A Worthy Charge for the Elders

Acts 20:28-32

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.[1]

Elders bear an awesome responsibility before God to shepherd the flock of God. Perhaps that concept of shepherding holds different connotations for different people, but ultimately, the only concept which matters is that which God intended. Assuredly, elders are charged to rule over the congregation, providing leadership for the people of God; however, they dare not abuse the divine charge they have received by lording it over the flock. Such charges and divine restrictions leave one breathless. Nevertheless, it is apparent that godly elders are required if a congregation will be healthy and if Christ will be glorified through that Body.

We might well ask what responsibilities are imposed upon and expected of the elders? What tasks do the elders of the congregation perform on behalf of the congregation? Such questions occupy our minds and beg a biblical answer. In order to answer such questions, consider the charge which was delivered by the Apostle to the Gentiles when addressing the elders of the First Baptist Church of Ephesus.

Paul was going to Jerusalem, a trip which would prove to be his final trip to the city. From Jerusalem, he would be sent to Rome and imprisonment. The Ephesian elders were informed that this would be his final visit. Behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me… Behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again [Acts 20:22, 23, 25].

Knowing that this would be the final opportunity to instruct the elders of this congregation in their divine responsibilities, the old man spoke of the dangers to the flock of God and the need for vigilance from the overseers. The charge which he gave to the elders of that one church apply to all churches since that day.

Pay Careful Attention – Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.

The congregations of our Lord are unceasingly threatened by lurking dangers. Consequently, the work of an elder is constant, unending, perpetual. The elder must be ever vigilant for the sake of the flock of God. It is not enough for a people to say that they will never fall into error or that they will never fail the cause of Christ. Rather, leadership must be alert to the ominous dangers constantly menacing the people of God.

Have you ever noticed the note of caution which constitutes an apparent theme in the Apostle’s missives? Consider just a few of the instances in which the Apostle calls for saints to stand unyielding or to be watchful against error.

You stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe [Romans 11:20].

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them [Romans 16:17].

Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall [1 Corinthians 10:12].

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong [1 Corinthians 16:13].

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord [Philippians 4:1].

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving [Colossians 4:2].

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter [2 Thessalonians 2:15].

The note of caution which was sounded continually to all saints was especially prominent in the apostolic instruction to those who shepherd the flock of God. The language speaks of an action which is mandatory and continuous. Pay careful attention translated a word which is present tense and imperative. As I have said in previous messages, the present tense in that Greek tongue conveyed a sense of an action which is continuous. Therefore, those first readers would have understood the Apostle to say that they were required to be continually on guard.

Two areas of life required guarding. First, the elders were responsible to guard themselves, and then, they were responsible to guard all the flock. Think with me on these realms of watchful oversight. It is necessary for the elders to keep themselves from error since the flock depends upon them for wise counsel and guidance. Elders are a particular target for the evil one. After all, elders cannot protect the spiritual welfare of others if they fail to protect their own spiritual life.

John MacArthur cites John Owen in this context. A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what the minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.[2] The shepherds must be vigilant against failure to be men of prayer and men of the Word. They must make the deliberate effort to stay close to the Master in all their labours. They must resist wickedness in their own lives, keeping themselves pure.

Paul gave wise counsel to Timothy, an elder in the Ephesian congregation, in the first pastoral letter to the young theologue [cf. 1 Timothy 4:1-15]. Note especially, the concluding remark Paul makes. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers [1 Timothy 4:16]. That same truth is expressed in his later letter to Timothy.

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honourable use, some for dishonourable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonourable, he will be a vessel for honourable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work [2 Timothy 2:20, 21].

Although God does bless His truth in spite of the preacher, God cannot bless an unholy leader, no matter what title, position, or office he might hold.[3]

Richard Baxter, the greatly respected Puritan writer, spoke of the dangers facing elders in his classic work The Reformed Pastor. Listen to this excerpt from that book.

Take heed to yourselves because the tempter will make his first and sharpest attack on you… He knows what devastation he is likely to make among the rest if he can make the leaders fall before their eyes. He has long practised fighting, neither against great nor small, comparatively, but against the shepherds—that he might scatter the flock… Take heed, then, for the enemy has a special eye on you. You are sure to have his most subtle insinuations, incessant solicitations and violent assaults. Take heed to yourselves, lest he outwit you. The devil is a greater scholar than you are, and a more nimble disputant… And whenever he prevails against you, he will make you the instrument of your own ruin… Do not allow him to use you as the Philistines used Samson—first to deprive you of your strength, then put out your eyes, and finally to make you the subject of his triumph and derision.[4]

Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd, has taken His own flock and divided it up into smaller flocks. Then, as evidenced from our text, the Holy Spirit raises up overseers to shepherd those separate flocks. The shepherd is to pay careful attention … to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made [him an] overseer[]. The function of the elder is to be “careful, pastoral and corrective.”[5] The most important task of a shepherd is to feed the flock, even as he governs the flock, through sound exposition of the Scriptures.

Pity the flock which is compelled to wander in arid wastelands because the shepherd fails to provide biblically sound nourishment. Such sheep are susceptible to wander away from the flock in search of healthful food. In their hunger, they are liable to eat the poisonous weed of errant doctrine, to follow false teachers who deceitfully promise them greener pastures, though leading them deeper into barren deserts. Eventually, such emaciated sheep fail to reproduce because they are so spiritually wasted.

Preaching and teaching is work which is vital to the charge that the elders have received. They nourish the flock through providing sound doctrine. They refresh the flock through providing rest and leading the flock to sweet water, each of which is found in the truth declared through God’s Holy Word. Elders refute error through exposing it, contrasting it to the pure Word of God. They admonish the flock, correcting the obdurate will which presupposes opposition. Again, this is through providing sound doctrine.

Jesus spoke of Himself as the Good Shepherd, thus providing a model for all undershepherds to follow. Listen to the words of the Master concerning the labours of a shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep [John 10:11-13].

I dare not compare myself to Jesus, but I do say that in His devotion to His sheep each elder is provided a model to follow in watching over His flock. Thus, every elder must be alert to danger to the sheep. Paul saw danger arising from two spheres—from without and from within. From without would come fierce wolves, assaulting the flock. From within would come men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

This charge had a sense of urgency, because of future dangers—dangers which are now fully upon us. “Syncretising pagans and persecutors from outside will spiritually ravage the flock with the destructive force of wolves. Within the church, heresy leading to schism will be the order of the day.”[6] The infection of the world is never far away.

Consider the danger to the flocks of this day. Culture and all society pressures Christians to be tolerant of that which is intolerable. We must not speak against immorality—whether homosexuality or the immodest dress of our own children. We are to be tolerant. There are “hate laws” to keep us in line if censure fails to silence us. We must be broad-minded, accepting that all religions are equally valid—whether they worship a cow, or an ideal, or a bloodthirsty and vengeful deity, or whether they submit to the True and Living God who calls us to life and liberty. We must not speak of sin, since it makes people feel bad about themselves. Instead, we must affirm even our own people in their wickedness. The elders must be prepared to speak plainly, resisting the spirit of the age even as they seek to remind the people to live godly and holy lives.

There is a steady stream of heresy infiltrating the churches of our Lord, and the flocks of God embrace one error after another because it becomes too exhausting to resist. Let me point to just one little error which is now leading us into ever greater error. During the 1960s, the push among the churches was to become equitable. Women were being empowered to take their rightful place as leaders in every facet of society. Surely, the churches needed to respond by opening the doors to women in leadership.

So, to prove their magnanimity, some well-meaning evangelicals began to ordain women to the ministry of the churches. That would demonstrate that we were not bigoted or biased. However, few of them consulted the Word of God which clearly proscribes women from serving as elders. There is no question but that the Bible does not permit a woman to be a pastor, an elder, an overseer. However, we think that we have advanced to such a state that we may now ignore those portions of the Word which are antiquated and dated. Thus, we are determined to impose our own understanding on the Word.

The most powerful argument being advanced in the homosexual agenda calling for ordination of sodomites and lesbians to holy orders is based upon the recent practise of permitting women to become pastors and priests, elders and overseers. How can we be so broad-minded in one instance and so narrow-minded in the other case? Since we permit women to be elders, despite the clear evidence of the Word of God, how can we justify keeping homosexuals from being set apart to those same ministries?

There is a vital aspect of this text which demands attention. Focus with me on the twenty-eighth verse. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. The Church of Ephesus was the church of God. Just so, the First Baptist Church of Dawson Creek is the church of God. This is not your church. This is not my church. Though we are members of this church, we do not own this church. This church is purchased at infinite cost. The price paid for this church is His own blood.

Some scholars are disturbed by this wording. They wish that Paul had declared that the church was purchased by the blood of the Saviour or by the blood of Christ. However, the language clearly identifies the redemption price as the blood of God. Therefore, the church belongs to Him because He poured out His blood. This should not be troublesome since the language points us to the sacrifice and death of Christ. It is Trinitarian language, in keeping with the revelation of the entire passage. In relationship to the church, the church belongs to the Father. It was purchased by the blood of the Son. Now, it is the Holy Spirit who works within the church to appoint leaders and guardians.

There is one final issue which must be addressed for the sake of completeness. The elders must be leaders. The verb employed, translated in this text as to care for, is often translated shepherd. By choosing this word [ποιμαίνω] instead of the word for feed [βόσκω], Paul includes guidance. “The act of feeding as well as of governing is associated … with the former word.”[7] The shepherds’ task includes leading the flock. They must set the direction for the sheep to follow. MacArthur states, “The New Testament knows nothing of congregational rule; instead it commands believers to ‘obey your leaders, and submit to them’ (Hebrews 13:17). Paul reminded the Thessalonians that their pastors were given ‘charge over you in the Lord’ and were to be appreciated, esteemed, loved, and followed without conflict (1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13). God has committed the leadership of the church to the overseers.”[8]

Keep Close to God –I commend you to God. Paul had laboured on behalf of the Church in Ephesus. He averred before men capable of correcting him had he been lying that he had served with all humility and with tears and with trials [Acts 20:19]. He also attested before those same men that he did not shrink from declaring to [them] anything that was profitable [Acts 20:20]. He avowed that he was innocent of their blood, because he had not failed to declare to them publicly and privately the whole counsel of God [Acts 20:27].

Paul commended these elders to God, referring to his practise of praying for them. Though this is not specifically a call for elders to pray, it must certainly prove to be a reminder of the centrality of prayer in Paul’s life. Notice in Scripture his constant reference to his prayer life on behalf of the saints of God.

To the saints in Rome, the Apostle began his missive with a statement detailing his prayer life on their behalf. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you [Romans 1:9, 10].

The Ephesian encyclical also reveals the prayer life of the Apostle on behalf of the saints. Because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers [Ephesians 1:15, 16].

Nor was prayer a ministry which the Apostle adopted late in his life as an Apostle, for we witness him praying for the saints in Thessalonica in his earliest letters. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Thessalonians 1:2, 3].

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfil every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power [2 Thessalonians 1:11].

Similarly, near the end of his life, the aged saint still prayed for his fellow workers. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day [2 Timothy 1:3].

In private letters as in missives to the churches, Paul reveals that he constantly prayed for his friends. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers [Philemon 4].

There exists a serious weakness in our own congregation—it is our failure to pray. I acknowledge that prayer is hard work, but everything else being equal, we will have as much success in the Christian life as we have power in prayer. Power in prayer comes through praying. Until we pray as a people—individually and corporately—we will witness no great or sustained victories in the struggle for men’s souls.

It is almost impossible to gather the flock for prayer today. We are willing to give some time for singing and a message one morning each week. If youth activities are offered, we are willing to send our children. We will even give ourselves to Bible study with the friends we have cultivated among the saints. However, we no longer believe that God answers prayer. If we did, we would pray. We would demand that the elders provide specific times of prayer and we would support that prayer with our presence.

As elders are raised up, I will insist that they invest time in prayer—privately and corporately. When we meet in leadership classes now, we open our study with specific prayer and we conclude with extended prayer. We pray for the needs of the church and we pray for one another. Often, we will invest almost as much time in prayer as we do in study. That is about the right mix. I make it my goal to have prayer with church members when they visit in our home and when I visit in their home. I make it my goal to pray for the people of God frequently, asking God to make me sensitive to remember to call their names before His great throne of mercy.

I want to pray for the people of God when the church is blooming. I must pray for His holy people when danger threatens. I need to pray with faced with tasks which are greater than my strength. I am obliged to pray when confronting error. I am compelled to pray when seeking words of comfort for the people of God. Prayer precedes the search for rich pasturage and clear, sweet water for the weary flock of God.

As I speak of the need for the elders to be men of prayer, may I say that if the congregation becomes convinced that the elders pray for them, they will, in turn, pray for the elders. Dear people, pray that God will give us wise and godly leaders. Pray that the Spirit of God will raise up godly elders. Pray that I will have wisdom and strength to provide sound exposition of the Word. Pray that God will give us unity in the Faith and that we will love one another deeply from the heart. Pray that Christ will be glorified in each service. Pray that we will honour Him in all things. Amen.

Stay in the Word –I commend you … to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The elders of the flock must be students of the Word of God. They must read the Word, studying the Word always so that before men and in the presence of the True and Living God they will be approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth [2 Timothy 2:15]. It is the Word which will build up both the elders and the flock, ensuring that they have an inheritance among the sanctified. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate that Paul should commend the elders to the Word of God’s grace.

In 1 Peter 2:2, Peter echoed Paul’s thought. Like new-born infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation. Without the milk of the Word, young Christians will fail to mature. They will be culturally Christian, but they will have no understanding of the deep things of God. They will be “nice” people, but they will not be able to distinguish righteousness from evil and they will be susceptible to following every shifting wind of doctrine. Yes, the Word is referred to as milk, but within that same Word is solid food which is for the mature. Each of us who is a Christian must be nourished with the milk of the Word, but must endeavour to move on to solid food.

Listen to this disturbing assessment of doctrinal understanding among some early churches. Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. And this we will do if God permits [Hebrews 5:12-6:3].

Repentance, faith, baptism, eldership, eschatology—all are elementary doctrines. Soteriology, ecclesiology and eschatology are the doctrines of infants. The goal for each Christian is to move toward maturity, to grapple with the great doctrines concerning Theology and Christology and Pneumatology. Having been saved and placed in a church, we want to grow up in God. God calls us to stretch our vision and grow toward maturity. Each of us is responsible to mature, but especially are the elders to always be men of the Word so that they will encourage the entire church to grow up in Christ.

Paul taught Timothy that the church is the pillar and buttress of truth. Because this is true, it is all the more vital that the elders be well trained in that truth. What is meant by this statement is simply that the church—the collective membership of this congregation—upholds the truth of Scripture by living lives that reveal the righteousness of God. Truth [ἀληθείας] as Paul uses the term in 1 Timothy 3:15, refers to “the content of the Christian Faith as absolute truth.”[9] As we know the truth, we will walk in the truth. Well-taught Christians will live lives reflecting biblical truth. How vital, then, is the teaching of the Word of God. How utterly critical that the elders so teach the Word of grace that they confront each listener with the truth.

The Word of His grace is able to build us up and to ensure that we have an inheritance among those who are sanctified. These are beautiful words, but just what do they mean? By appealing to Scripture, we should discover the intent of the Apostle. When God appointed Paul to serve Him as a missionary and an Apostle, He spoke these words through Ananias. Paul was to go to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Christ] [Acts 26:18].

Salvation comes through the Word of God. The anticipated inheritance which is ours in Christ is revealed through the Word of God. The assurance we enjoy as those who are redeemed rests on the authority of the Word of God.

Paul was appointed to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit [Romans 15:16]. As others come to Faith through the Word, they are made holy by the Spirit of God, and He works through the Word which was preached and which the redeemed have believed.

If you doubt that this Word is effective, you need but consider what you were and what you have become in Christ. When Paul considers the former condition of the saints in Corinth, he reminds them that some had been sexually immoral, some had been idolaters, some have been adulterers, and some had been practising homosexuals. Among the saints were people who had been characterised as greedy, as drunkards, as slanderers and as swindlers. However, having believed the message which was preached, Paul could declare of those erstwhile sinners, you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God [1 Corinthians 6:11].

This is the power of the preached Word. This is why the elders must be skilled in the Word, knowing the great doctrines of the Word and unreservedly convinced of their veracity. Elders are responsible to teach the flock of God, setting them free from condemnation and fear. Now, in Christ, we Christians enjoy an inheritance. Nor are we simply waiting for some future inheritance which is unseen, we are called to enjoy that inheritance now. That inheritance which is available now is freedom from condemnation and acceptance before the throne of God’s grace.

Listen to the Word of God. If the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise… And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise [Galatians 3:18, 29]. This is the message of grace which is entrusted to the elders and for which they bear responsibility before God and His holy people. Elders must be men of the Word, thoroughly immersed in the Word and knowledgeable of that Word.

Some years ago, our daughter, Rochelle, made a plaque for my study wall. It was a quote from the great British Baptist, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. That quote seems so appropriate for application to the life of each elder. Listen to the words of the greatly used British divine.

It is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until at last you come to talk in Scriptural language and the Spirit is flavoured with the words of the Lord, so that your blood is bibline and the very essence of the Bible flows from you.

The Scripture quote which accompanies this powerful statement is Jeremiah 15:16.

Your words were found, and I ate them,

and your words became to me a joy

and the delight of my heart,

for I am called by your name,

O Lord, God of hosts.

This is the call of God to each man who would be an elder. This is the call of God to each church which receives those who will shepherd them. This is the divine call to each of us who will follow Christ and honour Him in all things. Let us be students of the Word. Let us give ourselves to prayer. Let us guard ourselves from falling from our secure position which has been provided through the death of Christ our Lord.

And that is our invitation to all who share this service. If somehow you have never placed your faith in the Risen Son of God, listen to this sweet invitation which He issues to any who will receive it.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light [Matthew 11:28-30].

Come, find rest for your souls in Christ the Lord. Come, find your place among His holy people. Come, find the inheritance which He has reserved for you among those who are sanctified. Come, believing Christ the Lord. Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] John Owen, cited in I.D.E. Thomas, A Puritan Golden Treasury (Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, 1977) 192, in turn, cited by John MacArthur, Jr. in The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Acts 13-28 (Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1996) 222

[3] MacArthur, op. cit., 223

[4] Richard Baxter, The Reformer Pastor (Sovereign Grace, Grand Rapids, MI 1971) 7

[5] William J. Larkin, Jr., Acts (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL 1995) 298

[6] Larkin, ibid.

[7] R. J. Knowling, The Acts of the Apostles, in W. Robertson Nicoll, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Vol. II (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI reprint) 435

[8] MacArthur, op. cit. 224-5

[9] George W. Knight, III, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI 1992) 181