What is a Reformed Baptist..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to our last Bible study for this term.

It's been a series of very important Bible studies trying to answer the question of what a reformed Baptist church is. And this evening we reach the last one. So I'm going to get you to open up your Bibles, if you can, please, to Ephesians chapter five. This evening, beloved, we are going to be addressing the topic of church government. Church government.

And the passage that I want us to address is found in Ephesians chapter five, verse 22. And we are going to be reading all the way to verse 32, actually from verse 23 to verse 32. Ephesians chapter five, it says, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies, he who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Amen. This is the Word of God.

Beloved, here we have the Apostle Paul giving us an analogy of marriage, husband and wife, and Christ and the Church. And just as the wife is submitted to the husband, or the husband is the head of the wife, Christ Jesus is the head of the Church, and the Church is submitted to Christ as the body of that head, which is Jesus Christ as the Savior. And also the Apostle Paul gives us the purpose of the Church. He says that the purpose of the Church, as we have said now many times, is to be without wrinkle, without spot, blemish, without blemish. That is to be holy and blameless.

That is the purpose of the Church. And the Apostle Paul also gives us something very important there. He says that Christ gave himself up for the church. All of this information that I'm giving you is very important because the topic that we are addressing this evening is called church government. How does the church operate in order to accomplish the purpose for which the church was bought or purchased by the precious blood of Christ?

How is the church to operate, to organize herself in that purpose of accomplishing that which Apostle Paul says is the purpose of the church, to be holy and blameless. But now, the Apostle also says something very important there, and if you see the text, the Apostle says that he might present the church. He's speaking of this ultimate purpose, that he might present the church in the future when he comes in all his splendor or her splendor and all her glory. So if we could summarize, beloved, in order to address this topic of how the church is to operate or church government. If we could start just saying something very important that the church are all those people for whom Jesus Christ gave himself up.

He says the church that Christ gave himself up for the church. So the church are all of those people for whom Jesus Christ died upon the cross. And the purpose of those people, or the purpose for the church, or purpose for each one of those individuals who are inside of the church, is to be holy and blameless. And the collective purpose of the church is both to be holy and blameless, but Christ is coming to present the complete or the fullness of that church holy and blameless. So if we could put it in simple words, beloved, the purpose for each one of the Christians is to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ, to be holy and blameless because of the righteousness that we have received by faith.

And therefore, the purpose of the whole community of the church is also to be holy and blameless, but to reach a point of completion. That point of completion happens when all the saints who have been chosen by God before the foundation of the world for grace through faith and union with Christ are added to the church. So the purpose of the body is to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ and also to extend the kingdom of Christ. That is to add to the church those who have been chosen for faith. So in the Great Commission, you might remember that the Lord says that all authority has been given to him in heaven and earth, and therefore go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have taught you.

This is the purpose of the church in extending the kingdom, adding those who have been chosen for salvation to the church, so that when all who have been chosen in eternity past are added to the church, we don't know when that's going to happen, when the last of the elect is added to the church, when that person receives grace and believes in Christ, then the Lord comes to take the church, to present it to himself in glory, without wrinkle, without spot. without blemish, each one of the individuals of that church would be glorified in eternity. And the church as a body will also be glorified. And then we will have this divine, this eternal, this glorious wedding between Christ, the Lamb of God, who gave himself for the church, and the church as the bride. So while we walk towards glory, the church has to organize herself so that the decisions that the church makes and the operations or the different things that we do as a church are pointing towards that important objective, which is growing in conformity to Christ, growing in holiness and in sanctification, and at the same time being a church that is in a mission of bringing the gospel to the lost so that then the elect, those who have been chosen, might be added to the body.

So church government, beloved, is that which teaches us how the church should be organized, how the church should make those decisions, how the church should operate in order to glorify God by obtaining that final purpose, which is growing in holiness and extending the kingdom of God by bringing the gospel to the lost and then bringing the elect to the family of God, just as God has predestined from eternity past. Each one of the decisions and each one of the things that the church does in this present age before the consummation of things come is very important because the Lord is a sovereign God who works through the means of the church. So that means that the church has to make those very important decisions based on biblical principles. This is very important for us to have in mind that this is the ultimate purpose of the church. When theologians and when pastors and when people that discuss the Bible, they speak about this church government, or they call it church polity, they can go very deep into different things, and they will spend a lot of time speaking about how the church should be organized.

Now, this evening, of course, we're going to be presenting the Reformed Baptist perspective on how the church should operate, how the church should be organized. And beyond going into details, or more than going into very specific details, what I want to give you is just three principles Three principles that will help us as a church to understand how our forefathers, the Reformed Baptists, and of course, how scripture says that the church should operate. Three very important basic principles, and I'm going to give a name to each one of those principles so that we can remember those principles and identify or try to see those principles when the church is trying to decide something or the church is trying to do something for the kingdom. Before I give you those three principles, I just need to make a very important distinction. We have defined what the church is, or I've mentioned, I've been mentioned many times, what the church is, beloved, that the church is everyone for whom Jesus Christ died, right?

This is what Ephesians 5 says here. But we have to make a distinction between two different perspectives of the church. And it's very important that you have these two perspectives clear in your mind. The church can be the universal church. The universal church.

That's why the catholic church they are called catholic because catholic means universal and sometimes when we're reading creeds we might find the word catholic because that means that the universal church. The universal church means every single person in this world for whom Jesus Christ died. So in that sense, the church is universal, and we are united to our brothers and sisters who live on the other side of the world, in South America, or in America, or in Africa, or in Europe, or in Asia. We are united to them. by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are united in our faith. And in that sense, we are inserted into the universal church, the church that is in all the world. However, we do not know those brothers and sisters. We don't even know their names, but we know because the Bible says that this gospel is for all nations, for all tribes, for all tongues. We know and we have certainty that our brothers and sisters will live in different places in the world.

So that's the universal church. But the Reformed Baptist view of the church has a very important distinctive than other Reformed traditions, and that is that we recognize the principle of the local church. So the local church is, of course, inserted in this universal church, which is the general church of Jesus Christ for whom he died, for every single person for whom Jesus Christ died. But there's also a sense in which we that are united to our brothers and sisters in Colombia or Venezuela or in America, that we are united to them by faith, that we are also distinguished or separated from them. And that is in the context of the localness of our church.

So there are two levels of that church, the universal church, which is the whole church, and then Reformed Baptists will say that the universal church comprises small local churches. So now I'm going to show you from Scripture the principle of a local church. So go to Philippians chapter 1, Go to Philippians chapter 1, and in Philippians chapter 1, not only in Philippians chapter 1, but in every book of the Bible, you may remember that when Paul is writing or when one of the apostles is writing to the churches, he will say, Paul, a servant or an apostle of Jesus Christ to the church that is at Rome. Or Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, to the church that is at Corinth. Or Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, or an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the church that is at Thessalonica.

He's speaking directly to a group of people that are inserted in the universal church, but that they belong to a specific place. And here in Philippians 1, We have not only that distinction, but the apostle is going to help us to see the structure of the church. He says, Paul and Timothy, servants or doulos or slaves of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. So, beloved, here we have the Apostle Paul writing a letter identifying a group of people who are located in a specific place. So the saints that are at Philippi are not the same saints that are at Rome, or are not the same saints that are at Thessalonica or Ephesus.

These are saints that belong to the universal church, but they are located in a specific place. So the Reformed Baptist tradition recognizes that churches have this aspect of localness. And because they have this aspect of localness or proximity one to the other, each church individually will have to deal with situations and issues that in principle should correspond to the universal church, but practically will be specific for each one of the churches. And I don't have to prove that to you. When you go through the New Testament, you will see that the issues and the problems of the church at Corinth were very different to the issues and the situation with the church at Ephesus.

Or you will see that the situation of the church at Ephesus was very different to the situation with the church at Colossae or Philippi. These were churches that in principle were united to the universal church, but practically they were facing situations because of the proximity of one with the other. So Reformed Baptists said that each local church will have her own authority to operate according to the biblical principles that are attached to the universal church. And this is very different to the way that some other reformed traditions will see church government, beloved, because some other reformed traditions will see that the authority to solve local issues in a church will not belong to the church herself, but rather to a group of churches or to organizations that sometimes go to a national level. Now, we're not going to get into that type of church government because that is not our case, but the Reformed Baptists and Baptists in general, not even Reformed Baptists, but Baptists in general, will speak of the localness of the church.

So if the local church will have to deal and solve and decide and operate in a local way following principles that are attached to the universal church, then we need to understand how the local church, those who are close to one another, are to organize themselves and how the church is to have her government. Now, the apostle gives us a little bit of a clue there in this verse, because he's going to speak about three different type of people. And sometimes, you know, using words is a little bit difficult because of the meaning that they connotate. But when I say different type of people, I'm not distinguishing between hierarchy or types. I'm just distinguishing between the role that they have within the local body.

The apostle says, if you put your eyes in the text again, he says, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints. all the saints. So all the saints are those who by grace through faith have been united to Jesus Christ and inserted into the universal church, into the body of Christ. But then he's going to say saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi. So these saints who have been inserted into the universal church are located in a local church that is found in Philippi.

But now he's going to say something very important. He's going to say with the overseers and deacons. So he's speaking to the saints at Philippi with overseers and deacons. If you have a different Bible translation or you may have, if you have the ESV, you may have a little number on top of the overseers and then you may have a, what do you call it? A footnote.

A footnote that might give you a different translation of what overseers are. And they will tell you that this may be a bishop. this also this word is sometimes used interchangeably to speak of elders or to speak of overseers or shepherds or pastors. So the apostle is writing, beloved, not to the universal church, but is writing to the immediate audience, which is the church at Philippi, the local church. Now, by the work of this period, we can apply principally what he has said to Philippi to the universal church.

But he is writing to this church that is comprised by the saints of the church, the overseers, and then the deacons. So this is how the church is structured. We have elders, we have deacons, and then we have the saints. There's no hierarchy between them. They just have different roles.

Now, we're not going to address what an overseer or an elder is, or we're not going to address what a deacon is or what a saint is in this case. Actually, we're planning to do that in the following year when we go into each one of those roles. But what I said to you, I want to give you three principles important principles on how the church should operate. Biblical principles on how the church, that is, the local church, a Reformed Baptist local church, should operate. And these are the three principles that I want you to have in your mind.

What I was trying to do is, first of all, just give you a distinction between the universal church and the local church. But now let's go into these principles because they are very important. I'm going to give you the three principles hoping that you may remember them, that you may keep them in your mind, that you may keep them in your heart, that you may meditate upon them, that you may come to scripture and ask yourself if this is biblical and try to gain more understanding from these three principles. I'm going to give you an overview of each one of them and then we will see how they are applied into the life of a local church. Three principles.

The first one, I was just trying to decide which word I was going to use for this and I haven't decided yet. It will come in the next five seconds from my mouth. I'm going to call it the Congregational Principle. The Congregational Principle. This is the first one.

Now the second one is the Leadership Principle. And the third principle is the Unity principle. Now, these names may vary from different people, but what I'm trying to do is just give you biblical principles, and none of these I've created. I've learned this from some Reformed Baptist theologians and professors. Of course, none of this has been made by us.

This is according to the Reformed Baptist tradition. Now, these three principles, the first one, congregational principle, the second one, the leadership principle, and the third one is the unity principle. Now let's address the first one, and I'm going to bring you again to the Bible, and I'm going to try to explain it from the Bible, and then just to give you a little bit of an overview what this congregational principle is. Now remember, brothers and sisters, that These three principles that I'm giving you, congregational, leadership, and unity, are principles that helps us to understand how the local church should operate in order to accomplish the purpose for which Jesus Christ purchased that church and each one of the members of that church. So now let's go to Matthew 18.

Matthew 18, verse 15. And what we have in Matthew 18, verse 15, is a situation that happens within the context of a local church. Right? I think that the distinction between that which happens in the local church and the universal church is very clear. Because whatever happened among us does not happen with the church in China.

happen among us. So that which happens within the context of brothers and sisters happens within the context of the local church. So what we have here in front of us is a situation that happened within the context of a local church, and we are going to see there are some elements that will help us to see that congregational principle that I defined as the first one. Now the Bible says in verse 15, if your brother sins against you, Go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge might be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth shall be lost in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three are gathering my name, there am I among them." Now, beloved, there are many things that we could say about the passage that we have just read, and pastors use this passage to speak about church discipline, but I want us to see this principle of church organization, or church structure, or church government, which I've called the congregational principle. Now, here we have a brother who has sinned against another brother, Now, something very important that I want you to see from the text is that the Bible assumes that the judgment of the person that the sin was committed against is true. So that when the brother says, you have sinned, that that judgment is true. Now, this is a whole different conversation for church discipline.

But what I want you to see is that two people within the context of the church are having one issue. Now these two people or one of them does not repent of the sin that the Bible assumes that this person committed because sometimes we might have a brother and brother situation in which there is a misunderstanding and then one person is saying that the other person sinned but not necessarily may be true they might be just simply a misunderstanding. In this case the Bible assumes that this other person sin, that he committed a sin. So they are having the conversation one-on-one, and then the one who committed the sin does not listen. That means that he does not repent.

That means that he does not accept the sin or acknowledges the sin that he has committed. So then the Bible calls the person who is calling this brother to repentance, because this other has not repented to bring two witnesses or to bring more witnesses to the conversation so now we assume here that the other two people also understand and acknowledge that what this person has done is a sin not that they are in doubt or not that they think oh probably yes but rather the Bible assumes that these other two people are completely sure that what this person did was a sin. So that means that when the other brother came to these other two and said, brother, this other brother is committing this sin and he has not repented, would you please come with me to exhort this brother? These other two have said, you are right in your assessment and therefore we will come with you to call this other brother to repentance. Now, three people or four people will come and they will call these people, this person to repent.

And the Bible says this person does not listen. So now the Bible is still assuming that he actually sinned. And now they come when the testimony of the one who accused or exhorted the brother in the first case, and then the other witnesses, they come to the church. And then the Bible says, if this brother does not listen, that means does not repent of the sin, then we have the church making a corporate decision. The Bible says, take that person as a Gentile or as a tax collector.

That means remove that person from you. remove that person from you. But something that started within the heart of the light of the church escalated different levels and then it came to the church and then the church as a whole made a decision. I said that the first principle was called congregational principle. Why?

Because those decisions that are vitally and directly related to the purpose of the church, which is to be holy and blameless and to extend the kingdom of Christ by the preaching of the gospel, those decisions that are vital, directly related in the context of the local body, are to be made congregationally. That is, the other word that I wanted to use is democratically, in a democratic way. But now, democratically. And the reason why I did not use the word democratic is because the current perception of democracy is not necessarily the biblical view of democracy. Sometimes we see democracy in the way or in the sense that society is sovereign.

that society as a whole have the ability to decide the future, and then it's just like contents of majorities. While in the Bible, the concept, and this is very important, beloved, pay attention to this, this is the whole substance and the heart of the congregational principle. We make decisions congregationally and democratically as a church insofar as those decisions are submitted entirely to Christ as the head of the church and are clearly revealed to us in Scripture. So I don't like using the word choosing or making decisions or electing. Sometimes people use those words for the church.

I prefer to use the word identifiers. People in the church congregationally make decisions by identifying what is the will of God for a particular situation according to what is written. So what we want is to develop within the congregation a mindset that has grown so much in the understanding of that which is written, that when we come to make a decision, yes, we are making a decision as a church congregationally and democratically, but what we are basically doing is identifying the biblical principle that we should apply for a particular situation. So in the end, it's not the church that is making the decision ultimately, but rather the church is admitted to the Word of God. Why?

Because the Word of God is sufficient for everything that each individual needs, and then for everything that the church needs as a body. So the church makes decisions congregationally and democratically insofar as those decisions are submitted to the Word of God. That's why principles of democracy do not apply directly into the life of the church. For instance, we do not choose principally, we do not choose something when 50% plus one agree about something. We're not going to make, we're not going to decide something if 49% of the congregation is against something because that means that we should ask ourselves what is going on.

It's just exactly the same principle that happens when a husband is supposed to make a very important decision for the family. The responsibility of that important decision is on the head of the husband. He is the one that is responsible for the decision. And if he has a particular opinion and then the wife comes and she says, but I believe something different. Even though the responsibilities on the husband, the different opinion of the wife should be a red flag that should make you think and reassess if the decision that you're making is the best decision for the family.

The same thing happens within the context of the church. If there is a big number of brothers and sisters who believe something different, then we should ask ourselves and go deep into scripture to see if the final decision that has been made corresponds to that which is written." Now, beloved, congregational principle of making decisions requires much contact of each one of the members of the church with that which is written. because easily we could just decide that which we prefer, but that which we prefer may not be necessarily that which is contained in the Bible. So, first principle, congregational or democratic.

Here, in this case, in this passage that we have in Scripture here, the whole congregation came to the assessment of the outcome that this person was to be treated or to be taken as a Gentile or as a tax collector. Why? Because he did not repent in the first place, he did not repent or listen when the two other witnesses came, and he did not repent when he was presented to the church. So the church as a whole congregationally decided what to do. You might remember also the story of what happens in 1 Corinthians 5.

In 1 Corinthians 5 there's also a very important case of church discipline in which there is sexual immorality within the church and then the advice of the apostle, not the advice, but the decision of what the apostle Paul says to the church is that you should remove that person from you. You should remove that person. So then by, of course, apostolic authority in the life of the local church. The local church comes to the conclusion that this person has to be removed, and more than likely, this person that is removed in 1 Corinthians 5, this person repents. And the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians that he might be given up to Satan.

It doesn't mean destruction to Satan. That means that this person might see the absence from the church, and he might repent, have a contrite heart, and then repent in the future. Then in 2 Corinthians 2, it seems that the person that repents in 2 Corinthians 2 is the same person who was, what is the word they have in English? Excommunicated or ejected or removed from the church in 1 Corinthians 5. But this was a decision that was made congregationally, a decision that was made democratically as a body.

Now go to 1 Corinthians 12, brothers and sisters. Just to push something there in just what I've said. 1 Corinthians 12. So just remember that Paul says in Ephesians 5 that the church is the bride of Jesus Christ and that Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body. The Apostle is going to say something very important here in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12.

Remember that verse 1 Corinthians 12, 12 is a very important verse for the life of the church. It says, for just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or frees, and all were made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body.

Now, beloved, the apostle is saying that each one of the members of the church, he calls them those who have been baptized by or in the spirit into one body, that they all conform the body. And there's no such a thing as someone more important within the context of the body. Simply, there are different roles. One will be hands, another will be feet or foot. Now, these are each one of the people that belong to the church are members.

Therefore, how the church should operate, how the church should make decisions in order to accomplish the purpose of the body should be made congregationally and democratically under the principle or under the ruling principle of Scripture as the source of informing and providing all the information for us to make decisions. So that is the first principle, congregationally. Congregationally, we are supposed to make those decisions. And as I said, if you want to remember or understand the congregational principles, simply just see as the church and each one of the members as identifiers. Our role is to identify what scripture says about a particular situation.

and then deciding according to what Scripture says. In that, there will be unity, because all of the eyes of the saints, of the members of the body, will go to the Bible to try to get the principle to decide that which the church has to do. Now, there is a process in which the members of the body try to identify from the book that which has to be decided. And because there are many members, the Lord has also appointed means by which these members will grow in understanding on how to identify the words of God. And for that reason, the Lord has given to the church a principle of leadership.

With that word, I'm also not very comfortable using it, but more like a guiding principle. So go to 1 Peter 5, and then we will go into the second principle that I'm addressing this evening. because if we are going to make decisions congregationally or democratically as a church, as a body, then we need to make sure that which we are identifying as the will of God corresponds actually to that which is written. And the Lord has given us means for us to grow in understanding of that which is written, and that is those who teach and those who preach. Those who teach and those who preach are the means that the church has given to the body, so they will grow in the understanding of the will of God, so then when they come to make decisions, they identify according to that which is written.

If we do not grow in understanding of Scripture, then we will not make decisions according to Scripture. but the Lord knows that the church has to make decisions according to what is written, so he has given men that will teach the church how to see and identify the will of God, and that's where we come to the leadership principle or to the guiding principle, and I'm going to speak primarily about the eldership of the church. Now remember that I'm not saying, I said to you that we're not addressing what an elder is, what a deacon is. We will do that by by God's grace, probably in the year that is coming, we will address those things. But now I'm just giving you the principle of how the church operates and how the church makes decisions.

So it is not only congregationally and democratically that all we make decisions, but the Lord, in order for that congregational decision to happen, according to this biblical, he has given leaders that will instruct the church and will help the church in that process of guidance. So I'm going to answer a couple of questions from this text that we have in 1 Peter 5. that will help us to have a better understanding of this leadership principle. Now, pay attention to something very important. The Apostle Peter here is going to give us very important information about the leaders or the guiders, if that word exists, or the elders of the church.

In 1 Peter 5, he says, So I exhort the elders among you, as fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly. And God would have you, not for shameful gait, but eagerly, not domineering over those who throws in your charge, but being examples to the flock. Now my mind was concentrating in these other words that I want to address here. Now probably you've heard, beloved, different words such as there are some churches, and I'm sorry that I have to give you the example here, but in order for me to make the point that I'm going to make, I need to give you the example of how some other churches or what other churches will do.

Sometimes you will find that some churches will have a group of elders and then you will have a pastor. or you will have the elders and then you will have the teaching elder or you will have a team that leads the church and then you will have the preacher and then they will use these words as such as pastor or shepherd or elder or overseer or bishop and sometimes they will use it as different terms. Peter here is showing us that an elder is a pastor, that a pastor is an overseer, and that this same person is these three names of these three labels are given to the same person. He says, So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder. So he says, Peter says, I am an elder as you guys are.

So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Now, he says this to the elders. Shepherd, this is the word that we use for a pastor. So he says to the elder, you elder, pastor or shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, just as the overseers that we read in Philippians chapter 1. So elders here are called to shepherd the flock, that is to be pastors among the flock, and also to oversee the flock.

So we don't have distinctions between a pastor, between an elder, between an overseer, between a bishop. These are names, so sometimes the word presbyteries, some other translations, so I don't know if this is only in Spanish, but also presbyteries, they will use speaking of elders. All of these words are titles or labels that are given to the same person. to the same group of people. Now, beloved, why is this very important?

First of all, it is important because, so we know that there is no distinction between those labels. But the other thing that is very important is that that principle of leadership or guiding is with the purpose, is with the purpose of doing these things. Teaching, protecting, teaching, protecting and guiding the church while the church congregationally makes decisions so that the ultimate purpose of the church as a body will be accomplished. The role of the elder is to teach, is to protect, and it is to guide so that the members of the church, all of us, equal in value and equal in Christ, will walk towards the goal for the local church, which is to be holy and blameless and to extend the kingdom of Christ by the proclamation of the gospel. Now, if you think about those three things, teaching, protecting, and guiding, those three things are rooted in the Word of God.

Just as the congregation makes decisions submitted to what Scripture says, the elders are also submitted to that which Scripture says, to teach, to protect, and to guide. And all of those three things are done with the knowledge or with the understanding of the Word of God. We teach the members of those who belong to the church about the Word of God and the Word of God. We protect the church. How would we protect the church?

We protect the church with the truth. When someone comes within the body, and this person is bringing heresy, or this person is bringing a teaching that is not according to what is written, it is the responsibility of the elders to remove that person from within the context of the church. Why? Because we are not creating a community of singing and doing things. We are creating a community that is founded on truth.

And if that which is not truth comes into the context of the Church, then the life and the souls of those people around us are in danger, and we are called to protect the life of the people within the context of the Church. All of that is done by the power of the truth that is contained in Scripture. And how are we going to guide Of course, we're going to guide with that which is contained in the Scripture. Now, but let me just give you a couple of things. I thought that I was going to spend more time in these two things that I'm going to say now, but it seems that it's not the case.

But I just want to mention that to you, these couple of things about this leadership or guiding principle. Two little things, so probably three. The first one is that Peter calls here elders. And this is the concept, the Reformed Baptist view of leadership or guiding within the church is that which is called plurality of elders. Plurality of elders.

That thing of one pastor with the church is not biblical. That thing of one single man leading only the church, that is not biblical. Actually, actually, the Bible does never give an example of the existence of only one man guiding the whole congregation. Always, it speaks of plurality of elders. Now, let me just give you a parenthetical idea there, and I don't know if this is going to make it more complicated, but let me just give you this parenthetical idea.

The existence of elders in the local church is not that much attached to the being of the church, but rather to the well-being of the church. And this is what I mean. There are examples in the Bible, like for instance in Acts 14, or when Paul writes to Titus that he says, appoint elders. It seems that there are examples in the Bible that churches started without elders. because the existence of an elder does not belong to the definition of the church.

the church are those who have been saved by grace through faith and when they come together. That's what makes the church. So an elder is not so much attached to the being of the church, but rather to the well-being of the church. A church is better off by having elders, but if the church does not have elders, that does not mean that the church is not a church. No, it is like a Christian, beloved.

It's like a Christian who does not come to church on Sundays. The fact that the Christian does not come to church on Sundays does not mean that he's not a Christian. Because coming to church, he's not attached to the being a Christian, but is rather attached to the well-being of a Christian. So a Christian is better off coming to church because he grows in understanding and in the knowledge of the words of God. So in the same sense, the elders are not attached to the being, but to the well-being.

But the Bible gives us an understanding of that which should be, of that what the church should be, and therefore the church should operate towards that, which is having a plurality of elders. The church should have a plurality of elders. Now, beloved, let me just give you the second one. The second one is very important, and primarily in our society. That is the principle of parity, or in a simpler word, equality.

there's no such a thing as a greater or better or more important elder among the elders of the church. Just in the same way that all the members of the body are equal, all the elders are also equal. There is something that is called diversity of elders, but all the elders are the same. The diversity of the elders is in the gifting. the Lord might be pleased to give to a church elders that have different gifts, and that's very good for the church.

All the elders should not be the same. All that we teach should not be the same. Why? Because God has been pleased to give to the church men with different gifting, and that's exactly what the church needs, these differences. So that's the principle, beloved, of leadership regarding.

There are so many other things that can be said about that. But now the role of the elders is to help the church to congregationally make those decisions that are taking us to the ultimate purpose of being holy and blameless and to extend the kingdom. And I'm going to give you the last one not to make it so long. Let's go to the principle of unity and go first place to second Timothy. Second Timothy chapter three, verse 16.

And we've read this verse and we've quoted this verse many times. Now, the first principle that I gave you is this principle of this congregational principle. Second principle that I gave you is this principle of leadership, how the church is led to congregationally make decisions. And now the final principle that I'm giving you is the principle of unity. Principle of unity of the congregation while making decisions led by the elders onto that goal, which is the final purpose of the church.

Now, why unity is important? Unity is important because if there is no unity, then the church is not going to walk towards that goal for which the church has been called. If there is no unity, there is not going to happen. We can have a nice club or a nice organization or community of people, but it will not happen what the Lord has called us to do. Now, how does the church achieve unity?

And this principle is not only for the church, but it's also for the family. It's also for our relationship. How does the church achieve unity? The church achieves unity when we do this. We do this with our eyes.

when we remove our eyes from us and we put our eyes in Jesus Christ as the one that informs us, transforms us, and guides us in everything that we have to do. and he has done something very important he has given us a scripture as that which is sufficient for us to do everything that we need so that's why the apostle says all a scripture is breathed out or it is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Beloved, while the church is making important decisions congregational, by the leadership of the church, we are going to need teaching, reproof, correction, and training. in righteousness. Why?

The purpose of that is that the men of God, which is not only men, of course, but it's speaking about an individual man and woman, that the men of God might be complete, equipped for every good work. Now, beloved, how do we serve the church for the unity of the church? How do we serve? Now, beloved, pay attention to this. How do we serve the church, the local church, with this purpose of accomplishing union or unity, and then congregational decisions that are led by the elders looking towards that final goal, which is groaning conformity to Christ individually and collectively, to extend in the power of the Spirit the kingdom of Christ by the preaching of the gospel.

How do we do it? How do we serve? Do we serve the church by Moving a table by painting a wall by taking this from one place to another for doing that There is a sense in which is yes, but not ultimately Ultimately beloved when you submit individually to that which is written and when you individually are committed to increase your personal relationship with Christ. When you individually submit yourself to the inspired scripture and the authority that Christ has over you, you are serving the church as a whole, because then the person that comes within the context of the church is a person who has been touched by the power of God in the secret place. So that person would be willing to forgive, will be willing to serve, will be willing to teach, will be willing to instruct, will be able to do all of the things that the Bible calls us to do in the external manifestation of service.

How do we keep the unity within the church? It's not by doing the things that we want to do as a collective, because that's never going to happen. We have different preferences. It happens when each one of us is individually committed. No, I'm saying individually committed because your relationship is an individual relationship with Jesus Christ.

You are inserted into a collective body, but your relationship is individual with Jesus Christ. So when you neglect your relationship with Christ, beloved, when you neglect your relationship with Christ, The person that you are forming in and of yourself is a person that at some point will subtract or take from the body. What we need on a Sunday or what we need in a Bible study like this is all of us in the fullness of who we can be in a relationship with the Lord, so that we can exhort one another, so that we can teach one another, that we can guide one another. But when we neglect our individual duty with the Lord, we are affecting the body and then we we might not perceive with our eyes that we might not perceive what people are if people are doing it or not but when a person neglect those things individually they can do whatever things they want to do within the context of the church move take paint They can do all of these things, but they will not be serving the church as we are to serve the church, and sooner or later this will affect the unity of the church. Beloved, we cannot be a community in and of ourselves.

to be the community that we are called to be according to Scripture, we need the guiding power of the Holy Spirit and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. And that happens with each individual member that meets himself and herself to the ultimate authority of scripture. So then when you come to me, or when I come to you, and I ask you for an advice, or you ask me for an advice, I will not be giving you my wisdom, or you will not be giving me your wisdom, or your preference, or my preference, but rather our aim will be to see that which the Bible says about a particular situation. And then the responsibility of making that happen is not anymore on us, but it's on God who has given us the promise that he will do with the church something, and that something is only through this glorious revelation of seeing Christ and him crucified as he is revealed in the scripture. Beloved, we are called to make decisions congregationally, through the leadership of those who God has appointed for the church to make these decisions congregationally so that in submission to a scripture and to this revelation that we have of the gospel and Christ, we might keep the church walking united towards the purpose for which we have been called.

Growing in conformity to Christ and extending the kingdom. preaching the goodness to others, so that others will be saved, they will be added to the body, and then we will be able to receive them. Not because they are equal or same to us, not because they have the same preferences to us, not because they like the same things or because they go to the same places, but rather because they have been purchased by the blood of Christ. So when we see that we are united by the blood of Christ, our external differences take a second place. May the Lord give us grace to see all of those things.

Amen.