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The Rule of Elders in the Church: Unlocking the Scriptural Truths

Explore the biblical perspective on appointing elders in the church. Learn the importance of unity, divine qualifications, and the responsibilities of elders. Discover how elders play a crucial role in the spiritual leadership and guidance of the congregation.

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The Rule of Elders in the Church: Unlocking the Scriptural Truths

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  1. ACTS 14:21-23 • 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22 confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

  2. INTRODUCTION • GOOD MORNING. We thank God… • Please repeat after me: We are serving the Lord – with all humility of mind – and with many tears – and temptations (Acts 20:19). • We are thankful for this congregation and the visitors we have each week.

  3. THE RULE OF ELDERS • Loved ones, the goal of this sermon is to ignite a burning desire among all children of faith to live and work in harmony.

  4. THE RULE OF ELDERS • We also hope to destroy the influence of voices that attempt to divide the Lord’s glorious church, as we live to honor Christ before this evil world.

  5. THE RULE OF ELDERS • Loved ones, does a congregation have to have elders? If yes, why? (Matthew 16:18). • Does a congregation have to have elders in order to be scripturally correct?

  6. THE RULE OF ELDERS • “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed” (Acts 14:23).

  7. THE RULE OF ELDERS • However, from this scene, one quickly gets the sense that appointing elders “in every church” was an important step in the development of those new congregations.

  8. THE RULE OF ELDERS • “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting (or lacking), and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee” (Titus 1:5).

  9. THE RULE OF ELDERS • It would seem that the keys are in (1) the period of time that a congregation goes without elders, (2) the reason for their not having elders, and (3) the attitude of the members in relation to their not having elders.

  10. THE RULE OF ELDERS • A congregation cannot appoint men who are absolutely NOT qualified to be elders. At the same time, NOT having elders should be a serious issue in their conscience as a congregation.

  11. THE RULE OF ELDERS • Every congregation of the Lord’s church is supposed to have elders. Period! That’s the way God designed the local body. • Yet, there are some Christians who object to elders.

  12. THE RULE OF ELDERS • If you are objecting to having elders in this congregation for any of these reasons, you should, “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22).

  13. THE RULE OF ELDERS • Virtually any study or discussion of church “elders” immediately focuses on the qualifications for this office.

  14. THE RULE OF ELDERS • Those ordained to be elders certainly need to meet the divine qualifications enumerated in scripture.

  15. THE RULE OF ELDERS • It still is not uncommon to find preachers doing the elders’ work, elders doing the deacons’ work and deacons doing nothing. • Other elders see themselves as church money managers, mere decision-makers and administrators.

  16. THE RULE OF ELDERS • One great reason for this dilemma is the failure to connect the “qualifications” with the “work.”

  17. THE RULE OF ELDERS • What we are looking for in an elder, generally speaking, is a “mature” Christian man with experience in leading a smaller group (his family), to lead a larger group (the local congregation).

  18. THE RULE OF ELDERS • We need mature men able to do the work of elders, able to set an example of those behaviors and character traits to which every Christian seeks to attain.

  19. THE RULE OF ELDERS • As we go deeper into this sermon, we want to study the words “rule” and “submission,” and see what the rule of elders is, and what the response of the members should be.

  20. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • Let’s first notice that elders are NOT unique to the New Testament church. The Old Testament is full of references to elders.

  21. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • The first elders are mentioned in Genesis 50:7-13. • Elders of Israel existed in Moses’ day—even before the giving of the Ten Commandments.

  22. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • “And God said moreover unto Moses…Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying… I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt… come thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him…let us go” (Exodus 3:15-18).

  23. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • The elders of old served as representatives and were to convey what they learned to the people (Exodus 17:1-6).

  24. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • The elders of Israel were to oversee regulations concerning the cities of refuge, seeing that justice was done (Deuteronomy 19:11-12; Joshua 20:1-4).

  25. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • The elders of Israel served as a court of appeals for cases of “levirate” marriage; that is, compulsory marriage of a widow to a brother of her deceased husband (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).

  26. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • If you will take the time at home to read and learn from these Old Testament passages (Romans 15:4), you will be impressed with the teaching, oversight and judicial functions the elders of Israel dealt with.

  27. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • While there is no specific list of qualifications for Old Testament elders, as there is in the New Testament, there are general qualifications given for the leaders and judges of Israel.

  28. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • They were to be “able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness” (Exodus 18:21-22). • They were to be wise men, and understanding, and known among their tribes.

  29. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • “Judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s…” (Deuteronomy 1:13-17).

  30. THE WORK OF OT ELDERS • From these passages we see that the work of the Old Testament elders sound somewhat familiar to the qualifications of elders in the church today.

  31. THE RULE OF NT CHURCH ELDERS • Church elders are to “rule” well, and thus “be counted worthy of double honor” (1 Timothy 5:17).

  32. THE RULE OF NT CHURCH ELDERS • “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation” (Hebrews 13:7).

  33. THE WORD “RULE” • Yes, they are to “rule” as they feed the flock, but they are also told to NOT act as “lords” over the congregation (1 Peter 5:2-3).

  34. THE WORD “RULE” • Authoritarian rule means, “exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of others.” This type of rule on the part of the eldership is PROHIBITED.

  35. THE WORD “RULE” • Loved ones, the spiritual shepherds of God’s people do not oversee showers. They would be concerned if drinking or gambling occurred there, or if only the rich were invited and the poor were neglected.

  36. THE WORD “RULE” • In the English language various words have many uses or applications. The same word often has different shades of meaning. • What does “fast” mean? (1) quick, (2) to go without eating, (3) to bind tightly.

  37. THE WORD “RULE” • What does “quick” mean? (1) fast, (2) an inner feeling (“He cut me to the quick”), (3) alive (“the quick and the dead”). • What does “cleave” mean? (1) to part or to divide, (2) to adhere closely, to cling.

  38. THE WORD “RULE” • The English word “rule” also has various meanings. • Our one word “rule” is used to translate eight different Greek words.

  39. THE WORD “RULE” • First, we will look at the Greek words NOT used to describe the “rule” of elders.

  40. THE WORD “RULE” • The words having to do with principalities and powers (Arche, Archo) are NOT used. • The word for master (Despotes) is NOT used. • The word used for province or measuring the standard (Kanon) is NOT used.

  41. THE WORD “RULE” • Simply put, all the authoritarian words for “rule” are NOT used. Elders have authority, they have the authority to lead, but they are not authoritarians (Matthew 28:18).

  42. THE WORD “RULE” • Elders are NOT to be “lords” over the flock (1 Peter 5:3). • Elders are forbidden to be authoritarian – they are forbidden to assume complete control.

  43. THE WORD “RULE” • The Gentiles had rule over their people, but Jesus (in the case of James and John seeking that power), prohibited “dominion” to be exercised against other Christians (Matthew 20:25-28; Ecc. 8:4). • Elders do NOT have the rule of dominion.

  44. THE WORD “RULE” • The rule of kings over his land (Psalms 72:1, 8), does NOT belong to elders. • The rule of law over a man’s life is NOT the rule of elders (Romans 7:1; 2 Corinthians 1:24).

  45. THE WORD “RULE” • There is the power husbands and wives have over the body of the other (1 Corinthians 7:4; 1 Peter 3:5-7; Ephesians 5:28-33). • Elders do NOT have “power” over the flock as husbands and wives have over each other’s bodies.

  46. THE WORD “RULE” • Yet, elders are to rule. There is a rule which elders do not have and there is a rule which elders do have. • “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account…” (Hebrews 13:17, 24).

  47. THE WORD “RULE” • The word rule in this passage is from the Greek word “hegeomai,” which is consistently defined as “to lead or guide.”

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