From a sermon preached at a Bible Church This is an excerpt of a sermon preached in a Bible-believing denomination. The text was Ecc chapter 9, and the specific verse for this part of the discussion was a section of verse 3: "The hearts of the sons of men are full of evil". I have offered to run a sermon from an Independent Baptist KJVO preacher against the gross sexual abuses that have gone unchecked and unconfronted in the IFB-KJVO churches. So far nobody has responded except to declaim that it is not their problem. But this preacher (not IFB), apparently, was moved enough by the grossness of the sins in these churches to exhort his own people to stay in a place where they are held accountable, from the newest member to the most senior pastor:

The Scriptural form of church government is a plurality of Biblically qualified elders. As equals, they can hold each other in check and accountable: if one man falls into sin, the others remove him and they seek to restore him to a position of fellowship with the Lord, hopefully fellowship with the Lord’s people, and under special circumstances perhaps even eventually to a position of leadership among God’s people. This is the Biblical form of church government. And why? Because “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil”

But what can happen if one man rises to a place of prominence in a church?
What can happen if the Biblical controls are not in place?
What can happen if a plurality of elders is missing from that church?
What can happen if the church is ruled by one man who is unaccountable?
Well we know that we’re making problems more likely, because “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil”

I sometimes visit a discussion forum on the Internet for a certain denomination and this denomination is having real problems with preachers who are abusive and sinful: preachers who commit acts of physical and sexual abuse against children; preachers who are in long term adulterous relationships; preachers who fail to discipline their own children, and who watch them fall into sexual immorality and abortion; preachers getting 14 year old girls pregnant; preachers advertising in pornographic magazines to find new partners---and all of this while they maintain a façade of spiritual incorruptibility.

Now let me say that horrific as all of this is, none of it surprises me, and I’m not taking aim at another body of Christians. I’m not suggesting that we have better raw material than they – that they have sin natures and we don’t. It grieves me when a man sins, but it doesn’t surprise me because “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil”

But the worst part is, because of a lack of accountability, these sins continue long term. If a man is caught in some of these sins, he admits it to some of his buddies, and everyone rejoices because he’s repented, and then it’s just business as usual, and the preacher moves on to another church were he does exactly the same things.

I hope that none of these horrific sins are present within our congregation, among our preachers, or among our leaders. I have no reason to think they are found among us, but because “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil” we must guard our own hearts and conduct, and furthermore, because “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil” we need to be mutually accountable with local church elders in the form of church government that God has mandated.