The Overseeing Shepherd

We're heading, we're trying to, here in the future, we have a committee pursuing ordinations, elders and deacons. And so to bring some clarity, maybe exhort some of the men here and give some direction for the ordination, I'd like to share a little bit on four words to help explain what we're proceeding with. One of the words is elder.

Another word is bishop. A third word is deacon. And then a fourth word is the word ordination.

And I'd like to talk about all four of those words. So turn with me here to Titus chapter number one. And I'd like to read in, starting in verse number four, Paul is writing to Titus.

I don't know how old Titus is. He seems to be a young man, but he is in the ministry of helping plant and raise up churches. He and Timothy and others.

And starting here in Titus chapter one, I'd like you to notice verse number four. Paul writes, to Titus, my own son after the common faith. Obviously one of his converts here.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our savior. For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city. Crete is an island.

There was, Paul spent time there preaching on this island. And in a number of cities, there were converts and little churches were established. And so he leaves Titus there to set in order the things that are wanting or the things that are lacking.

And so there were things lacking in these little churches, early church. And so Titus's ministry is to set things in order. Now I'm gonna share this a little later, but God is a God of order.

God likes order. Sometimes order becomes basically our mantra. It takes us over.

But God likes order. And he wants to set things in order that are lacking and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. So there's elders there, plural elders in every city.

Verse six, if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. And then notice verse seven, it says, for a bishop, a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, and on and on. He talks here about some of the qualifications.

We're not gonna talk about the person here today or the qualifications. I wanna talk about the position and the responsibility that that position has for anyone who is desiring that or is perhaps gonna be placed in those positions. But you notice the interchanging here of these two words.

Verse number five uses the word elders here. I want to set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city. And then in verse seven, it says, for a bishop must be blameless.

And what I brought this passage out for is to show you that the word elder and the word bishop refer to the same position, the same responsibility. The concept of an elder or a bishop is interchangeable. They're used back and forth throughout the scripture, but there is a meaning.

There is a meaning in words. There is a reason why there are two different words here to describe those who are put up as elders or bishops. And that is because there are two main responsibilities that fall under those two words.

And I'd like to start out this morning with those two responsibilities that elders and bishops, and those are the same, elder, bishop, have. And so we'll start our message there first of all. Let's start off with the elder, the word elder.

Elder means exactly what you might think it means. It means someone who is older, someone who is spiritually mature. We're looking for an elder.

We're looking for someone who is, doesn't have to be physically older per se, but someone who is spiritually older, spiritually more mature. And this word is something that is in nature and even in the church. This principle is everywhere you see it.

The older are to teach the younger. The older are to provide meat and food for the younger. I trust it in your family, that's the way it is.

Mom and dad are the providers. They're the ones who put the food on the table. They're the ones that prepare the meals for the younger and the younger simply take in.

They're being provided for. And so someone who is older, that word elder, refers to someone who is a teacher or someone who is a provider. The Bible actually says the elder shall teach the younger.

The elder shall teach the younger. The older women shall teach the younger women. If you go to schools, like my son's in Melito over there and Ms. Lois is over 50 years old and she's teaching the little ones and she's an older person teaching the younger.

And so when you think of an elder, that word is there to represent, this is one who is going to teach or one who is going to provide. It's like a spiritual parent, a spiritual provider to feed the younger. So when you think of the word elder, it's really referring to the aspect of teaching that an elder is supposed to be a part of, to be a teacher.

Turn with me, I'm gonna ask you to turn to a couple of different places. Turn to 1 Peter chapter number five. These are familiar verses to many of us but I want to do some review and go over in a general way and remind us again.

I think the church in large has lost the vision for really what elders and deacons for, what ordination is for. And I wanna kind of reestablish that vision here this morning in 1 Peter chapter five, verse one. Peter writes, the elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.

And here's his first words to them, feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof. Now we're gonna get to the oversight here in a minute but these are the two responsibilities but we're focusing on this idea of feeding the flock of God. That's an elder's responsibility.

Older, elder, teacher. Elder are to teach the younger, elder are to provide for the younger. And so when you see in the Bible, the word elder, it's referring specifically to a teacher, a provider for those who are younger.

And so here in verse two, feed the flock of God, which is among you and the context here is written to elders. And so when you think about an elder, maybe you wanna be an elder, you have a desire to be an elder, maybe you're gonna be ordained an elder here in the next couple of months. One of the most important things for you to embrace is that your ministry is that of feeding the flock and providing for the flock.

Psalm 23, by the way, the Lord is the shepherd and that's exactly what a shepherd does to his flock. Got a lamb up here and the Lord is leading his flock. But Psalm 23, which many of us have memorized, it says, the Lord is my shepherd.

And it starts off with this. I shall not want, I shall not lack. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. And those are the two main things that the shepherd is to do. And especially those who are shepherding a congregation is to do as the chief shepherd does.

And that is to make the people to lie down in green pastures and a green pasture is a wonderful place for a sheep because they can eat to their heart's content, they can be full, they can be healthy, but also to lead them beside still waters and food and water are absolutely necessities for health and strength and physical prosperity. And so when you think of a shepherd, any of you desiring to be shepherds, this is at the very forefront of what you're called to do, to feed the flock of God, to lead them to green pastures, to lead them to fountains of living water that they might be well nourished and well fed. I think of the Lord Jesus who was a good shepherd and he was a teacher.

That's one of the things I think we miss about the Lord, his life, his ministry was he was a shepherd and he fed, he fed on a day-to-day basis. Matthew 26, verse 55, when they come out to pick Jesus up there to take him to be betrayed and delivered up, he said to those who came to him, he said, are you come out against me as a thief with swords and staves to take me? I sat, think about this, I sat daily with you teaching in the temple and you laid no hold on me. Now, Brother Yossin mentioned here about following Jesus.

And so if you truly follow Jesus, you know where you'd be going every day, you'd be going down to the temple. You'd be going down there and you'd be teaching or sitting and watching him teach every day in the public arena, teaching people who came into the courtyard in the temple, which is a major gathering place there in Jerusalem. And so when Jesus was in Jerusalem, he was feeding people.

He was ministering the word of the Lord. Day after day after day, I sat daily with you teaching and you laid no hold upon me. And then I think it's a beautiful thing.

Maybe you've thought about this also, but there in the book of Acts, the very first couple of chapters, it says this of the early church who by the way, were filled with the spirit of the Lord Jesus. It says, and daily in the temple and in every house, they cease not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ. So that same person who is living this way before them daily in the temple teaching is now in them and they are totally yielded to him.

And they are actually doing the same thing Jesus did. They're following his example and their daily teaching. And so I think it's one of the great lacks.

This is my personal opinion that, and we're gonna see here in a minute what elders shouldn't be doing and what many I think are doing today and they're missing in large part, God's vision for what an elder ought to be. And that is someone who is a teacher. Turn with me to Acts chapter six.

By the way, one of the qualifications for an elder is not that he has a spiritual gift of teaching, but that he is apt to teach. Acts chapter six, I read this at the brothers meeting, but I wanna go over it again. And Acts chapter six, starting in verse number one, the early church is just starting here and they're working through their situations.

And if you go back to chapter five, verse 42, it says, and daily in the temple and in every house, they cease not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ. This wasn't a Sunday thing. This wasn't a midweek service thing.

This was a daily thing. And the need to teach the word of the Lord and preach the Lord Jesus, teaching people, the sheep to grow in grace and preaching the gospel to the lost. And then chapter six, verse one.

It says, in those days, when the number of the disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Now, some of the widows here were not getting their support and their food. There was evidently a daily coming by.

You probably didn't have refrigerators and all the things that we have nowadays and daily needs that these widows had. And the church felt responsible to take care of the widows and especially the believing widows. Verse number two, then the 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, now listen to this, it is not reason or it is not reasonable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.

Now, here's a question. Is something wrong with serving tables? I mean, here's a beautiful thing. The Bible even says in James to take care of the widows and all those things and they're great things and praise God for them.

But here are individuals who are saying it is not right or it's not reasonable that we should leave the word of God to serve tables. I could hear some people saying, what's wrong with you? Won't you be a servant? What's wrong? Why can't you just serve the widows? Well, the idea here is that the elders have a different responsibility. And they recognize that.

They recognize that it's the most important thing for them, these 12 who are heading up the church at this time, to not busy themselves to go about and serve the widows. So that's a good thing. But it's not the right thing for them because they were given the charge by the Lord Jesus to feed the flock.

And so their thought is, you know, we're getting awful busy and there's so many things to do here. It doesn't seem right for us to leave the word of God and serve tables. They understood their responsibility.

They understood the importance of feeding the sheep. And I guess I want to lay that upon our hearts here, first of all, this morning, the importance that God has for feeding the sheep. And it doesn't look like, as you go through this early church and the example they laid out, even the life of Jesus, it doesn't look like it was a part-time, haphazard thing.

As a matter of fact, they guarded it, guarded it. These good things, taking care of the widows and bringing food to the widows. I'd love to do that, you know, love to serve, but I have to guard the word of God.

I have to guard my responsibility, and that is to minister the word. Verse three, then it says, wherefore brethren, look you out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Let's get someone who will take this responsibility.

And here's why, verse four, but we, the 12, will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Now, boy, there's a good one. And that's the heart of the ear of the church.

You would have actually found these 12 men not even willing to say, well, we'll go and serve tables, we'll go and take care of the widows. No, we're guarding our time. We really need as much time as possible for prayer and the ministry of the word.

And when I read that, I say, Lord, help me, you know? And you just want to bury yourself and say, Lord, I just want to focus on things that are most important. And you know, life is so, it's so easy to get distracted with so many things, even good things, just good things, and doing this and doing that, and not having, or not having a vision for the real responsibility of someone who is called to be an elder. And this is the biblical pattern.

We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Boy, what would happen if we would be doing those things? Giving ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word. And I like the vision, and would like to certainly pursue that vision a lot better.

Of course, you know, got to provide, do those kinds of things. But when they thought of an elder, they thought of someone who needs to feed the flock, and it wasn't something that was a part-time thing. It was something that was very important to them, a great responsibility to them.

Now, I can go back, you know, and just share my own testimony, my wife. No, she's not sitting here this morning, but she's out. But, you know, starting the ministry there, we started the church back in 1991.

And, you know, Saturday night comes, and it's like, uh-oh, what am I gonna preach on tomorrow? So you kind of run through the Bible, trying to figure something out, throw something together, get up Sunday morning, and there you go. And after a while of that, six months or a year of that, you know, I'd leave Sunday afternoon, and I'd say, you know, I was confused. If I was confused, I'm sure the people were confused.

You know, I wasn't even set on what I was really trying to communicate, and had some notes thrown down, and just tried to, you know, share with them. And oftentimes, I felt like I was not doing my job, because I'm not putting an effort into it. And so there was a time there where I changed my course entirely, and began to put the effort I should put into feeding the sheep, and making sure that when you come on Sunday morning, that you know where you're going, and that you know what you're teaching on, and that you labor, and you put an effort into it.

You know, when I was in Baptist Bible School, they taught us this, I believe it to this day, that if any type of work that you do, you give your best to it, it ought to be the Lord's work. Amen? Yeah, it ought to be the Lord's work. Can you imagine, you know, standing before the Lord on the Day of Judgment, and you gave your best effort and energy to some materialistic thing, and you know, you built some materialistic kingdom, or you had a huge bank account.

I'd rather stand before the Lord and say, my best effort in life was for your work. Your work. That's where I poured myself into your work, your kingdom.

And I would encourage, you know, if your heart is to be in the ministry, even in our church, or in other places, that God is certainly looking for people who will give themselves continually to prayer, and the ministry of the word. And yes, we have families, and yes, I think we can live very frugally, but giving ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And so let's give God the best.

Not just, you know, throw a little here on the side, and give him the leftovers. Remember in Malachi, the Lord was complaining there in the last book of the Old Testament about people bringing their offerings to him, and you know, they would bring the lame ones, the sheep that were lame, you know, had popped out an eye, or the leg was broken, and it was a skinny one, a disease, and they'd bring that to the high priest, and back then it was so corrupt, the high priest had accepted, and they'd go on their way. But the Lord complains, you know, you don't even take those kind of an offering, and take it down to your governor, or your mayor, and offer it up to them.

How can you give those kind of offerings to the king of kings, and the Lord of lords? And so if we take an offering to the Lord, the Bible says it ought to be the best one we got, right? Best one you got. You go out to the pasture, and you find your best sheep, and you say, Lord, you're getting the best. And so, you know, the early church, they gave the Lord the best stuff, they gave him the best.

The best part of their life was given to prayer, and the ministry of the word. And so I would encourage that. That's a responsibility that an elder has to teach, and to labor in the word of God.

Let me read to you 1 Timothy 5, Paul writes these words. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and the doctrine. You know, we think of labor oftentimes.

We think of labor out digging a ditch, or out, you know, working with the animals, or maybe painting a building, or some type of labor that we do. But how many of you think of the word of God as something that you're laboring in? Laboring, labor, laboring in the word and in the doctrine. I just don't, can't see this, and so I gotta keep studying, I gotta keep praying, I gotta keep trying to work this out where I can understand the scripture.

That's one reason why I avoid commentaries. It's so easy to go to a commentary and just kind of open it up and see what everybody else says and preach that, instead of getting it for yourself and laboring. And so when you think of an elder, elder is someone who's feeding the church, feeding the flock, but it's something that's an important responsibility in his life, and he's willing to spend some time there laboring.

So I would encourage whoever is that is ordained here, as the Lord leads us, and the brothers here who are in the committee, that you accept that vision to give priority, priority to teaching the word and laboring in the word. And that's how, that's really how deacons came to be, you know, here's 12 men who see the responsibility of laboring in the word and praying and realizing that these other things, these other responsibilities are taking away from that, that being the most important thing. If the sheep starve, we're in trouble.

And so let us appoint seven men to be a deacon in order to free us up to continue the responsibility of laboring in the word and pray. So that was where a deacon was born. And so these deacons, they serve tables and they serve the widows, good thing, wonderful thing.

By the way, let me encourage, well, we'll get to it, I think in a little bit, but those deacons who are ordained, maybe we'll have a deacon or two here, but your vision ought to be, this is the vision that the early church had here is that I'm doing these things, I'm taking care of the law and I'm taking care of the finances, I'm ministering to the widows, I'm seeking out the single sisters, I'm doing those things in order for, to have the elders freed up to labor in the word and to pray. And that's a good vision. By the way, a little bit later on in Timothy, Paul writes here that the deacons that do a good job purchase to themselves great boldness in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you go back and look at those deacons that were ordained there to do those tasks of serving the widows, one of them's name was Stephen. Oh, that's a man that's great boldness, wasn't there? Another one's name was Philip. And you go back and look and after their ordination, a chapter or two later, they do manifest a tremendous boldness in the faith of the Lord Jesus.

So those are good things. Now let's look at Acts chapter 20. Let's keep going here, Acts chapter 20.

In verse 28, this is talking to the elders at Ephesus. And we're gonna pick up this word bishop here from Acts 20 in verse 28. It says, take heed therefore unto yourselves.

Paul is writing to the elders and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you an overseer to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Again, there's two responsibilities that are laid out again for the elder. And I wanna just focus on those two here this morning, to feed the church of God that's mentioned there.

But also it says here, the Holy Ghost has made you an overseer, an overseer. And this is the second responsibility, to be an overseer. The word bishop means, or has come from the word episcope.

Epi is over and scope is to look, to look over the congregation. That's one of the two responsibilities of an elder. One who stands off like a shepherd.

You can picture a shepherd standing off under a tree on a hillside or maybe on a rock. And he is looking over the sheep in the valley. That's why David had so much time to sing psalms and meditate.

He was there as a shepherd and he observed the sheep. He was overseeing the sheep, watching for something. Children, what was David watching for when he stood back and was looking over the whole congregation of sheep? He was looking for that wolf or that predator.

Let's keep reading here in verse number 29. For I know this, that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Therefore watch. This is to the elders. Therefore watch, or the bishops.

And remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. So you picture a shepherd who has this flock of sheep. He has led them to green pastures.

He has led them to fountains of waters, fresh flowing water. They're healthy, they're feeding, they're drinking. Everything is fine.

And he steps back and he observes at a distance and he's an overseer watching for predators. And even watching for maybe something on the inside that might rise up, that might cause the flock to have a problem. Now he's not supposed to be someone who is a picky, detailed type of an individual.

Can you imagine being down there and picking out thorns out of all the sheep's little paws and everything. And while he's trying to focus on these small things, the wolves are devouring the sheep. He is an overseer.

Now I know God has given us gifts inside the body to function and counsel and admonishing one another and rebuking one another. And all those things are a part of body life. But the elder's biggest responsibility is to be someone who is overseeing the whole, congregation as a whole.

The warning is in the scriptures, which I've shared with you many times, is not to be a Lord, not to be a control freak. You sheep, you walk this way and you, everything in your life, I'm gonna control everything in each of my sheep's life. And that consumes you with each individual instead of being an overseer and observing maybe even at a distance and watching for those wolves that might devour the sheep.

By the way, this is an air I think that we, it's human nature to fall into this air, but who is the head of the church? The Lord is the head of the church and elders and bishops are not the heads of the church. The Lord is the head of the church. And yet the scripture says, if a man does not know how to run his own home, take care of his own children, how shall he lead the church of God? And so here you have an example.

If you cannot be ahead of a home and have your children in subjection with all gravity, how then can you lead a congregation in the natural realm? Just like, just like when Jesus said, if you cannot take care of the filthy lucre, how can you be trusted with the true riches? And that is the spiritual things that the Lord has given us. And so these things are kind of a testing ground. And I know we're heads of our homes and we have the right to be ahead of the home, but sometimes what people do is say, I'm the head of the home and if I run my home well, then I can be the head of the church.

And they'll actually be kind of like a dad to the church and they tell everybody what to do, but that's not how it works. The Lord Jesus is the head of the church. And yes, you're the head of your home.

And if you cannot bring your home into a place of subjection, then the Lord says you're not qualified to lead the church or to lead a congregation. And so we're not gonna get into qualifications here, but being an overseer. Look at Acts 20 again here in verse 29.

It says, for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own self shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. So watching from the outside.

This is one thing that I try to be mindful of when new people come. People coming in from the outside and observing their life. Do they bring with them strife? Do they bring with them division? Are they divisive? Are they contentious? You know, the Bible says of a wolf, he desires to devour sheep.

And many, many of God's sheep have been devoured from wolves that have come in. And so that's one of the responsibilities, a very great responsibility for an elder is to be on the watch, watch for those kinds of things. Happening from the outside.

Also divisive people from within says of your own selves, shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples. And you see this in human nature. You get someone who maybe is speaking a perverse doctrine or is offended.

And they try to gather a group of people around them to cause others to depart with them. And that's human nature. Just divisiveness, drawing away disciples.

Come, this is not the place for you to be. Come with us, draw away others from the flock. Sometimes wolves put on sheep's clothing.

Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 7. He said, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly they are ravening wolves. They're gonna devour you inside.

They have an issue. They have issues inside. They're not in a good place inside.

Outwardly, they look beautiful. They have sheep's clothes on. They dress wonderfully modest.

They have an outward appearance that looks great, but inside there's major issues. And so an elder has that responsibility over the flock to watch for people coming in and also of our own selves. People are rising and speaking things to draw away others after them.

And so the Lord says to us, judge not according to appearance. And it takes a while to learn that lesson, but people look good on the outside, but you don't judge according to appearance. Matter of fact, a devil would love you to judge according to appearance.

He says, I got some good-looking people coming, coming your way actually. And they look wonderful on the outside, but they're gonna devour you from their bitterness, their unforgiveness, their envy, their jealousies, things that are internal. They will devour the sheep.

So that's a responsibility of an elder, not only to feed the sheep, but also to oversee, not to control the lives of the people, but to oversee them. You know, I don't know if you've been following along in our country here, this phrase, a sleeper cell, but there are people in the nation who have motives and they're just kind of laying dormant, you know, they call them sleeper cells. Maybe groups that want to rise up against the government or cause disruption.

And, you know, the FBI and these type of people are aware of some of the sleeper, they call it sleeper cells. And in the church, there are situations like that. There are people who are just, the devil has them in a situation where they're just waiting for their opportunity and something will happen that they can rise up.

So we all have to be on the lookout from people who not only from the outside come in, but also from the inside rise up. And try to lead people astray. Paul said it this way, false brethren have come in unawares to spy out our liberty in Christ Jesus.

He wrote that to the Galatians, false brethren. He even said, you know, I've been perils of robbers and perils of heathen, in perils of false brethren. And so that's a reality.

Brethren that are false brethren and maybe not even know it. In our midst. So verse 31 here says, Paul writes, therefore watch like a watchman on the wall.

He calling the elders to be mindful and to watch. And as he has done to warn men, day and night with tears, be mindful of the enemy. And so that's a duty of the elder.

Feed and watch, oversee and feed. And I believe if you do those things and you're faithful, there's a reward for you. And Peter mentions it here.

He talks about to feed the flock of God, which is among you taking the oversight thereof. And when the chief shepherd, I like that, the chief shepherd shall appear, the one you're working for. You shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

And so there's a reward, reward for faithfully serving as an elder. So you have deacons, you have elders, elders, bishops, which are the same. And I'd like to mention one other word here, the word ordination.

And so let's see that word used in the Bible. Turn if you would to Acts chapter 14. We're thinking about having an ordination.

Someone says, well, I don't know what that word means or what an ordination is. Well, let me just try to explain that to you. Ordination comes from this idea of order, order.

God wants to set things in order. And so he has an ordination. He is setting things in order.

Titus 1.5, you remember I read this, for this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city, setting things in order. Look at Acts 14 here, verse 21, I'm almost done. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, verse 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.

And when they had ordained them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commanded them to the Lord on whom they believed. So as Paul and his habit was to go through, preach the gospel and to win converts and then leave them for a period of a year, two years, and then come back and ordain elders. So that's amazing to think about here, two or three years, new converts are already ready.

Wow, that's amazing. And it seemed like it happened pretty fast. And I know the Bible says one of the qualifications of an elder is not to be a novice, but what does a novice mean in biblical terms? Someone who is six months a year, two years, but it seems like they were ordaining elders very soon in these early churches.

But it uses this word ordained, verse 23, and when they had ordained them elders in every church, what does it mean to ordain? It means simply this, to appoint certain men to these responsibilities, to give them a charge, a duty. You know, it's one thing to say, well, let's just let the Lord lead and whoever rises up, rises up. But no, the Lord says we need to appoint, we need to ordain, we need to give people certain responsibilities.

In the book of Acts, they chose out seven men. Each man had a name. They laid hands on them and they gave them a responsibility.

You know, it's one thing for me to say, well, I just feel the need to maybe feed the flock. And so I try to do that the best I can. It's another thing for the church to say, we're giving you this responsibility.

And not only is it us giving the responsibility, it says there that the Holy Ghost is giving you that responsibility. And by the way, let me just throw this out here to what it's worth. I wonder about whether or not we take that responsibility very seriously.

I noticed how people are ordained and then they just walk away from that. And I never viewed ordination that way. I mean, when I was ordained, I realized this is my responsibility for as long as the Lord has me here.

And it's not something that I can just say, bye-bye. Walk away from, it's a reality. And so it's something that we need a commitment to.

It's not something like, well, I'll just try it for six months or a year and see how things go. And so the church acknowledges that and gives responsibility to certain men because God is a God of order and He likes to see order in the church. He is not the author of confusion.

And so we ordain, and this is something they did all over in the early church. After a couple of years, they ordained elders. By the way, that word elders is plural there.

And if you look at verse 23, it says, when they had ordained them elders, plural in every church, singular, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. So I'm a strong supporter in plurality, elders in every church. And there's a lot of principles in the Bible I could talk about here, but one is found in Ecclesiastes.

It says, if one man falls, he has no one to help pick him up, you know? Two are better than one. And you see this throughout the ministry of Jesus. He always sent them out two by two, two by two in their ministry to help one another, to support one another.

And so plurality is something I think that is good for us. And I don't know, we pursue that course and see where the Lord leads us. But ordination is a part of God's purpose.

Bring these brothers before the congregation, lay your hands on them, just like it was in the Old Testament. Let the congregation see that these individuals have been given a responsibility before the Lord and they're to carry out that responsibility, ordination, a charge. This is your duty in the house of God.

By the way, I thought about, and there's a number of, the word ordained is used a number of times in the New Testament. I'm gonna talk some about the Old Testament saints, how they were ordained to certain things in the temple and in the tabernacle. But I thought about here in Luke, I just read this passage a few days ago and I wanna read it to you here.

It's talking about Zechariah. It says here, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judah, a certain priest named Zechariah of the course of Abiah and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well-stricken in years.

And it came to pass that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. It's interesting that here's a man who is serving in the temple and he has a responsibility, his lot and his order and his law is to burn incense in the temple of the Lord. Every day, there was a time of prayer.

I don't know if it was morning, also was it morning, evening, was it twice a day? But there was a time when he was responsible, he was to blame if it wasn't happening, but his lot, his responsibility was to put incense on the altar and incense would come up. You remember there, it talks about the time of prayer that incense rose up, that they began to pray. I forget what the story was there, but that was his lot, that was his course.

He was to burn incense in the temple of the Lord and he was ordained, he was given that charge. Say, well, just let the spirit lead, let the spirit lead and let the spirit lead someone to do it at the perfect time every day. And no, God says, I wanna have some order.

We need to ordain individuals, put them in the house of God with responsibilities. Zacharias, your responsibility is to take care of the incense twice a day, however many times, three times a day, you be there. I don't know what happened if he wanted to take a vacation, but there was an ordination.

Let me ask you this question, what is your lot in the house of God? That's a good question. It says his lot was to burn incense in the house of God. You come to church on Sunday and you know that I have a place and here is my responsibility.

No, you haven't been ordained, but we ought to be preparing for those things in the future. Can we not find a place? And this is my lot, this is what I do. I do other things too, but I'm taking this responsibility.

And so, especially amongst the Levites, they had a position, they had a place in the house of God. So hopefully here in a couple of months, we will have perhaps an ordination with an elder or two or a deacon or two, and we'll call them to come forward here. We'll ask them if they would desire that responsibility.

Bible says, if a man desires the office of a bishop, we don't wanna give it to someone who doesn't desire to labor in the word, to teach the sheep, to oversee them. And we'll lay hands on them. And before the congregation and others, they'll be given a charge, this is your lot in the house of God.

And the people say, amen. Maybe that's scary. Maybe it's not, maybe you desire that.

Maybe it's not, but as we go forward, we'll trust the Lord to give us direction. Elders, bishops, feed the sheep, oversee them. Deacons, your place is to take care of more of the natural responsibilities, to give the elders and deacons the freedom to do what they're called to do and ordination.

Giving responsibility and a charge. So I trust that will help clarify in your minds where we're going, Lord willing, direction. Why don't we do this? I thought about maybe what we could do is go to our knees here this morning and have a couple of brothers just pray for the will of the Lord here to be accomplished regarding ordinations in the future.

And then we'll rise up again, sit, and I'll open it up for anyone who'd like to share, maybe something's on your heart. So let's go to the Lord and maybe I can have, just say three brothers, if you could pray here about the congregation that God would direct us. It says they gave themselves to prayer and fasting during those times.

Remember when Jesus chose his 12, he went up to the mountain, he prayed, and he fast all night, prayed to God. Important decision, amen. So let's at least pray and seek the Lord here this morning.

Let's go to our knees and anyone feel free here, brothers, you can lead out. Let's have three brothers pray and then I'll close.