Who is on Authority?

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<td valign="top" height=380 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Who is in Authority?</B></div> <bR> <div> The church as described in the New Testament is very much alive. It is described as a living organism, designed to operate very much like the human body with its intricate interrelationship of many parts and functions. This figure is employed particularly in Paul's New Testament letters about the church, as in Ephesians 4:"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love" (Eph 4:15-16).</div> <div> Let's focus our attention on the phrase, "every joint with which it is supplied." For just as in the human body, the church which is the Body of Christ must have joints and tendons and sinews which hold it together and enable it to function as a coordinated whole. In God's Church's, the joints and sinews are the administrative links which enable everything to hang together and operate smoothly, and without which the church functions poorly and ineffectively.</div> <div> Twentieth-first century church life and government are often characterized by one of two patterns: (1) the church is "run" by a dominant personality; usually the pastor or (2) it is governed by democratic procedures. But, neither of these even approximates the biblical plan of church government.</div> <div> The "dominant figure" brand of church government is mentioned in the New Testament only in negative terms. In one instance, Diotrephes is cited as one "who likes to put himself first" (3 John 9). He is considered Nicolaitan. His teaching and deeds, are clearly rebuked by the Lord in Revelation 2:6 and 15. The only clue we have to their error is in the meaning of the name. "Nicolaitans" is a term derived from the Greek words nikao, "to conquer"; and laos, "people." It thus portrays the "dominant figure" type of church operation. This is a concept which incurs the strong censure of the Lord in His word: "...you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate" (Rev. 2:6), and ". . . you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore . ." (Rev. 2:15-16). So the "dominant figure" approach is not God's way.</div> <div> But nowhere in the New Testament is the church set forth as a democracy! To say in a democratic country that the church is not a democracy is like being against motherhood. But if we are really committed to the New Testament as our source book and Standard, we need to face the problem directly and check out the source information. It is hard for us to stop defending our own preconditioned ideas on this matter, but what is the final authority- The New Testament, or our personal preconceptions and traditions?</div> <div> For understanding the biblical pattern, perhaps we should first recall that our Lord Jesus Christ is presented in the New Testament as the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4) and the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb. 13:20). So we need to ask the question, who leads the flock, the shepherd or the sheep? The answer is quickly apparent: no one ever expects a flock to lead its shepherd.</div> <div> Then, too, Jesus Christ is set forth as the Head of the church which is His Body (Eph. 1:22-23). And it is obvious that orders proceed from the head to the body, not vice versa. It seems clear that the church is not to be a democracy, but a theocracy, with its rule coming from the Lord Jesus Christ, its exalted Head (Col. 1:18; 2:10, 1:19).</div> <div> It seems, then, that a theory of church government is quite clearly spelled out in these concepts. But how is this worked out in practical detail? What human agency of governing authority has been stipulated in the New Testament? And could not the Head communicate directly to each member of His body and govern through democratic procedures?</div> <div> To answer the last question first, there is no doubt that He could govern through a democratic structure, but that's not what He chose to do. Rather, He chose to say through His apostles, "For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I [Apostle Paul] had appointed thee:" (Tit. 1:5), and "Let the Elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor" (1 Tim. 5:17-22). </div> <div> We read, in early church history, Paul was able to call together the elders of the Ephesian church and charge them, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28). Notice it is called "the church of God," and the leaders are appointed as "overseers [ guardians], to feed the church." Also, it was through the Spirit of God in Paul who appointed them---not a democratic electoral process. The word overseer used in this verse describe those whom God made responsible for governing His Church: Elders, [guardians]. The word elder speaks of maturity, in this case spiritual maturity---an obvious necessity for those who have the responsibility, to see to the welfare of the flock and to care for the well-being of God's people.</div> <div> In the book of Hebrews the writer says, "Remember those who have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God... . .", and, "Obey those who have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they keep watch over your souls as ones who must give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, . . . " (Heb. 13:7,17).</div> <div> The Biblical pattern of church government is laid out for us in terms of men who were called and appointed to the office of governing and leading the flock of God. But who appoints these elders or guardians? In actuality, God!! He is the one who has given gifts for ministry- He knows who has the spiritual maturity and the leadership qualities which He Himself imparts, thus He alone is qualified to make these appointments.</div> <div> But, you say to yourself, this is still mysterious to me. What human agency does God use to let us know who it is He wants to lead and rule? Could God still not do this through a democratic election? We hasten to answer yes, He could. But what did He do in the past, will help us understand better. Let's check the Bible record.</div> <div> The first appointment of an elder in the New Testament is reported in John, chapter 21. In this well-known scene between the Jesus Christ and the Apostle Peter we read, "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs." A second time He said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep" (John 21:15-17). We will not attempt a detailed study of this dialogue, but lets highlight certain verses that are part of our present question. </div> <div> We can notice that the Lord changed the wording each time He charged Peter. Verse 15 He said, "Feed My lambs." Vs.16 He says, "Tend (literally, shepherd) My sheep." And in Vs.17 He says, "Feed My sheep." It is significant to observe that the primary charge, is to "feed," it is twice repeated, and in between the two He says, "Shepherd My sheep." The emphasis is clearly that feeding the flock is the main business of the elder but not the total of his responsibility; it is his job to care for the sheep just as the Chief Shepherd Himself does. Here is a clear assignment of responsibility which Peter himself recognized as his, as seen in his first letter, "The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and </div> <div> also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight of them, not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy lucre but out of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but by being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet. 5:1-4).</div> <div> Notice that the Scripture in 1 Peter 5 relates the terms elder and shepherd of the flock to the same person, in this case Peter himself. In John 21:verse 16, "shepherd My sheep" is equivalent to Peter's appointment and assignment to be a Pastor, or what we might call his ordination into a Pastoral ministry, Peter's command to "tend the flock of God" in 1 Pet. 5:2, is literally "shepherd the flock." From this idea we get the term Pastor. A Pastor is to be a shepherd of God's flock.</div> <div> Summarizing, we have in the term Elder, the basic qualification for leadership; that is, spiritual maturity, spiritual guardians set forth with the responsibility of oversight and accountability to our Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And in the term Pastor we have reflected the hearts attitude necessary to fulfill the job. A Pastor must be one who really has the care and feeding of God's flock on his heart and is willing to lay down his life for the sheep as the Good Shepherd did---not necessarily in dying for them, but in living for them---as a living sacrifice. In all this there is accountability only in one direction---to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. </div> <div> The next step in tracing the appointment of elders leads us to the history of the early church as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. One of these acts was the appointment of elders, as the Apostles Paul and Barnabas did in Acts 14:23, as God's representatives. "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.</div> <div> It is referenced in Acts 15, where there were already elders in the Jerusalem church. They are mentioned in all these scriptures in addition to the apostles, giving us additional evidence of an emerging structure of church administration and government. These elders, in company with the apostles, were consulted on the early problems of church life, making binding decrees without benefit of congregational approval, as seen in the account of the first church council recorded in Acts 15: 2, 4, 6, 22, and 23.</div> <div> The next thread of evidence in the New Testament comes from Paul's instructions to Titus and Timothy in the Pastoral/Ministerial Epistles [letters], especially 1 Timothy and Titus. When Paul instructs Titus, "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:5-9). The word "bishop" in Vs. 7, in some versions and "overseer" in others, is the same Greek word translated "guardian".</div> <div> The instruction in Titus is amplified by that in 1 Timothy 3:1 and 1 Peter 5:1-4, and in the emerging church order reflected by these pastoral letters it seems apparent that these specifications were recorded for future reference, not just for their time and place. So, in the first century and down to the twentieth first, we have in these verses God's specification sheet outlining His requirements for leadership in the Church of God.</div> <div> The final safeguard is self-evaluation by God's standards, through reviewing the qualifications from the Scriptures themselves as to what God expects from those in positions of spiritual leadership. Simply reading through these Scriptures has a very sobering and salutary effect.</div> <div> The Apostle Paul says again, "This is a true saying: If a man desire the office of bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt at teaching; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One who ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all dignity. (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) He must not be a novice in the faith, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good reputation with those who are outsiders, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." (1 Tim. 3:1-7)</div> <div> Apostle Peter says, "The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight of them, not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy lucre but out of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but by being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet. 5:1-4).</div> <div> After studying these verses, it would be appropriate in measuring leadership potential to ask each man if he is convinced the Lord wants him to serve as God's appointed guardian of the flock. Each man should answer for himself the two questions, "1) Am I, God's man for this job? 2) Do I qualify?"</div> <div> As we review the specifications it would seem that no one today, qualifies until we reflect that God is not demanding perfection, but rather a heart commitment and a quality of life consistent with the character of His Son Jesus Christ. God knows how imperfectly we perform, but He is concerned with our heart commitment to His standards and a willingness to be conformed to this pattern, as men under construction. As a matter of fact, He is so serious about this office being fulfilled with honor that He gives special instructions and a solemn charge about the treatment of elders: "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine. For the Scripture saith, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," and, "The laborer is worthy of his reward." Against an elder receive not an accusation, except before two or three witnesses. Those who sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality" (1 Tim. 5:17-21).</div> <div> In regard of this sobering charge from our Lord it seems that we should treat the matter of church government and administration with corresponding seriousness, seeking to fulfill God's pattern and His ways, so that "From whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love" (Eph. 4:16).</div> <div> We have sought to establish who is in charge and responsible for the proper functioning of His church. Now, we see before us the imposing demands of the task, We can tie everything together and give our Lord Jesus Christ the full and free use of His Body which is the Church of God. </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Martin Martinez</div> <div> <B>Letters:</B></div> <div> Dear Sir,</div> <div> "We enjoy the weekly News letter very much! Please do know that we truly appreciate this! I believe it is good for us to be fully aware of some of the events that are going on around the world especially Israel and Palestinians. As the Bible says we are to always be watchful of what is happening around us so that we would recognize the signs of Christ's soon coming Kingdom-and be ready.</div> <div> That interesting concept about the elects being gathered in the heavens mentioned in the book of Luke. Of course we know that God will reveal us the real truth of some things in the Bible when the time is right. Regarding the remnant mentioned in Rev. 12:17, we often wonder about the meaning of that. Yes, it may be very true that those who do not keep Passover on God's true appointed time could be the remnant mentioned in the Bible. Time will tell. We do hope very much to be a part of Christ's bride and have the special privilege to help Christ rule in the World Tomorrow. That would be so awesome! Thank you so much for all the work you do for us." <B>Oregon</B></div> <bR> <div> Dear Sir,</div> <div> "Thank you very much for sending the "Prove All Things," sermon tapes, and the weekly News Letters. We do appreciate all the work you put in to help the Brethren, and when we read the Newsletters, especially about all that is happening in America, we find that the decline in the Nation that your experiencing, is fully echoed over here. We are getting all these various directives from the EU which are absolutely crazy, yet our Government have implemented them as laws and to date, the European Commission have made up in the region of 110,000 new laws. So we are hoping and praying that Christ returns very soon to destroy this bondage we find our-selves having to accept." <B>England</B></div> <bR> <div> Dear Mr. Russell,</div> <div> I have worked again through the material you supplied on the starting point of the point of the new moon. Every time I read about this subject, it is so obvious that the new moon starts with the disappearance of the waning crescent. It goes beyond my mind why it is so difficult for the majority of Christian believers to accept this truth! </div> <div> One point of clarification: does the new moon start at the end of the day it appears on or at the beginning of the evening before? It will be greatly appreciated if you would help me in this regards! <B>South Africa</B></div> <div> [Answer: the new moon day is the day the waning crescent moon disappears! We don't postpone it until the end of the day and make the next day the new moon day!]. </div> <bR> <div> Dear Mr. Russell, warmest greetings,</div> <div> Thank you so very much for the "Prove All Things," Special Calendar Edition, Postponement booklet and the other material you sent. Of course with gladness I would share them with others looking for truth. Once again, thank you very much for your kind assistance. Closing with best regards to you and your congregation. <B>Indonesia.</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>