1 This is a true saying, If a mna desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.  2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;  3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;  4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)  6 Not a  novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.  7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

 

  The two epistles to Timothy, and that to Titus, contain a scripture-plan of church-government, or a direction to ministers.  Timothy, we suppose, was an evangelist who was left at Ephesus, to take care of those whom the Holy Ghost had made bishops there, that is, the presbyters, as appears by Acts 20:28  [Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.], where the care of the church was committed to the presbyters, and they were called bishops.  It seems they were very loth to part with Paul, especially because he told them they should see his face no more Acts 20:38 [ Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.  And they accompanied him unto the ship] ; for their church was but newly planted, they were afraid of undertaking the care of it, and therefore Paul left Timothy with them to set them in order.  And here we have the character of a gospel minister, whose office it is, as a bishop, to preside in a particular congregation of Christians:  If a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work.

 

8  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greed of filthy lucre;  9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.  10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found bllameless.  11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.  12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.  13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchased to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

 

Now it was requisite that deacons should have a good character, because they were assistants to the  ministers, appeared and acted publicly, and had a greatt trust reposed in them.

 

The New Testament uses four terms to describe the leadership of the church:  (1) "elder" (Gr., presbuteros) which places emphasis upon the authority that the leadership has to teach or rule in the church;  (2) "bishop" (Gr. episkopos- overseer) which emphasizes the fact that the leadership is charged with overseeing the local church and as such is responsible for the spiritual well-being of those in the church;  (3) "pastor" (Gr. poimen - shepherd) which places emphasis upon the responsibility of the leadership of the church to shepherd the flock.  No shepherd has ever given birth to his sheep.  It is the responsibility of those in lealdership to do for the sheep what they cannot do for themselves and to make sure that they are in good spiritual condition so that they can do what comes naturally, that is, begat other sheep;  (4) "deacon"  (Gr., diakonas - minister) which places emphasis upon the attitude that the leaders are to have in their leading.  They are not to "lord it over" the flock, but are to realize that they are ministers or servants of those whom the Lord has put under their care.

   The function of the office of elder is twofold: (1) teaching and (2) ruling.  1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especiallay they who labor in the word and doctrine. Those who are more laborious than others.  Observe, The presbytery ruled, and the same that ruled were those who laboured in the word and doctrine: they has not one to preach to them and another to rule them, but the work was done by one and the same person.  Some have imagined that by the elders that rule well the apostle means lay-elders, who were employed in ruling but not in teaching, who were concerned in church-government, but did not meddle with the administration of the word and sacraments; and I confess this is the plainest text of scripture that can be found to countenance such an opinion.  But it seem a little strange that mere ruling elders should be accounted worthy of double honor, when the apostle preferred preaching to baptizing, and much more would he prefer it to ruling the church; and it is more strange that the apostle should take no notice of them when he treats of church-officers; but, as it is hinted before, they had not, in the primitive church, one to preach to then and another to rule them, but ruling and teaching were performed by the same persons, only some might labor more in the word and doctrine than others.  An elder is to be able to teach his people what the Word of God teaches and to give direction as to how that is to be accomplished in and through the local church.

     The qualifications for the office of deacon are essentially the same as those for the elder except that the deacon need not be "apt to teach."  The deacons are to be spiritual and in tune with the elders and seek to assist them in complementing the goals that the elders feel the Spirit of God is leading them to pursue through the local church.