I expect there will be fewer people this afternoon, but thank God that you are here.
In these afternoon sessions, we focus our attention upon the matter of government and ministry in local assemblies. Yesterday afternoon, we began with local government.
When we talk about government, I hope that we will not have a concept that it is something oppressive, something that we all try to keep away from. Instead, I feel that we need to see government as something wonderful and beautiful. It is full of life, and it is something to be welcomed.
Because when we talk about government in local assemblies, we always remember that the government is upon the shoulder of our Lord Jesus. He is the Head of the church. When you think that government belongs to Him, and He is the government, then I think there is nothing that we welcome more than seeing government in this light.
So I hope that we do not come with a heavy kind of attitude, but really, we hope that we may see it as God wants us to see it.
Yesterday afternoon, we talked about why government—the necessity of government, how God set up government not only in this universe but especially in the church. Even in the universe, you find that people do not know God’s government, and oftentimes people rebel against government. But in His church, His government should be recognised and obeyed.
We briefly went over the book of Acts and tried to see the history of local government. Now this afternoon, we would like to concentrate on what government is and how government is exercised.
You remember that story recorded in Matthew 20 and Mark 10. Our Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, and He shared with His disciples that He went there to be rejected by the high priests and the scribes, to suffer, and after three days to be raised from the dead.
But strangely, after our Lord Jesus revealed to them that He was going to Jerusalem to die, the two sons of Zebedee, with their mother, came to the Lord Jesus and asked Him for something. They said, “In Your kingdom, let my two sons, one sit on Your right and one sit on Your left.”
The Lord had just told them that He was going to Jerusalem to be crucified. But in the minds of the disciples—not only these two sons of Zebedee, the sons of thunder, but the rest of the disciples also—their minds were so set that they thought the Lord was going to Jerusalem to receive His kingdom.
They thought He was going to Jerusalem to set up His government upon this earth. He was to be King of the Jews, and not only King of the Jews but King of the whole world.
To these disciples, this felt like a really critical time. In the three years in which they followed our Lord Jesus, these twelve disciples—none of whom came from a noble background—were always striving against each other as to who was the greatest.
Now, at this moment, they still had that mindset. They thought the Lord was going to receive His kingdom, and of course, in the kingdom there is government. The Lord must be the King, but there would be those who would sit on His right and on His left.
In China, in the old days during the empires, at the head was the emperor. Underneath the emperor were the two prime ministers: the right prime minister and the left prime minister. Just like in this country, perhaps below the president there are the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.
The concept was that there would be two positions just below the throne, yet these two were the highest positions in the government. Everybody was trying to get these positions. These twelve disciples were trying to get these positions all the time, and now this seemed to be the last moment. Somehow the sons of Zebedee outmanoeuvred the other ten, so they came and asked for these two places: government, position, authority, power.
The Lord did not deny that there would be the right and the left, but He said, “You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I drink? Can you be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised?”
These two sons of Zebedee, without any thought—I do not think they understood at all—wanted the right and the left so much that they did not care. They just wanted these two places. So they said, “Sure, we will.”
The Lord said, “Indeed, you will be baptised with My baptism, and you will have to drink the cup that I am to drink. But to sit on My right or left is not for Me to give. It is for the Father to give. He will give it to those for whom it is prepared.”
The other ten disciples were very indignant. Why were they indignant? Because they thought they had been outmanoeuvred—not because they thought it was a wrong request. They wanted to do it themselves.
So our Lord Jesus began to teach them about government, rulership, and authority. The Lord said that in this world, the great rule over others; the first lord it over other people. But this is not true in the kingdom of God.
He that would become great among you shall be your servant;
and whosoever would be first among you shall be your bondservant:
even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give His life a ransom for many.
Now, brothers and sisters, when we talk about government, immediately we think of position. We think of authority. We think of rule. But the Lord said, “What is great? What is first? What is really government?” Government is to serve. That is government.
We think of rule as if you are high above everybody and simply rule over other people. But the Lord said, “No.” True rulership is to be a servant—not only a servant, but even a bondslave. That is the lowest position that you can take.
In other words, it is not a matter of position. If you seek for a position, all right, take the lowest position. That is what it is. It is a matter of how much you are able to serve.
Who is able to serve? He who is baptised with the baptism with which the Lord is to be baptised, and who drinks the cup that the Lord is going to drink.
When we think of the cup, naturally we think of the Garden of Gethsemane. There, our Lord Jesus was praying:
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
While He was praying, He sweat so much that great drops came down like blood. He was in a struggle, and an angel had to appear to sustain Him. He prayed three times, “Not My will, but Thy will be done.” After He prayed three times, He knew it was the cup that the Father had given Him to drink.
Brothers and sisters, a cup is a portion. A cup represents the will of God. Are you able to drink that cup? Are you willing to accept the will of God, whatever it may be?
If it is a bitter cup, are you willing to drink it? If it is a cup that takes away your dignity, are you willing to drink it? Are you willing to give up yourself, your rights, your everything, and accept the will of God for you in all things?
If you are able to do that, then God will give you authority and government.
To be baptised with the baptism with which the Lord was to be baptised—we know that, at the beginning of His ministry, the Lord went into the River Jordan to be baptised. It was a symbol of entering into death. The reality came after three and a half years at Calvary. So the baptism to which He referred was the cross. He was going to the cross to be crucified.
Brothers and sisters, are we willing to go to the cross? Are we willing to go into death—to everything of the world and of ourselves—that we may be raised in resurrection? It is all of God and all of Christ. Are we willing to die?
If we do not drink the cup and are not baptised, then, brothers and sisters, God is not able to give us authority or government. So, when we talk about government, we need to change our concept completely.
We are not talking about government in this world. In this world, government is position, and whoever has that position has authority. He who has authority rules over and lords it over other people.
But in the church, in the kingdom of God, in the local assembly, government is not a position to be strived for. Government is for those who are willing to go to death, who are willing to accept the will of God in their lives, and in whom Christ’s life is so manifested that they are able to serve the church more than anybody else.
That is the concept of government. It is true that government is for the purpose of maintaining order. It is to offer leadership. It is to help brothers and sisters function and be built up together. But, brothers and sisters, in order to do these things, it is not a matter of position; it is a matter of spiritual life.
Government in the local assembly is represented by the eldership. But let us still remember that Christ is the Head. He has not given up His headship in the church because He has set up elders as the governing body of the local assembly.
He is still the Head of the church. He may delegate His authority to the eldership, but the eldership does not substitute for Him as the Head. I think this is where lots of problems arise.
Lots of problems arise because those who are in leadership somehow feel that, since God has delegated authority to them, they are the head. Therefore, they can do anything they think is right and command the brothers and sisters. Now, brothers and sisters, remember this: Christ is still the Head.
That is the reason why I try to use the illustration that the eldership is like the neck. It is not the head. When Lance heard it, he said, “Stiff neck.” And how true it is. There are many necks that are stiff. Why? Because they think that they are the head.
Even though our Lord Jesus delegated authority to some people for the sake of offering leadership, maintaining order, and helping the brothers and sisters, dear brothers and sisters, remember one thing: He is still the authority.
He may delegate authority to some people, but He never gives these people all authority. He is the only authority in the universe, and He is the authority in the church.
The problem with us is that when the Lord begins to give some people authority, somehow that authority corrupts the person. Thinking that because God has given him authority, he is now authority. But why does God give people authority? It is because they submit themselves to the will of God, drink the cup, and are baptised with the baptism.
It is because the life of Christ is in them, and on the basis of life authority is given to them. Most strangely, authority can corrupt people, and they forget about life and think that they themselves are authority. Brothers and sisters, we people are never authority. Only God is authority. Only Christ is authority.
In the Scriptures, when you talk about eldership, one thing we need to remember is that the Bible never mentions elder in the singular. It is always in the plural: elders, not elder.
I believe there is a reason for it. If our Lord Jesus, as the Head of the church, should delegate authority to one person, how easy it would be for that person to think that now he is the head. And how easy it is for the people to misunderstand that this man is the head of the church and that they have to obey him in all things.
If you have only one man, naturally you will find that everybody looks to that man and thinks that he is the leader and the authority. Many who really love the Lord and are used by the Lord have been tempted because people looked at them as the head. They fell into the snare of thinking that they were truly the head.
So, in the church today, lots of good people are being spoiled by the brothers and sisters because we look to them as the head instead of looking upon Christ as the Head. Of course, the blame is not completely upon the brothers and sisters. That person, or those persons, must bear their responsibility. But there is wisdom here.
God never, in the church, set up one man as the elder. The elders are always in the plural. Why? Because if you have more than one—two, three, or more—people’s attention will not be focused upon one person. Also, no one person can really represent the Head.
It is corporate leadership. One will balance the others. You maintain a balance—checks and balances—and that will protect the leadership and the government from being spoiled. So elders in Scripture are always in the plural.
There is another thing we need to remember. In the Scriptures, you do not find a presiding elder. We may think, “The elders are plural, yes; but among the elders there will be the president of the eldership, a presiding elder, and he is higher than the other elders.” You will find that in Scripture there is no such arrangement.
It is true that among God’s people there is a divine order. In the family, you have the parents, older brothers and sisters, and younger brothers and sisters. There is an order in the family of God. That is true.
Whenever God’s people are together, if we really live in the life of Christ and walk in the Spirit, brothers and sisters, inwardly you know there is an order there. I remember Brother Nee used to tell us that when two or three brothers and sisters are together, there is an order there.
We need to have the spiritual discernment to know that order. That order is according to life. The life of Christ is given to us all equally, but not all receive equally or develop equally.
Because of the different measures of life in us, when we come together we immediately sense that a certain brother has a greater measure of Christ in him. He is ahead of me, and I need to learn more from him. There is a divine order there. It is not something set up.
Just as in a family, your older brother is born before you. It is not a set-up; it comes naturally. You know he is older than you, and you need to submit yourself to him. It is natural.
So among brothers and sisters, even though life is given equally, it is not received or developed equally. Because of that, there is a divine order among God’s people. The elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit for this very reason: their life is a little more advanced than that of the others, so they can lead.
Among the eldership, suppose there are five, seven, or more elders. They share the responsibility of oversight together. Yet among them you will find there is also an order, but it is not an order set up. It is an order of life, and this order changes from time to time.
So there is no presiding elder. It depends on the measure of Christ in these people. We need to recognise Christ in every brother and every sister.
That is the reason why Scripture says:
Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
We need to submit to one another in the fear of Christ. We do not submit to man; we submit to Christ—to the Christ who is in our brother and in our sister. Whenever Christ is manifested in that brother or sister, we submit, even though he may be the smallest brother or she may be the smallest sister.
Of course, those who are more advanced in the Lord manifest more of Christ, and to them we need to submit more. That is the way of order, government, and authority.
Christ set up elders in the church to help the growth of the church. When the church is without leadership, it is like a spread of sand spreading out. There is no building up. You need government, leadership, and order for the church to really be built together.
That is the reason why you find that our Lord set up elders as representatives of His government in the church. Remember, it is His government. They are simply representing His government.
In 1 Timothy 3, it says:
Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
Here you find that the apostle tells us that if anyone aspires to exercise oversight—in other words, if anyone desires to be an elder—he actually desires a good work.
So what is the nature of eldership? It is not a position that you seek. In 3 John, there was a man called Diotrephes. He was ambitious. He desired to be first among the brothers and sisters, and somehow he manoeuvred himself into that first position.
He became very authoritarian, to the point that he even denied the apostles and denied the Apostle John. He ruled the brothers and sisters with an iron hand, and whoever did not listen to him, he cast them out.
Now, that was a wrong concept of leadership, government, and eldership. If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a good work. In other words, eldership is work—good work.
What is good work? Good work in Scripture simply means doing the will of God. So eldership is a work; it is not a position. If we aspire to be an elder because we are looking for a position, then we are completely wrong.
But if you really want to serve your brothers and sisters, if you really desire to labour harder than anybody else in the church, if you really want to be the servant of all, if you really want to be a bondslave of all—letting every brother and sister step upon you and lay their burdens and loads upon you—then, if you desire such a good work, you can desire to be an elder.
Now, who wants to be an elder? The problem today is that people want to be elders in the church because they think that being elders means being high above everybody, being served, and giving orders. Not so.
I remember in the early centuries, when the church tried to select people for bishops, nobody wanted to be a bishop. Bishops are elders. Bishop is the office, and elder is the person. Nobody wanted that office. You had to force people to be a bishop.
Why? Because if you were made a bishop, it meant that you became the servant of all, the bondman of all. Everybody stepped upon you. During the time of persecution, usually after you became a bishop, you would be beheaded very soon. So nobody wanted to be a bishop.
Only when the Holy Spirit constrained a person was he willing to take that low position of an elder in order to serve the brothers and sisters. That is the Scriptural concept of elders.
Unfortunately today, not only do elders think that they are high above, but even in the minds of the brothers and sisters we think they are high up there. But actually, it is an inverted pyramid.
The brothers and sisters are high up there; the elders are low down at the tip. When Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, he wrote to the saints in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. He did not say, “The bishops and the saints.” He said, “The saints and the bishops and deacons.”
Think of our Lord Jesus. On the night of His betrayal, when He had His last supper with His own disciples, He took off His garments, girded Himself with a towel, and washed His disciples’ feet.
After He finished, He said:
Ye call Me, Teacher, and, Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet,
ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
Brothers and sisters, this is government. This is leadership. This is eldership. The Lord said, “I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give My life a ransom for many.”
Turn to 1 Peter 5. Peter was an elder in the church in Jerusalem as well as an apostle. He wrote:
The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder,
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Brothers and sisters, here you find “fellow elder” and “witness of the sufferings of Christ” joined together. If you want to be an elder, you are also a witness of the sufferings of Christ.
What does it mean? It means that you are more than someone who can tell others of the sufferings of Christ. You are one who partakes in the sufferings of Christ, and therefore your witness is strong and real.
It is just like the Apostle Paul says, to fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus loved the church. He gave Himself for her. After He gained the church, He cherishes and nourishes her. He washes her by the water with the word in order to present her a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish.
Our Lord Jesus loves the church, and how much He suffers for the church. He suffered for the church by giving up His life on the cross. He suffers for the church by interceding for us incessantly.
When you think of the sufferings of Christ, all these sufferings are because He loves the church. He loves us so much, and there is almost no end to His suffering—unspeakable, indescribable suffering for us—because of His love.
Those who are in local government are witnesses of the sufferings of Christ. In other words, the love of Christ so constrains them that they are willing to give their lives for the church.
They are willing to fill up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the church. We know that the sufferings of Christ are of two kinds. One is vicarious suffering: He suffered to atone for our sins.
In that suffering, He was all alone by Himself. He trod the winepress by Himself. We cannot have any part in it. We receive from it, but we do not participate in it.
But there is another area of His suffering to which He calls us: the fellowship of His sufferings. This is His suffering for the church—His love for the church. He cherishes it, nourishes it, and prays for it. Brothers and sisters, that is eldership.
Do not think that to be an elder is to receive honour and glory today. It is true, Peter says, one day you will receive glory, but not today. Today all you get is suffering. If you do not have the mind to suffer, do not aspire to be an elder.
When your brothers and sisters misunderstand you, when they blame you for everything in the church, can you bear it? Are you able to enjoy it?
Is your love for the church so great that no matter how much you are misunderstood, despised, stepped upon, blamed, ignored, disrespected, or unnoticed, you are still willing to love and serve even more?
I would say, “The less I am loved, the more I love.” That is the nature of government. That is the nature of eldership.
How do you exercise oversight? The Apostle Peter said:
Tend the flock of God which is among you,
exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according unto God;
nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you,
but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
The elders are shepherds. They shepherd the flock of God. Our Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gave His life for His sheep.
Our Lord Jesus is the Great Shepherd of the flock. In Hebrews 13, by the blood of His eternal covenant, He perfects us. Our Lord Jesus is the Chief Shepherd of the flock, as 1 Peter 5 tells us.
Brothers and sisters, elders in the church are under-shepherds. They are shepherds of the flock of God. If you want to know how to shepherd the flock, read Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
You find there the work of a shepherd: how the shepherd leads, finds pasture, protects the sheep, prepares a table before the sheep, anoints the sheep, and does everything for the sheep. That is shepherding.
How do you do it? Exercising oversight not by necessity, but willingly. In other words, when you exercise oversight, it is because of love, not because of duty.
If it is a position, then it carries some kind of notion of duty. If you take eldership as a position, then it is your duty to do it. Whether you like it or not, you have to do it. But it is not by duty. It is more than duty. It is life. So it is not by necessity, but willingly.
Not for dishonest gain, but readily. You are not trying to have that position in order that you may gain something for yourself—gain fame, a name, power, or whatever else for yourself. No, not for gain.
But there must be readiness. You are always ready to give—not to gain, but to give.
It is said here, “Not lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.” Do not consider God’s people as your possession.
We often hear people say, “My flock,” as if God’s people were their possession. They are not your possession. They belong to God. Therefore, you cannot lord it over them as if they were your possession and you could do anything with them that you like. They are not yours.
You are only a steward, a servant, a bondslave called by God to serve the flock of God. What should you do? You should be an example, a model for the flock.
The shepherd usually goes before the sheep. He is a living model. All the elders should be models for the flock. As a matter of fact, you look at the elders and you know what kind of flock they have, because they are the models.
It is only when the Chief Shepherd returns that those who are faithful in serving Him will receive the unfading crown of glory.
What are the qualifications of elders? If you go to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, you will find that many qualifications are mentioned there. We will not go over these qualifications one by one, but we will look at them as a whole.
First of all, the lists in Timothy and Titus are a little different. But remember, these are not exhaustive lists; they are illustrative lists. In other words, they give us some illustration of the kind of qualities God is looking for in an elder.
It is not a complete list. You do not go over this list one by one and say, “I am qualified for this, and I am not qualified for that,” and so on. No, it is not for that purpose. Even if you are qualified in every one of them, you may not be qualified.
It is not an exhaustive list. It simply gives us an impression of the kind of person God is looking for to take care of His own flock. He loves His flock so much that He wants to commit His flock to good and right hands. These are the qualities for which He is looking.
Strangely, in the world, when you want work done and employ a person for a certain job, what do you look for? You look for his education, experience, ability, and skill. You see whether he is qualified to do the job.
His character, lifestyle, and relationships are secondary matters; sometimes you do not even bother about them. That is the way of the world.
But in the house of God, when God is looking for people who will represent Him in His church, represent His authority, exercise oversight for Him, and represent His government, what does He look for? If you read these two lists, you will find that they are mainly, predominantly, a matter of character, not ability.
Only two items in the whole list may be considered abilities: governing one’s own household well and being able to teach. If you govern your own house well, then you can govern the house of God. You must also have the aptitude to teach, whether publicly or personally.
These two are the only abilities listed there. All the rest concern character: what kind of a man you are.
Brothers and sisters, do not think that these things listed are merely morality. You can find people in the world who are so moral that they could meet most of these requirements.
But these are not merely man-made morality. These are Christ being formed in their lives. In other words, it is not our natural temperament or morality; it is the remaking of our character. We are characterised by the character of Christ.
That is what the Lord is looking for in an elder, in one who will take oversight over the flock of God. So, you see again, it is a matter of life. It is a matter of life more than gift, more than talent.
He is conforming us to the image of Christ, and eldership is related to character. When is the church built? When the character of Christ is manifested, then the church is built.
The church is not built by being so well organised and so successful, with so many people and so many activities. No. The church is built when Christ is born and manifested.
Character is the thing that you look for in an elder. Without needing to mention it explicitly, to be an elder you need to have vision.
By vision, we mean that you need to know the purpose of God—the eternal purpose of God. Without vision, the people disintegrate. How can you lead the people, join the people, direct the people, help the people, consolidate the people, and build them together unless you have vision?
You need to know what the Lord is doing and what the Lord is after. Otherwise, how can you lead, direct, and help?
An elder needs to be a person who has vision. By vision, again, I say, we are not talking about the kind of vision that says God wants someone to be a missionary in a foreign land, evangelise the world, open an orphanage, establish a school, or do some particular work.
We are talking about the purpose in the heart and mind of God: the purpose He has for His Son and in His Son. With that purpose, He has been working through all the ages for that purpose to be realised. That is the vision you must have. Otherwise, you do not know where to lead God’s people.
To put it very simply, we do not have time to go into it: it is Christ and the church. That is the heavenly vision Paul saw on the road to Damascus. That is the vision John saw on the island of Patmos: the seven lampstands with Christ in the midst of them—Christ and the church.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see it in our spirit. This is the mystery of God. This is the mystery of Christ that has been revealed. We need to receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation called vision. This is for the building of the church.
Yesterday, we already mentioned: how does the eldership come about? Strangely, you find that even though Scripture says the apostles chose elders, it is not so in every case. We really do not know how elders came into being in all the different places.
You see that God is not bound by any rigid method. But one thing is certain: the elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit. That is certain.
The Holy Spirit appoints elders on what basis? On the basis of the measure of Christ in that person, because the Holy Spirit is always seeking to glorify Christ.
Then why did the apostles confirm them? I personally feel it was for the weak among God’s people. If you really live in the life of Christ and walk in the Spirit, you sense within yourself who the people are whom God has chosen to take the oversight. You know it. The Holy Spirit will manifest these people to you.
Only those who are weak need something external to help them know who is in the oversight. It is not necessary—really not necessary—because you do not find that in every case an apostle came, laid hands on them, and ordained them, as it were, to be elders.
Even when apostles chose them and prayed over them, they did not ordain them. They were divinely ordained by the Holy Spirit.
So, brothers and sisters, the whole matter again is a spiritual matter. It is a matter of life. If God’s people really live in the life of Christ and under the rule of the Holy Spirit, then when we come together and gather for a while, naturally those who are more advanced in life and upon whom God has put more responsibility begin, out of love, to serve more diligently and take care of the brothers and sisters.
Whenever you have a problem, brothers and sisters, you know who to go to. Nobody needs to tell you, “This is the responsible brother you need to go to.” You know who to go to naturally because you know that person can help you in the Lord. In this way, it is manifested.
Are you able to accept this? Do you need some people to be given a position before you can accept them? That tells a lot about your life. If you really live in the Spirit, you do not need these things. You know whom to submit to.
So I will not tell you how to choose the elders—whether you choose elders by vote, by secret ballot, or whatever it is. I do not know. I leave it to the Holy Spirit, and I hope you all will leave it to the Holy Spirit.
What is the relationship between the government and the brothers and sisters?