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Eugene Prewitt

Elders in the Church, Part 1

Our Father in heaven, I ask that as we study your Holy Bible, that you would show us what is true and right.

We kneel to express our dependence on you for that gift, and we ask for it in the name of Jesus.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 15.

Yesterday, in Arkadelphia, I was speaking about elders and deacons and their roles inside the church.

And I exalted Especially the role of deacon.

Those of you who were there, do you remember anything about the role of deacon that I brought out yesterday?

It's a position where a deacon is a teacher of the word, not just a...

The deacons that we find in the New Testament are evangelists and martyrs.

And do you remember the super-Americanized way to say the Greek verb that means serve?

And the super Americanized way to say the Greek word for servant?

But I said something else yesterday that raised some eyebrows and I didn't prove it.

I suggested yesterday in the sermon about authority That individually, Miss Johns and Mr.

Pruitt are obligated to practice what the word teaches as they understand it.

That they will give account individually to God.

And in fact there are several passages in the Bible that speak about every 1 of us will give account of himself therefore to God.

We have to do just what the Bible says for ourselves.

Where the eyebrows began to lift is when I suggested that for the church there is an authority in what the elders have to say.

And that the authority for individuals is the apostles and prophets, but for the church, it's the apostles and prophets and elders.

And anyway, that's what we're going to look at this morning, is where that idea came from.

It says, And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.

When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and what does it say?

Here we are way off in Gentile lands and men come from Jerusalem to where Paul is working.

And now the question is, must the Gentiles obey the law of Moses to be saved?

Of course the highest authority that settles this question is the scripture.

What does Paul believe the scripture teaches?

What do the men from Judea believe the scripture teaches?

And so you have church members who individually are willing to face God and say the scripture says this but they don't agree with each other.

And so is the church obligated to splinter and become a bunch of atoms?

Do you see that they thought that even though they could not see eye to eye in terms of scripture there might be a resolution to their question.

It says in the middle of that verse, they were received of the church and of the, what does it say?

And elders came together for to consider this matter.

In the middle it says, then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church to send.

And look at verse 23, where it talks about the type of the letter that was sent.

The letter begins, The apostles and elders and brethren sent.

So they're going church to church with these decrees.

It says, the decrees for to keep that were ordained, what does it say?

And I'm trying to settle by these 6 passages for you to catch that in this argument between Paul and the others, the term apostles and elders show up together.

And that they show up together as a means of resolving disagreements inside the church.

The Apostles and elders show up together as a means of solving.

If you would answer, but Apostles can do it themselves, then you have sort of an odd situation.

I believe this chapter is in the Bible because it's so similar to what's been happening ever since.

The Bible is the ultimate authority for me and for you.

And in the judgment we answer to God only for how we conform to the Bible.

But in the church congregation, it's not true that if I get up to speak, that you have a right to stand up and start talking too, and so do you, and so do you.

It's not right that anyone who has a burden to say what they teach us has a right to say it.

And that if a Methodist pastor and a Catholic priest show up at our Arkadelphia church plant that they have a right to just stand up and begin teaching.

They have a right to answer for God in the judgment for what they understand.

But the elders have an obligation to guide the churches, to guard the churches doctrinal integrity.

I'll show you 1 more passage on this, maybe 2 and we'll be done.

Turn in your Bibles to 1st Timothy, No, no, let's go to Titus.

Titus chapter 1 and we're looking at verse 5.

Now maybe you do or maybe you don't know that Titus was the first elder ordained in Crete.

I forget where it says it, but it's in there.

Titus was the first elder ordained in Crete and he was ordained by Paul.

Now the question might be, why did Paul ordain Titus and leave him in Crete?

That you should set in order the things that are wanting, and what does it say?

Ordain elders in every city, listen, as I had appointed you.

And then it begins to give the qualifications of an elder.

If any be blameless, the husband of 1 wife, having faithful children, not even accused of riot or unruly.

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Elders in the Church, Part 1

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