I.　One qualification of an overseer is "holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose"—Titus 1:9:

A.　The elders are appointed to administrate God's government in a local church that good order may be maintained in the church:

1.　The elders need to be able to stop troublesome talkers and calm a tumultuous situation—vv. 10-14.

2.　To accomplish this, the elders need to hold to the faithful word, which is according to the apostles' teaching.

B.　"The faithful word" is the trustworthy, reliable, and true word:

1.　Such a word must be taught in the churches according to the apostles' teaching.

2.　The elders in a local church should hold to this kind of healthy word that they may fulfill their duty in teaching—1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17.

C.　The teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42) eventually became the New Testament:

1.　This indicates that the churches were established according to the apostles' teaching and followed their teaching.

2.　This also indicates that the order of the churches was maintained by the faithful word, which was given according to the apostles' teaching.

D.　The disorder in the church is due mainly to deviation from the apostles' teaching:

1.　To counter this, we must hold to the faithful word taught in the churches according to the apostles' teaching.

2.　In a darkened and confused situation, we must cleave to the enlightening and ordering word in the New Testament—the apostles' teaching.

3.　To maintain order in the church, the apostles' word according to God's revelation is needed in addition to the eldership.

E.　By holding to the faithful word, an elder will be able to exhort by healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose.

II.　In the church there should be only one unique teaching—the teaching of the apostles:

A.　In God's New Testament economy the only kind of teaching revealed and recognized by God is the apostles' teaching.

B.　The apostles' teaching concerns Christ's person and redemptive work and God's economy in faith—2 John 9-11; 1 Tim. 1:3-4.

III.　Any teaching that was different from the apostles' teaching was not allowed by the apostles:

A.　No other belief besides the unique faith was allowed by the apostles—Gal. 1:7-9.

B.　Teachings that went beyond the teaching of Christ were not allowed by the apostles—2 John 9-11.

C.　All the teachings that were different from the unique revelation of God's New Testament economy were considered by the apostles to be winds of teaching—Eph. 4:14.

D.　God's holy writing should not be twisted by anyone in any way but rather unfolded rightly and straightly without any distortion—2 Pet. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15.

IV.　The apostles' teaching is the church's constitution; the church must hold it and be under it absolutely:

A.　The apostles' teaching is the constitution of the Christian faith—Jude 3; 1 Tim. 1:19; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7.

B.　The apostles' teaching, as the church's constitution, should be universally taught everywhere in every church in the same way—1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17.

C.　This constitution, like every constitution, must be properly interpreted.

V.　The teaching of the apostles is the holding factor of the one accord. If we limit ourselves to the apostles' teaching, we will be kept in oneness and will have one way for one goal.