Elders in Every Church

Text: Acts 14:23

Series: Restoration Sermons

Date:

Speaker: Ed Rangel

Location: Waupaca Church of Christ

Bible Version: NASB 1995

Sermon Type: Expository

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Distinguish the word "elder" as age from "elder" as office.
2. Show from the New Testament that congregations had elders, in the plural.
3. See that elders are bishops in the church, not lords over it.

Thesis

The New Testament shows elders appointed in every church — at Jerusalem, Ephesus, Philippi, and the cities of Crete — always a plurality serving as shepherds and bishops in the local congregation, never one bishop ruling over many churches.

Burden

"Elder" is a plain word that has been bent into strange shapes. Some hear it and think only of age; others have built it into a hierarchy of bishops ruling over whole regions. The outline takes the word back to the New Testament and lets the actual congregations define it — Jerusalem, Ephesus, Philippi, the churches of Crete — and a clear, simple pattern emerges: every church had its own elders, in the plural, shepherding that flock and no other. The burden of this lesson is to recover that pattern against both the reduction of the word to mere age and its inflation into a ruling office over many churches.

Introduction

Grammatically, "elder" is the comparative of "old" — it means an older person. But the New Testament also uses it as the title of an office. Paul and Barnabas "appointed elders for them in every church" (Acts 14:23). The outline surveys the word's uses and then walks through the actual congregations of the New Testament to show that elders were everywhere.

I. The Uses of the Word "Elder" (1 Peter 5:1-5)

1. The word can denote an aged person.
• Peter applies it to the aged (1 Pet. 5:1-5).
• There "younger" stands in contrast to "elder," meaning a younger person.
• And the younger are to submit to their seniors (1 Pet. 5:5).
• John, too, calls himself "the elder" (2 John 1; 3 John 1) — in the sense of an aged, venerable man.
• But the word also has an official use — the office of oversight in a congregation (Acts 14:23). Context, not the word alone, tells which is meant.

II. Elders of the Church at Jerusalem (Acts 11:30)

1. Scripture repeatedly names them — receiving relief (Acts 11:30), deliberating with the apostles (Acts 15:2, 6, 22), and sending out decisions (Acts 16:4).
2. There is no record of exactly when or how they were appointed — the outline notes the silence rather than filling it.
3. Apostles were present in that church, yet elders served there too (Acts 8:1; 15:6) — the eldership was needed even where apostles labored.

III. Elders of the Church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17-28)

When Paul called "the elders of the church" at Ephesus (Acts 20:17), he taught the office in one breath:

1. He addressed them as shepherds of the flock.
2. They were regarded as bishops (overseers).
3. They were to feed the flock.
4. They were made bishops by the Holy Spirit — "the Holy Spirit has made you overseers" (Acts 20:28).
5. They were bishops IN the church, not lords OVER it — overseers within the one flock, not a hierarchy above it.

Elder, shepherd, bishop — three words, one office, all applied here to the same men.

IV. Titus Appointed Elders in Every City (Titus 1:5)

Paul left Titus in Crete "that you would... appoint elders in every city as I directed you" (Titus 1:5).

1. They were appointed as elders.
2. It is assumed the men had the qualifications — Titus was to recognize and appoint qualified men, not create the office from nothing.

V. Elders of the Church at Philippi (Philippians 1:1)

Paul addressed his letter "to all the saints... including the overseers and deacons" (Phil. 1:1).

1. He included the elders (overseers) in the address.
2. They were worthy of special mention — the only officers named alongside the saints.

Application

Let the New Testament, not tradition, fix what an elder is. First, do not flatten the word to mean only age, nor inflate it into a regional ruler; in its official sense it names the shepherds of a local congregation. Second, notice the pattern in every church the outline surveyed — Jerusalem, Ephesus, Philippi, the cities of Crete: the elders are always plural, always local, always bishops in the church and not lords over it. That is the shape of New Testament oversight, and it rebukes both the church that drifts along with no elders at all and the system that sets one bishop over many congregations. If you are part of a church, value its elders as the shepherds God set among that flock — and pray for qualified men to serve, for every church is meant to have them.

Conclusion

"Elders in every church" — that was the apostolic practice. The word may mean age, but in its office it names the plural shepherds and bishops of a single congregation, serving within the flock, never ruling over many. Jerusalem, Ephesus, Philippi, Crete — the pattern is uniform. Let every church follow it.

Invitation

The Holy Spirit sets shepherds in the church to watch over the flock — and the flock is made up of those the Lord has saved and added (Acts 20:28). Be added to it today: believe on the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, confess Him, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38), and take your place among the people God shepherds. Come while we sing.

Word Study

Scripture Interlock Table

---

Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 52. Doctrinal audit: core-framework (a plurality of elders in each local congregation; elder = bishop = shepherd, one office under several names; bishops IN the church, not lords over it; no regional hierarchy); no correction. Boles' note of Scripture's silence on the exact manner of the Jerusalem elders' appointment is preserved. Style audit: OCR cleanup. All of Boles' citations verified and retained; "2 and 3 John" rendered as 2 John 1 / 3 John 1; Acts 20:17 supplied alongside his "Acts 20:17-28" heading.