9.1 Key themes⤒🔗

•  Elders are called to focus on prayer and on teaching God’s Word.
  - That is how they will watch over, lead, feed, and protect God’s people.
• Teaching God’s Word is the one skill that every elder must have. (This is the seventh qualification in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.)
• To teach God’s Word, elders must
  - hold firmly to the trustworthy word (the teachings of the apostles);
  - give instruction in sound doctrine;
  - rebuke those who contradict it.
• While elders do these things, they should pray and put their trust in God’s Word and Spirit.

9.2 – 1 Timothy 3:2←⤒🔗

^2. The overseer  then must be above reproach , the husband of one wife, temperate , self-controlled, respectable, hospitable , an able  teacher.

© NET Bible

9.3 Titus 1:9-11 (ESV)←⤒🔗

^9. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine  and also to rebuke  those who contradict  it.

^10. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

^11. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

9.4 The great task of elders←⤒🔗

Elders are the “overseers” who must watch over God’s people. They are also the “shepherds” who must lead, protect, and feed the sheep of Christ (Lesson 1).

But how should elders watch over the people of God? And how should they lead, protect, and feed the church? Should they try to do miracles? Should they create jobs, hand out food, or try to solve all the people’s problems?

No. The church of the New Testament had many poor people who needed to be fed and clothed. But in Acts 6:2-4 the apostles say to the church, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The apostles were the first elders of the New Testament church. They knew that they needed to focus on “prayer” and “the ministry of the word.” So, they told the church to choose other men who could focus on helping the poor.

Elders are still called to focus on prayer and teaching God’s Word. That is their great task. That is how they must watch over, lead, feed, and protect the people of God.

This is why one of the qualifications of an elder is that he must be an able teacher (1 Timothy 3:2). Teaching God’s Word is a skill. It is the one skill that every elder must have.

9.5 Holding firmly to the faithful message←⤒🔗

In his letter to Titus, Paul again says that an elder must be an able teacher. But he uses different words here, because he wants to explain what it means to be an able teacher. See how he explains it in Titus 1:9:

“He [the overseer] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

This verse has three important parts. Let us begin by looking carefully at the first part:  An overseer must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught.

Before you can be a teacher, you must first be a learner. An overseer must be someone who has learned “the trustworthy word.” When Paul speaks about “the trustworthy word as taught,” he is speaking about all the teachings of the apostles. An overseer must know these teachings well.

The apostles are not alive anymore. But their teachings have been written down for us. We have all of it in God’s Word, the Bible. The apostles’ main message is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for the sins of people, was resurrected, and will come back to judge the living and the dead.

An overseer must know these truths well. But he must not only know them. He must love them! As Paul says, he must “hold firm” to them. Think of a little boy who holds on to his father, as they walk together through a storm. That is how an overseer must hold on to the true teachings of the gospel. No matter what happens, he must not let go of them.

An overseer must also live by these truths. His whole life must be proof of the message that he brings. Think of the first six qualifications: above reproach, one-woman man, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, and hospitable. These qualifications are all about the life of an elder. The life of an elder is important, because an elder has to teach God’s people. How will people listen to a teacher whose life does not agree with his teachings?

9.6 Giving instruction in sound doctrine←⤒🔗

We are still looking at Titus 1:9, where Paul explains what it means to be an able teacher. Let us now look at the second part of the verse. If an overseer holds firmly to the trustworthy message, he will “be able to give instruction in sound doctrine.”

The words “give instruction” have a rich meaning. They can mean:

• to encourage;
• to comfort; and
• to warn.

An elder must do all three things, using the sound doctrine (the good, healthy teaching) of God’s Word. In this way he will teach God’s people to obey God in every area of their lives.

Some elders are called to be preachers (1 Timothy 4:13-14; 1 Timothy 5:17). But preaching is not the only way to teach God’s Word. The people of God also need to be visited at their homes (Acts 20:20). There they can ask questions and speak about their own lives. And new believers need some kind of “Bible class,” where they can grow in their knowledge of God and his Word (Acts 19:9-10).

In many different ways, the elders of a church must feed the church with God’s Word. Just as shepherds lead their sheep to green fields, the elders must always be bringing God’s people to God’s Word. This is what will make God’s people grow strong!

9.7 Rebuking those who contradict sound doctrine←⤒🔗

The last part of Titus 1:9 says that an overseer must be able “to rebuke those who contradict” sound doctrine.

In the time of the New Testament, there were many false teachers going about. They did not hold firm to the message of the apostles. They contradicted the apostles’ teachings and made up their own teachings.

For example, in Titus’ church there were teachers who said that all Christians must be circumcised. These teachers were pulling the people away from the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. They did this because they were looking for money and power (Titus 1:10-11).

Today there are thousands of false teachers and false teachings in the world. They do not even need to visit people’s homes to spread their message. They can simply use the TV, radio, and Internet.

That is why elders must be wise and watchful. They must know about the false messages that are being preached in church members’ homes, schools, and workplaces. They must warn church members against these messages. They must also rebuke those who spread false messages in the church.

9.8 Trust in God’s Word and Spirit←⤒🔗

Hold firm to the trustworthy word. Give instruction in sound doctrine. Rebuke those who contradict it. That is how elders must watch over, lead, feed, and protect the people of God.

While the elders do these things, they should pray and put their trust in God’s Word and Spirit. The Spirit uses the Word to change people’s hearts and lives! May he continue to do this today, by giving his church able teachers.