Loveland Protestant Reformed Church
709 East
57th Street; Loveland, CO 80538
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. June
through August)
Vol. 6, No. 11 Pastor: Rev. Garry Eriks Phone: (970)
667-9481
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Contents:
The Office of Elder
Being Reconciled to God (2)
Was King Saul Regenerate?
Scripture uses two different words for elder. One word, translated "elder" (Acts 14:23, 15:2, 4, 6, etc., I Tim. 5:1, 17, 19, Tit. 1:5, Jas. 5:14, I Pet. 5:1) is the Greek word "presbyter," and means "older person." The other word, translated "bishop" or "overseer" (Phil. 1:1, I Tim. 3:1, 2, Tit. 1:7, Acts 20:28) refers to a person who has authority and rule over others.
That these two words refer to the same office is clear from Scripture. In Acts 20:28, Paul calls the elders (vs. 17) of the Church of Ephesus "overseers" or "bishops." In Titus 1:5-7, Paul also uses both words to apply to the same persons. This is contrary to the teaching of Roman Catholicism and Episcopalianism (Prelacy) which teach that the office of bishop is a separate and higher office.
Nevertheless, when speaking of the office of elder, a distinction is often made between ruling elders (I Tim. 3:4-5, 5:17) and teaching elders (I Tim. 5:17, I Pet. 5:1). As these passages show, however, there is not an absolute distinction between these offices. I Timothy 3 makes it clear that so-called ruling elders also must be able to teach (vs. 2) and I Timothy 5:17 shows us that so-called teaching elders also rule.
The difference, therefore, is more a difference of function than anything else. Teaching elders labour especially, though not exclusively, in Word and doctrine in contrast to the other elders. Ephesians 4:11 also refers, then, to those elders as pastors and teachers.
It is the office of ruling elder that we are concerned with here, and we must make several points. These points are very important if the office of elder is to be a blessing and not a curse in God's church.
First, there must be a plurality of elders. Scripture never speaks of one elder ruling alone, whether he is a minister or otherwise. Rule by one is tyranny and does not harmonise with the Word of God in Proverbs 11:14, 15:22 and 24:6.
Second, the elders are servants of God's people (Matt. 23:11, I Cor. 9:19, II Cor. 4:5). This is especially clear from Colossians 4:17 where Paul tells the church to admonish its minister to take heed to and fulfil his ministry. An understanding of this, too, is necessary to avoid tyranny and lording in the church.
Third, that the elders rule, means that they rule all aspects of church's life including the preaching and conduct of the other officers and of the ministers (Acts 20:28-31 - it is the duty of all the elders to keep from the church hireling and wolves). No one is a law unto himself in the church.
Fourth, the ruling authority that elders have in the church is given them by Christ (Acts 20:28), belongs to Christ (Matt. 28:18), and must be exercised in obedience to him (I Pet. 5:4). In practice that means that their authority must be that of the Word of God in Scripture. They must rule with it, bring it, admonish by it, and teach it alone - not their own notions.
Such elders will be a blessing in Christ's church. Rev. Ronald Hanko
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. II Cor. 5:20
In the last issue of the Newsletter we began discussing the verse quoted above. We began our discussion of it by noticing the context, particularly vss. 18, 19. Our readers are urged to look up this back issue and refresh their minds.
We talked about what reconciliation means, and we discussed what the text means when it speaks of the fact that the world is reconciled.
There is one other truth which vs. 19 mentions, and that is a repetition of the statement made already in vs. 18, that the ministry of reconciliation has been committed to the apostles. This is extremely important for it leads immediately to the important statement in vs. 20: "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us."
To have the ministry of reconciliation committed to one means that one is an ambassador of God. This is an extremely important office that a minister holds. A president or prime minister takes the utmost care in the appointment of an ambassador, especially if such an appointment is not a political plum, but is the assigning of a man to a sensitive and extremely important diplomatic post.
This care is exercised because the ambassador must speak only what the president or prime minister who sends him speaks: no more, no less. Whatever the ambassador says, the prime minister will back up. The ambassador speaks for the prime minister. The word of the ambassador is official.
This is what Paul says is true of a minister. When he speaks, God speaks. What he says, God says. What is the content of his message is what God wants to be heard. So when the ministry of reconciliation is committed to ambassadors, they say what God wants them to say.
This does not mean that any minister, even ordained as such, is a true ambassador by virtue of his ordination. Both the minister and those who hear him must finally determine whether what the minister says is the Word of God by the Sacred Scriptures.
There are many who fake being an ambassador of God and come with their own message. There are even many who taunt faithful ambassadors in an effort to discredit faithful ambassadors in the eyes of the people. But when a minister speaks the Word of God contained in Scripture, he speaks with the authority of God Himself.
And, the apostle adds, to be an ambassador of God is the same as being an ambassador of Christ. This is literally stated in the text where the apostle says: "We beseech you in Christ's stead . . . ." Christ is God's true and only ambassador; but Christ is in heaven, and Christ, in the name of God and in His stead, sends ambassadors to bring that great and grand and glorious gospel of reconciliation to the church.
The gospel is only a gospel because it announces loudly and clearly, beyond any possibility of misinterpretation, that the work of reconciliation is completed by God Himself. If it were anything less, it would not be a gospel --glad tidings, good news.
What an awful thing it would be if all that a minister could say was: "God has done all He can in this work of reconciliation; but true reconciliation will not be accomplished until you reconcile yourself to God."
This is the way it is between humans. But God is not a human. He is the one true and living God Who does all His good pleasure.
The gospel is that God has reconciled His church, His unfaithful bride, His sinful and undeserving bride to Himself; and that He has done this great work of reconciliation also to the creation that He may give the new heavens and the new earth to His bride as His everlasting wedding gift.
Thus this word in vs. 20 is a word of God to His elect bride. Specifically, it was written to the church in Corinth and Achaia which is called in vs. 1, the church of God and saints; and which is called in I Cor. 1:2, the church of God, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.
There is a sense, of course, in which every man who hears the gospel is brought before the command to be reconciled to God. This is simply due to the fact that all men hear the gospel, are commanded to obey it, and never can escape the obligation to be obedient to the living God. Their total inability does not change that obligation one mite.
But let it be clearly understood that Paul is talking here to the church of Corinth and telling them that they are reconciled to God by Christ's great work. That is the gospel. And now that reconciled church, the bride of Christ, must live as being reconciled to God as well. "Be ye," the apostle says, "what God has made you -- His reconciled bride."
That we need this admonition goes without saying, for we are still, even as the bride of Christ, weak and sinful. We pant after the world to engage in spiritually adulterous relations with the ungodly. We refuse to live a life of spotless holiness which characterizes the bride of God. The admonition comes in all its penetrating and upsetting power to us who are Christ's bride.
And so when we fail, we run to the cross where that reconciliation has been perfectly accomplished, and we seek that perfect reconciliation which God will work in heaven when we shall be fully saved. Prof. H. Hanko
We have first what God says to Israel in giving them a king, "Ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen." Not only does that suggest that the king would be wicked and would oppress God's people, but God speaks of him as the king they chose, not the king He chose. It is true that God appointed Saul, but in so doing He gave the people the kind of king they wanted - a king like the other nations.
Then, too, we read of Saul's disobedience for which the kingdom was taken from him (I Sam. 13:1-15), his foolish oath (14:28), his disobedience and hypocrisy at the time of the battle with the Amalekites (chap. 15), Samuel's mourning for him (15:11, 35) and the fact that Samuel has no more dealings with Saul after this second great act of disobedience. In that same chapter we have God's word to Samuel (vs. 11) that Saul had turned back from following God and that God had repented of making him king.
In addition Scripture records Saul's many attempts to kill David, an attempt to kill his own son Jonathan when he defended David, and his murdering God's priests (chap. 22). That God sent him an evil spirit to trouble him (I Sam. 16:14-18; 18:10ff; 19:9ff) is also difficult to reconcile with the idea that he was regenerate.
Finally, we read of his visiting a witch (chap. 28) because God would not speak to him, and of his suicide in battle (chap. 31). But conclusive proof, we believe, that Saul was unregenerate is found is found in Psalms 18, 54, 57 and 59. These Psalms, speaking of Saul, not only identify him as an enemy of David, but as an ungodly man (18:4), one who did not set God before himself (54:3), one who was cut off by God (54:5), one who was fallen into the pit (57:4, 6), a worker of iniquity and a wicked transgressor (59:2, 5).
How then do we explain the verses that seem to indicate Saul was regenerate? We do not believe that is so difficult. For one thing, that an ungodly man should prophesy is not unusual in Scripture. Balaam and Caiaphas did also (Num. 23-24; Jn. 11:49-52). Their prophesying was simply a result of the sovereign operations of God's Spirit upon them.
In that connection we should note that Saul's prophesying became a proverb in Israel. Whenever anyone acted totally out of character (as Saul did in prophesying) then the people would say, "Is Saul also among the prophets" (I Sam. 10:11, 12; 19:24).
Saul's apparent repentance can be explained in much the same way. It is not uncommon in Scripture for the ungodly to show a certain sorrow, not for their sin as sin against God, but for the consequences of their sin (cf. II Cor. 7:9-11). Esau (Heb. 12:17), Ahab, Judas (Matt. 27:3-5 - the word "repented" is used here), are all examples.
Must not, then, the gift of the Spirit and of a new heart be explained in terms of God giving Saul the gifts that were necessary for him to be king of Israel, i.e, a kingly heart, and the Spirit to make him courageous in battle (cf. Prov. 21:1; Ezra 6:22)? He was a changed into a different man, therefore, only in the sense that he was no longer cowardly (I Sam. 10:17-25) and afraid to be king. He was not regenerate. R. Hanko
You will want to check out two new web sites containing audio sermons: www.HudsonvillePRC.org and www.MyOnlyComfort.org