A Warning to Elders

Introduction

Object Lesson

Motivation

Explanation

Acts 20:25–35 CSB

“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again. Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears. “And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me. In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Summary of 3 Points

Danger from Without

Illustration: Now I’ve never owned livestock, at least not yet, but I have heard from many who complain about the pain of predators getting your chickens. Whether it be foxes, or coyotes, or some other animal there’s a lot of pain in losing animals you’ve cared for and who produce for you unexpectedly because some animal has dug under your fence or chewed through it.

This has been the pain of those who keep livestock not just in modern times but for thousands of years. This was true also of shepherds, whose whole livelihoods depended on their sheep. In those days your options were much fewer. If a wolf killed some of your sheep you might not have enough to make ends meet anymore, especially if the wolf keeps coming back for more. This meant that an important part of the job of being a shepherd was to guard your sheep from predators and thieves.

This was just a part of the image that was conveyed by the idea of church leadership being compared to shepherds. In fact, did you know that the word Pastor comes from the word for Shepherd in Latin? So it is no surprise if the image of shepherd is so common in spiritual leadership, that Paul should use it in his warning to the Ephesian Elders. He says in Acts 20:28-29

Acts 20:28–29 CSB

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Now I should mention for those of you who are interested in why we believe in Elder governance and not a larger authority structure, this verse is one of the key texts. Paul is speaking to Elders and calling them overseers, which is translated for the Greek word that eventually was used of Bishops, and he calls them shepherds which came to be used as a term for Pastors. If you want to know more about that you can ask me after the sermon.

Back to our main concern for this sermon, Paul is convinced that this conversation will be his last one with these Elders. That he may die or his missionary journey might take him elsewhere. So what is the last thing he wants to impress upon them? He wants them to be on guard against “savage wolves.” What does Paul mean by this? He means false teachers. People who will come and teach things that are contrary to the gospel and will lead members of the church astray.

And Paul is right to warn them, because the danger of false teachers was real even from the beginning of the church. Early on there were groups like the Judaisers who taught that you had to keep the law as well as faith in Jesus to be saved. There were also groups like the Gnostics that taught that matter was evil and that Jesus wasn’t raised in bodily form, and the Nicolaitans who we don’t know much about except that Jesus says in Revelation 2:6 that He ‘hates their works.’ These are just some of the false teachings that arose just in the early history of the church. False teachers have been around ever since and are just as much a problem now.

This is why part of the qualifications of Elders includes in Titus 1:9

Titus 1:9 CSB

holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

This is a very important part of what it means to be an Elder. The Elders are meant to be the ones who safeguard the doctrine of the church, making sure to hold to the true gospel against any false competitors. Why does this matter? Because souls are at stake here. The plain and true gospel is what saves, that Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death that we deserved so that we can put our faith in Him and be resurrected in the same way He was to eternal life. If someone twists that teaching and leads people astray, people could miss the true gospel because of the lies. This is why John has such harsh instructions about false teachers in 2 John 7-10

2 John 7–10 CSB

Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him;

We need to take seriously the role of Elders in keeping the church true to the gospel. This means that as a church we should be certain to not appoint anyone to the position of Elder unless we trust their faithfulness to the gospel and their ability to defend it from those who would twist it. From the heresies of our day like salvation by works, or the prosperity gospel, or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Mormons. We must hold to the only true gospel as a church so that we can do the work of Jesus in sharing His truth with the world that they might be saved.

Yet I am sad to say that the dangers don’t only come from outside forces. Paul has more to warn the Elders about, including the danger from within their own number.

Danger from Within

Illustration

Motivation

Explanation

Acts 20:30–31 CSB

Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.

Application

Danger from Greed

Illustration

Motivation

Explanation

Acts 20:32–35 CSB

“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me. In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Application

Conclusion

Recap

Application

Sending