Timothy 3:1 (NKJ)
ELDERS IN NEW TESTAMENT CONGREGATIONS
A. Text: Eph. 4:11-13.
B. We need to study the eldership -- we need to understand and practice scriptural teaching on this subject.
1. Congregationally, elders are an important part of what Christ has provided for the health of the local church - Eph. 4:11-16.
2. Individually, we each need the help of those whom Christ has designated to watch for our souls - Hb. 13:17.
3. If we would truly pattern ourselves after the New Testament, we must have scriptural concepts of the eldership in both belief and practice.
C. Two basic, foundational facts are important for us to recognize:
1. The eldership existed.
2. The eldership was an appointed office.
ELDERS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT PERIOD
A. The existence of the eldership.
1. The eldership is a divine provision for a real need - Eph. 4:11,12.
2. Following an initial period of establishment, congregations of Christians in the New Testament were supplied with elders.
a. "So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed" (Ac. 14:23).
b. "Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Phil. 1:1).
c. "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you" (Tit. 1:5).
3. The individuals appointed to this work were known as:
a. ELDERS (presbyters).
b. OVERSEERS (bishops).
c. SHEPHERDS (pastors).
4. These terms are interchangeable in that they all describe the same group of men within a congregation -- they describe separate aspects of the same work - Ac. 20:17,28.
5. The eldership was related to other roles, gifts, and works - Eph. 4:11. The elders' oversight was distinct from:
a. The apostles' and prophets' revelation of truth - Eph. 2:20.
b. The evangelists' communication of truth - 2 Tim. 4:2,5.
6. It was possible for one man to serve in more than one capacity, e.g. Peter - 1 Pt. 5:1.
B. Four important characteristics of the eldership.
1. Male. Cf. 1 Tim. 3:2.
2. Plural. Cf. Phil. 1:1.
3. Co-equal. Cf. Ac. 20:17.
4. No oversight outside of the local congregation. Cf. 1 Pt. 5:2.
THE OFFICE OF AN ELDER
A. In the New Testament were elders merely the "older men" in a congregation? (Cf. Charles Holt's theory that elders today are simply the wiser, more mature men who have "grown into" the role of leadership.)a. Like many words, elder can be used either generically or specifically.
1) Consider the English word auditor.
a. Generically, one who hears.
b. Specifically, one authorized to "hear" and verify financial accounts.
2) In the New Testament, cf. apostle (messenger), deacon (servant), church (assembly).
3) With elder, as with all words, context determines how it is used in a given instance.
a. "Elders" (specific usage) were distinct from "older men" (generic usage) in two basic ways:
1) They had met definite qualifications - 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9.
2) They were designated by others and recognized as a distinct group - Ac. 20:17; etc.
a. Ac. 14:23: "Appointed elders in every church." Appoint = cheirotoneo = choose, elect (2 Cor. 8:19).
b. Tit. 1:5: "Appoint elders in every city." Appoint = kathistemi = put in charge (Mt. 24:45); ordain (Hb. 5:1). Cf. Hb. 5:4
c. Ac. 20:28: "The Holy Spirit has made you overseers."
d. However many older men there may be in a congregation, only those possessing the qualifications (stipulated by the Holy Spirit) and appointed (as required by the Holy Spirit) are elders in the specific sense.
e. Elders, then, were such by appointment, not by assumption -- their status was assigned, rather than circumstantial.
B. If elders were not merely the older men, then did the eldership constitute an office? (Cf. Charles Holt's theory that the eldership is simply a "work" and not an "office.")
a. To say the eldership was an office is not to say that elders were:
1) "Clergymen" or "priests" in the denominational sense.
2) Officers in the sense of "elected representatives."
3) Officers in the sense of police-like law enforcers.
4) Officers in the sense of corporate executives.
b. Nevertheless, the eldership was an office.
1) "If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work" (1 Tim. 3:1 NKJV).
a) Episkope = position of being an episkopos (overseer, guardian; superintendent, bishop).
i) Cf. "office of a bishop" (KJV, ASV, RSV).
ii) The expression could be literally translated "overseer ship" or "post of oversight."
b) The fact that the "post of oversight" is said to be a "work" does not mean it is not also an office. Indeed, most offices are works.
2) An office is "a position of authority, duty, or trust given to a person" (AHD).
3) An officer is one who has any work or responsibility assigned to him by a body, one charged with public duties.
4) Appointment implies office.
5) The sense of Ac. 14:23 is incomplete until it is specified to what elders were appointed!
CONCLUSION
A. The eldership was a vital office in congregations in the New Testament period, and continues to be so today.
B. Biblical instruction concerning the eldership is a part of the teaching that informs us about how to conduct ourselves in the church, the "pillar and ground of the truth" - 1 Tim. 3:14,15.
C. There is no greater work or privilege among Christians than to serve as
an elder. It is an honorable "good work" (1
Tim. 3:1).