WEBVTT

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Thank you for being here tonight. We've got a

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good crowd. We've had good singing. Thank you

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for your participation in the service tonight.

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I want to thank Brother Mark for introducing

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the topic, the theme of this gospel meeting.

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We're going to continue tonight to explore the

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idea of restoring New Testament Christianity

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and how we are convinced and convicted that we

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can do just that by going back to the Bible to

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find our faith, find our doctrine, and find our

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practice. As Brother Mark said, we're going to

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Talk tonight about restoring God's plan for the

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organization of the church. And that plan involves

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elders, evangelists, teachers, and other offices.

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We're going to talk about restoring God's plan

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for the organization of His church. We do believe

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God does have a plan. He has a pattern. He has

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a blueprint for us to follow. And that plan,

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that blueprint is revealed to us. It's laid out

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to us in the New Testament. You know, when God

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has a plan for something, whether it's the organization

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of the church, the worship of the church, a plan

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for the gospel, or the plan of salvation even,

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anytime God gives us a plan, we know that we

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shouldn't add to that plan. We also know it'd

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be unwise to try to take away from that plan

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or to try to substitute God's plan for any other

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plan at all. I want us to go to our Bibles this

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evening, and the first thing we're gonna do is

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we're gonna let the New Testament reveal to us

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and show us what the original plan and pattern

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was for organization in the church that Jesus

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built in the first century. The first thing we

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do when we go to the New Testament and study

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what it teaches about the church, we learn that

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Jesus is the one head of the church. Colossians

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1 .18 says he, that's Jesus, is the head of the

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body, the church. So we know that Jesus reigns

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supreme as the only head over his body which

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is his church. Now the church that Jesus built

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does not have many heads. The Apostle Peter was

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never the head of the church. The Pope cannot

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or will never be the head of the church. No man

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has any right to claim headship over the church

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that Jesus built. Neither does any council of

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men or any governing board of men. There's only

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one head over Christ's church and that's Jesus

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himself. We also learn from the New Testament

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it teaches that Jesus only built one body. There's

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only one church. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse

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4 it says there's one body and one spirit even

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as you're called and one hope of your calling.

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One Lord, one faith, one baptism. New Testament

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teaches there's only one body. There's only one

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church. Now the Lord is not the head over many

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different bodies. That is not the teaching of

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Scripture. Though we see the religious world

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around us, we see a lot of sects, a lot of divisions,

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we see a lot of denominations in the religious

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world around us, we understand that that's not

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the will of God. Jesus never intended to be the

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one head over many different bodies. Here's God's

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plan for the church Jesus built. He is the one

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head over the one church that he built. One head

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over one body. Now the one body of Jesus, the

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one church that He built, we understand that

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it is made up of many different congregations

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spread out all over the face of the globe. All

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the Christians in a given area come together

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to form a congregation of that one church that

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Jesus built. Now when we talk about one church

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in the form of many different congregations,

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we're not talking about many different churches

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all found in one place. We're not talking about

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Church A here on the northwest side of town and

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then a different church Church B on the southwest

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side of town and across the street Church E It

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wears a different name and Church C is right

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around the corner and it's different it preaches

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different doctrines and a different gospel We're

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not talking about the religious division that

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we see so commonly in our communities today that

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religious division is brought to us by something

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we talked about earlier in the week, the idea

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of denominationalism. That's not what we're talking

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about when we talk about one church made of many

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congregations. We're talking about one in the

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same church simply found in many different areas

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or many different locations. Just like we see

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the church revealed in the New Testament. You

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know, Paul wrote letters, epistles to the church

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at Rome. He wrote also to the same church, the

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same part of the body, but that part of the body

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was in Ephesus and Philippi. He wrote a letter

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to the church at Colossae. He wrote a letter

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to the churches in the land of Galatia and Corinth.

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You know, in the New Testament we don't find

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many different denominations. Colossae, Corinth,

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Galatia, Thessalonica, they weren't all different

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denominations. They were all part of one in the

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same church. They just happened to be congregations

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found in many different places. Here's something

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else that we learned when we study the New Testament

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concerning these churches. The first century

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congregations of the church were autonomous,

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meaning they were independent and self -governing.

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You could have several different congregations

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in close proximity in a given area, but each

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congregation was overseen by its own leadership.

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It was independent and self -governing, setting

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itself apart from the other congregations. We

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also find that part of What we see in the New

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Testament is there was nothing or nobody or no

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board or no hierarchy above the local congregations

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of Christ Church. The only thing above the congregations

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of the church would be Jesus Christ himself as

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the head of the body of the church. Now here's

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something else we want to see concerning the

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original pattern for church organization. We

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want to go back and study the original offices.

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that the New Testament authorizes for the church

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that Jesus built. We're going to spend quite

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a bit of time on this tonight, but I think it's

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worth it because it's very important that we

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understand these offices. We're going to find

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five of the six offices that we're going to talk

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about tonight here in Ephesians chapter 4 verse

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11 to 12. Ephesians chapter 4, 11 to 12, the

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Bible says he gave some apostles and some prophets

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and some evangelists and some pastors and some

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teachers. He gave them for the perfecting of

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the saints, for the work of the ministry, for

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the edifying of the body of Christ." So here

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we find Paul writing to the Ephesians about the

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various offices within the church. And the word

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office is a scriptural term, so I think we're

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okay to use the word office here. But it sort

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of sounds very technical in nature. We can think

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about these offices as unique sets of roles and

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responsibilities. unique sets of roles and responsibilities

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for capable, trained, and brothers in the church

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to serve in to help the congregation be spiritually

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strong. That's what we mean when we talk about

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church offices. Now I want to break this passage

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down a little bit starting in verse 11. It starts

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off there by saying, and He gave some. Who is

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He? He is Christ. And what did He give? What

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did He give? If we back up in the chapter to

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verses 7 and 8, it gives us some insight into

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exactly what verse 11 talks about. Verse 7 of

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Ephesians 4 says, But unto every one of us is

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given grace according to the measure of the gift

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of Christ. In verse 8 it says, When He Christ

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ascended up on high, He gave gifts to men. So

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the resurrected glorified Christ, when He ascended

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up to the Father, the Bible says He gave gifts

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to men. He gave them talents and abilities and

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blesses them with opportunities to serve in these

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offices. Now that's significant because these

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offices we're getting ready to study were given

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by Christ. They are ordained by Him. He is the

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one who makes these offices possible and enables

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and equips people to serve in these offices.

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What offices does it mention here concerning

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the church that Jesus built? It mentions five

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apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and

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teachers. These are five of the six unique roles

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and responsibilities that we see when we study

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the New Testament church. Now, for what purpose

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were these offices given? Were these offices

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given just so men could have the title of evangelist

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or the title of apostle? so they could have their

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picture on the church website and have their

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name and the title underneath it so they could

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just have the name and hold the office. Is that

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why the offices were given? No. No, the Bible

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tells us in verse 12 why Christ put these offices

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in the church. He put them there for the perfecting

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or the equipping of the saints, for the work

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of the ministry, that service. for the edifying,

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that's the building up of the body of Christ,

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that's the church. So each and every one of these

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offices was given not just for someone to have

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a title and to feel good about serving in some

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position. Each one of these offices was given

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with the purpose of enabling and equipping and

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building up the body as a whole. Now there's

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one more office we'll talk about tonight. I don't

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know why it's not listed in Ephesians chapter

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4. I do know it's found in 1st Timothy chapter

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3. And that's the office of a deacon, the office

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of a deacon. 1 Timothy 3 .13, for they that have

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used the office of a deacon well purchase to

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themselves a good degree and great boldness in

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the faith that is in Christ Jesus. So we find

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another office there, the office of a deacon.

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And when we combine it with the other five offices

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we saw in Ephesians 4, here's what we have. Now

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I wanna go down this list of offices and I wanna

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talk about each one of them briefly so we get

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a good understanding. of what each office is

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and why it was important to the church that Jesus

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built. And we're going to start there at the

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top with apostles. The New Testament church had

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apostles. What were they doing? They were witnessing.

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They were witnessing to the death, the burial,

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the resurrection of Jesus. You remember after

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Judas lost his life after he died, The apostles

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came together there in Jerusalem and they found

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it necessary to select another person to take

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the place of Judas. They needed another apostle.

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And the Bible talks about how they went about

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doing that in Acts chapter 1 verse 21. It says,

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Wherefore, of these men which have accompanied

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with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went

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in and out among us, beginning from the baptism

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of John, Under that same day that he was taken

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up from us, they said, Must one be ordained to

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be a witness, a witness with us of his resurrection?

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We skip down to verse 26. It says that they gave

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forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias.

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And this man, Matthias, he was numbered with

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the eleven apostles. He took the place of Judas

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and took his apostleship. What do we learn about

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apostles from this verse? The word apostle just

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means a delegate or one that is sent out with

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a message or one that is sent out on a mission.

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That's what the word apostle literally means.

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And that's so true of the apostles. The apostles

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were the delegates, the ambassadors that Christ

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chose and He sent them out with a message, the

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message of the gospel to witness and testify

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of Him. The apostles, as we saw there in Acts

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1, had to be first -hand witnesses of Jesus.

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When it came time to replace Judas and his apostleship,

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they said, we need to find a man who has been

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a first -hand witness of Christ's life, his ministry,

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his death, burial, and resurrection. And they

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chose a man, Matthias, who was one of those first

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-hand witnesses of the ministry of Jesus. And

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for that reason, you know, we don't have apostles

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in the church today. We don't have anyone living

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today who can... Truthfully say they're a first

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-hand witness of the ministry the death burial

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and resurrection of Jesus Christ However, don't

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think for a moment that the Apostles aren't important

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to us today. The Apostles are very important

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to us today I believe the Apostles indeed do

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speak to us today. They don't speak to us directly,

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but they speak to us indirectly Through the teachings

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that they have left us in our New Testament.

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They speak through the Word of God What about

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prophets? What were prophets doing in the first

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century church? The prophets were revealing things,

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revealing messages, revealing truths from God.

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You know, Acts chapter 11 talks about a prophet

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in the first century church. His name was Agabus.

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In Acts 11, 27, it says, In these days came prophets

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from Jerusalem to Antioch, and there stood up

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one of them named Agabus, and he signified by

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the Spirit that there should be a great dearth

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throughout all the world. Here a Christian prophet,

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Agabus, he predicts this great global famine

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that was going to come. And there were prophets

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in the first century church that could do just

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that. They could foretell future events. But

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you know, there were also prophets in the first

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century church who instead of foretelling future

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events, they might just reveal new covenant truth

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to the church. They might get a message or a

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revelation from God containing new covenant truth

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and they might speak for God and reveal that

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truth to the first century churches. 1 Corinthians

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14 talks about those kinds of prophets and how

00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.240
they prophesied in the assemblies of the church.

00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:43.220
It's not so much that they were telling the future,

00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.759
it's that they were God's messengers and they

00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:48.000
were revealing truth from God in the form of

00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.440
prophecy. So when we think about prophets, we

00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:53.379
can think about men who can have a miraculous

00:13:53.379 --> 00:13:56.500
gift to foretell the future or just those who

00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:59.840
had the miraculous gift to speak by the inspiration

00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.899
of the Spirit. These were men who relayed messages

00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:05.980
from God down to people in the first century

00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:08.720
church. We don't have prophets in the church

00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.100
today. We don't have men with the miraculous

00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:14.240
gifts of revelation and inspiration. God is not

00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:17.539
speaking through men today. He has given us His

00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:19.539
message. We have all things that pertain into

00:14:19.539 --> 00:14:22.299
life and godliness in our New Testament. So there

00:14:22.299 --> 00:14:25.720
are no prophets in the church today. They've

00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.200
done their work. Their work was there in the

00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.899
first century, revealing the truths that we have

00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:34.649
today in the form of our New Testament. Just

00:14:34.649 --> 00:14:37.129
like the apostles still speak to us today through

00:14:37.129 --> 00:14:40.009
the word of God, I do believe first century prophets

00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:42.330
still speak to us today through the same word.

00:14:43.750 --> 00:14:45.549
The third office we'll look at is the office

00:14:45.549 --> 00:14:47.610
of evangelists. What were the evangelists doing?

00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:50.350
The evangelists were teaching and preaching the

00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:54.210
gospel. Paul told Timothy, who was an evangelist,

00:14:54.629 --> 00:14:57.049
in 2 Timothy 4, 2, he said, preach the word,

00:14:57.490 --> 00:14:59.629
be instant in season out of season, means be

00:14:59.629 --> 00:15:02.309
ready at all times. We go on down to verse 5,

00:15:02.309 --> 00:15:05.389
he tells, Timothy but watch thou in all things

00:15:05.389 --> 00:15:08.750
endure afflictions he tells Timothy do the work

00:15:08.750 --> 00:15:12.309
of an evangelist Paul charged Timothy to preach

00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:15.490
the word preach the gospel and To do the work

00:15:15.490 --> 00:15:17.929
of an evangelist and that's exactly what evangelists

00:15:17.929 --> 00:15:20.929
do the word evangelist literally means one who

00:15:20.929 --> 00:15:23.850
proclaims the good news or one who preaches the

00:15:23.850 --> 00:15:27.649
gospel You know an evangelist work is going to

00:15:27.649 --> 00:15:30.899
include Other things besides just preaching the

00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:34.820
gospel, it's going to include equipping the saints

00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:37.759
and training men in the church to become teachers.

00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:39.899
We're going to read that later in the lesson

00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:45.059
from 1st and 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 2. Evangelists

00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:48.559
are also going to work to train, equip, and to

00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.080
someday ordain elders and deacons in the church.

00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:53.539
We're going to read that a little bit later from

00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:56.019
Titus chapter 1 that their job is to set things

00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:58.789
in order in the church. and help it grow to a

00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:00.710
point where it can have ordained leadership.

00:16:01.450 --> 00:16:03.370
Here's something I think it's very important

00:16:03.370 --> 00:16:05.970
for us to understand about the work of evangelists.

00:16:06.570 --> 00:16:10.490
An evangelist's work is not restricted or limited

00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:14.139
to any one congregation. When we look in the

00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:16.240
New Testament and we see its evangelists and

00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.379
the work that they did we see that they worked

00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:20.779
in many different places among many different

00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:23.200
congregations So we would say that the work of

00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.059
an evangelist his work is in the church at large

00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:29.120
His work is in the universal church Going from

00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.559
place to place as he has opportunity preaching

00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.480
the gospel setting things in order Helping the

00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.000
churches grow and mature and then helping them

00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.279
ordain leadership That's a little bit different

00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:40.860
from the office that we're getting ready to look

00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:43.580
at of elders and deacons elders and deacons have

00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:46.940
a important work too, but it's limited to their

00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:49.759
local congregations. But the evangelist's work

00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.779
is in the church at large. What about pastors?

00:16:54.019 --> 00:16:57.059
Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 mentions pastors.

00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.299
In fact, that's the only place in the New Testament

00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:01.759
you'll find the word pastor. The word pastor

00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:06.440
just means shepherd. And the office of a pastor

00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:10.519
is synonymous with the office of elders. In the

00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:13.099
New Testament, there's one office that's described

00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:16.680
with three different names, pastors, elders,

00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.599
and bishops. All three refer to one in the same

00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.720
office. What were the pastors or the elders doing

00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.900
in the church? They were shepherding, providing

00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:28.859
leadership for the congregations. Peter wrote

00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:32.059
in 1 Peter 5, 1 to 3. He said, the elders which

00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:35.099
are among you I exhort. He says, who am I also

00:17:35.099 --> 00:17:37.819
an elder? He tells the elders in verse 2, to

00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:40.160
feed the flock of God which is among you, taking

00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:43.240
the oversight thereof. He says not by constraint,

00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:45.980
but willingly. He says not for filthy lucre,

00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.339
but of a ready mind. Neither is being lords over

00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:50.900
God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.

00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:55.660
So Peter was an apostle. But apparently later

00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:58.339
in his life he also became an elder. He writes

00:17:58.339 --> 00:18:00.759
and exhorts the elders of the church and he says,

00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.359
I'm also an elder. And what does he exhort or

00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:05.460
encourage them to do? He tells the elders to

00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:09.380
feed, to shepherd, to oversee and lead the flocks.

00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:11.599
That would be the congregations of the church.

00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:15.160
So concerning pastors, elders, and bishops, they

00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.819
are shepherds. They are overseers of the leaders

00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:20.400
in the congregations. There's qualifications

00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.059
that must be met for a man to be qualified to

00:18:23.059 --> 00:18:25.759
serve in the office of an elder. Those are found

00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:30.019
in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 7. Those qualifications

00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:34.140
are also found in Titus chapter 1. And one of

00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:36.160
the important parts of the work of an elder,

00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:38.700
as we'll talk more about this later in the lesson,

00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:42.160
is that they be teachers. in the local congregations

00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.920
for which they are shepherding. What about deacons?

00:18:45.980 --> 00:18:47.920
What were the deacons doing in the first century

00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:50.900
church? The deacons were serving. The deacons

00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:53.539
are servants of the church. Church at Philippi

00:18:53.539 --> 00:18:57.839
had both bishops, elders, and it also had deacons.

00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:00.819
Paul wrote to that church in Philippians 1 .1.

00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:03.380
He said, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of

00:19:03.380 --> 00:19:06.240
Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus

00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.880
which are at Philippi, he says with the bishops,

00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:13.730
and the deacons. The word deacon comes from a

00:19:13.730 --> 00:19:15.910
Greek word that simply means a servant or one

00:19:15.910 --> 00:19:19.369
who serves. And so that's the work that deacons

00:19:19.369 --> 00:19:21.210
were doing in the first century church. They

00:19:21.210 --> 00:19:24.750
were serving the needs of the congregation. In

00:19:24.750 --> 00:19:27.309
Acts chapter 6, we read that the church at Jerusalem,

00:19:27.470 --> 00:19:29.990
the first church, the early church there, appointed

00:19:29.990 --> 00:19:33.730
seven men. to serve the respective needs of the

00:19:33.730 --> 00:19:36.089
congregation that they had at that time. Now,

00:19:36.170 --> 00:19:38.450
you go read Acts chapter 6, you're not going

00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:42.170
to find the word deacon in Acts chapter 6, and

00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:44.549
the word deacon is not expressly found there.

00:19:45.069 --> 00:19:48.190
However, if you study carefully some of the work

00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:50.210
that those men were doing and the Greek words

00:19:50.210 --> 00:19:52.900
behind the work that they were doing, It seems

00:19:52.900 --> 00:19:55.359
to me that they were very much serving in the

00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:58.240
capacity of deacons, serving the needs of the

00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:01.660
church. Perhaps they were the first kind of deacons

00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:04.819
in the church. Perhaps their office, their role

00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:08.160
would later go on to become what the church knew

00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.140
as deacons as the church grew outward from Jerusalem.

00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.220
In times past, I've referred to those seven men

00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:17.480
as proto -deacons, meaning a first of their kind

00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.750
of deacons that the church had ever seen. Now

00:20:20.750 --> 00:20:22.990
there are, just like there's qualifications for

00:20:22.990 --> 00:20:25.490
elders, there are also qualifications for deacons.

00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:30.069
In 1st Timothy 3 verse 8 to 13, we find the qualifications

00:20:30.069 --> 00:20:32.930
a man must meet to serve in the office of a deacon.

00:20:33.930 --> 00:20:36.509
And in the last office, teachers. Ephesians chapter

00:20:36.509 --> 00:20:40.430
4 verse 11 and 12 mentions teachers. What were

00:20:40.430 --> 00:20:42.430
the teachers doing in the first century church?

00:20:42.509 --> 00:20:45.289
Well, naturally they were teaching. The church

00:20:45.289 --> 00:20:48.660
in Antioch had multiple teachers. We're going

00:20:48.660 --> 00:20:50.720
to talk a lot about the church at Antioch tonight.

00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:53.339
Acts 13 verse 1 to 2, it says, Now there were

00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:55.759
in the church that was in Antioch certain prophets

00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.099
and teachers. And then it's going to name five

00:20:58.099 --> 00:21:02.119
of them by name. As Barnabas, that's one. Simeon,

00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:04.859
that was called Niger, that's two. Lucius, that's

00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:07.700
three. Lucius of Cyrene. Manian, which had been

00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:09.799
brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, that's four.

00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:13.680
And Saul, five, that's the Apostle Paul. So the

00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.299
church at Antioch had multiple teachers certain

00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:19.339
prophets and teachers five But mentioned by name

00:21:19.339 --> 00:21:22.619
and the Bible says in verse 2 that they all ministered

00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:25.559
to the Lord They didn't have one man doing all

00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:27.319
their teaching. They didn't have one man doing

00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:30.119
all their ministering They had multiple men serving

00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.160
in the office of teacher and they were all ministering

00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.720
to the congregation through teaching The teachers

00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.059
in the first century church, of course instructed

00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:42.579
and edified built up the body 2 Timothy 2 and

00:21:42.579 --> 00:21:44.720
2 says that men that teach in the church need

00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:47.380
to be faithful men. We're to train and equip

00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:50.180
faithful men so that they can teach others also.

00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:53.839
The teaching that happens in the assemblies is

00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.079
important, but we also need capable men who can

00:21:57.079 --> 00:21:59.339
go out and teach away from the assemblies, both

00:21:59.339 --> 00:22:01.460
in public and in private settings. Paul said

00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:05.140
he taught that way in Acts 20 -20. He says, I

00:22:05.140 --> 00:22:06.819
haven't shunned to declare unto you the whole

00:22:06.819 --> 00:22:09.630
counsel of God. but have taught you both publicly

00:22:09.630 --> 00:22:12.309
and from house to house. Both types of teaching

00:22:12.309 --> 00:22:16.230
are important. We also need to pay close attention

00:22:16.230 --> 00:22:18.609
to James chapter 3 verse 1. It says, Be ye not

00:22:18.609 --> 00:22:21.170
many masters or teachers? Knowing that we're

00:22:21.170 --> 00:22:24.730
going to fall under a stricter judgment from

00:22:24.730 --> 00:22:27.329
God, God's going to hold us to a higher standard

00:22:27.329 --> 00:22:30.369
when we take it upon ourselves to teach others

00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:34.450
the Word of God. So we need to be aware of that

00:22:34.450 --> 00:22:36.430
higher standard and take our role as teachers

00:22:36.430 --> 00:22:40.500
very seriously. So we went through and looked

00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:45.140
at all six of these offices that we find revealed

00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:47.900
to us in the New Testament. All of these offices

00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:50.619
were a part of God's original plan and pattern

00:22:50.619 --> 00:22:52.980
for the organization of the church. We don't

00:22:52.980 --> 00:22:55.759
have enough time tonight to dive deep. We could

00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.140
spend the rest of the weekend diving deep into

00:22:58.140 --> 00:23:01.279
each and every one of those offices. That's not

00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:02.980
within the scope of what we're going to talk

00:23:02.980 --> 00:23:06.380
about tonight. Second thing we want to do, now

00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:08.579
that we've clearly seen how the Lord set up the

00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:10.980
church to be organized, we're going to go through

00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:14.819
and survey church history and see how error and

00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:17.940
departures slowly made their way into the church

00:23:17.940 --> 00:23:21.619
and changed in many ways God's plan for the organization

00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:24.240
of the church. One of the first things we see

00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:27.869
in the early centuries of the church Concerning

00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:30.769
an error, a deviation away from this plan is

00:23:30.769 --> 00:23:34.049
the introduction of man -made hierarchies within

00:23:34.049 --> 00:23:37.529
the church. This is Ignatius. Well, it's not

00:23:37.529 --> 00:23:41.609
Ignatius. It's a painting of Ignatius. Ignatius

00:23:41.609 --> 00:23:45.670
lived in the second century. Ignatius was a leader

00:23:45.670 --> 00:23:48.559
in the second century church. And some of his

00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.180
writings have been preserved for us. Ignatius

00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:55.660
wrote a letter to Christians called the Magnesians

00:23:55.660 --> 00:23:59.039
around the year 110 AD. And I want you to look

00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:02.099
carefully at what Ignatius says here. He tells

00:24:02.099 --> 00:24:05.319
the Christians in the second century do all things

00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:09.160
in harmony with God. That's good. With the bishop

00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:13.410
presiding in the place of God. and the presbyters,

00:24:13.509 --> 00:24:15.529
presbyter is another word for elders, and the

00:24:15.529 --> 00:24:18.069
presbyters or the elders in the place of the

00:24:18.069 --> 00:24:22.069
council of the apostles, and the deacons entrusted

00:24:22.069 --> 00:24:25.849
with the ministry of Jesus Christ. Do you notice

00:24:25.849 --> 00:24:29.950
something here? Do you notice how Ignatius doesn't

00:24:29.950 --> 00:24:33.190
speak of just two offices in the congregation?

00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:35.890
He doesn't speak of just the elders and the deacons.

00:24:36.589 --> 00:24:39.789
He speaks of the bishop. And you know the bishop

00:24:39.789 --> 00:24:42.640
here is mentioned first. in such a way that the

00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.819
bishop is preeminent over the elders and the

00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:48.019
deacons. This was one of the very first changes

00:24:48.019 --> 00:24:51.339
that was made to the organization of the church

00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:56.519
beginning in the very early second century. Now

00:24:56.519 --> 00:25:00.099
God's pattern and plan for the congregations

00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:02.460
was that they were to be led by elders and served

00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:05.819
by deacons, but now here's Ignatius saying we

00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:09.829
need to have a bishop. in each congregation over

00:25:09.829 --> 00:25:15.589
the elders and over the deacons. Now, it seems

00:25:15.589 --> 00:25:20.869
like a slight and subtle change, right? What's

00:25:20.869 --> 00:25:25.009
wrong with taking one of the elders and putting

00:25:25.009 --> 00:25:27.430
him up above the rest of the elders and calling

00:25:27.430 --> 00:25:33.950
him the bishop? You know, if you study what was

00:25:33.950 --> 00:25:36.049
going on in the church in the second century,

00:25:36.529 --> 00:25:39.369
I believe Ignatius and those who advocated for

00:25:39.369 --> 00:25:42.910
this change had very good intentions. They thought

00:25:42.910 --> 00:25:45.049
of a hundred good reasons why they should do

00:25:45.049 --> 00:25:46.950
this. They thought that this was going to help

00:25:46.950 --> 00:25:49.829
the church. In the second century, there were

00:25:49.829 --> 00:25:52.650
a lot of heresies that were making their way

00:25:52.650 --> 00:25:54.329
into the church. We talked about one of those

00:25:54.329 --> 00:25:56.190
heresies earlier in the meeting. We talked about

00:25:56.190 --> 00:25:59.150
Gnosticism. Gnosticism was coming into the church,

00:25:59.250 --> 00:26:01.589
this false gospel, this idea that Jesus didn't

00:26:01.589 --> 00:26:03.890
come in the flesh, that completely corrupted

00:26:03.890 --> 00:26:06.400
and changed the gospel. And there were other

00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:09.220
heresies. The church was being attacked from

00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:11.440
the outside with false doctrines and false teachings

00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:14.059
about many things. And the leaders of the church

00:26:14.059 --> 00:26:15.819
said, you know what, we've got to take a hard

00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:18.660
position against this error and these heresies.

00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.640
We've got to centralize the power in each congregation.

00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:24.519
We're tired of dealing with an eldership in each

00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:26.519
congregation. It would just be better to deal

00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:30.000
with one man in each congregation and make sure

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.079
he is strong in the faith and make sure he is

00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:35.960
true to the doctrine. If we can put one man in

00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:38.200
each church that will hold on to sound doctrine,

00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:40.680
then all the churches will be spared from this

00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:43.240
heresy. So you see, they had what they thought

00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:45.660
were good reasons to do this. They had the best

00:26:45.660 --> 00:26:47.700
of intentions. They were trying to help protect

00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:51.920
the church from false doctrine. But what they

00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:54.420
didn't understand is this. You know, one change,

00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:58.180
even with the best of intentions, leads to another

00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:01.220
change, which leads to another change, which

00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:04.349
leads to many more changes. And that's what we

00:27:04.349 --> 00:27:07.130
see when we study church history. We see over

00:27:07.130 --> 00:27:11.049
the next 500 years, by the year 600 AD, a full

00:27:11.049 --> 00:27:14.230
-blown hierarchy was established within what

00:27:14.230 --> 00:27:17.210
had become the Roman Catholic Church. A hierarchy

00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:21.410
consisting of not just, you know, bishops over

00:27:21.410 --> 00:27:24.829
the one priest in each congregation, but after

00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:26.769
they had all these bishops, you know, that wasn't

00:27:26.769 --> 00:27:29.130
enough. They still needed to centralize the power.

00:27:29.450 --> 00:27:31.329
They said, we've got all these bishops. We need

00:27:31.329 --> 00:27:33.970
somebody over all the bishops. So, they created

00:27:33.970 --> 00:27:37.329
the office of archbishop to be over the bishops.

00:27:37.789 --> 00:27:39.990
Well, then they had all these archbishops and

00:27:39.990 --> 00:27:42.190
they said, that's really not enough either. We

00:27:42.190 --> 00:27:44.750
need somebody to be over all these archbishops.

00:27:45.009 --> 00:27:47.490
And so, they invented the office of a cardinal.

00:27:47.809 --> 00:27:50.029
Typically, how it was back then, the cardinal

00:27:50.029 --> 00:27:53.190
was the one man who was over the church of an

00:27:53.190 --> 00:27:56.609
entire nation or an entire country. Well, then

00:27:56.609 --> 00:27:58.410
once they had the cardinals, they said that's

00:27:58.410 --> 00:28:01.140
really not enough either. We need one more office.

00:28:01.299 --> 00:28:03.359
We need somebody to be over all these cardinals

00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:05.500
who are over all these archbishops who are over

00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:07.480
all the bishops who are over all the church.

00:28:08.180 --> 00:28:11.019
And they created the office of the pope. What

00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:13.960
we know today as the papal office. The office

00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:17.500
of the pope. One man ruling over the entire church

00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:20.440
on the face of the earth. Now none of these offices

00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:23.839
are scriptural. None of these offices in this

00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:27.710
hierarchy that developed was not a part. of God's

00:28:27.710 --> 00:28:30.690
plan for the organization of His church. It was

00:28:30.690 --> 00:28:33.930
invented by men. We would have to conclude that

00:28:33.930 --> 00:28:38.369
it has come down to us today as a form of man

00:28:38.369 --> 00:28:40.509
-made doctrines and man -made traditions which

00:28:40.509 --> 00:28:43.509
are not authorized in any shape or form by the

00:28:43.509 --> 00:28:46.769
Scripture. What's the danger in that? We've got

00:28:46.769 --> 00:28:49.569
to be careful that we're not adding to God's

00:28:49.569 --> 00:28:52.819
Word. God warned his people the Jews in Deuteronomy

00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:55.720
4 2 ye shall not add unto the word the word which

00:28:55.720 --> 00:28:58.400
I command you neither shall you diminish ought

00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:01.900
from it God told Israel in the law don't add

00:29:01.900 --> 00:29:04.119
to or take away from my word and that we have

00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:07.559
the same warning to us today in Revelation 22

00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:11.019
Don't add to the word of God and don't take away

00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:14.740
from his word We need to heed the warning of

00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:17.880
Scripture be very careful We don't want to be

00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:20.960
guilty of adding man -made doctrines and traditions

00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:23.759
to the word that has been given to us, to the

00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:26.140
pattern, the plan that God has bestowed upon

00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:30.180
us. So another thing that developed over the

00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:32.519
course of church history, in addition to these

00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:34.920
man -made hierarchies that we just talked about,

00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:38.380
there was also an ever -growing gap and distinction

00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:41.799
between what we're going to call the clergy and

00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:44.519
the laity. Let me define those terms. Clergy.

00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:48.599
Clergy is viewed as those people who are prepared

00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:52.839
and set apart for higher church leadership or

00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:58.220
higher church ministry. Here's my redneck way

00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:00.339
of describing clergy. It's the people in the

00:30:00.339 --> 00:30:04.740
long robes and the funny hats, okay? The people

00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:07.319
in the long robes and the funny hats, the clergy.

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.079
And as time went on, There was a growing gap

00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:15.160
between the clergy, the men in the robes, and

00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:17.660
the laity. The laity is everybody else in the

00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:20.700
church that isn't clergy. So we're talking about

00:30:20.700 --> 00:30:24.440
the lower and common people of the church who

00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:27.019
weren't highly educated, who weren't set apart,

00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:29.740
who weren't given the privileges to live in a

00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:32.900
castle and eat at the table of the Roman Catholic

00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:35.799
Church and the people who didn't have the robes,

00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:39.259
right, and didn't have the hats. just the common

00:30:39.259 --> 00:30:43.579
lower uneducated people in the church. Over a

00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:46.759
period of time, the idea that developed concerning

00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:49.759
clergy and laity is that only the members of

00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:52.240
the clergy, only the priests of the Roman Catholic

00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:55.140
Church were allowed to administer the sacraments.

00:30:55.880 --> 00:30:57.420
And if you were here earlier in the meeting,

00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:00.259
we talked about the sacraments, how the doctrine

00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:03.220
of the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the

00:31:03.220 --> 00:31:05.779
way every good Catholic goes to heaven is by

00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:08.880
faithfully observing and keeping the seven sacraments.

00:31:08.900 --> 00:31:11.740
But the seven sacraments are now entrusted to

00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:14.440
the clergy, the priests. They are the only one

00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:17.779
who can give and administer the sacraments to

00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:20.660
the laity. Therefore, the laity is sort of held

00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:24.700
hostage. The laity can't serve God properly and

00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:28.039
they can't be saved without the priests bestowing

00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:32.019
upon them all the rights and sacred privileges

00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:35.059
of the sacraments that are held and entrusted

00:31:35.059 --> 00:31:38.599
by the church. Instead of the church being one

00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:41.299
body made up of many different members and all

00:31:41.299 --> 00:31:43.220
the members helping one another and encouraging

00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:45.559
one another and building one another up, now

00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:48.579
it's a very few at the top and a lot of people

00:31:48.579 --> 00:31:51.319
down here at the bottom and the people at the

00:31:51.319 --> 00:31:53.920
top will decide whether or not We let you have

00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:56.039
the Lord's Supper. The people at the top will

00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:58.200
decide whether or not you can get baptized. The

00:31:58.200 --> 00:32:00.839
people at the top will decide whether or not

00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:04.059
you can get married. It was a much different

00:32:04.059 --> 00:32:09.299
dynamic that slowly evolved concerning the organization

00:32:09.299 --> 00:32:12.980
and the work and the unity of the church. Here's

00:32:12.980 --> 00:32:16.220
the reality, okay? There should be no such thing

00:32:16.220 --> 00:32:19.700
as a clergy laity distinction among God's people.

00:32:20.279 --> 00:32:23.960
Lord had never intended it to be that way. In

00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:26.240
1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9, we learn that all

00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:28.299
of God's people are part of a holy nation and

00:32:28.299 --> 00:32:32.000
a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2, 9, ye, Peter writes

00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:33.940
to first century Christians, ye are a chosen

00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:36.759
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:40.039
a peculiar people. If you're a baptized believer

00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:42.000
in Christ, you're part of this royal priesthood.

00:32:42.059 --> 00:32:46.279
You're a part of this holy nation. In Revelation

00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:49.759
chapter 1 verse 5, John says unto him that loved

00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:52.019
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood

00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:54.859
and hath made us kings and priests unto God and

00:32:54.859 --> 00:32:59.259
his father. Notice there, those who God washed

00:32:59.259 --> 00:33:01.440
from their sins in the blood of Jesus, he has

00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:04.240
made them what? Kings and priests. Every Christian

00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.460
is a priest and a part of this holy priesthood

00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:09.940
we're talking about. And part of our service

00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:12.559
as priests in the Lord's priesthood is to present

00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:16.140
our bodies as a living sacrifice. that's worthy

00:33:16.140 --> 00:33:18.980
and acceptable and that's our reasonable service

00:33:18.980 --> 00:33:21.019
in the kingdom. That's what Romans chapter 12

00:33:21.019 --> 00:33:25.119
verse 1 speaks to us about. Paul begs the Roman

00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:27.299
Christians to present their bodies as living

00:33:27.299 --> 00:33:31.200
sacrifices for the Lord. The truth is this, no

00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:34.880
man has any right to take the place of Jesus

00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:37.519
and try to mediate between you and your God.

00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:40.900
There is only one mediator between God and men

00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:42.960
and it's not the priest, it's not anybody in

00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:46.480
a robe or a funny hat. There is only one mediator

00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:48.779
first Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 There is one

00:33:48.779 --> 00:33:51.140
God and one mediator between God and men the

00:33:51.140 --> 00:33:57.819
man Christ Jesus Jesus is our only mediator Another

00:33:57.819 --> 00:34:00.859
error that slowly worked its way into the organization

00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:04.160
of the church Would be the addition and the deviation

00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:08.159
of the one -man pastor system now after the Protestant

00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:13.210
Reformation of the 16th century After a lot of

00:34:13.210 --> 00:34:15.369
the modern -day denominations were established

00:34:15.369 --> 00:34:19.230
in the 16th and 17th century, the one -man model

00:34:19.230 --> 00:34:22.889
for church leadership, which the Roman Catholic

00:34:22.889 --> 00:34:25.590
Church was accustomed to, it was slowly adopted

00:34:25.590 --> 00:34:27.969
by a lot of the denominational churches that

00:34:27.969 --> 00:34:30.710
were formed out of the Protestant Reformation.

00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:33.880
And the one -man pastor system is the idea that

00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:36.460
one man is ordained to be the exclusive leader

00:34:36.460 --> 00:34:39.460
or one man is selected to be the exclusive teacher

00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:42.599
or preacher for each congregation. This man could

00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:44.800
wear a number of different titles. Some churches

00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:48.019
call him a reverend. Some call him a pastor.

00:34:48.179 --> 00:34:50.219
Some call him a minister. Some might just call

00:34:50.219 --> 00:34:54.820
him a preacher. But it's the idea that we have

00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:57.260
one man who is the leader of our congregation

00:34:57.260 --> 00:34:59.440
and one man who does all the teaching for our

00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:02.489
congregation. From my study of Scripture, I'm

00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:04.929
convinced and convicted that the Lord never intended

00:35:04.929 --> 00:35:07.730
for His church to be led or taught only by one

00:35:07.730 --> 00:35:11.289
man. We don't find this one -man system taught

00:35:11.289 --> 00:35:14.570
in the New Testament. In Acts chapter 14 verse

00:35:14.570 --> 00:35:17.389
23, Paul and Barnabas are on the first missionary

00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:20.090
journey. They're finishing that missionary journey.

00:35:20.110 --> 00:35:22.349
They're about to return back to Antioch from

00:35:22.349 --> 00:35:24.670
where they started that journey. And the Bible

00:35:24.670 --> 00:35:27.590
says in Acts 14 -23 that when they had ordained

00:35:27.590 --> 00:35:31.219
them elders in every church, You know they established

00:35:31.219 --> 00:35:33.679
these churches and before they go home. It says

00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:36.280
they ordained them elders in every church We

00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:38.519
notice here that Paul and Barnabas ordained elders

00:35:38.519 --> 00:35:42.099
plural in every church They did not ordain one

00:35:42.099 --> 00:35:44.719
elder in every church. They ordained elders plural

00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:48.699
in every church Also in Titus 1 and 5 Paul tells

00:35:48.699 --> 00:35:51.780
the evangelist Titus for this cause left I thee

00:35:51.780 --> 00:35:53.719
and creep that thou should have set in order

00:35:53.719 --> 00:35:56.320
the things that are wanting and ordained elders

00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:59.199
in every city as I had appointed thee Notice

00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:01.900
Paul told Titus here to ordain elders plural

00:36:01.900 --> 00:36:04.159
in every city. He didn't say ordain one elder

00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:07.579
in every city He said ordain elders a plurality

00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:11.400
of elders in every in every church acts 1423

00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:15.360
and in every city Titus 1 and 5 You know the

00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:18.099
one -man system the one -man leader system the

00:36:18.099 --> 00:36:20.420
one -man teacher or preacher system the one -man

00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:24.440
pastor system is really not needed when we structure

00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:27.559
the work of the church according to God's plan

00:36:27.559 --> 00:36:30.500
for its organization. Because the Bible teaches

00:36:30.500 --> 00:36:33.239
that one of the qualifications for elders is

00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:36.619
that they be apt to teach. They be able to teach

00:36:36.619 --> 00:36:39.679
in the congregations. And if it was God's will

00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:42.659
for the church to be led by elders, a plurality

00:36:42.659 --> 00:36:45.219
of elders, and if it's His will for those elders

00:36:45.219 --> 00:36:49.559
to be teachers, then we would never have a need

00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:53.460
to be led or taught only by one man if we're

00:36:53.460 --> 00:36:56.920
following God's model. In 1st Timothy 3, 2, this

00:36:56.920 --> 00:36:59.199
is the qualifications for bishops or elders.

00:36:59.800 --> 00:37:02.119
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband

00:37:02.119 --> 00:37:05.019
of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior,

00:37:05.539 --> 00:37:08.900
given to hospitality, and then he says apt to

00:37:08.900 --> 00:37:12.420
teach. Elders should be apt to teach because

00:37:12.420 --> 00:37:15.239
that's part of their work, to feed and teach

00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:17.420
and shepherd their congregation through teaching

00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:19.980
the Word of God. We see the same thing with the

00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:23.630
qualifications of elders in Titus 1 and 9. Here's

00:37:23.630 --> 00:37:26.289
the qualification given to Titus. An elder needs

00:37:26.289 --> 00:37:29.570
to be one who holds fast the faithful word as

00:37:29.570 --> 00:37:32.210
he hath been taught that he may be able by sound

00:37:32.210 --> 00:37:34.309
doctrine. The word doctrine just means teaching.

00:37:35.250 --> 00:37:37.469
Elders need to use sound doctrine, sound teaching

00:37:37.469 --> 00:37:41.190
both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

00:37:42.389 --> 00:37:45.449
I want to go back to the church at Antioch because

00:37:45.449 --> 00:37:47.570
when we look at the church at Antioch we find

00:37:47.570 --> 00:37:51.300
they didn't have the one -man pastor model. In

00:37:51.300 --> 00:37:56.420
Acts chapter 15 verse 35 it says, Paul also in

00:37:56.420 --> 00:37:59.320
Barnabas continued in Antioch teaching and preaching

00:37:59.320 --> 00:38:03.440
the word of the Lord with many others also. You

00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:06.340
know in Acts 13 .1 we learned that they had certain

00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:08.800
prophets and teachers and it named five by name.

00:38:09.739 --> 00:38:13.880
Now two chapters later Acts 15 .35 it says, Paul

00:38:13.880 --> 00:38:15.780
and Barnabas are back there in Antioch. They're

00:38:15.780 --> 00:38:17.659
teaching and preaching and they're doing that

00:38:17.659 --> 00:38:19.920
with many others also. They don't even tell us

00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:22.440
how many at this point. It just says there were

00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:26.659
many others involved in doing the Lord's work

00:38:26.659 --> 00:38:30.460
of teaching and that contradicts that that goes

00:38:30.460 --> 00:38:33.119
against the common idea, the modern -day idea

00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:38.039
of the one -man pastor system. Moving on from

00:38:38.280 --> 00:38:41.400
our survey of church history and how error slowly

00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:45.380
evolved in the church concerning its organization.

00:38:45.579 --> 00:38:48.780
Let's move on to our current day practice. Let's

00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:50.920
stop and look around and let's think about our

00:38:50.920 --> 00:38:55.719
modern practice in churches today. In many churches

00:38:55.719 --> 00:38:57.760
today, I'm not going to say all churches today.

00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:01.079
I don't want to paint everybody with a broad

00:39:01.079 --> 00:39:04.780
brush. Okay, I don't want to overgeneralize this.

00:39:04.820 --> 00:39:07.980
I want to be fair. I'm not saying all churches

00:39:07.980 --> 00:39:11.599
do these things and all churches operate these

00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:16.940
ways. But in far too many churches today, these

00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:21.179
offices have become very much secularized in

00:39:21.179 --> 00:39:23.900
nature. And here's what I mean by these offices

00:39:23.900 --> 00:39:28.300
becoming secularized. It would not be uncommon

00:39:28.300 --> 00:39:31.699
today for a young man to come forward even in

00:39:31.699 --> 00:39:34.539
a church of Christ and come to his preacher,

00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:37.329
come to his minister. and say, you know what,

00:39:37.349 --> 00:39:40.210
I want to be a preacher someday. I want to teach

00:39:40.210 --> 00:39:42.010
the Word of God someday. That's a great, hey,

00:39:42.010 --> 00:39:43.909
I love it. I love it when our young men come

00:39:43.909 --> 00:39:46.190
forward and say, hey, I want to teach. I want

00:39:46.190 --> 00:39:47.889
to be a preacher. I want to be an evangelist.

00:39:47.889 --> 00:39:51.269
That's great. That gets me excited. But you know,

00:39:51.329 --> 00:39:53.090
the answer that's going to be all too commonly

00:39:53.090 --> 00:39:55.309
given to young men who come forward and want

00:39:55.309 --> 00:39:57.389
to get involved in the work of the Lord, they're

00:39:57.389 --> 00:39:58.849
going to go to their preacher and their preacher

00:39:58.849 --> 00:40:00.670
is going to advise them. He's going to say, son,

00:40:00.769 --> 00:40:03.780
first thing you need to do, is go get you a bachelor

00:40:03.780 --> 00:40:06.340
degree from a reputable Church of Christ college.

00:40:07.579 --> 00:40:09.119
That's the first thing you need to do. And then

00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:13.159
they're going to say, if you can, go to a noteworthy

00:40:13.159 --> 00:40:15.639
Church of Christ preacher school, stay there

00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:17.659
one or two years, go through the program, and

00:40:17.659 --> 00:40:20.860
get you a diploma, a preaching diploma. And with

00:40:20.860 --> 00:40:23.199
your degree and your preaching diploma, you then

00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:26.469
set yourself up. to produce that clean and crisp

00:40:26.469 --> 00:40:28.550
resume that you're going to need, complete with

00:40:28.550 --> 00:40:30.750
all the sermon examples and all the references

00:40:30.750 --> 00:40:33.369
that you're going to need. And then you go online

00:40:33.369 --> 00:40:35.489
and you search Church of Christ preacher jobs

00:40:35.489 --> 00:40:38.170
wanted. And there's hundreds of them out there

00:40:38.170 --> 00:40:40.489
online. There's churches hiring preachers all

00:40:40.489 --> 00:40:44.010
over the country. You send out your resume to

00:40:44.010 --> 00:40:46.050
all these churches of Christ that are hiring

00:40:46.050 --> 00:40:48.849
a preacher. And if there's a church that likes

00:40:48.849 --> 00:40:50.949
your resume, they'll ask you to come and they're

00:40:50.949 --> 00:40:52.610
going to try you out. They're going to ask you

00:40:52.610 --> 00:40:55.230
to preach and see if they like you. And if you're

00:40:55.230 --> 00:40:56.789
lucky, if you're fortunate, they're going to

00:40:56.789 --> 00:40:59.489
offer you a position, a job. Now you're going

00:40:59.489 --> 00:41:01.949
to have to enter into a legally binding contract

00:41:01.949 --> 00:41:04.630
with that church to preach. They're going to

00:41:04.630 --> 00:41:06.769
want to lay out all the terms and parameters

00:41:06.769 --> 00:41:09.869
of your work. And this legally binding contract

00:41:09.869 --> 00:41:12.150
has a lot of moving parts, has a lot of bells

00:41:12.150 --> 00:41:14.409
and whistles, such things as moving stipend,

00:41:14.889 --> 00:41:17.869
sick leave. Personal leave paid vacation if you're

00:41:17.869 --> 00:41:20.130
really lucky you'll get what I've seen on some

00:41:20.130 --> 00:41:21.949
of these job announcements You'll get a growth

00:41:21.949 --> 00:41:25.650
proportion a growth proportional salary increase

00:41:25.650 --> 00:41:28.909
or bonus You know what a growth proportional

00:41:28.909 --> 00:41:33.730
salary increase or bonus is It's a clause it's

00:41:33.730 --> 00:41:35.989
a term in your contract that says if you grow

00:41:35.989 --> 00:41:37.949
the church substantially, they'll give you more

00:41:37.949 --> 00:41:41.010
money They'll give you more money. They'll give

00:41:41.010 --> 00:41:43.429
you a big bonus if you can baptize 10 people

00:41:43.429 --> 00:41:46.050
that year or bring 20 new people into the church

00:41:46.050 --> 00:41:49.989
They'll give you a big bonus I've seen that I

00:41:49.989 --> 00:41:54.030
have read that in these job announcements of

00:41:54.030 --> 00:41:56.530
churches of Christ looking to hire a preacher

00:41:58.529 --> 00:42:00.929
But it ain't going to be easy. If you can get

00:42:00.929 --> 00:42:02.710
a job preaching at one of these congregations,

00:42:02.730 --> 00:42:04.170
it's not going to be easy because you've got

00:42:04.170 --> 00:42:06.610
to hold office hours. Those office hours will

00:42:06.610 --> 00:42:08.730
be set and laid out in your contract. You've

00:42:08.730 --> 00:42:11.409
got to meet a sermon quota, preach so many sermons

00:42:11.409 --> 00:42:13.829
a year. You've got to do so many hospital visits

00:42:13.829 --> 00:42:15.530
a year, and then you've got to pass an annual

00:42:15.530 --> 00:42:18.510
performance review to keep your position and

00:42:18.510 --> 00:42:25.980
keep getting paid to be the preacher. I might

00:42:25.980 --> 00:42:30.579
have exaggerated some of this a little bit, but

00:42:30.579 --> 00:42:33.300
there's not an awful lot of exaggeration in this.

00:42:33.699 --> 00:42:36.059
Like I said, I've been a first -hand witness

00:42:36.059 --> 00:42:39.099
to a lot of these things, and you can go online

00:42:39.099 --> 00:42:41.559
and search Church of Christ preacher jobs wanted,

00:42:41.639 --> 00:42:43.320
and you can see the same thing that I'm showing

00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:46.760
you here. And I'm not trying to be overly harsh.

00:42:46.780 --> 00:42:49.860
I'm not trying to be overly critical. I'm not

00:42:49.860 --> 00:42:52.059
trying to say that you're doing something wrong

00:42:52.059 --> 00:42:54.500
if you go to a Bible college or a preacher school.

00:42:54.519 --> 00:42:56.139
If you go to a Bible college, preacher school,

00:42:56.199 --> 00:42:59.619
more power to you. What I'm trying to help you

00:42:59.619 --> 00:43:03.099
see is this. In too many places, all too often

00:43:03.099 --> 00:43:06.800
church offices have become hardly recognizable

00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:12.159
from secular professions. Secular professions.

00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:15.039
Let me tell you something else that we see. Because

00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:18.519
of the introduction of the one -man system, We

00:43:18.519 --> 00:43:21.300
see that many of the roles and responsibilities

00:43:21.300 --> 00:43:24.159
in the church have been shifted downward. Let

00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:26.500
me show you what I mean. This was the New Testament

00:43:26.500 --> 00:43:29.519
blueprint and plan for the church. It was God's

00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:32.099
will to have elders leading and teaching, de

00:43:32.099 --> 00:43:34.719
-conserving, teachers teaching in addition to

00:43:34.719 --> 00:43:37.000
and alongside the elders, and then the members

00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:39.159
of the body being active, working, and doing

00:43:39.159 --> 00:43:41.940
their part. But with the addition of the one

00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:44.099
-man pastor or the one -man preacher system,

00:43:44.139 --> 00:43:46.760
here's what happens. We're going to hire a man

00:43:46.760 --> 00:43:49.280
to come in and do all or most of our teaching

00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:51.599
and preaching for us. We're going to put him

00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:54.099
at the top. We hired our preacher, and he's going

00:43:54.099 --> 00:43:55.599
to teach the church. He's going to take care

00:43:55.599 --> 00:43:57.099
of that. Well, then what are the elders going

00:43:57.099 --> 00:43:59.940
to do? He just took the elder's job. What are

00:43:59.940 --> 00:44:01.639
the elders going to do? They don't have anything

00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:04.519
to do now. Well, the elders are going to become

00:44:04.519 --> 00:44:06.380
servants to the church and they're going to serve

00:44:06.380 --> 00:44:09.639
primarily in an administrative capacity, sort

00:44:09.639 --> 00:44:13.139
of as the unofficial board of directors for the

00:44:13.139 --> 00:44:15.860
congregation. And a big part of their work will

00:44:15.860 --> 00:44:18.679
actually be hiring and firing preachers. There

00:44:18.679 --> 00:44:21.900
will likely be an endless revolving door of teachers

00:44:21.900 --> 00:44:24.260
and preachers that they will have to hire and

00:44:24.260 --> 00:44:27.559
fire. And they become essentially the governing

00:44:27.559 --> 00:44:30.099
board serving in that administrative capacity.

00:44:30.699 --> 00:44:32.860
Well, they've sort of taken the job of some of

00:44:32.860 --> 00:44:35.239
the deacons What are the deacons going to do

00:44:35.239 --> 00:44:37.480
now now the deacons don't have anything to do?

00:44:37.820 --> 00:44:40.400
Let me tell you what happens. I've seen this

00:44:40.400 --> 00:44:44.460
and look I've seen this in some some of the congregations.

00:44:44.460 --> 00:44:49.559
I preach it Okay Some of the congregations I've

00:44:49.559 --> 00:44:51.420
preached at and work with I've seen the office

00:44:51.420 --> 00:44:54.000
of the deacon Being used in such a way that it's

00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.260
not really reaching its full potential and full

00:44:56.260 --> 00:44:59.099
capacity deacons do a very important special

00:44:59.099 --> 00:45:03.400
work in the church But in some places, sometimes,

00:45:03.500 --> 00:45:05.739
here's what happens to deacons. Deacons become

00:45:05.739 --> 00:45:09.519
solely janitors. That's all they do. That's their

00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:12.500
job, just to clean the building. Or deacons become

00:45:12.500 --> 00:45:15.599
lawn mowers. They mow the lawn. Or deacons become

00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:17.800
tech support. When the mic won't work or the

00:45:17.800 --> 00:45:20.780
projector's broke, they fix the mic, fix the

00:45:20.780 --> 00:45:24.159
projector. Now listen, those things are important,

00:45:24.199 --> 00:45:26.710
and we appreciate people. who clean the building.

00:45:26.889 --> 00:45:29.230
We appreciate people who mow the lawn. We appreciate,

00:45:29.550 --> 00:45:31.429
I really appreciate it when they can fix this

00:45:31.429 --> 00:45:34.050
stuff up here so it's not broken so I can use

00:45:34.050 --> 00:45:37.449
it. We appreciate the people who do this. And

00:45:37.449 --> 00:45:39.090
there's nothing wrong with deacons doing this

00:45:39.090 --> 00:45:42.469
kind of work. But if that's all that a deacon's

00:45:42.469 --> 00:45:44.630
work ever is, if that's all that we think of

00:45:44.630 --> 00:45:48.090
it as, just someone who is relegated to these

00:45:48.090 --> 00:45:50.530
very menial tasks and there's nothing more to

00:45:50.530 --> 00:45:53.269
their work, no more significance, I think we

00:45:53.269 --> 00:45:56.639
missed the mark. of why we have deacons and why

00:45:56.639 --> 00:46:00.519
the Lord's church needs deacons. Concerning teachers

00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:02.239
in the church, we don't need teachers anymore,

00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:04.400
right? We can just cross that out because we

00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:06.980
hired our guy, our preacher, to do all the teaching

00:46:06.980 --> 00:46:09.340
for us. We don't need teachers in the church

00:46:09.340 --> 00:46:12.159
anymore. And concerning the work of the members,

00:46:13.619 --> 00:46:17.659
what oftentimes happens once this system is fully

00:46:17.659 --> 00:46:21.400
developed, in a lot of congregations the members

00:46:21.820 --> 00:46:24.579
Simply take on the role of making sure that they

00:46:24.579 --> 00:46:30.800
give enough money in the collection plate to

00:46:30.800 --> 00:46:33.320
meet the budget that's required for all these

00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:37.019
people who are serving on staff. The members

00:46:37.019 --> 00:46:41.880
become nothing more than a cash cow. The people

00:46:41.880 --> 00:46:43.599
who need to make sure they give enough money

00:46:43.599 --> 00:46:46.179
to support the preacher and everybody else that

00:46:46.179 --> 00:46:48.579
we've got on staff doing all the work. You know,

00:46:48.619 --> 00:46:51.500
the members are no longer maybe needed to be

00:46:51.500 --> 00:46:53.460
active in doing the work. We just need them to

00:46:53.460 --> 00:46:59.900
pay the people who we pay to do the work. This

00:46:59.900 --> 00:47:03.780
is a system that has evolved. The roles have

00:47:03.780 --> 00:47:06.099
been shifted downward and that's because of the

00:47:06.099 --> 00:47:08.440
introduction of the one -man pastor or one -man

00:47:08.440 --> 00:47:11.690
preacher system. Something else we see around

00:47:11.690 --> 00:47:14.969
us in churches today is many congregations have

00:47:14.969 --> 00:47:17.809
elders that rarely teach the Word of God. I believe

00:47:17.809 --> 00:47:20.289
the New Testament teaches that elders need to

00:47:20.289 --> 00:47:22.610
teach the Word of God. In too many places, elders

00:47:22.610 --> 00:47:26.070
contract out their teaching. They contract that

00:47:26.070 --> 00:47:28.170
out. They're teaching responsibilities they pass

00:47:28.170 --> 00:47:30.730
on to the preacher that they hire. But we don't

00:47:30.730 --> 00:47:33.730
find that in the New Testament. Sometimes there's

00:47:33.730 --> 00:47:35.710
a mentality that, you know, it's just best to

00:47:35.710 --> 00:47:38.510
leave the preaching to a certified and credentialed

00:47:38.510 --> 00:47:40.860
professional. to a guy who's been to preacher

00:47:40.860 --> 00:47:43.719
school, to a guy who has some higher education

00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:45.980
from a Bible college. Sometimes elderships get

00:47:45.980 --> 00:47:48.579
to thinking this way. We can't get up there and

00:47:48.579 --> 00:47:50.840
teach. We got a higher professional to do our

00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:55.000
teaching for us. Here's what we need to ask ourselves.

00:47:55.039 --> 00:47:57.619
How did the early church ever manage to survive

00:47:57.619 --> 00:48:02.239
without Bible colleges, without preacher schools,

00:48:03.480 --> 00:48:06.239
without diplomas and certificates to preach?

00:48:06.829 --> 00:48:10.190
without legally binding contracts with sick leave

00:48:10.190 --> 00:48:16.250
and incentive bonuses and sermon quotas. How

00:48:16.250 --> 00:48:18.889
did the early church ever manage to survive without

00:48:18.889 --> 00:48:22.690
all these things that we've added into and made

00:48:22.690 --> 00:48:26.710
a customary part of the work and organization

00:48:26.710 --> 00:48:31.239
of the Lord's Church? Something else we see in

00:48:31.239 --> 00:48:33.559
many churches today is the idea that the preacher

00:48:33.559 --> 00:48:37.179
is hired to do all of or maybe even or it might

00:48:37.179 --> 00:48:39.280
just be most of the work. Sometimes it might

00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:42.179
even be all of the work of the church. Now here's

00:48:42.179 --> 00:48:45.380
a statement I think every single one of us would

00:48:45.380 --> 00:48:48.940
agree with. A church congregation is not going

00:48:48.940 --> 00:48:50.980
to last long if the preacher is expected to do

00:48:50.980 --> 00:48:55.820
all the work. There's a church out there where

00:48:55.820 --> 00:48:58.719
the preacher is expected to do all the work that

00:48:58.719 --> 00:49:01.880
church will not last long Why because every member

00:49:01.880 --> 00:49:03.980
in the body has work to do and we need every

00:49:03.980 --> 00:49:07.000
member doing their part for the body to be strong

00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:10.260
Ephesians 4 11 we read this verse earlier. I

00:49:10.260 --> 00:49:13.219
want to revisit it Ephesians 4 11 he gave some

00:49:13.219 --> 00:49:15.380
Apostles some prophets some evangelists some

00:49:15.380 --> 00:49:17.800
pastors and some teachers What did he give men

00:49:17.800 --> 00:49:20.039
to serve in these offices for to do all the work?

00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:23.500
Did the Lord give us evangelists or elders in

00:49:23.500 --> 00:49:27.280
the church to do all the work? Let me share something

00:49:27.280 --> 00:49:32.179
with you about verse 12. I personally have never

00:49:32.179 --> 00:49:36.079
been a big fan of the commas in verse 12, okay?

00:49:36.480 --> 00:49:39.079
There were no commas in the original Greek text,

00:49:39.179 --> 00:49:41.980
by the way. Commas were added, punctuation was

00:49:41.980 --> 00:49:45.480
added by the translators, and rightfully so because

00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:48.219
it does help make the... the Bible easier for

00:49:48.219 --> 00:49:52.199
us to read. But I'm not so sure, I'm not so sure

00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:55.900
that the commas in verse 12 are helpful in us

00:49:55.900 --> 00:49:58.960
arriving at the original idea behind verse 12.

00:50:00.179 --> 00:50:03.800
With the commas in verse 12, it almost presents

00:50:03.800 --> 00:50:06.539
the idea that God gave us these offices in the

00:50:06.539 --> 00:50:09.739
church for this laundry list of things. Three

00:50:09.739 --> 00:50:12.599
things that evangelists and pastors and teachers

00:50:12.599 --> 00:50:15.699
need to do. A laundry list of three things. God

00:50:15.699 --> 00:50:19.119
gave us elders to equip the saints. God gave

00:50:19.119 --> 00:50:21.360
us elders to do the work of the ministry. God

00:50:21.360 --> 00:50:24.460
gave us elders to edify the body of Christ. Sort

00:50:24.460 --> 00:50:27.360
of a laundry list of things that the men in these

00:50:27.360 --> 00:50:31.320
offices do. When you take out the commas though,

00:50:31.440 --> 00:50:33.420
it completely changes the meaning of the verse.

00:50:33.769 --> 00:50:35.730
Let me show you what it means. This is what I

00:50:35.730 --> 00:50:38.949
believe the original intent is. God gave us men

00:50:38.949 --> 00:50:41.469
to serve in these offices so that they could

00:50:41.469 --> 00:50:45.190
perfect or equip the saints to do the work of

00:50:45.190 --> 00:50:47.710
the ministry, to do the work of service so that

00:50:47.710 --> 00:50:50.349
the saints who are being equipped to do the work

00:50:50.349 --> 00:50:53.929
can edify or build up the body of Christ. That's

00:50:53.929 --> 00:50:55.989
completely different. That's a completely different

00:50:55.989 --> 00:50:58.960
dynamic. It's not the men in these offices doing

00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:01.519
all the work. It's the men in these offices equipping

00:51:01.519 --> 00:51:04.179
and enabling all the members of church to get

00:51:04.179 --> 00:51:09.119
involved in the work. And I think that's the

00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:10.960
original intent. I think that's the meaning because

00:51:10.960 --> 00:51:13.199
we see that when we skip down to verse 16. We

00:51:13.199 --> 00:51:16.880
see that same idea. Ephesians 4 16. I'm going

00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:20.380
to go against my custom and read it in the ESV.

00:51:20.460 --> 00:51:22.039
I just think it's a little bit easier to read

00:51:22.039 --> 00:51:25.420
and understand. Paul says, From whom? That's

00:51:25.420 --> 00:51:28.179
Christ the head. the whole body that's the church

00:51:28.179 --> 00:51:31.380
joined and held together by every joint that's

00:51:31.380 --> 00:51:34.179
every member in the body with which it is equipped

00:51:34.179 --> 00:51:37.820
when each part is working properly each part

00:51:37.820 --> 00:51:40.840
of the body each member it makes the body grow

00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:45.719
so that it builds itself up in love when we equip

00:51:45.719 --> 00:51:49.469
each part of the body to do its work And every

00:51:49.469 --> 00:51:51.969
part of the body is working properly. What? The

00:51:51.969 --> 00:51:55.150
body grows because it is doing the work of building

00:51:55.150 --> 00:52:00.309
itself up in love. So I think it's probably better

00:52:00.309 --> 00:52:02.070
for us if we can. I hope that doesn't offend

00:52:02.070 --> 00:52:04.070
anybody. If you like the commas in verse 12,

00:52:04.130 --> 00:52:08.710
keep the commas there. But I think when we read

00:52:08.710 --> 00:52:13.329
verse 12 and understand, Paul's not talking about

00:52:13.329 --> 00:52:16.389
one man or a small group of men doing all the

00:52:16.389 --> 00:52:19.239
work in the church. He's talking about men in

00:52:19.239 --> 00:52:21.619
leadership enabling and equipping the members

00:52:21.619 --> 00:52:25.179
to get involved and do the work, and that's what

00:52:25.179 --> 00:52:27.699
makes the body strong. Last thing we'll look

00:52:27.699 --> 00:52:31.500
at concerning our modern day practice. Because

00:52:31.500 --> 00:52:34.739
in many churches today we've accepted and adopted

00:52:34.739 --> 00:52:37.739
the idea that we hire men in to be our preachers,

00:52:38.099 --> 00:52:41.559
fewer and fewer men are being sent out to far

00:52:41.559 --> 00:52:44.820
away places to preach and teach the gospel. More

00:52:44.820 --> 00:52:47.199
and more evangelists are being hired in to come

00:52:47.199 --> 00:52:49.679
and be the preacher in big churches here in the

00:52:49.679 --> 00:52:51.820
United States. And the result is this, fewer

00:52:51.820 --> 00:52:54.079
and fewer evangelists are being supported to

00:52:54.079 --> 00:52:57.860
go out, to be sent, and to go start new works,

00:52:57.920 --> 00:53:01.380
new churches here in the US and in foreign places.

00:53:02.460 --> 00:53:05.460
Now, I want to give you some proof of that. This

00:53:05.460 --> 00:53:07.960
is a table. This table illustrates the decline

00:53:07.960 --> 00:53:10.019
in Church of Christ membership in the United

00:53:10.019 --> 00:53:15.090
States. since 1955 to the present day. I want

00:53:15.090 --> 00:53:18.150
to draw your attention here to this pink shaded

00:53:18.150 --> 00:53:21.570
area. These are the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The

00:53:21.570 --> 00:53:25.550
50s, 60s, and 70s was the era of massive Church

00:53:25.550 --> 00:53:28.030
of Christ College and Church of Christ University

00:53:28.030 --> 00:53:30.590
expansion. A lot of Church of Christ colleges,

00:53:30.969 --> 00:53:33.329
preacher schools, if they weren't established

00:53:33.329 --> 00:53:36.269
during this time period, they underwent major

00:53:36.269 --> 00:53:39.960
expansion. And the thought and the idea was that

00:53:39.960 --> 00:53:42.340
if we invest all these resources in these Church

00:53:42.340 --> 00:53:46.000
of Christ colleges and preacher schools, we're

00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:47.780
going to send our young people to these schools

00:53:47.780 --> 00:53:49.519
and colleges and we're going to train them, we're

00:53:49.519 --> 00:53:51.539
going to equip them, we're going to prepare them

00:53:51.539 --> 00:53:52.920
and we're going to send them out and they're

00:53:52.920 --> 00:53:55.780
going to help the church grow rapidly all across

00:53:55.780 --> 00:53:58.179
the United States. That was the idea and that's

00:53:58.179 --> 00:54:00.760
a very good idea. But you know what happened?

00:54:02.019 --> 00:54:07.619
The exact opposite happened. From 1968, to 2020,

00:54:07.800 --> 00:54:11.219
the church saw a 55 % decrease in membership

00:54:11.219 --> 00:54:14.360
in the United States, from about 2 .4 million

00:54:14.360 --> 00:54:18.639
members in 1968 to a little over 1 million members

00:54:18.639 --> 00:54:25.920
in 2020. That might be, you know, charts and

00:54:25.920 --> 00:54:27.659
graphs, maybe that's a little bit too technical.

00:54:27.719 --> 00:54:30.599
I'm technical -minded. I'm an engineer by trade,

00:54:30.599 --> 00:54:32.940
and so I think in terms of graphs and charts,

00:54:33.769 --> 00:54:35.750
Here's the point I'm trying to teach. Here's

00:54:35.750 --> 00:54:37.550
what I'm trying to show you from this graph.

00:54:38.210 --> 00:54:42.170
The one -man professional preacher system has

00:54:42.170 --> 00:54:44.829
not helped grow the church in the United States.

00:54:45.869 --> 00:54:51.090
It has not helped the church grow. In fact, it

00:54:51.090 --> 00:54:55.389
may in fact be hindering the church because we

00:54:55.389 --> 00:54:58.130
are sending fewer and fewer men out to do the

00:54:58.130 --> 00:55:01.519
work. Instead we are just hiring them in to stand

00:55:01.519 --> 00:55:04.099
behind pulpits like this and be our preachers.

00:55:04.619 --> 00:55:08.000
Last thing we want to look at tonight, we started

00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:10.519
by looking at the original pattern, God's pattern

00:55:10.519 --> 00:55:14.280
for church organization. We went down through

00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:16.440
the centuries of church history. We saw that

00:55:16.440 --> 00:55:20.280
many errors and deviations came into the church

00:55:20.280 --> 00:55:22.280
concerning its organization. And we see that

00:55:22.280 --> 00:55:24.920
we see many things in our modern day practice

00:55:24.920 --> 00:55:29.710
that aren't in line with the Word of God. We're

00:55:29.710 --> 00:55:31.469
here tonight, and we're here this week not just

00:55:31.469 --> 00:55:33.929
to focus on problems. We're here to try to talk

00:55:33.929 --> 00:55:36.969
about solutions Let's talk about some solutions.

00:55:36.989 --> 00:55:39.949
Let's talk about some things that we can do to

00:55:39.949 --> 00:55:44.269
restore God's pattern for church organization

00:55:44.269 --> 00:55:46.809
First thing that we could do these offices that

00:55:46.809 --> 00:55:50.050
had become highly secularized we can desecularize

00:55:50.050 --> 00:55:54.070
them Workers in the early church were prepared

00:55:54.070 --> 00:55:56.389
without Bible colleges and again. I'm not I'm

00:55:56.389 --> 00:55:59.429
not trying to condemn you if you Teach at a Bible

00:55:59.429 --> 00:56:02.170
college. You went to a Bible college. I'm not

00:56:02.170 --> 00:56:04.190
trying to condemn you, but I just want you to

00:56:04.190 --> 00:56:06.429
understand this. Workers in the early church

00:56:06.429 --> 00:56:08.809
were prepared to serve without Bible colleges,

00:56:09.650 --> 00:56:11.969
without preaching certificates, without legally

00:56:11.969 --> 00:56:15.510
binding contracts. They didn't need those things

00:56:15.510 --> 00:56:17.429
in the first century church, yet we see the first

00:56:17.429 --> 00:56:22.550
century church growing rapidly. Consider the

00:56:22.550 --> 00:56:26.039
way Paul mentored Timothy. In Acts chapter 16

00:56:26.039 --> 00:56:28.900
verse 1 to 3, He, that's Paul, came to Derbe

00:56:28.900 --> 00:56:31.199
and Lystra. Behold, a certain disciple was there

00:56:31.199 --> 00:56:34.260
named Timotheus, Timothy. Paul comes to Lystra

00:56:34.260 --> 00:56:36.699
and Derbe on a second missionary journey. He

00:56:36.699 --> 00:56:39.139
finds this young man named Timothy. It says in

00:56:39.139 --> 00:56:41.300
verse 2 that this Timothy was well reported of

00:56:41.300 --> 00:56:43.300
by the brethren that were at Lystra in Iconium.

00:56:43.559 --> 00:56:46.460
This young man's got a good reputation. All right,

00:56:46.460 --> 00:56:48.679
Paul looks at him and sees potential in young

00:56:48.679 --> 00:56:51.300
Timothy. And what does Paul do? He says him,

00:56:51.380 --> 00:56:54.480
Timothy, Would Paul have to go forth with him?

00:56:54.579 --> 00:56:56.579
Paul tells Timothy, Timothy I want you to come

00:56:56.579 --> 00:56:59.500
with me and I will train you and I will teach

00:56:59.500 --> 00:57:01.619
you and I will show you what it means to preach

00:57:01.619 --> 00:57:03.519
the gospel. I'll show you what it means to do

00:57:03.519 --> 00:57:07.440
the work of an evangelist. You know this one

00:57:07.440 --> 00:57:12.019
-on -one organic mentorship I think is probably

00:57:12.019 --> 00:57:15.519
a more effective way of bringing up and raising

00:57:15.519 --> 00:57:18.119
up the next generation of leaders, teachers and

00:57:18.119 --> 00:57:21.460
preachers in our congregations. It seems to me

00:57:21.460 --> 00:57:23.260
that that's the way they trained up the next

00:57:23.260 --> 00:57:25.960
generation of leaders in the first century church

00:57:25.960 --> 00:57:28.340
in the same way Paul took and trained up Timothy.

00:57:29.300 --> 00:57:30.960
So that's what I mean when I'm talking about

00:57:30.960 --> 00:57:35.800
de -secularizing these offices. We talked earlier

00:57:35.800 --> 00:57:38.199
about all the roles being shifted downward because

00:57:38.199 --> 00:57:40.380
of the introduction of the one -man pastor system.

00:57:40.739 --> 00:57:43.119
I think we can take steps and take actions that

00:57:43.119 --> 00:57:45.969
would shift those roles back upward. This is

00:57:45.969 --> 00:57:48.269
where we left it a moment ago with the preacher

00:57:48.269 --> 00:57:50.530
doing all the teaching for the church, the elders

00:57:50.530 --> 00:57:53.070
serving as the board of directors, the deacons

00:57:53.070 --> 00:57:55.389
relegated to being janitors, lawn mowers and

00:57:55.389 --> 00:57:58.070
tech support. No more teachers needed in the

00:57:58.070 --> 00:58:00.449
church because we hired a man to do all our teaching

00:58:00.449 --> 00:58:02.829
and the focus of the membership is just make

00:58:02.829 --> 00:58:05.570
sure they give enough to pay the budget of the

00:58:05.570 --> 00:58:08.130
church. Here's the first thing we could do to

00:58:08.130 --> 00:58:11.550
change all that. We can encourage and I do encourage

00:58:11.550 --> 00:58:16.369
preachers, ministers. equip and train men in

00:58:16.369 --> 00:58:20.070
your congregation to get involved in teaching.

00:58:20.949 --> 00:58:23.809
That's part of the work of an evangelist. Equip

00:58:23.809 --> 00:58:26.489
men, prepare men, train men to teach, prepare

00:58:26.489 --> 00:58:29.730
men to serve as elders, and elders need to be

00:58:29.730 --> 00:58:32.469
teachers in the church as well. Equip the members

00:58:32.469 --> 00:58:36.039
to do their part. in the work of the Lord. If

00:58:36.039 --> 00:58:39.300
preachers will get busy focusing on this part

00:58:39.300 --> 00:58:42.340
of their work, the elders can resume their rightful

00:58:42.340 --> 00:58:44.960
place as teachers in the congregation and they

00:58:44.960 --> 00:58:47.340
can resume their place of being the rightful

00:58:47.340 --> 00:58:49.880
leaders of the congregations. And if we can move

00:58:49.880 --> 00:58:52.719
the elders back up to doing that, the deacons

00:58:52.719 --> 00:58:55.139
can then take care of the work of serving the

00:58:55.139 --> 00:58:57.179
needs of the church like God intended in the

00:58:57.179 --> 00:59:01.059
beginning. Guess what? We can encourage men in

00:59:01.059 --> 00:59:03.219
the congregation who might not be elders who

00:59:03.219 --> 00:59:06.219
might not be deacons, but they might have a a

00:59:06.219 --> 00:59:09.000
Talent and ability and a desire to be teachers

00:59:09.000 --> 00:59:12.199
in the church. Let's work with those men Enable

00:59:12.199 --> 00:59:15.000
them equip them train them to teach alongside

00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:18.460
The elders of the church and then instead of

00:59:18.460 --> 00:59:21.119
the members of the church just being the people

00:59:21.119 --> 00:59:24.179
who fund everybody above them You know, it's

00:59:24.179 --> 00:59:26.719
amazing what you can do when people are willing

00:59:26.719 --> 00:59:30.679
to serve as elders on a voluntary basis or from

00:59:30.679 --> 00:59:32.699
their heart. Deacons are serving voluntarily.

00:59:32.960 --> 00:59:35.360
These men are teaching voluntarily. You know,

00:59:35.360 --> 00:59:40.280
it's amazing how little your budget becomes when

00:59:40.280 --> 00:59:42.639
people are willingly doing this because they

00:59:42.639 --> 00:59:44.820
love the Lord and they love the work of His church.

00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:48.300
The focus can be shifted away from giving all

00:59:48.300 --> 00:59:50.900
the money for these people to work to the members

00:59:50.900 --> 00:59:53.750
going back and working and being active in the

00:59:53.750 --> 00:59:58.489
congregations. We could take steps to get our

00:59:58.489 --> 01:00:00.289
congregations back to what the Lord intended

01:00:00.289 --> 01:00:01.989
them to be in the beginning. And you know, if

01:00:01.989 --> 01:00:04.289
a preacher can do this, if he can successfully

01:00:04.289 --> 01:00:07.030
work over a period of time to affect these kinds

01:00:07.030 --> 01:00:10.750
of changes, guess what he can do now? This congregation

01:00:10.750 --> 01:00:13.989
don't need him anymore, do they? They don't need

01:00:13.989 --> 01:00:15.969
him anymore. They got elders teaching and leading.

01:00:16.070 --> 01:00:18.170
They got de -conserving. They got other men teaching.

01:00:18.250 --> 01:00:20.230
They got the members working. They don't need

01:00:20.230 --> 01:00:22.610
him anymore. They can actually support him and

01:00:22.610 --> 01:00:26.389
send him out to a new area as an evangelist so

01:00:26.389 --> 01:00:28.670
he can preach the gospel somewhere else and maybe

01:00:28.670 --> 01:00:31.230
start a new work, a new congregation somewhere

01:00:31.230 --> 01:00:34.170
else. And what's that look like? That looks like

01:00:34.170 --> 01:00:37.130
church growth. Instead of hiring these men to

01:00:37.130 --> 01:00:39.670
do all our teaching and preaching and dilute

01:00:39.670 --> 01:00:42.110
and diminish the talent of the men of the congregation,

01:00:42.510 --> 01:00:45.090
Getting all these people involved and working

01:00:45.090 --> 01:00:48.809
will actually allow him to go out and work in

01:00:48.809 --> 01:00:53.889
other places and help grow the church. And this

01:00:53.889 --> 01:00:56.150
is something we can do to help shift these roles

01:00:56.150 --> 01:00:59.309
back upward where they need to be. I do believe

01:00:59.309 --> 01:01:01.570
we also need to return back to God's original

01:01:01.570 --> 01:01:04.349
pattern for elders teaching and preaching in

01:01:04.349 --> 01:01:07.429
the assemblies of the church. There's a multitude

01:01:07.429 --> 01:01:09.530
of scriptures in the New Testament which speak

01:01:09.530 --> 01:01:13.070
to an elder's necessity to teach. Acts 20 and

01:01:13.070 --> 01:01:15.389
28, Paul tells the elders to feed the flock.

01:01:16.050 --> 01:01:18.889
1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, the qualifications of elders

01:01:18.889 --> 01:01:21.690
apt to teach, able to exhort with sound doctrine.

01:01:22.429 --> 01:01:26.070
1 Peter 5, 1 to 3, Peter told the elders to feed

01:01:26.070 --> 01:01:29.309
the flock. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 talks about

01:01:29.309 --> 01:01:31.210
the elders being those who have spoken the word

01:01:31.210 --> 01:01:34.690
of God. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 talks about the

01:01:34.690 --> 01:01:37.389
elders as those that admonish the members of

01:01:37.389 --> 01:01:39.809
the congregation. There are six scriptures right

01:01:39.809 --> 01:01:43.849
there. Six scriptures which make it abundantly

01:01:43.849 --> 01:01:46.710
clear that it's an elder's role and it's part

01:01:46.710 --> 01:01:49.050
of his role and responsibility to be a teacher

01:01:49.050 --> 01:01:51.929
in the church. I'll tell you something else we

01:01:51.929 --> 01:01:56.130
need too. We need godly men to step up. We need

01:01:56.130 --> 01:01:59.969
godly men to step up. You know what the church

01:01:59.969 --> 01:02:07.710
needs? The church needs more fat men. More fat

01:02:07.710 --> 01:02:15.849
men. Fat, faithful, available, teachable. Look,

01:02:16.090 --> 01:02:18.510
I want to stop just a moment. I want to speak

01:02:18.510 --> 01:02:26.309
to you men. Men, we need every brother. We need

01:02:26.309 --> 01:02:30.590
every male member of the Lord's body to step

01:02:30.590 --> 01:02:35.289
up and do your part and do what you can to help

01:02:35.289 --> 01:02:38.769
make the church Strong to help make it grow,

01:02:39.030 --> 01:02:44.030
to help make it thrive. What are some things

01:02:44.030 --> 01:02:47.469
that we need to do as men? As men, let me just

01:02:47.469 --> 01:02:49.469
put it to you straight, guys. Listen, let me

01:02:49.469 --> 01:02:52.789
just put it to you straight. In some churches,

01:02:53.510 --> 01:02:55.469
we've got far too many men that are just sitting

01:02:55.469 --> 01:02:59.670
on the sidelines as consumers. They just sit

01:02:59.670 --> 01:03:02.070
on the sideline as consumers of what the church

01:03:02.070 --> 01:03:05.210
offers them. We need more men to get off the

01:03:05.210 --> 01:03:08.550
sideline and get in the game and become producers.

01:03:09.989 --> 01:03:14.170
Producers, not just consumers. Guys, you need

01:03:14.170 --> 01:03:16.550
to be leading in your homes. It starts there.

01:03:17.309 --> 01:03:20.510
Leading faithfully. honorably as husbands, as

01:03:20.510 --> 01:03:22.909
fathers, as the scriptures instruct us. Lead

01:03:22.909 --> 01:03:25.590
your homes in a godly manner. Teach your children,

01:03:25.650 --> 01:03:27.889
fathers, teach your children. Raise them up in

01:03:27.889 --> 01:03:29.809
their nurture and admonition of the Lord. We

01:03:29.809 --> 01:03:33.110
need you doing that. We need you doing that.

01:03:33.289 --> 01:03:36.130
We need you to commit yourself to be an active

01:03:36.130 --> 01:03:38.989
and involved and present member of the body.

01:03:39.230 --> 01:03:41.369
We need to count on you to be here when the church

01:03:41.369 --> 01:03:44.690
comes together. In some churches you might not

01:03:44.690 --> 01:03:47.030
be able to count on the men to be there. Maybe

01:03:47.030 --> 01:03:49.409
20 -30 % of the time. They're there one Sunday,

01:03:49.449 --> 01:03:52.070
they're gone the next. We can't count on them.

01:03:52.070 --> 01:03:53.730
They're not reliable. They're not committed.

01:03:55.530 --> 01:03:57.409
Men, we need more of you to be committed, to

01:03:57.409 --> 01:03:59.329
be present, to be active and involved in the

01:03:59.329 --> 01:04:01.389
work of the church. Guys, you gotta be studying

01:04:01.389 --> 01:04:05.849
your Bibles. Gotta be studying your Bibles. Gotta

01:04:05.849 --> 01:04:07.670
be sharing your faith. You need to know the Word

01:04:07.670 --> 01:04:10.230
of God well enough that you can talk with people

01:04:10.230 --> 01:04:12.670
about your faith. Talk with them about the church.

01:04:14.159 --> 01:04:16.519
And I know it might require you to get out of

01:04:16.519 --> 01:04:19.639
your comfort zone a little bit, but we need you

01:04:19.639 --> 01:04:24.460
guys working on developing your talents. Work

01:04:24.460 --> 01:04:26.800
on developing your talents. You say, bro James,

01:04:26.860 --> 01:04:29.099
well I ain't got any talents. I ain't got anything

01:04:29.099 --> 01:04:33.280
church needs from me. You probably got more talent

01:04:33.280 --> 01:04:37.380
than you're aware of. You probably got more talent

01:04:37.380 --> 01:04:41.880
than you give yourself credit for. And these

01:04:41.880 --> 01:04:46.619
are some of the things, guys. We as men need

01:04:46.619 --> 01:04:49.239
to take our role, our responsibility seriously.

01:04:49.800 --> 01:04:54.199
Look, it's all too easy to make excuses. It's

01:04:54.199 --> 01:04:56.179
all too easy to sit back and say, well, somebody

01:04:56.179 --> 01:04:58.159
else will do that. Brother so -and -so will do

01:04:58.159 --> 01:05:01.699
that. You know, I'm not really needed. There's

01:05:01.699 --> 01:05:05.679
so much work to do. And we need everybody in

01:05:05.679 --> 01:05:07.860
the game being involved in the work. It's no

01:05:07.860 --> 01:05:10.380
time for excuses. It's no time for spiritual

01:05:10.380 --> 01:05:14.710
laziness. I want to encourage you men, I'm speaking

01:05:14.710 --> 01:05:17.889
to you straight, I'm using pointed words, but

01:05:17.889 --> 01:05:19.769
listen, I'm doing that because it's just that

01:05:19.769 --> 01:05:24.250
important. If we love the church, if we love

01:05:24.250 --> 01:05:27.769
the Lord, let's step up, let's step out, let's

01:05:27.769 --> 01:05:30.050
do what we can to be involved in the work of

01:05:30.050 --> 01:05:32.110
the church. Let's be fat men, let's be faithful,

01:05:32.210 --> 01:05:35.010
let's be available, and let's be teachable. This

01:05:35.010 --> 01:05:37.110
is something that as an evangelist I'm called

01:05:37.110 --> 01:05:40.610
to do. It's my duty as an evangelist to call

01:05:40.610 --> 01:05:43.150
men to this kind of service and this kind of

01:05:43.150 --> 01:05:46.570
commitment. Second Timothy 2 -2, Paul tells Timothy,

01:05:47.090 --> 01:05:49.130
the thing that thou hast heard of me among many

01:05:49.130 --> 01:05:52.030
witnesses, he says the same commit to faithful

01:05:52.030 --> 01:05:56.150
men who shall be able to teach others also. Paul's

01:05:56.150 --> 01:05:58.409
telling Timothy, what I've taught you Timothy,

01:05:58.769 --> 01:06:01.190
you teach to faithful men so that they can go

01:06:01.190 --> 01:06:04.849
out and teach others also. So it's that work.

01:06:05.119 --> 01:06:07.880
of equipping the members of the body so that

01:06:07.880 --> 01:06:10.639
they can be involved in the larger work of the

01:06:10.639 --> 01:06:14.840
church. It's so very important. And then the

01:06:14.840 --> 01:06:18.159
last thing we can do to help restore the New

01:06:18.159 --> 01:06:20.219
Testament pattern for church organization is

01:06:20.219 --> 01:06:23.000
we can do the work of sending men out to teach

01:06:23.000 --> 01:06:27.420
and preach the gospel. When we set up our congregations

01:06:27.420 --> 01:06:31.239
in a scriptural way, when our congregations are

01:06:31.239 --> 01:06:34.480
set in order scripturally, As we've talked about

01:06:34.480 --> 01:06:36.360
tonight, you know what they can do? They can

01:06:36.360 --> 01:06:40.239
support and they can send out evangelists. That's

01:06:40.239 --> 01:06:43.360
what the church at Antioch did, right? That's

01:06:43.360 --> 01:06:45.860
what the church at Antioch did. Let's go back

01:06:45.860 --> 01:06:48.420
and revisit that. Acts 13 .1, there were at the

01:06:48.420 --> 01:06:50.519
church at Antioch certain prophets and teachers.

01:06:50.880 --> 01:06:54.159
It names five of them by name. It says, as they

01:06:54.159 --> 01:06:56.199
ministered to the Lord, they were all ministering

01:06:56.199 --> 01:06:58.909
and serving the Lord there at Antioch. It says,

01:06:59.150 --> 01:07:01.110
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the

01:07:01.110 --> 01:07:03.630
Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul

01:07:03.630 --> 01:07:06.769
for the work whereunto I have called them. The

01:07:06.769 --> 01:07:08.570
Lord looked down at Antioch. He saw at least

01:07:08.570 --> 01:07:10.929
five men teaching and preaching. The Lord says,

01:07:10.969 --> 01:07:13.909
I need two of those men, Saul and Barnabas, to

01:07:13.909 --> 01:07:17.030
go and do a special work that I've called them

01:07:17.030 --> 01:07:20.070
to do. The Bible says when they had fasted and

01:07:20.070 --> 01:07:22.130
prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent

01:07:22.130 --> 01:07:24.530
them away. Do you know what they went and did?

01:07:25.960 --> 01:07:28.119
This was the beginning of the first missionary

01:07:28.119 --> 01:07:31.440
journey. Paul and Barnabas were sent out from

01:07:31.440 --> 01:07:33.480
Antioch to teach and preach the gospel in many

01:07:33.480 --> 01:07:36.900
places, established new congregations in Lystra,

01:07:37.000 --> 01:07:39.820
in Derbe, in Iconium, in Antioch of Pisidia.

01:07:41.340 --> 01:07:43.880
You see a congregation that's set in order scripturally

01:07:43.880 --> 01:07:47.440
with multiple teachers is able to send men out

01:07:47.440 --> 01:07:51.059
to do evangelistic work. The example being the

01:07:51.059 --> 01:07:56.639
church there at Antioch. I hope you can see tonight

01:07:56.639 --> 01:07:58.760
from our study of the Scriptures that God does

01:07:58.760 --> 01:08:01.900
indeed have a plan for the organization of the

01:08:01.900 --> 01:08:06.880
church. He has a plan. That plan has been given

01:08:06.880 --> 01:08:09.719
to us in the New Testament. I'm here to tell

01:08:09.719 --> 01:08:13.780
you that plan has worked well in times past.

01:08:13.840 --> 01:08:15.719
It worked very well for the first century church.

01:08:15.800 --> 01:08:19.979
The first century church grew rapidly by following

01:08:19.979 --> 01:08:22.119
this plan that I've tried to teach you tonight.

01:08:24.170 --> 01:08:26.729
This plan, this pattern of church organization,

01:08:26.850 --> 01:08:29.390
though it might sound different to some of us,

01:08:29.869 --> 01:08:31.770
I may have shared some things with you tonight

01:08:31.770 --> 01:08:34.350
that are new. I may have shared some ideas, some

01:08:34.350 --> 01:08:36.289
scriptures that you've never heard of. I may

01:08:36.289 --> 01:08:39.189
have exposed you tonight for the first time to

01:08:39.189 --> 01:08:42.210
a completely new way of looking at the leadership

01:08:42.210 --> 01:08:46.390
and organization of the church. And if so, I

01:08:46.390 --> 01:08:47.970
want you to understand and I want you to know

01:08:47.970 --> 01:08:50.930
that this plan is working very well in many places

01:08:50.930 --> 01:08:54.119
today. This plan is working very well here at

01:08:54.119 --> 01:08:57.399
North Warren, other congregations in this area

01:08:57.399 --> 01:08:59.439
all across this country. There are congregations

01:08:59.439 --> 01:09:02.520
I could take you to if you go with me and show

01:09:02.520 --> 01:09:05.779
you congregations led by elders, served by deacons,

01:09:05.939 --> 01:09:08.539
taught by multiple men, sending out and supporting

01:09:08.539 --> 01:09:11.500
three, four, five, maybe even ten evangelists

01:09:11.500 --> 01:09:14.239
in other parts of the U .S. in foreign countries.

01:09:16.500 --> 01:09:19.720
This plan works. God's plan will always work.

01:09:20.939 --> 01:09:24.779
If we will work God's plan, God's plan will work

01:09:24.779 --> 01:09:29.859
for us. The question is this, will we trust God's

01:09:29.859 --> 01:09:33.920
plan? Despite everything we've ever been taught,

01:09:34.199 --> 01:09:36.260
despite everything we've been told, despite everything

01:09:36.260 --> 01:09:38.520
we may have ever seen in the church concerning

01:09:38.520 --> 01:09:42.560
its organization, will we trust that God's plan

01:09:42.560 --> 01:09:46.380
is best? Thank you for your attention tonight.

01:09:46.520 --> 01:09:48.960
I really appreciate you being here tonight as

01:09:48.960 --> 01:09:51.840
we consider these things We feel like these things

01:09:51.840 --> 01:09:54.699
are very very important Very very important for

01:09:54.699 --> 01:09:58.140
us to understand clearly And we pray God's richest

01:09:58.140 --> 01:10:00.420
blessings on this congregation as it continues

01:10:00.420 --> 01:10:05.279
to strive to put this plan into practice. God

01:10:05.279 --> 01:10:06.899
bless you all. We're going to sing a song of

01:10:06.899 --> 01:10:09.100
invitation. If you're here tonight and you need

01:10:09.100 --> 01:10:11.199
to respond to the gospel, you want to be baptized

01:10:11.199 --> 01:10:12.800
into Christ, or if you're here tonight and you

01:10:12.800 --> 01:10:15.560
need the prayers of the church, we want to help

01:10:15.560 --> 01:10:19.340
you spiritually. If there's anything we can do

01:10:19.340 --> 01:10:21.420
to assist, please don't hesitate. Make your need

01:10:21.420 --> 01:10:23.640
known by coming forward, having a scene on the

01:10:23.640 --> 01:10:25.359
front while we stand and while we sing the song

01:10:25.359 --> 01:10:26.000
of invitation.