I.　The position of the elders:

A.　The position of the elders should not be considered a position of any rank— Matt. 20:20-28.

B.　The elders should never have any thought of securing their position.

C.　The elders should shepherd the "man flock" by setting themselves up as examples—1 Pet. 5:1-4.

D.　The leading ones should not be rulers but slaves, servants, who serve and do not control—v. 3.

E.　Strictly speaking, there is no authority given to the elders; to say that elders do not have any authority is against our natural thought—Matt. 23:8-12.

F.　It would be very beautiful to see that in the local churches there would only be the rendering of leading on the elders' side with no demand or claim of the believers' obedience and submission.

II.　The function of the elders:

A.　The elders have to manage the church just as a father manages his family, his house—1 Tim. 3:4-5.

B.　If a local church has elders who teach as a mother raising up her children, that church will be very good—v. 2.

C.　Those who labor in word and teaching are especially worthy of double honor— 5:17.

D.　The problems in a local church are mainly because of the lack of feeding— Matt. 24:45-46.

E.　We who are working for the Lord should never keep any work in our hand; we are slaves, and the work is the Lord's, not ours—Luke 17:7-10.

F.　The elders must realize that no church is their church; the church is God's possession, not the elders' possession—1 Pet. 5:2-3.