the people of church government, those who actually rule. So first, Let us look at the source of church government. What I mean by that is going back to my main lesson, that it's biblically based. Church government is biblically based. It's based on the Bible. And there's two ways that I want you to understand that. There's two things that come out in this passage that help support that one idea. The first thing is this, is that those who rule, they rule not on their opinions, They don't rule by their experience, fundamentally. They rule according to God's Word. According to God's Word. This comes out in two places. Notice verse 16. Notice it speaks to his father-in-law. He's aware of the fact that even as a prophet, he only speaks what God has told him. And some of this, what God has told him, has already been written down. He refers to the statutes of God and His laws. Verse 16, when they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make known, not my opinions, not what I think is best, but the statutes of God and His laws. And if you notice in verse 20, Jethro cites this, and you shall teach them the statutes and the laws. It's a very fundamental point, very basic. But it's important for us to back up and to see this. Now this is a big difference between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. The Roman Catholic Church, through the Pope, does not only rule, they also legislate. He's not only the chief judge on the Supreme Court, he's also Congress. There's a difference. And the church does not legislate. The laws have already been given. ministers of God's word, elders only serve God's people in light of that written word. They don't make up their own laws. In Acts chapter 20, Paul is on his way out the door. The apostleship is passing, and he's speaking to a group of elders. We should understand this to be a presbytery meeting. In Acts chapter 20, he says this in verse 32. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. He's commending the elders to God's word, because it's God's word that's going to guide them, it's going to direct them, it's God's word that they must know. For God's people, that means this. Are you listening to the biblical argument? Listen, if I get up here and I just say what I think is best, and hopefully I don't do that ever, but it's certainly been done by preachers. They're not actually preaching God's word. And God's people need to be aware of that. My people hear my voice, Jesus says, and they follow me. Are you conscious of that? Are you listening? If I ever speak, if the elders, if anyone gives you counsel, listen, y'all, you have friends, that's good. You need to have friends. You seek counsel? Are they giving you biblical counsel? You should be aware of that. Elders and myself, do you rule Do you rule in this church biblically? Are you conscious of that? We quickly, quickly can get into our own dependence upon our experience or just not realizing that what we're saying really isn't rooted in scripture. It's more of an opinion. We need to be biblically based. But there's another way in which this biblical basis comes out. It falls under the heading of church government being based on the Bible. But it's this, it's the idea that church government is divinely sanctioned. Perhaps I should say this, the form of church government is divinely sanctioned. In other words, it comes from the Bible. It's given to us. Now I'm gonna talk about that form in my second point. Okay, it's Presbyterian in case you were wondering. Give you a little preview. I'll talk about that in a minute. But it's first important to notice that church government is actually addressed in the Bible. It's addressed in the Bible. And I'll say up front that this point, this sub-point, isn't necessarily found in this passage of Scripture. It's not necessarily found in this passage of Scripture. But people will come to this passage of Scripture to refute What the Bible and other places teach. So arguments like this. Church government is up to Christian prudence. It depends on what country people are in, what they're comfortable with. It can take different shapes. It's not wrong to be Congregationalist. It's not wrong to be Presbyterian. It's not wrong to be Episcopalian. It's just a matter of opinion. After all, Jethro, he had a good idea. And he just brought it to Moses. And we can have our own good ideas and we can use our own sanctified imagination and apply our own principles to our own situation. That's actually not the case here though. Notice how Jethro has God very much in the back of his mind. Verse 19. He says to Moses, listen to my voice. I will give you counsel and God will be with you. He invokes God's name. He's aware of the fact that God needs to bless this. But notice what he says later on, verse 23. If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure. All this people will also go to their place in peace. If you do this thing and God so commands you. We don't have that conversation that God has with Moses. Not the first time where we know that God communicated to Moses something that's not recorded. We saw that with the Amalekites. God commanded them to go attack and it's not recorded. But God, Moses didn't have that conversation. And this forum that we're going to talk in our second point is divinely sanctioned. Our own church And our testimony quantifies this. We give confession of this point. Chapter 25, paragraph 7 of our testimony. Christ has appointed in His word a particular form of government for the visible church. It is government by elders and is therefore called Presbyterian. There is a lot that I could say about this. This principle flows out of the second commandment. This text is consistent with it. It's taught elsewhere in the second commandment, which we'll find in chapter 20. The second commandment says this, that you shall not make for yourself to carve image. It's a theological idea. Here's the summary of it. We have no authority, we have no right to pick and choose what we do in worship. We have to do what God has said. We're limited to what God has said. And that applies not just to worship, but all of religious ordinances. Our Confession says that the Second Commandment teaches us to receive, to keep, pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His Word. And again, just a brief overview. Think about it. If preaching is an element of worship, it is directly tied to church government. Who's the preacher? What office does he hold? Can we make a third office? And say that office can preach too? It's an inference. I'm just touching on it. But I want you to see that the Bible teaches that. It's part of the ordinances. It's part of the doctrine. Church government is regulated by God's Word. And it's important to see that for two reasons. The first reason is this. If Christ has appointed a form of church government, which I haven't explained yet. But if he's appointed that, then you'll be more likely to use that form of church government. In other words, you might have something in your life, and I've, in my short time as a minister, and just in the last few years, there's situations that arise in your life that the elders need to know about. Or maybe you have problems with the elders, and you need to go to the Presbyterian. And if you believe that Christ has appointed a particular form, and that form is Presbyterian, then you will use the courts of the church. And I'll describe what I mean by courts of the church in a moment. I know of a situation that's not related to our congregation, where an elder is in a disagreement with the session, and the session is completely wrong. They're just blind to an obvious issue. And all he needs to do is go to the Presbyterian. Use the form that God has specifically instituted. It's important. It's also important as it's connected more to you as a congregation. If the church, if the best form, if the appointed form is Presbyterian, then you'll see the importance of being involved with Presbytery functions. There's a flyer that I strategically passed out for the family camp this summer. You're not commanded by God to go to this camp. I'm not saying that. But it's consistent with our faith. You're not just a member of this congregation. You're a member of a presbytery. And you're a member of a synod. And all of that's part of the Bible. It's part of the teaching of the Bible. It's not just our history. It's a divinely appointed form. So what is that form? I've yet to even really talk about that. And that's my second point. So what is the form of church government? And again, going back to my overall lesson, those who rule are chosen representatives. They're chosen by the people and they represent the people at different levels. They're chosen representatives. First, it's very important for us to see that the congregation is choosing their rulers. You might not pick that up actually from this passage of scripture. Jethro says in verse 21 to Moses, moreover you shall select from all the people able men and so on. So who's selecting the people? Verse 25 says, and Moses chose able men out of all Israel. Does the congregation do it or is Moses doing it? We interpret scripture with scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 1. I invite you to turn there. We'll see that it's actually the congregation. The same thing happens in Titus chapter 1. People will quote Titus chapter 1 and they'll say, there Paul commands Titus to appoint elders in every city. But he's doing that according to the Old Testament practice and the New Testament practice. And both in the Old Testament and the New Testament we see the congregation actually picks. So Deuteronomy chapter 1, Moses is recounting this historical situation, the same one we have in Exodus 18. In Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 9 he says this, And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I alone am not able to bear you. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today as the stars of heaven in multitude. And he goes on, he says in verse 13, we're speaking to the congregation. Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. The congregation, the congregation's actually doing it. Acts chapter six, we have the, more or less the creation of the office of deacon, another office in the church. Who's picking them? Is it the elders? Is it the presbytery? Or is it the congregation? Notice Acts chapter 6, now in those days when the number of the disciples were multiplying there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. So the apostles are speaking to the congregation and they say this in verse three, Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." Congregations are the ones who choose their leaders. And that's why Elder Hemphill and myself, we were not ordained and installed until the congregation, observing our lives, seeing that we're qualified, chose us for such an office. Church government is conducted by chosen representatives. I want you also to see, under this point, the fact that they're representatives of the people. This is not a democracy. It's not a democracy. These chosen men rule over the people, and they rule at different levels, and that's really the idea of representation. Notice verse 21. Near the end there he says, And place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens. And the same language is found in verse 25. One of the reasons why we read Exodus, I'm sorry, Acts 15, is because we see the same idea continued in the New Testament. No doubt there are some differences. Okay, Exodus 18 isn't, the exact blueprint of today. Okay, Moses. Moses is still the head. Who's the head of the church? It's not a man. Not the Pope. It's Christ. Moses is one of the premier types of Christ in the Old Testament. It's also important, before I comment on Acts 15, to note that Israel is a nation. They're not just a church, they're also a nation. And that's part of what's going on here is civil government. I'm not talking about civil government this morning. But notice how in Acts 15, you have a church in Antioch and in Sicilia, I believe, or Antioch, and they have a problem. There's the Judaizing heresy. But the elders there, and they're not alone. They have another level. Okay, rulers of hundreds, rulers of thousands, that idea. Representatives at another level. They go to the Presbyterian. They appeal to the Presbyterian Jerusalem. And that Presbyterian is made up of more than one man. It's a plurality of men who meet. They rule on the scriptures and it's authoritative upon the church. And that's what Presbyterianism is. It's chosen representatives of the people at different levels. I mentioned that this message was a bit more doctrinal And it is. This is very useful for us. It's very useful for us to understand this doctrine. Listen, man, as we looked at in Sunday school this morning with our children, we're sinful. Pastors make mistakes. Elders make mistakes. It's very useful to have a plurality of men ruling. I could be blind to an issue and another elder not be blind to an issue. This is Christ's way of governing his church. He's a very wise king. Prevents corruption. And I find it to be helpful just to point that out. There are other reasons for why churches split. But one of the reasons is understanding just the form by which God, through Christ, has appointed. Now one of the other reasons why church is split, why there's friction, why there's this unity, is because of ungodliness. And that's the third point. Who are the people of church government? Okay, it does no good for us to be Presbyterian if our pastors and our elders are ungodly men. So thirdly, the people of church government are qualified men. Again, two points here. First, I want to establish that those who rule in the church are men. Not women. They are men. But then focus more on the qualifications. Notice verse 21. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men. Verse 25, and Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people. We live in an age where authority is being challenged at all different levels. Authority is not something that kids like this day more than in the past, at least that's my opinion. And one of the ways that authority in the church has been challenged is the issue of whether women can hold office, can actually rule as elders in a church. And it's a cliff issue. That's my language. It's a cliff issue. In the history of the church, this issue is hardly ever a church returns after making this decision. It's a cliff issue. They fall off the cliff. 1 Timothy. Chapter 2. So we see the Old Testament background. It's assumed men rule. And Paul comments on this in 1 Timothy 2, verse 11. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence. And why? Is it because Paul's a chauvinist? Is it just in that one particular area? No, it's rooted in the order of creation. Verse 13, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. I was talking to a minister several years ago, and he said something to me very profound. And this goes back to the whole cliff issue comment I made earlier. He said this, he said, if you can say, if one can say that women can teach and have authority over men in the church, when the Bible says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, then you can make the Bible say anything. And that is exactly what goes on in churches that do this. The PCUSA, decades ago, made this change in their church. And now imams, Muslim pastors, go to their General Assembly and pray. It's just, it's the sign of a church that's going. But secondly, these people of church government are qualified men. Can't just be men. Ungodly men don't help either. They must be qualified. There's several qualifications that are here. The first is humility. Humility. Think about it. Again, this is a bit of a comment on the whole passage. Moses, the man of God, the most powerful man in the world at this point, you could argue that, is being told what to do by a brand new Christian. And Jethro is right. Jethro has a good insight here. It's confirmed by the Lord. He's humble. And elders and pastors need to be very humble. Some of the best ideas in my military experience that generals then run with and money is spent on is some idea some private came up with. Some young soldier came up with because he's got a good thought. Humility. Pastors and elders could be wrong. They need to be humble. They need to be able men. Verse 21, able men. The idea here is, the NIV describes it as capable. They're capable of ruling. It does not imply, it's referring to spiritual gifts or spiritual abilities. It doesn't imply that they have a lot of education. It doesn't imply that they make a lot of money. It implies that they're capable of spiritually ruling. They understand the Bible. They can counsel. It's totally different. Now, oftentimes, elders do make money, and elders do have an education. One of the problems that a congregation can face is they say, hey, this man got a good degree. This man makes a lot of money. He should be an elder. And that's not what's being said here. That can lead to a lot of problems. Able men, such as fear God, God-fearers, If a man fears other men, don't become an elder. Don't become an elder. God-fearers follow God's word. They're more concerned about his opinion, not to the exclusion of others' opinions, but they're God-fearers. They're men of truth, hating covetousness. The idea here is essentially one. They're trustworthy. They're concerned about what's right and what's true. They're not gonna take a bribe. Again, commenting on the civil government, not that this can't happen in the church. You see how important it is? This is involving the civil government of Israel. How important is that? And we can see that in our own government. Corruption, desire for power and money, can't happen. There are several other qualifications that Paul mentions in 1 Timothy. You can turn there as well, 1 Timothy 3. I'm not going to enumerate them. They're more or less elaborated. Two things that come out from this 1 Timothy 3 verses 1 through 7 that are more or less untouched in Exodus 18. The first one is an elder who rules his own house well. His wife is subject to his authority. They're at peace, and his children. Verse 4 of 1st Timothy 3, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? The second one is the idea of being a novice, being new to the Christian faith. Verse 6, not a novice lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. These are the qualifications for elders. But they're not just the qualifications for elders. They're not just useful for that. They're also useful for all the men in this congregation to reflect on. All men in the church should strive to be like this. This is another list of what it means to be a godly man, to go after that. Some of you here may be elders in the future. And you need to consider whether you're qualified and you need to consider whether or not you should serve. It takes a lot of work to be an elder, but churches need good elders. You may be willing to do that. My message this morning to you is that church government is based on the Bible and is conducted by chosen representatives who are qualified, qualified men. There's two thoughts I want to leave with you this morning. The first thought is, do you undermine, or undermine would be too strong of a word, do you think church government is not significant? Okay, justification by faith alone is far more important. The teaching of the Bible that says that sinners, no matter how you sin or how bad you sin, can call upon the name of the Lord and on the basis of the righteousness of Christ and his person can be right with God by faith alone, trusting in him. That is a precious doctrine. And church government is not on the same level with that. But on the other hand, it's also important to say, it's also not helpful to say that it doesn't matter. Does it matter? Do you think about these things? Are you willing to consider these things? Do you know why you're in a Presbyterian church? Does it matter? Again, why do frictions happen? Why do church splits happen? Is it wise, is it appropriate for a man just to raise his hand and say, you know, I'm gonna start a church, and then 40 people leave from some other church, and overnight, over the course of a week, you have another church. Is this healthy? It all goes back to doctrine. Doctrine. Theology. The second thing I want to say to you is this, is that church government is based upon Christ's lordship over you. All of you here are under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether you trust him as your savior or not. And one of the alarming things about the future is that all men, all men will fall before the Lord Jesus Christ and they will declare that Jesus is Lord. And now you have the opportunity on this side of heaven for Christ not just to be your Lord, but for Christ to be your Savior. And if you have a problem with authority, if you have a problem with obeying God's commandments, it may be because you're rejecting the only means of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this morning you can repent of that. You can turn to him and find grace in his eyes. Find grace in the eyes of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would lead us into all truth. We ask that you would help us to know our times. We ask that you would help us to see how we can be influenced by the world. Father, we ask that you would protect our congregation from disunity, that you would give our denomination, our presbytery wisdom to rule on issues that come up. Father, we pray that we would be those who submit to your authority through your son Jesus Christ that we would know your son not only as Lord but as our Savior through faith. We pray all this in his name. Amen.