Look for Love of Others - Part 2

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Well, you meet me in your Bibles at Acts chapter 20. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, we'll be reading this morning, verses 17 through the end of the chapter. The sermon will be specifically looking, though, at verses 29 and following. So, Acts chapter 20, Paul is meeting with the elders of Ephesus, and this is how this meeting before them goes.

Hear now the word of the Lord. From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia in the manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you. Having taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me. Nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this. That after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And also from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak.

And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word and we pray now that as we think upon it, as we meditate, Lord, we pray that You would be teaching us. We pray that Your Spirit would be leading us, that we would walk in Your ways. Please make these words alive to our souls. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Sermon

Well, it's the last one. Congratulations. This little mini-series on electing elders. Wednesday's the day. As Jim mentioned earlier, the elders have been talking. We've been so encouraged by how it seems the Spirit has been working in your hearts as you've been talking with one another about this and asking questions, asking the elders some uncomfortable questions sometimes. But it's important as we come to this last sermon, as we come to this last message here, to take a look again at the second qualification.

Remember, this whole sermon series has been built around Jesus's two commandments. You must choose an elder who loves the Lord. That's the greatest commandment. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And the next one is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. And so as we come to this passage again before us today, I want to look at a second part of what it means to love your neighbor as yourselves. Last week, we talked about loving the people as God's flock. Overseeing them while shepherding the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

Not shrinking back away from the truth, but here I want to talk more about interpersonal relationships. with one another. And so first, look for a man when you're thinking about electing an elder, look for a man who loves others by protecting. Look at verse 29.

For I, this is Paul speaking, the pastor who had been there for three years, he says to them now, for I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And also from among yourselves will rise, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. Paul is telling them there's going to be false prophets who are going to come in.

He's leaving. He's going to Jerusalem. He knows he's going to be arrested. He knows that at the end of the road, there's going to be nothing but suffering for him and he's not going to see him again. And what's on Pastor Paul's mind as he's speaking to the elders in Ephesus, he's saying, I'm going to go. You're not going to see me again. And when I leave, there's going to be people in the church who are going to raise up people.

You're supposed to be overseers of people. You're supposed to shepherd. And they look like sheep, but they're really ravenous wolves. That's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verse 15, that false prophets would arise in the church who would be ravenous wolves dressed in sheep clothing. This is what Jesus is getting at, that he was the one who was the true shepherd, who was willing to lay down his life for the sheep.

A hired man doesn't do that, right? He just runs away when the wolf comes. What is Paul getting at here? Look for a man who will stand between you and the ravenous wolf. Look for a man who will be like Christ, who will protect the flock of God. When the person in the congregation comes up and teaches perverse things, look for the man who will have a backbone, enough spine to say, that's sin. That's wrong. Or you're looking for a gentle man, but you're not looking for a man made out of jello. Look for a man who knows how to be a man, a man who knows how to stand by God's word and say, no, this isn't right and we're not going that direction. A man who could stand up to a wolf with a snarling teeth and say, no, no, we're not going down that path.

I was just talking. to a man this week who was telling me about how he was distressed over this guy who was in this reformed church. He was a member in the church. He had written a whole book on the Song of Solomon. And he had been sending this book far and wide. And this was a reformed church. And he was sending this book far and wide.

All to come find out that this man was promoting for people in the church to be watching pornography and sharing it with one another. There will be wolves. This is not a fake story. This is a real story that happened this week in a reformed church. There are wolves who will rise up from among the flock and the elders are the ones that thankfully in his church held this man to account and told him to burn all the remaining books he had and email everybody that he had on his list and tell them what I wrote was wrong. Thank God he's actually listening.

But imagine what it would be like if the elders didn't have a spine. Imagine what it would be like if those overseers didn't actually step into that situation and say, no, this is horribly wrong and you cannot do this. You must stop right this moment. Why? Because what he was going to do would rip apart families, would destroy people's souls, would lead them not along the path of righteousness, but the path to hell.

Look for those elders who have enough spirit-filled courage. I'm not talking about earthly courage. I'm talking about shepherd courage, Christ-like courage. Who would be willing to stand up to the savage wolves. But they also need to be able to stand up against the personality cults. Look again at what the passage told us. What did Paul tell them? Not just that there would be savage wolves, but also, in verse 30, among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. This is why I keep saying, this is not my church. This is not Jim's church. This is not John's church. This is no elder's church.

Who are you a student of? You are a student of Jesus Christ. You were a follower of Jesus Christ. You were a disciple of Jesus Christ. Where Jesus walked, there you walked. How Jesus loved, that's how you love. Where Jesus showed you the green pastures, that's where you go feed.

But in the church, there were people who would rise up and they would try to draw disciples to themselves, rather than point them to Jesus Christ. Again, I'm going to say this, and I know I'm being more pointed than I normally am, but this is a danger in the reformed church.

We really like teachers and we really like guys with big heads and who are able to explain things in amazing ways. And what people will end up happening is they're following after their favorite teacher and they almost become this cult personality. I'm going to throw this name out here and I'm telling you, this guy's a wolf in sheep clothing. This is how I find many people who follow after the teaching of someone like Doug Wilson. I hope all of you sit there and scratch your head, and I hope you've been spared from his teaching, but this is the type of man who's a wolf in sheep's clothing, who will have all sorts of fanboys who will follow after him, and walks away that leads to hell. Does not show what a shepherd looks like. And Paul was right. He knew this from experience. He wrote to Timothy, the young pastor in 2 Timothy chapter 1. He said, this, you know, Second Timothy, chapter one, verse 15.

This, you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Philegius and Hermogenes. These are guys who had raised up in the church and now they were leading disciples away all over Asia. And you can hear the pain in Pastor Paul's heart as he's saying this. He had been the missionary to those churches in Asia.

He had been the one to share the gospel with them, and now they were deserting Jesus Christ and following after a teacher who would tickle their own ears. You need to have an elder, I'm pleading with you, please elect an elder who's willing to stand up and say, yeah, I think we need to switch around our Sunday school class a little bit. Seems like that guy is just trying to build up his own reputation of their own ministry, rather than having people follow Christ. And notice the scary thing about this. Both of these factions come from within the church. This is where we need elders who are involved in the life of the people who love the people by protecting them because they know what's going on in the congregation, what is being taught.

So what does Pastor Paul tell Timothy, the pastor that he's leaving behind in Ephesus, to do about it? Well, in 1 Timothy 3, he says, as I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine. What they receive from God, by the apostles and the prophets, that's what they teach. Not their pet teaching, not their own personalities, not their own ministry, not their own following. But they receive the doctrine of Christ, and that's what they are to preach.

Do not give heed to fables. I can't tell you how many cockamamie pseudo-Christian fables there are that float around. Don't give in to those, go back to the Word. And endless genealogies, he's talking to Jewish people as they thought that they would be saved by their faith, by their lineage to Abraham. He's saying, no, that's not how you're going to be saved. Because both these things cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith.

What is the elder to do, though, with the wolves and thieves sneaking in the church? How is an elder to protect the flock of God? How are they to love God's people that way? Again, Paul writing to Timothy, the pastor in Ephesus, he says in 1 Timothy 1, verses 13 and 14, he says, Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ, that good things which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. How do you know if a man is going to actually protect you as an elder? As you're thinking through this, as you're churning through this, and you know the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor, how do you know they're going to love you in this regard? How do you know that they're going to protect you from those wolves and from those personality cults?

Do they do what Paul is telling Timothy here? Do they hold fast to the pattern of sound words which they received? Are they going after their own fancy? Are they going after all sorts of new teaching that might get different interests from people in the congregation and get them to follow them? Or are they holding firm to the Bible? Are they going to God's word?

And when you talk to them, it's like God's word is in their heart and coming out of their mouth. It's like they think about God's word, they meditate on it. And when they talk about it, there's a biblical foundation for their opinions and what they do.

That's the type of man you're looking for. We must elect a man who loves others by protecting the sheep. There's John Calvin who wrote, he said, pastors ought to have two voices. One, to chase off the wolves, and another to gather the sheep. The scripture, he says, supplies him with the means of doing both.

Secondly, what we see in this passage is a love for others by trusting God and His word. Love others by trusting God and his word. Look for a man who loves others by trusting God and his word. You might scratch your head that let me flesh it out. Look with me at verse 22.

So now, brethren, I commend to you, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. How does loving others tie into being commended to God in the word of His grace? How do you want to be led? Christian, how do you want to be led? I pray that you want to be led by a man who knows where to find grace.

A man who knows who Jesus Christ is. A man who knows in his own heart that he was one of those who was dead in his transgressions and sins and God made him alive. And he'll be one who's able to tell you, stop trying to earn grace. It's a free gift. He'll love you by pointing you back to what the apostles and the prophets taught. Does this man build up others with God's word? Does he know how to plumb the depths of God's word and to show you that he's been entrusted to God? He knows God's word and he's able to bring you the riches of the meditations of his heart.

Will this man show you where your inheritance is? Will this man show you? Look with me at the very last part and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Look for a man who knows the path of sanctification. When you think about the man you're going to be electing as an elder, has he walked that path? Does he know the road that leads to being respectful?

Does he know how to love others because you've seen him be faithful to his wife, pure in his marriage? Does he love others by leading people who you've seen him right now that he leads his family with a clear head, with a sensible mind? Have you seen him love others by denying himself and showing self-control? Have you seen this man love others, not just his own family, but even newcomers? Is he hospitable? Does he love strangers?

Do you know that's what the word hospitality means? One of the qualifications for an elder is that he must be the one given over to hospitality. Hospitality is xenophilia. We know the word xenophobic, you know, scared of strangers or scared of foreigners. The word philos is a word for love. Does he love the stranger? Is he a man who knows the path of sanctification? And is he the type of man that you can bring him questions about the Bible and he'll be able to either answer them or point you in the right direction to where you can find the answer?

Will he love you by being gentle? Or will he be like one of those savage wolves and personality cults that would be violent and quarrelsome? Will he love you rather than loving money? Will he love luxury at the expense of you? Or will you see sacrifice in his life and restraint in how he uses his finances? Will he love you? A good indication is looking at his home life. And do you see grace at work in his children? Will he love you?

Well, the question is, do you see love God so much? that even in the community, he has a good reputation because he loves equity and he loves justice and he loves hard work. You see, we come to the qualifications of 1 Timothy chapter 3 or Titus chapter 1, and if we divorce them from love of God and love for others, we miss the point. It becomes a legalistic list. But when we look at the list, the question is, is this the type of person who's going to love me as a shepherd? F.F. Bruce commenting on this passage, he says, in due course, Paul will, with all the apostles, he's going to die from earthly life.

But the teaching which they left behind to be guarded by their successors, the elders, is a sacred deposit. It's preserved not only in their memory, but eventually in the New Testament Scriptures. It remains to this day as the word of God's grace. And those who are most truly in the apostolic succession, who receive this teaching along with the rest of Holy Writ, as their rule of faith and life, will they love you by holding firm to the apostolic deposit. When they read God's word, And do you get a sense from them that they actually believe that it's from the Lord? Well, they love you.

There's a good reason why Paul and his qualifications of elders in 1 Timothy says this is a reason why you don't want to elect a young convert. You don't want to elect a new convert. Why? Because you haven't been able to see if they love like this. You haven't seen them when fire and sorrow hit their life.

So what happens if you elect a young man and he might think, oh, I've reached the end of my sanctification, he might become proud and puffed up and end up leading the people in the wrong way. But does this mean you can't elect a young man to be an elder?

Well, remember, he's writing to Timothy. And in first Timothy chapter four, he says, let no one despise your youth. He's talking to Timothy here. But notice what he says to Timothy, his son in the faith. But be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Do you see he's telling Timothy, you must be a shepherd like Christ. You must be devoted to holiness. You must be devoted to love. You must be devoted to God's people. You must be devoted, as he goes on the next verse, to opening up God's word and giving it faithfully to God's people.

So we must not elect a recent convert. We must, though, elect a man who is setting a pattern for us and loving others and conduct love, spirit, faith and purity. Well, there's still more fish to fry and I'm running out of time fast. Let's move quick over these next three points.

They love others by praying. Look with me at verse 36. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all and they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. Paul has to get on a boat to go die. And what's important to the elders? Prayer. When you think about a man to elect as an elder, does he place emphasis on prayer?

Does he pray with his wife? Does he pray with his children? Does he pray for you? Has he asked you how he could be praying for you? Have you heard him pray? Does he know the path to the throne of grace? Will He take you by the hand and say, come with me, let's go pray? Do you know that He actually cares for your soul? Or does He just want to lead you? But you don't know if He's going to actually lead you to the throne of grace. We must elect a praying man.

Next, there's a real expression of love. Look with me at verse 37 and 38. Then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship." There's a real sincerity in their love for Paul. The elders have a teamwork together, a real heart of affection for one another.

This is one of the great blessings of this congregation. I love. I love this session here. I know I'm going to flatter John and Jim here for a second, but I came to this congregation because of the elders and the deacons. Because when my pastor was giving me advice on where I should go as a young pastor, he said, go to the place where the elders love, and the elders work together, and the elders will mentor you. And these men have continued to pour into my life. And I see them praying for you.

And I see them giving up things when they, when, when there's a compromise on certain things that aren't doctrinal matters, but just, well, what are we going to do with X, Y, or Z? Do we do a psalm singing at 6.30 or 7? And not being, and being willing to just say, you know, I love you. It's fine. Let's just do, let's just do 6.30. It's fine. Let's do what's best for the people. I might prefer something else, but it's not about my preferences.

They actually loved one another. That's not saying they're not going to have disagreements, but they loved one another so much so that when Paul's about to get on a ship to go to Jerusalem to die, they're able to embrace him and love him and pray freely for him. They cared for one another, I'll never forget.

When I was, well, when we were packing up our U-Haul to move here, and I wasn't an elder at Eastvale, I was in this weird position where I was an intern for eight years. Official for three, but there's so I was in all the session meetings and I did all these things with the elders and I knew these men well And I'll never forget after they got done with their work during the day. They came to our house and helped us pack up our U-Haul And Rebecca Rebecca plant ups dad was one of my elders I And Keith prayed for us with tears in his eyes. They'd watched our children.

They poured their lives into us. They loved us. Look for a man who's showing practical love for others. Look for a man who's shepherding you. Look for a man who's involved in your life, wants to know about what's going on, not because they want to gossip, but because they truly love you. Lastly.

Revelation, Chapter two, the last words we have about the church in Ephesus. Revelation, Chapter two, the first seven verses. To the angel of the Church of Ephesus write these things, I say, he says, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.

And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars. And you have preserved or you have persevered and have patience. and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from his place unless you repent. But this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes. I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

She's a man. who hasn't forgotten his first love. Again, I don't want you to feel like you walk away from here and you think, oh man, I don't know if anybody could ever love Jesus this perfectly. You're never going to find someone who loves God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, because the only person who ever did that was Jesus Christ. But look for a man who's fighting for his love for Christ.

Look for a man who's going to show you what it means to have to discipline himself to read God's Word and to go through those... You all know what this is like in your life. You've gone through seasons in your life where it's like you're walking through a barren desert. You pick up God's Word and you read it and you're just like, I know it's supposed to be water for my soul, but my soul is parched.

Choose the man who knows how to walk through the desert. and find Christ. Choose the man that when you pick up the Lord's Word, he doesn't divorce love from God from doctrine, but he knows where Christ is. He knows how to ask you questions that will lead you to Christ, who will encourage you not to forget your first love. Yes, many of you are doing wonderful good deeds and many of you, you're tired, but you haven't grown weary of doing good.

And that's admirable. Now we must choose another man to rule over us. And I mean us, because he's going to be my elder, too. I have to vote for him. Him or them. I'd love for them. That'd be great if we had multiple guys. Choose a man who's going to remind you of Christ, lead you to Christ, tell you of Christ. If we do that, the Lord will bless his work. The Lord will care for his sheep.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would give us wisdom. We thank you that there are such qualified men in this church. What a blessing you have filled our congregation with God-fearing men. Lord, we pray that you would give us wisdom in choosing a man who would rule over us. who would shepherd us, who would oversee us, who would lead us to Christ, because He loves you and He loves your people. God, please, by your Spirit, give us this wisdom.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.