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The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 A.D.)

In English:
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;
And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets;
And we believe in one, holy, catholic (meaning = universal) and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.
We look for the Resurrection of the dead,
And the Life of the age to come. Amen.

Romans 12:3-8 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

1. The responsibility of Membership.

A. Grow in Community.
B. Serve in Ministry.

2. The results of Membership.

A. Assurance
B. Evangelism
C. Edification
D. Glorifying God

Additional Scriptures

Romans 12: 9-21 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 Corinthians 12:14-26. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?

If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Ephesians 4:11-16. 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

1 Peter 2:6-17. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

Acts 20:28-32. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. 32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

1. The meaning of Elder.

-presbuterous. episcopos. poiman. All used interchangeably.

Strong’s number: 4245 presbýteros – properly, a mature man having seasoned judgment (experience); an elder.

Strong’s Number: 1985 episcopos an overseer; a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly, any curator, guardian or superintendent the superintendent, elder, or overseer of a Christian church.

Strong’s Number: 4166 poiman. a herdsman, esp. a shepherd in the parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow metaph. the presiding officer, manager, director, of any assembly: so of Christ the Head of the church of the overseers of the Christian assemblies of kings and princes

1 Peter 5:1-2. So I exhort the elders (4245) among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 1Pe 5:2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

Titus 1:5. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders (4245) in every town as I directed you–

Acts 20:28. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (1985), to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Verses where Elders in a local context are referred to in the plural.

Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders (4245) in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops (1985) and deacons:

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders (4245) of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

2. The character of an Elder.

Be able to teach. More than a Deacon. Deacon is to serve. Elder to serve, lead and teach.

3. The role of an Elder.

A. Doctrine. Must be able to teach.

1Ti 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

ELLIOT’S COMMENTARY:
Apt to teach.—The elder should possess something more than a willingness, or glad readiness, to teach the less instructed the mysteries of the faith. He ought also to have the far rarer qualification of a power to impart knowledge to others. Zeal is not by any means the only, or even the principal, qualification to be sought for in a minister of the Word.

BENSON COMMENTARY: Apt, or fit, to teach — By having a thorough knowledge of the things he is to teach, a clear manner of expressing his thoughts, and an earnest desire to instruct the ignorant; or one that is himself well instructed in the things of the kingdom of God, and is communicative of what he knows; is both able and willing to impart to others the knowledge which God hath given him.

BARNES’ NOTES ON THE BIBLE: Apt to teach – Greek, “Didactic;” that is, capable of instructing, or qualified for the office of a teacher of religion. As the principal business of a preacher of the gospel is to “teach,” or to communicate to his fellow-men the knowledge of the truth, the necessity of this qualification is obvious. No one should be allowed to enter the ministry who is not qualified to impart “instruction” to others on the doctrines and duties of religion; and no one should feel that he ought to continue in the ministry, who has not industry, and self-denial, and the love of study enough to lead him constantly to endeavor to “increase” in knowledge, that he may be qualified to teach others. A man who would “teach” a people, must himself keep in advance of them on the subjects on which he would instruct them.

B. Discipline.
C. Direction. They lead.
D. Distinction. A Godly example to others.

The Key to Sanctification

Before we look at these verses, let me ask a question: what is the purpose of food? Is it given to enjoy or to impart life? It is a necessity. Without it we waste away literally and wither and die. Now listen to Jesus:

John 4:31-34 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

To Jesus, doing God’s will and being in subjection to it completely was his life’s necessity. It gave him life so to speak. It was his life! That’s why he was willing to go to the cross and bear the wrath of God, not just the nails.

So when we read the scriptures or are instructed in what they say, and you are tempted to rebel against what God has revealed or commanded in them, ask yourself, is obedience and submission to God’s will your very “food of life”? If it’s not, why not?

This isn’t something we can do. People can’t do this on their own power, only through grace. When we are “saved” we are Justified through grace. I think all evangelicals understand this fairly well and can quote Ephesians 2:8-9. But then we want to go on the performance treadmill and sanctify ourselves by our own hand instead of what the bible says, which is to be sanctified by grace as well through the working of the Spirit of Christ. The miracle of grace and mercy is a wonderful thing because it is totally alien to us. We can’t merit sanctification anymore than justification. It must be a work done in us, from outside of us.

Pray that God would sanctify you so that the Spirit of Jesus (total obedience and submission) would be evident and powerful in your life. And if someone asks you why you do what you do or why you are such a submissive spirit, answer: because God had mercy on me.

Contact Adam Osborne JR

Note from Adam Osborne, Jr. Here are 2 of my father’s sermons. For those who are young and have never heard an “Old Time” gospel preacher before, a “tent revival” type of preaching, you might be caught a little off guard with this form of preaching. But, back in the 60’s and 70’s this type of preaching was common….Adam Jr…..

1. What Will Thou That I Will Do Lord?

2. Come, For All Things Are Now Ready!