02.28. THE CHURCH - 04 - Its Ministry

THE CHURCH – 04 – Its Ministry

In the widest sense the ministers of the church are all who in any way serve the church, for the word "minister" means "servant." All service of God or his church is honorable and blessed. We should find our highest joy in the imitation of Christ, who came to minister (Matthew 20:28). Who was in the midst of his disciples as One that served (Luke 22:27). The Lord Jesus has told us that the way to greatness is the way of service. He who is great, serves; he who is greatest is bondservant of all (Mark 10:43-44). "Divine service" is a term whose widest use is rare. It is service we celebrate when we come together and worship in the manner specified above; but it is also divine service when in any way we try to serve Christ. "Whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17). But we also rightly use the word "ministry" in a more limited sense. It is clear from the New Testament that special duties devolved upon appointed persons. The Lord’s work is varied in character, and, as was fitting and orderly, a division of labor was made. There was no special ministerial class or caste. There was not for many years after the apostolic age anything like the modern distinction between clergy and laity. Above all, it must be noted that there was no sacerdotal class, claiming to have exclusive right to exercise priestly functions. This idea was derived from the priesthood of the Old Testament, and was illegitimately transferred to the New. All Christians are priests unto God, and offer up spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9). Jesus Christ himself is now our sole Priest in a sense other than that belonging to all Christians; he is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). The pretensions of modern sacredotalism are false, unscriptural and even blasphemous in that they transgress on the prerogatives of our Lord. The ministry of the church is often divided into two classes: Extraordinary, including apostles and prophets. Ordinary, of which the chief subdivisions are evangelists, elders and deacons. It cannot be said that these classes were necessarily exclusive; e.g., Peter was both an apostle and an elder (1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 5:1). Apostles.--The word "apostle" means "messenger," "envoy," "one sent." We have the word specially used (a) of Christ himself (Hebrews 3:1). Jesus, we know, was "sent" from God (John 3:16):

(b) the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus from the company of his disciples--Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot (Matthew 10:2-4). Judas betrayed Jesus and committed suicide (Matthew 27:5). To fill the vacancy, Matthias was appointed, and "was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:15-26). Later, Saul of Tarsus had a special call from the risen Christ to be his apostle (Acts 26:14-18); he was as one born out of due time (1 Corinthians 15:8).

(c) We have others called apostles e. g., Barnabas, who is so named in conjunction with Paul (Acts 14:14; cf. Php 2:25; 2 Corinthians 8:23). These may have been so called because they were "sent forth" by the churches.

      We have chiefly to notice the apostles of Christ. They were chosen to be the instruments of founding and guiding the affairs of the church. We notice that they were specially qualified for this great work.

(a) They had all personal knowledge of Christ, and could give direct witness of what they had seen and heard. (See John 15:27; Acts 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 1 Corinthians 15:8).

(b) They were chosen by Christ himself (Matthew 10:1-5; Acts 1:24; Acts 9:15; Acts 22:14).

(c) They were inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that their words came with all the force of the word of God. Apostolic authority depended on this. To hear the apostles is to hear Christ; to reject their word is to reject him (Luke 10:16; Matthew 16:19; cf. John 20:23). See our fourth lesson dealing with the Holy Spirit’s work of inspiration, and with the baptism in the Spirit. John 16:13-14, and 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 may suffice for reference here. In our New Testament Scriptures we have the benefits of this inspiration.

(d) The apostles had miraculous powers which helped to corroborate their testimony (Acts 2:43; Acts 5:12; Acts 14:9-10, etc.). Because of the fact that we do not find men now who have the above qualifications, as well as the blessed truth that the New Testament gives us the teaching and guidance of the apostles, we do not believe in apostolic succession. There is no hint in the Bible of it. The apostles as such--from the very nature of the case, it is evident--had no successors.

Prophets.--A prophet is a forth-teller, one who speaks on behalf of another or in another’s name. In the Bible prophecy is used to denote inspired speech. We have the gift of prophecy as a miraculous endowment of the Spirit (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40). Prophets foretold events (Acts 11:27-28); this was a consequence of their inspiration, and their prophesying was not confined to this. They exhorted and edified the church (Acts 15:32; 1 Corinthians 14:1-4). The gift of prophecy was sometimes bestowed on women (Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5). We come now to what we believe to be the permanent ministry of the church. Evangelists.--The derivation of this word shows its meaning; an evangelist is a publisher of glad news or good tidings. The Greek word for "evangelist" occurs only three times in the New Testament (Acts 21:8; Ephesians 4:11; 2 Timothy 4:5). The Greek word for "evangelize" occurs more than fifty times (see, e.g., Luke 1:19; Luke 2:10; Luke 8:1; Acts 13:32; 1 Thessalonians 3:6; Revelation 10:7). These passages show that evangelizing was not the prerogative of a few members of the church, or a work from which others were excluded. Yet it is clear that some were so devoted to this work as to derive from it the distinctive name of "evangelist." Philip and Timothy were such. The function of the evangelist was to preach the gospel. The converts made through the preaching he would baptize and gather together, encouraging them to observe the things the Savior commanded (Matthew 28:20) and to attend to the worship appointed for their spiritual good. He would naturally care for this congregation or church until elders and deacons were appointed. The evangelists of primitive times may generally have had some special endowment of the Spirit, some "spiritual gift"; and this has suggested to some that, since the miraculous endowments have ceased, therefore the office of evangelist itself has ceased. The reasoning is hardly cogent. The work of an evangelist is as necessary to-day as it ever was, and must be done: he who is devoted to it, who makes it his life’s work to evangelise or proclaim the good news of the gospel, is an evangelist. We now notice some men whose office was a local one, whose work lay with the local congregation in a sense in which that of the apostles, prophets, and evangelists did not. Bishops or Elders.--The Greek word "bishop" (or "overseer") is found five times in the New Testament (Acts 20:28; Php 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25). The word for "elder" is much more frequently used, sometimes of the Jewish elders (Matthew 15:2; Matthew 26:57); sometimes of the elders in Revelation (4:4, 19:4, etc.), often a special body of men in the New Testament church (Acts 14:23; Acts 20:17; 1 Timothy 5:1; 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Timothy 5:19; Titus 1:5; James 5:14). These two names "bishop" and "elder" were names of the same class of men, and did not apply to distinct offices; this may be seen from various Scriptures:

(a) Php 1:1 addresses "bishops and deacons." An intermediate class of elders, had there been one, could hardly have been overlooked.

(b) Acts 20:17; Acts 20:28. The "elders" of Acts 20:17 are the "bishops" of Acts 20:28.

(c) 1 Timothy 3:2-7 has for the "bishop" the qualifications laid down for "elders" in Titus 1:6-9. These men were also called "pastors" or "shepherds" (Ephesians 4:11), for they had to feed the flock of God; the verb, corresponding to the noun in Ephesians 4:11, is used of the bishops in Acts 20:28 and of the elders in 1 Peter 5:2.

We note that there were in the New Testament churches a number of elders. There was no such thing in apostolic days as a bishop with authority over a diocese containing many congregations; the one church had, instead, a plurality of bishops (see Acts 14:23; cf. Titus 1:5). The former of these passages shows that it would be wrong to say that there cannot be a church after the New Testament pattern without an eldership; these, and the other Scriptures referred to, show, I think, that there cannot be a church fully and scripturally organised without an eldership. The qualifications of elders or bishops are very fully and explicitly laid down in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9. The list of qualifications is an instructive one, if only from the point of view of showing what character a Christian man, a pattern to others, may be expected to have. A bishop or elder must be--blameless, husband of one wife, possessed of faithful children, a good ruler of his own house, vigilant, not self-willed, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, a lover of good men, just, holy, patient, temperate, not given to wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, not covetous, not soon angry, no striker, not a brawler, well reported of by folk who are not Christians, not a novice, holding fast the word, apt to teach. Since no mere man is perfect, it is obvious that these requirements must not be interpreted so absolutely as to make an eldership impossible. The duties of bishops are seen in the foregoing. They had charge of the spiritual affairs of the church. They watched over souls for whom they expected to give account to God. They ruled (1 Timothy 5:7), yet did not lord it over God’s heritage (1 Peter 5:3). They taught (1 Timothy 3:2). These duties are permanent and the church’s welfare depends on their being faithfully attended to. Deacons.--The word "deacon" means "servant," "waiter" or "minister." The Greek word diakonos is used in the New Testament of Christ (Romans 15:8); the apostles (Matthew 20:26; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 3:6); evangelists (1 Timothy 4:6); any faithful servant of the Lord (John 12:26); magistrates (Romans 13:4); waiters at feasts (Matthew 22:13; John 2:5; John 2:9); an attendant (Luke 4:20); emissaries of Satan (2 Corinthians 11:15). But the word was used in a special sense of men holding a particular office in the church (Php 1:1). Acts 6:1-7 and 1 Timothy 3:8-12 should be consulted as to the qualifications and work of these men. Apparently they had charge of the secular affairs of the church. They did not rule; that was the elders’ work (1 Timothy 5:17), they were servants. Their work was honorable and important; not just any man could do it; the qualifications demand faithful men, spiritually minded, sound in the faith, an example in life to others. To serve the Lord or his church is an honor: "They that have served well as deacons gain to themselves & good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 3:13). Deaconesses.--In Romans 16:1 Phoebe is spoken of as a servant of the church which is at Cenchrae. The word used is diakonos, deaconess or servant. It is impossible to be certain that there was a special office of deaconess in the apostolic church, but Romans 16:1, read in light of the obvious fact that women could fittingly and well minister to their own sex, makes it highly probable. The "women" of 1 Timothy 3:11 (R.V.) are by many thought to be deaconesses: we cannot definitely say so. Widows. Some include the widows of 1 Timothy 5:9-15 among the "deaconesses." The identification is possible, but is really gratuitous. That these "widows" were a special class rendering service and supported by the church, is practically certain. The qualification and age-limit forbid our reading the passage with reference to applicants for church membership or to recipients of pecuniary aid from the church. Helps and Governments are referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:28 but it is impossible to prove that the apostle has in mind offices rather than functions. It may be, as Hort suggests, that "helps" are "anything that could be done for poor or weak or outcast brethren, either by rich or powerful or influential brethren, or by the devotions of those who stood on no such eminence," while "governments" refers to "men who by wise counsels did for the community what the steersman or pilot does for the ship." The Greek words for "helps" and "governments" are in the New Testament found in this passage only.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is meant by worship? 2. What are the conditions of acceptable worship? 3. Did the early church have any stated time for worship? Give Scriptural references illustrating answer. 4. What acts of worship are expected of us? 5. What is taught in the New Testament concerning our hymns of praise? 6. Why was the Supper instituted? How often should Christians attend to it? 7. Name the apostles. What do you know of the work and authority of the apostles of Christ? 8. What are bishops, and what their duties? 9. State the qualifications of an elder 10. What are the qualifications and work of deacons? 11. What did prophets do? 12. What is meant by "evangelist"? What were the duties of evangelists?