Let's begin with a word of prayer.
A gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for this day that you've granted to us, grateful for your blessings and all that you do for us each and every day.
Lord, we pray that as we go throughout this day and throughout the remainder of our lives, we might strive diligently to be faithful to you, to be servants of yours.
We pray that we might look to you for guidance and for strength in all that we do.
Lord, we ask that you watch over this congregation and its members.
We ask that you help us to be diligent in the labor and the work of your kingdom.
We pray that you will ah bless the work that we do as it is faithful in your sight.
Lord, we pray that you be with those who are traveling and those who are away from home.
We pray that they arrive back to their uh home safely.
We pray also for those who are dealing with illness and for chronic illness especially, we pray that you will help them overcome the difficulties and the struggles that they face on
a daily basis.
Lord, we pray that you be with this nation and its leaders.
We pray that you be with this community and those who make decisions in it.
Help us to be always those who are looking for those who need and are
looking for the gospel, looking to hear the truth, and then we might be ready always with a reason of the hope that is within us.
All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.
As we continue our discussion concerning elders, we got down to verse four.
One who rules his own house well.
having his children in submission with all reverence.
Some details that are important in this.
Number one, can an elder be an individual who has no children?
No.
All right.
Does the passage state,
or even imply in any way shape or form that the elder's children must be his own biological children.
No, there's nothing in the text that indicates that.
True or false?
uh We are the children of God.
True.
True or false?
We are the children of God by adoption through Jesus Christ.
True.
So are we the children of God or not?
We are.
Okay.
Now, obviously there are some issues that can arise and some things and considerations that could arise if a child is
adopted instead of biological, for instance, that parent may not have had that child their entire lives, right?
So if you adopt a child at 16 years old, how much influence are you going to have by the time they're 18 on how the trajectory of their life is?
Very little, very little.
The majority of that influence is
from somebody else prior.
So obviously there are some considerations to be had when you're dealing with an elder or an individual who's being considered for the eldership who has adopted children or
fostered children along the way.
There are some things that need to come into play here because their influence isn't the only influence in that family, okay?
But.
It is important for us to realize that the fact that a husband and a wife are barren and have never been able to have children but instead have adopted children does not exclude a
man from being able to be qualified as an elder, okay?
The statement, the qualification here is not about the number of children that they have.
It is what they have done.
with the children that they have.
Because notice the passage and notice what it states.
This individual must be one who rules his own house well, having his children in what?
submission with what?
With reverence.
All right, a couple of things that are important here.
Number one, that word children in this passage is not the word for little children.
It's not even the word for growing or adolescent children.
It is the word for offspring.
This passage would disqualify someone whose children seemed to be faithful all their years they grew up in a person's home, and the moment they left home, that child went off the
rails, became disrespectful and irreverent and out of submission to their parents.
The moment they left home, that person is disqualified from being an elder.
This picture is of an individual who has so raised his children that their relationship to him is their relationship to God.
How are we as the children of God to relate to God?
We are to be
submissive to Him with all reverence.
Now at what age do we get to stop being submissive to God with all reverence?
When we die.
What was the first commandment with promise according to Jesus when he spoke concerning the old law?
No.
Honor thy father and mother for it shall be well with you that you may dwell long on the earth.
All the way back to the giving of the Ten Commandments and arguably all the way back to earlier than that, but at least in this context to the Ten Commandments, God has
stipulated that it is the obligation
of children to so act toward their parents as to show them submission, reverence, and honor specifically in view of the fact that when they are old, that child will provide for
them in their old age.
The role and responsibility of a father in view of this and the qualifications of an elder is having so raised his children, having so brought up his children, that they have seen
God in him so much so that they react toward him as they react toward God.
At what age does a parent stop having responsibility toward God for their children?
When they die.
How do we know this?
Well, turn back to 1 Samuel.
Actually, the end of the book of Judges, I believe, is where the passage is that I'm looking for.
Actually, is 1 Samuel.
Sorry.
1 Samuel chapter 2.
First Samuel chapter two, verse 22.
Now Eli was very old, and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
So he said to them, why do you do such things?
For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.
oh
"'No, my sons, for it is not a good report that I hear.
"'You make the Lord's people transgress.
"'If one man sins against another, God will judge him.
"'But if a man sins against the Lord, "'who will intercede for him?
"'Nevertheless, they did not heed the voice of their father "'because the Lord desired to kill them.'"
How old was Eli when he spoke to his sons about their actions?
Very old.
which indicates that they were what?
grown.
As a matter of fact, we know they were grown.
We don't even have to guess about it because you had to be above the age of 25 to be a priest and they were priests.
They were performing these evils while they were standing in the position as priests.
So in order to be a priest, you had to be of an adult age.
And since they were of an adult age because they were priests, we know that this situation occurs after they are adults, not while they are young and at home.
And notice Eli rebukes them, but they don't listen.
Notice what else the text says.
Verse 26,
And the child Samuel grew in stature and in favor both with the Lord and man.
Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon my altar to burn incense and to wear an ephed before me?
And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
Why do you kick at my sacrifice and my offering, which I have commanded in my dwelling place, and honor your sons more than me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the
offerings of Israel my people?" God sends a prophet to Eli, and the prophet comes to Eli, and he does not accuse Eli's sons
He accuses Eli.
Now, when you read of Eli's death, you will read that he will die when the news comes back that the Ark of the Covenant has been taken by the Philistines, and he was sitting there
at the front of the tabernacle, and he died by falling backward.
And the indication is breaking his neck, and the text says, for he was a very fat man.
Now the prophet here is not accusing Eli of being fat.
The prophet is accusing Eli of becoming fat off of the offerings of the Lord that didn't belong to Eli but rather belonged to the Lord.
Eli had set an example for his sons of abusing the priesthood.
And then his sons had taken it that much further.
Notice the text continues.
He says, behold the days are coming.
Sorry, verse 30.
Therefore the Lord God of Israel says I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before uh Would walk before me forever But now the Lord says far be it
from me for those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed Behold the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your
father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house and you will see an enemy in
my dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
But any of your man whom I do not cut off from my altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.
Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons on Haphnei and Phinehas, in one day they shall die."
both of them.
Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and my mind.
I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before my anointed forever." God establishes with Eli that it didn't matter how old Eli was, he was accountable for his
children.
He was accountable for himself and God was going to hold him accountable.
You step forward to 1 Samuel chapter seven.
You'll find out that one of the accusations against Samuel, as Samuel has now become a judge in Israel, is that Samuel's sons did not behave in the way that Samuel behaved.
That Israel...
wanted a king partly because, or at least partly the excuse was because Samuel's sons did not behave properly in their roles and in their actions.
You can continue on down through the text, Old Testament, New Testament alike.
And you will find that God's position concerning parents is they stop becoming accountable for the actions of their children when they die.
and they no longer have a say.
Up until that point, God holds them accountable for their children.
And you say, well Aaron, my child is an adult and they don't listen to me anymore.
That disqualifies you as an elder.
Will there be times that a child chooses their own instruction, their own will, and their own decision making process instead of their parents?
Yes.
But there should not be a time in the life of a child who has been raised by godly parents where they ignore their parents, they do not submit to their parents, and they show no
reverence for their parents.
And if that is the case...
That person is at least at that moment in time, that period of time, not qualified to be an elder.
Now notice the argument that Paul makes in 1 Timothy chapter three.
Paul is going to establish that this submission, this reverence, this position that they have earned for themselves, because you don't get here by an accident as a father.
He says, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence, for, here's the reason, God knew this was not going to be one of those things
that was just going to be acceptable to everybody who everybody just agreed with.
God's going to explain why this is the rule.
For if a man does not know how to rule his own house,
How will he take care of the Church of God?
God is making it clear if this individual has not so led their life, has not so patterned their life and made choices throughout their life so as to create in their own house
submission and reverence to authority as to God, how are they going to take care of the church?
Here we find a principle that Jesus discussed, and that is that the one who is faithful in little will be made what?
ruler over much.
But to him who is not faithful in little, even that which he has will be taken away."
God is making it clear.
There is a lifelong qualification process for being an elder, and that's the household of that man.
Yes.
Thank
that the husband has to rule well his house, we ought to also be teaching children.
You can call...
Sometimes.
situation and
children.
to you when it says train up a child and he won't depart from it.
We've seen it happen.
We've seen godly people raise godly children.
So what Eddie brings up is absolutely true.
know, we've seen and anyone who's been in the church for years has seen families that you thought, wow, that's a strong family.
You know, every indicator is their children are at home.
Is that's a strong, faithful family?
And then you watch the oldest child leave home.
and go off the rails.
And then you watch the next child leave home and go off the rails and the next child leave home and go off the rails.
Here's the thing.
it would be of some people's mindset to say, but wait a minute, while they were at home, they were faithful.
While they were at home, they were in submission.
The text doesn't say while they're at home.
The text says in all submission, yes.
So what is one, and let me answer that by asking a question.
What is one of the roles of an elder in the body of Christ if we were to reflect on the flock and the shepherd?
bring back those that have gone astray.
The qualification of a shepherd is not that there's never been a sheep that ever wandered away under his watch.
But what's the picture that Jesus presents of the Good Shepherd?
Absolutely.
That he will stop at nothing to retrieve the lost one.
Now, is a parent who says, you know what, I just have no influence over my children, we just decided not to talk about it.
Is that the picture of the good shepherd?
No.
Is the, now.
You also have a scenario, don't you, in a picture of another father who his son goes off and lives in all sorts of sin and iniquity and then returns back and repents.
Was the father accountable for his son the entire time?
Yes, he was.
But did he have any influence over bringing him back or did he have to allow the son to find his own way back?
But what did the Father do for His entire growing up time that made it possible for the Son to come back?
He taught Him properly.
The Son came, the text says, came to His senses.
He realized that what He had abandoned in His own foolishness was everything He had always looked for.
So the prodigal son comes back.
He repents.
Ten years down the road, Prodigal Son's been faithful, submissive to his father, under control.
We'll ignore the older brother for a minute, OK?
Let's just assume both sons have been faithful, in submission, under control.
Is the father qualified to be an elder?
Yes.
Why?
Because one of the requirements of an elder is he bring back the faithful.
Another is that he accept back the penitent.
You see, we have these pictures, and one of the things that is important for us to not do is to not treat men as though they have more power, authority, and capability than God.
Yes.
Okay, good question.
So the question falls under the category of what is accountability and what is culpability, okay?
uh And there's a great passage for this.
Turn to Ezekiel chapter 18.
So let me restate the question is, if a father is accountable for his children's actions and if a child goes off into sin and uh unfaithfulness, the father then dies, when he
reaches judgment, will he be told, I'm sorry, though you have lived faithful, your son has been unfaithful, your child has been unfaithful, therefore you are held
accountable for the actions of your child, therefore you will not enter heaven.
Turn to Ezekiel chapter 18, if you're not already there, probably already are, I forgot to turn while I was talking.
So Ezekiel chapter 18.
Ezekiel discusses this in view of Israel, but he discusses this so that Israel might understand exactly what is going on.
Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 1, the word of the Lord came to me again saying, what do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel saying the fathers have eaten sour
grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge?
Alright, so perspective here.
Israel, so Ezekiel is in captivity between the second and the third carrying away of Israel.
He's in Babylon, he's writing back to the people who are still in Israel, still claiming, know what, even though Babylon's come against us twice,
and carried a portion of the people away, God's not going to completely and utterly destroy Israel.
And he says there's a proverb going around in Israel, the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.
What happens when you eat a sour grape?
Your teeth are set on edge, not your children's, right?
But the proverb was saying from Israel, the children are being held accountable for the sins of the parents.
We're not the ones guilty of all these things.
We're not being carried away for our own sins.
We're being carried away for our parents' sins, is what Israel was claiming.
Now.
As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
Behold, all souls are mine.
The soul of the Father as well as the soul of the Son is mine.
The soul whose sins shall die.
But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right,
If he has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor's wife, nor approached a woman during her impurity, if he
has not oppressed anyone, but has restored to the dead or his pledge, has robbed no one by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with clothing, if
he has not exacted usury, nor taken any increase, but has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and executed true judgment between man and man, if he has walked
my statutes and kept my judgments faithfully, he is just.
He shall surely live, says the Lord." Here's the picture.
Here's a man who's lived according to the law, who's been obedient to God.
Doesn't mean he's sinlessly perfect.
He's lived according to the law.
He's been faithful.
God's pronouncement of judgment, he shall live.
But notice, if he begets a son who is a robber or a shedder of blood, who does any of these things and does none of those duties, but has eaten on the mountains, has defiled
his neighbor's wife, has oppressed the poor and the needy, robbed by violence, not restored the pledge, lifted his eyes to the idols, and committed abomination, if he is
exacted usury or taken increase, shall he then live?
He shall not live.
If he has done any of these abominations, he shall surely die, his blood shall be upon him.
If, however, all right, so second generation comes along and he's wayward, he's evil, he's done everything wrong that he could do wrong, God says I'm not going to destroy the Father
for the sins of the Son.
If, however, he, second generation, begets a son, third generation, who sees all the sins which his father has done and considers but does not do likewise.
who has not eaten on the mountains nor lifted his eyes up to the idols of the house of Israel nor defiled his neighbor's wife, has not oppressed anyone nor withheld a pledge nor
robbed by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing, who has withdrawn his hand from the poor and not received usury or increase, but
has executed my judgments and walked in my statutes.
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father.
He shall surely live as for his father, because his
Now he's addressing Israel's proverb.
He says,
of the Son, the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." When it comes to judgment before God, God says, I'm
going to hold you accountable for what you do, and I'm going to hold your children accountable for what they do, and I'm going to hold the third generation accountable for
what they do.
They're culpable for their own sins.
And yet, it is important to realize that while God is not going to send a person to hell for the sins of someone else, that doesn't mean that there are no consequences brought
upon another generation for the sins of their children.
And one of the consequences as seen here in 1 Timothy chapter three is that an individual who might otherwise be qualified for a role, an honor, and a responsibility in the church
is now disqualified.
Not because God's going to on the day of judgment hold him accountable for the actions of the child.
but rather he's going to hold him accountable for his own actions in regard to the child.
So he's gonna be held accountable for his actions, not the child's actions.
But part of his actions.
especially in view of this, is how did he behave toward the child?
How did he guide the child?
How did he correct the child?
How did he straighten out the child?
How did he exert his authority and his influence on the child?
You go look at the life of David.
One of the things you find in the life of David is David was lacking.
in the enforcement of his authority as a father over his children.
Joab, man of great character, will even accuse David of caring more about Absalom, who was rebelling against him, trying to dethrone him and kill him, than he cared about Israel.
David had a real problem when it came to parenthood.
And as a result, the nation was regularly in under his reign, thrown into a disruptive state.
Because when one of his sons,
Defiled his daughter.
He didn't do anything about it
And when one of his sons rebelled against him, he didn't do anything about it.
And when another of his sons rebelled against him, he didn't do anything about it.
You saw a pattern in the life of David of him failing in this very area of having his children under submission.
So can a faithful, godly man be disqualified because of his children?
The answer is yes.
But that doesn't mean he's any less faithful, doesn't mean he's any less godly.
It means that due to actions of others and his own self, he's not qualified for the position of an elder.
Because the responsibility of an elder is critical.
He is accountable for other men's souls.
before we leave this, turn to Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13, the Hebrew writer says, verse five, let your conduct be without covetousness.
Be content with such things as you have.
For he himself has said, I will neither leave you nor forsake you.
So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper.
I will not fear what can man do to me.
But then the Hebrew writer says, remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow.
considering the outcome of their conduct.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The Hebrew writer tells the Christians, you put your eyes on your elders.
Those are the ones who have rule over them.
He says, you watch their actions, their faith.
He says, you follow.
their faith, but then consider later on in chapter 13.
He says, verse 15, therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
But do not forget to do good and to share for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Obey those who rule over you and be what?
Submissive.
for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account.
Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Right.
So if you don't have elders and you have no qualified elders, what are you supposed to do?
That's the question.
The answer comes in the example of the early first century church, okay?
What you saw in the first century church is Paul and Barnabas especially would go into regions.
They would begin preaching where when they first went into a city?
Synagogues.
And they would preach and teach and.
Some, perhaps in some cities, there would be some Jews who would be receptive.
They would hear the gospel.
They'd be obedient to the gospel.
All right?
There'd be some Gentiles who would hear the gospel.
They'd be receptive to the gospel.
They'd be obedient to the gospel.
So then Paul and Baruch would leave and go to another city.
That church, which was filled with all brand new Christians, did they have elders?
No.
then they'd loop back around.
Quite often these missionary journeys could be like seven to 10 years between start and finish.
As they came back, they would go back through these cities and what were they doing quite often according to the text of the book of Acts?
they were appointing elders.
But in the intervening time, what they're observing and what they're looking for is individuals who went from infancy.
to being mature as Christians, and who met the qualifications.
Now, in most of these churches, you would have found that they would have had probably a far greater likelihood of having converted a Jew who had lived his life under the law, who
had raised his children under the law, who had taught his children and adhered to all of God's principles, you would have likely found a Jew
more easily qualified to be an elder than a Gentile.
Why?
Because they'd already spent their entire life trying to be faithful to God.
They had already observed God's commandments.
What they hadn't been is a New Testament Christian.
Okay?
So the possibility of that would have been much faster, much more likely.
But another example you see, what about Cornelius?
Cornelius is a Gentile.
Yet Cornelius as a Gentile has grown up as a Gentile, yet he had found the God of heaven.
And he had sought in his life to so live as to be faithful to the God of heaven.
And as a result of that, when uh Peter comes to his house in order to preach the gospel, Cornelius
isn't needing to repent of a great many sins and iniquities like Simon the Sorcerer.
Cornelius is one who was striving to be faithful to God long before he understood everything that God would have him to do.
So in a congregation where you have a situation where maybe you don't have elders, or maybe there's no qualified men, or maybe all of the qualified men have become of an age
they can no longer serve, what do you do?
You begin training men who still have the possibility of becoming qualified, but who are maybe not yet because of maturity.
or because of age or because of other things.
They're not disqualified, they're just not yet qualified.
uh Then you further continue to preach, evangelize, teach, and reach the lost.
Because everybody who will someday be an elder at some point was taught the gospel.
and you have the benefit of reaching those who are lost.
And sometimes the person you convert.
It's not been ignorant of the Scriptures, and they've not been ignorant of right moral character and upright life.
And when you convert them, you convert their children and maybe their grandchildren, because they, having come to a knowledge of the truth, have a correct attitude toward the
truth, and then they help convert their children and their grandchildren.
and some years down the road, five, six, seven years down the road, because they've already lived a life patterned after God's Word, and they've shown the maturity from the
day that they were becoming a Christian, became a Christian all the way forward to a later date years down the road, what are they?
Men qualified to be elders.
So the short answer is,
A congregation is not in a sinful position if they don't have elders.
They would be in a sinful position if they, and let's understand perspective wise, the congregation would be in a poor position, maybe put it that way.
They would be in a very poor position if they said, we don't have qualified men, let's just put men in.
Now we have a real problem because now the congregation is doing what?
They're opposing the word of God, they're opposing the will of God in order to have a role filled.
Okay?
But what if, and this happens by the way, what if you have a congregation in a very transient part of uh culture or of the world and people don't tend to stay there more than
two or three years?
Some military towns.
People move in.
They're great.
Become part of the congregation, get to know the congregation.
They're good, strong, faithful men.
Two and a half years later, they're gone.
It's gonna be a really hard place to get qualified men to be elders in a congregation like that because of circumstance.
Because they're not there long enough to know the flock and be qualified and then they're not gonna stay.
eh So there's a lot of circumstances that can impact this.
But one of the biggest ones is congregations who never bother to train men.
and never set expectations for men to be preparing themselves for being elders.
And so if we don't set expectations, if we don't train men, if we don't look and provide opportunities for men to push forward into the, push themselves forward into that
maturity,
This is one of the biggest struggles I have with a mentality that exists within our brotherhood in America where we have a preacher and a teacher and they teach all the time
and they preach all the time.
Not that what they say isn't important, but they're not giving others the opportunity to mature.
And that is important.
Now there's a lot of ways to mature, but that is an important aspect of training.
that generation turn over as we close to First Timothy.
Sorry, second Timothy, chapter two.
2, verse 1, "'You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.'" Part of the role of Timothy as he went to
these churches was to train men to teach.
If he didn't, he wasn't fulfilling his responsibility.
Now, he had to have the men in a position where they could, but then he had to step aside and let them do it.
One of the struggles we have is we quite often get into a mindset, well, we pay this guy to preach.
You see congregations where uh they don't have a full-time located preacher for weeks, and things just fall apart.
There's no leadership, there's no representation, there's no voices, and yet they have elders.
There's problem.
It means the elders haven't been serving as elders for quite some time.
They've been expecting the preacher to do it.
And that's uh where you find a congregation out of alignment with the Word of God.
Okay, thank you for your attention.
We run out of time and then some.
You're dismissed.