I invite you to turn with me this morning to Titus chapter 1 as we read together Titus 1. And we read this in connection with our consideration of the Word of God as summarized in our confession, the Belgian Confession of Faith, Article 30, which continues our consideration of the church, only now moving to talk about the government of the church and its offices. Now, beloved, just as we find different kinds of churches in existence today, there are different kinds or different forms or structures of church government or polity. There is the congregational system. There is the hierarchical system. There is the state system, to mention a few. See, Scripture is far from silent on this, but even as God commands that all things be done decently and in good order, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 40, God Himself directs that order. Now, as Reformed believers, we follow what we believe to be the only truly scriptural form of church government, which we call the Reformed or the Presbyterian system. We believe that Christ has not left us in the dark. He has not left us to our own preferences as to how the church ought to be ruled. He has given clear directives in His Word. Titus 1 is one of the few passages that deals with this. For example, as well, 1 Timothy 3, we know, gives the rules concerning the appointment and the task of office bearers. 1 Corinthians 11 gives regulations concerning the worship services and the use of the sacraments. Matthew 18 defines the stipulations concerning the discipline of those whose conduct is out of order. And again, the different forms of church government followed throughout history of those different forms, we follow that which we believe to be the most accurate as found in Scripture, which believes that Christ is the sole head and king of the church and that He has entrusted certain authority to elders in local congregations and local churches to govern in His name and by His Word. The power and the authority does not lie in one man or in one council, one man like the Pope. It does not lie in the state. It does not lie in the members of the congregation, but in Jesus Christ and His Word, which He exercises through His office bearers. With that introduction, we turn together to Titus chapter 1. Hear now the Word of God. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. And at his appointed season, he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God, our Savior. To Titus, my true son in our common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Savior. The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. An elder must be blameless. the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach, and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good. There ends the reading of God's holy word. Shall we bow in prayer, asking for his blessing upon it this morning? Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, your word read. We ask for your blessing upon this word, and we pray that you would bless your word as it is preached in this morning hour. We know that that word is only effective by the power of your Holy Spirit, and we pray, Father, that indeed you would make it effective this morning. That you would open our hearts and minds to hear, to understand, to receive your word. That our lives might be enriched and strengthened through this, your word. As we consider how our Lord Jesus Christ cares for his people through the government of the church. We pray, Father, that you would bless him who seeks to bring your word in this morning. Knowing that it is not his word, but yours. And may you, O Lord, be glorified and praised. Give to him the strength and the wisdom that he needs. And again, be with us as a congregation that we might be receptive to that word for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In His name alone we pray. Amen. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, we all know what we think belongs to a well-ordered family, don't we? Everyone does his or her part, and it's all done in a beautiful, harmonious way. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, all fulfill their roles properly and to the benefit of each other. And of course, we all enjoy well-ordered family lives like this, don't we? Well, the truth is we also know that there is not one single perfectly well-ordered family on the face of this earth. It is wonderful when dad and mom, when children, when husband and wife for all united in what they believe and united in their purpose for life and when they have love and care and appreciation for one another. The Bible teaches us that that's the way it ought to be for Christians. And the closer we live to the Bible, the more faithful our following of this aim of a well-ordered family will be. The natural results then include God's blessing of more joy in our Christian life. And we will be more useful for others than ever before. And you see, all of this is the same for God's family, for the church. No church can exist without some form of order. This is clearly shown in the Bible. And there is a spiritual government of the church contained in and taught in the Bible. A part of our heritage, and you know that we stand in the line of the Reformation, But part of our heritage is that form of church government worked out of Scripture by John Calvin. He, more than any other reformer, sought to go to the Word of God and say or ask, well, what ought to be true of the church? What does the Bible say? How is she to be governed? And Article 30 is what the reformers gleaned from Scripture regarding the government of the church and its offices. And then, of course, continuing on, talking more about the offices in Article 31 and the order and discipline of the church in Article 32. But Article 30, the government of the church and its offices, page 84 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. We believe that this true church must be governed by that spiritual polity which our Lord has taught us in His Word, namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and to administer the sacraments, Also elders and deacons who together with the pastors form the council of the church that by these means the true religion may be preserved and the true doctrine everywhere propagated. Likewise transgressors punished and restrained by spiritual means also that the poor and distressed may be relieved and comforted according to their necessities. By these means everything will be carried on in the church with good order and decency when faithful men are chosen according to the rule prescribed by St. Paul in his epistle to Timothy. Well, what is the Bible teaching here through this summary confession? Well, we confess that we believe the Bible. We mentioned that last week as we referred back to Article 5, everything contained therein. We confess that we are governed by the Bible, the Word of God. We confess that we are people who have their hope and their trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we confess that He is the only head and King of His church. And we confess that the Bible teaches us of God's good church order. Now, first of all, we confess the supreme source of God's good church order. By its very nature, the church being an assembly, being a body, cannot be without a government, without a head which keeps the body together and rules that body for the sake of the body and for the sake of its head. The article says this government is that spiritual polity which our Lord has taught us in His Word. Our Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, through His Word, is the supreme source. He who is making His beloved holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, preparing to present her to Himself as a radiant church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless, He knows best how His bride, the church, ought to be governed. And this has always been true, hasn't it? The Old Testament church, Israel, had her very life, her worship, her dietary laws, her rules for cleansing, her feast days, her religious rituals, again, her very life was governed by the Word of God. God gave them clear directions as to how they were to live before His face and before the eyes of the nations around them. And Paul says of the Word of God in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And this includes what the Word of God says about the church. We believe as Reformed Christians that the government of the church must be soundly based upon the Holy Scriptures as the all-sufficient rule for our faith and our practice. And Scripture clearly preaches Christ as the only head, the only King of the church. No one can rob. No one must even try to rob Him of His crown rights. He is supreme over all and there is no power that exists, whether human or civil or whatever government, there is no power that exists except that which is ordained by God, as Paul says in Romans 13. And the same, again, is true in the church. The authority and power, the spiritual power in the church is Christ's. Not the preachers, not the elders, not the deacons, not all of them together, but it's Christ's. And that authority and power is given to those who are called to and placed in office by God for one purpose. That they may serve Christ whose instruments they really have to be. They are His representatives. We are here to serve, not to be served, but to serve. It's for the benefit of the congregation, but we serve only the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is plain about that. The Bible is not plain about every last detail when it comes to church order and church government. Boys and girls, for example, in this church we elect office bearers for a three-year term, and after they have served their three-year term, they are out of that office for two years until they are considered again eligible to be considered to serve again. The Bible doesn't say that it has to be this way, that three years in, two years out. And we don't claim that the Bible says that, do we? But some of these matters are a matter of common sense for us. This is what seems to work best in serving the good order of this church within the boundaries of that supreme source of the Word of God. What is clear from the Bible is that there has to be elders and deacons and pastors. That's clear. Titus 1, verse 5 says, Paul says, The reason I left you, Titus, in Crete, was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. In every church, in every local congregation. And if we were to do a survey of Scripture, other passages, we see that it teaches that a plurality of offices is what Christ established in His church through His apostles. They established the elders and the deacons. Acts 14, verse 23. Acts 15, verse 6. Philippians 1, verse 1. Again, 1 Timothy 3, as well as others. And boys and girls, you must learn this early in life. Why we have elders and deacons. What is their task? What are they all about? What's the minister supposed to be doing? How does he relate to the elders and the deacons? And you see, beloved, this is important because everyone, by nature, hates rules and those who rule. By nature, we all hate rules and those who rule. even as saved people. We don't totally escape not liking rules, do we? But those who are truly members of Christ's body desire to do things His way. Real contentment is found only when we are really of a conviction that we are doing things according to His will. We are all saved to serve. Those who are saved are saved to serve. That's our purpose. And that ought to characterize our lives in this world, in all things, service to the Lord Jesus Christ, in ordinary life, and in the church. There are special services that need to be done and need to be performed for the Lord. The offices in the church are offices of service, to be carried out not according to our desires or our ideas, but according to Christ and the Word of God. And beloved, His rule in the church is rooted in, and it reflects, His redemptive work on our behalf. The government of Christ's church is intimately related to and connected to His redeeming love. Through the government of the church, Christ guards and guides and protects His members in working out our salvation as He works in us. He gives us the strength to hold firm to the faith which He has given to us. In other words, through His good church order, He is, we might say, protecting His purchase. He governs through the offices in the church according to His Word for the health of the body of Christ. And when we understand that, and when we see things ordered in the church according to His will, then we will also see what the surprising content of God's good church order ought to be according to the Bible. Now, we've already begun to touch on this, but as the confession states, there ought to be elders, deacons, pastors, and a church council. We've called this the surprising content, because who is it that Christ calls to rule as His representatives while He is not visibly present on this earth? Sinful men. Sinful men. The lot He has to choose from all have one thing in common. They are sinners. Yet they are sinners saved by His grace. He doesn't transfer His right and honor to them, but He works through them as they represent Him. Now Calvin appealed to Ephesians 4 to insist that Paul shows that the ministry of men employed by God in the government of the church is the principal bond which holds believers together in one body in the midst of this world. Ephesians 4, beginning of verse 11 says, It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers. Why? To prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Now, Martin Luther was the first reformer on the scene to restore preaching to its rightful and necessary place. The church has to live by the Word of God and needs the Word preached. Calvin agreed with Luther on this, and he added that the kind of government that is in harmony with the Word of God is the kind that includes also, again, elders and deacons. Have you noticed in Titus 1 that Paul describes himself not as a high-ranking church official who has the right to lord it over another, but he describes himself as a servant of God, an apostle, a sent one of Jesus Christ, and he describes himself, if you look close, as a preacher. A preacher. Calvin said of pastors that God dispenses and distributes gifts to the church through pastors, who themselves are recipients of His grace. And beloved, by the Holy Spirit's power, their work, the pastor's work, is not in vain or of no effect. And this is comforting, especially for pastors, for preachers. Because it's not by any pretended skill of speaking or by any sort of clever device, but when the Gospel is purely preached, it's by the Holy Spirit's power and only the Holy Spirit's power that it is effective and never, ever in vain. As Paul says in Romans 10, one cannot call on the one they have not believed in and one cannot believe in the one of whom they have not heard and one cannot hear without someone preaching to them and one cannot preach unless he is sent. And then what must be heard from the mouth of the preacher which the Holy Spirit will make effective in the hearts and lives of God's people is the foolishness of the Gospel message. That message that makes no sense whatsoever to the world, but is filled with the joy of salvation for those who believe. And in God's good church order, the minister not only preaches and teaches, but he rules with it the elders. Together, they pastor the congregation. They shepherd the doctrine and life of God's people. Again, Christ is the head of His church. Not any man, not any council, not any state. Christ. And preachers are His servants to proclaim the Word, to administer the sacraments, and to join with the other elders in ruling. And therefore, again, elders and deacons ought to also be found in every church according to the Bible. Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 give an important list of qualifications according to which elders and deacons are to be considered by God's people. Indeed, at a congregational meeting in this church, those of you who are professing members, you cast your vote for men. The council has put before you those whom the council believes are biblically qualified to serve. And we believe that all are qualified, that are placed before you, and we are happy to take those the congregation votes for. And we believe that vote is a matter of God's providence. Now, for those of you who have been up for service or will be in the future, if you are not elected, if you have not been elected or are not or will not be elected, there's only one conclusion you can or you should make, and that is the Lord is saying, wait, wait, not now. Now, we don't have time to consider all the qualifications listed in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3, but allow me to touch on just two of them. Given the fact that our tradition has struggled in recent years about whether women should serve in ecclesiastical offices, we should point out very simply, more could be said, but very simply, that when Paul says in Titus 1.6, an elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man, the word used is clearly talking about a male in distinction from a female. That's all we need to say on that. Also, continuing there, Paul says of elders and deacons, of course, that they are to be a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Did you hear that, children? Did you hear that, young people? They believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. In Timothy 3, Paul says both elders and deacons, and this is true of pastors as well, must manage their own households well. Boys and girls and young people, you have a responsibility here too. You are called, you know, as we read in the Ten Commandments, to honor your fathers and mothers, and you are called to make it easy for your fathers to manage you. How many of you may be guilty of disqualifying your dads from serving as an elder or a deacon or even a pastor? If you are, God will hold you accountable for that. Elders govern the church in that they rule in the name of Christ Jesus. And the special work of the elder is to serve the Savior by ruling in His name according to what He has taught. That's why the Bible uses the words overseer or bishop for elders. To watch over. They are to watch us. We don't like to be watched sometimes, do we? But the elders are called to watch us. To watch over us. They're charged with the special responsibility to serve Christ by seeing that everything is done in order according to the Word of God. They oversee the worship of God's people. They oversee the preaching of the Word of God. They oversee the conduct and the spiritual lives of you and of me. And we must expect them. We must expect them to stay close to the Bible in all that they do. And there are times, of course, when that takes a lot of courage. And there are times when that isn't always appreciated by some in the congregation. But the elders need wisdom and courage and humility and prayer. But if they know they are standing firm upon the Word of God, then they will have the firm confidence and not worry about what the people think or feel. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 13 tells us how serious the work of elders is. Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls or your life, as another translation says, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. See, not only our physical life, but our spiritual life. What a great responsibility. And God promises to every elder in this church or those who will be, that He'll supply exactly what you need when you wait upon Him. In the form for the ordination of elders, the elders are called to pay special attention to the doctrine and life of the minister or ministers. That is very good. It's necessary. If the minister's doctrine or life is off, that's not only dangerous for the minister, but it's a disaster for you. The elders have a great work in the body of Christ. A tremendous responsibility which Christ lays upon them, but also promises to equip them to do. The deacons. The deacons also have a great responsibility. Their specialized service is to care for the Lord's poor. Indeed, they are called to receive the offerings of God's people and to distribute where needed, even to the point of preventing poverty where possible. Acts chapter 6 records how the diaconate began with widows who were being neglected. And ever since that time, the church has had deacons. And this work takes dedication. It might include, for example, helping a family plan their budget and their spending. And we must not be afraid to ask for their help. It might also include assisting parents in carrying out their covenantal vows that they will train their children in the fear of the Lord. Our deacons do a wonderful job in encouraging the congregation here to do just that. And when the deacons extend a benevolent hand to a person who in God's providence is in need, What they are really doing is extending the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ to that person. And really then also on behalf of all of us who have been blessed to give for that kind of help. And if in the providence of God you should come into that situation of need, please don't deprive your brothers and sisters of the opportunity to help by giving. And then don't deprive the deacons of the opportunity to extend a loving hand of Christ to you in your need. False pride and faulty ideas should not get in the way. And if any of us should find ourselves in such circumstances by God's providence, we ought to see then that God is providing the congregation with an opportunity and He is providing the deacons with an opportunity to show the love of the Lord to you. The confession also says pastors, elders, and deacons form the council of the church. And the council, as a council, they oversee the matters of common interest in this congregation, including the administration of the property and the finances and other things relating to congregational life. The members of the council, so you in the pew know as well, the members of the council, hold each other accountable to faithfully discharge or fulfill their respective duties. But then finally notice the specific calling of God's good church order. Beloved, the church exists not for her own sake, but she exists for the praise of Him who called her out of darkness into His wonderful light. In our day, there is a big push for the church, the organized church, to get involved in politics, for example, and to publicly endorse certain politicians, and to come out in a public venue, not only on the Lord's Day, but in a public venue for or against certain issues. The church is expected to build schools and to have after-school recreational programs and community service programs and all sorts of things like that. Just the other day, I received kind of a general email from some organization in San Diego. I wouldn't normally mention this, but it fits with what we're talking about. And it was an appeal to pastors on this day to talk to the congregation about the Mount Soledad, the cross on Mount Soledad, which we've all heard a lot about, and about the vote coming up on Tuesday, and even providing a PowerPoint with a couple of pictures to stress how important this particular issue is. But those things are not the calling of the church in the world. Many of those things, and we could list numerous ones, are included in the believer's calling for which the church is called to equip them by fulfilling her specific calling. What is that? The article says, By these means, and that's referring to elders, deacons, pastors, church council, that by these means the true religion may be preserved and the true doctrine everywhere propagated, likewise transgressors punished and restrained by spiritual means, also that the poor in distress may be relieved and comforted according to their necessities. There is a constant warfare going on in this life between God and Satan, and we must be involved in that warfare, praying for the church of Jesus Christ and battling against all evil and heresy and everything else by the strength of the Holy Spirit in the name of our Savior. That's our real calling. The true religion God has given to us. The Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. And therefore, first and foremost, is purely preaching the Word of God at home and abroad. we need it I need it you need it we all need to be fed constantly because our memory spans are so short we constantly need to be fed by the word of God but we have that call to go into all the world and preach the gospel you see mission work is not simply the duty and the task of those specifically called to be missionaries theirs is a great work but it belongs to all of us in whatever capacity God determines whether through financial support through our prayers through sending letters maybe even through service projects in some way that give us the opportunity to work with our hands to show the love of Christ and then also to tell of the love of Christ and it's the true doctrine that is to be taught and that true doctrine beloved is nothing less than the full content of scriptural teaching the right question is not how little must a man know about Christ to be saved what does he need to know just to get through that's not the right question but the right question is how much is the church called to declare in Christ's name the answer Christ said therefore go and make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey everything i have commanded you i remember some years ago i think i was still in seminary talking to a friend about scripture's teaching of of women in ecclesiastical office and after talking for some time about whether or not it was a matter of salvation you remember that phrase i think was was overused that this and that is not a matter of salvation it's not a salvation issue, which, incidentally, I think we need to be careful that we don't make that determination. But after talking about that for a while, he finally said, well, the Bible only says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And I responded, but what does that mean? What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? And I submit to you that it means to obey all Christ tells us in His Word. And therefore, whether we believe that something is a salvation issue or not, and again, be careful, we must still ask, is it a Bible issue? Is it a Word of God issue? The church is called to teach all that Christ commands, and the believer is called to believe, confess, and obey all that Christ commands. Two other specific tasks include first punishing and restraining transgressors by spiritual means for protecting the church of Jesus Christ from sin. Church discipline, we know, is a mark of the true church. It's true that the church doesn't punish physically like the state with stocks and chains and handcuffs and prisons, but disciplines with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. But the elders and ministers of the Word share this task for the protection of Christ's church and hopefully for the benefit of the transgressor. That's what Paul says, elders, encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. And then he goes on to talk about the troubles there in Crete. There were those who were deceivers, those who were rebellious. They need to be stopped. They need to be quieted. The other task again is Christian mercy we live in a day of social security and state relief but as a congregation beloved we need to be reminded of our specific calling in this world and not allow ourselves to be robbed of the church's peculiar glory of Christian mercy that's a peculiar glory it's an awesome glory. Christian mercy. God does not give us our wealth to hoard for ourselves and for our children, but to help our brothers and sisters in Christ. Beloved, God has given ministers, elders, and deacons these means, as the Confession says, by which He governs His church for His glory, for our edification, for the repentance of sinners, and for the advancement of His kingdom. And how are we to respond to this? Well, if you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not going to like this very much. Again, because by nature we hate rules and we hate to be ruled. And if this describes you, you are called. You are called sincerely to repent of your sins, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and submit to His good government, His good church order. You see, beloved, if you do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, this must all be to your comfort. And you will willingly desire to live under the Lordship of Christ and His good church order. And you will pray. Pray for your ministers, please. Pray for your elders. Pray for your deacons. They need that. They depend upon that. And that's a means God has given to you that He uses to strengthen them. Christ watches over, cares for, and protects the doctrine and life of those who look to Him. He does this through His instrument of church government. It's meant for our good. It's a blessing from the Lord. Christ says, I bought you. I love you. And I take care of you this way. And His purpose and goal again is simple and beautiful. As Paul says, to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Together, beloved, may we desire to be governed not according to our faulty desires, but according to our Lord's unfailing details. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You and praise You for Your Word, Your Word of Truth. And may it be our desire, O Lord, that we would not want to stand on our own and go about our own way and the way we think and the way we feel. That You would not leave us to ourselves to make such important determinations when it comes to living before Your face as individuals and as a congregation. But may we desire, may we desire, O Lord, to be governed by you through your office bearers. May we know, O Lord, what a tremendous task and important duty these offices are. And that they are done, Father, for the sake of your glory. For the sake of your glory. And may that be our number one desire. And also, may we be thankful, O Lord, that You have placed office bearers over us to guard our souls, to encourage us in the faith, to help to prepare us for glory. What a precious gift, O Lord. May we never want to be without it. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.