Here are the completed notes from the Sunday Evening service July 19, 2015
The Organization of the Church
1. That there must have been a simple organization even in the Church in Jerusalem is evident from a number of things:
- The believers adhered to a definite doctrinal standard (Acts 2:42; cf. Ephesians 2)
- They met for spiritual fellowship
- They united in prayer (Acts 2:42, Matthew 18:19, 20)
- They practiced baptism (Acts 2:41)
- They observed the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42, 46)
- They kept account of the membership (Acts 2:14, 41; 4:4)
- They met for public worship (Acts 2:46)
- They provided material help for the needy of their number (Acts 2:44, 45)
- The Apostles were the ministers in this Church
- They soon added the seven men of Acts 6:1-7 to take care of the ministration to the poor
- On the day of Pentecost they were assembled in ‘the upper room’ (Acts 1:13, 2:1), where that may have been; but more usually they seem to have met in some home of a Christian (Acts 2:46), though for some services apparently they still visited the temple (Acts 2:46, 3:1), as we have just seen
2. Additional Study of Church Organization:
- They had church officers
- The had stated times of meeting
- The regulated church decorum and exercised church discipline
- They raised money for the Lord’s work
The Officers of the Church
The kinds of officers:
1. Bishops (I Timothy 3:1-7; see also Titus 1:5-9)
Bishops, Elders, Pastors
The qualifications:
- He must be a male
- He must be blameless
- He must be the husband of one wife
- He must be vigilant (temperate)
- He must be sober
- He must be of good behavior
- He must be given to hospitality (a lover of strangers)
- He must be “apt to teach” (having the ability and love for teaching)
- He must not be given to wine
- He must not be a striker
- He must not be greedy for money
- He must be patient (reasonable, gentle)
- He must not be a brawler (not contentious)
- He must not covet (desire something belonging to someone else)
- He must rule his own house well
- He must not be a novice (new convert)
- He must maintain a good report from without (a good public testimony in his immediate community)
The responsibilities of the office:
In general it may be said that the pastor’s responsibilities are as follows:
- He is to administer the ordinances (Matthew 28:19, 20)
- He is to be a man of prayer (I Timothy 2:1)
- He is to warn his flock (I Timothy 4:1, 6)
- He is to study the Word (II Timothy 2:15)
- He is to preach the Word (II Timothy 4:2, Acts 6:2-4)
- He is to exhort and rebuke (I Thessalonians 5:12, Titus 2:15)
- He is to watch over souls
- His own (Acts 20:28, Colossians 4:17, I Timothy 4:16, 6:11)
- Those of others (Acts 20:28-31, Hebrews 13:17)
- He is to feed and lead his flock (Acts 20:28, I Peter 5:2)
- He is to be an example to all (I Corinthians 11:1, 4:16, Philippians 3:17, II Thessalonians 3:9, I Timothy 4:12, Hebrews 13:7, I Peter 5:3)
Pastor John MacArthur, Jr. writes concerning Paul’s fourfold perspective of pastoral priorities in Acts 20:19-22 (page 15 in Leadership, God’s Priority for the Church):
- A right perspective toward God
- A right perspective toward the church
- A right perspective toward the lost
- A right perspective toward himself
To this list MacArthur then adds five more priorities as found in Acts 20:28-35
- To keep right with God
- To feed and lead the flock of God
- To warn and watch…to protect the flock
- To pray and study
- To be free from self interest
2. Deacons (I Timothy 3:8-12)
The qualifications:
- He must be grave
- He must not be double-tongued
- He must not be given over to wine
- He must not be greedy
- He must hold forth the mystery of the faith
- He must be tested and proven
- Blameless
- He must be the husband of one wife
- Ruling his own children and home well – verse 12
- He must maintain a pure conscience
- Acts 6:3 – Honest report, full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom
Verse 11 – Deacons’ Wives
- Grave
- Not slanders
- Sober (temperate/well balanced)
- Faithful in all things
The Responsibilities of Women in a Local Church:
The Scripture does have much to say regarding the woman’s role in the church.
- Immediately after Christ’s ascension, women gathered with the apostles and disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem. In the early church beginnings, women were a vital part (Acts 5:14)
- One of the early converts, Mary, the mother of John Mark, donated her house as a meeting place for the believers in Jerusalem.
- Lydia did the same in Philippi (Acts 16:14, 15)
- In the last chapter of Romans, eight women are named out of the twenty-six whom Paul singles out for significant service to Christ.
- The daughters of Philip were used of God to prophesy (Acts 21:8,9)
- Aquila and Priscilla were used to instruct Apollos (Acts 18:24-26)
In addition to the historical precedent, the Scriptures give clear instruction for women’s ministry: Women have a vital place in evangelism. “The Lord giveth the Word; the women that publish the tidings are a great host.” -Psalm 68:11. Paul perhaps paid the highest compliment to women when he said, “The woman is man’s glory” -I Corinthians 11:7
In addition to these positive areas of ministry for women, the Scripture indicates some areas where women are NOT to serve: I Timothy 2:11, 12 is the most important statement in the area of leadership roles in the church. Alone with I Corinthians 14:33-35 it indicates a universal spiritual principle, that the divine order for women is subordination (not inferiority) to men.
- This principle is based on the facts that woman was created last (I Timothy 2:13) and was first to sin (I Timothy 2:14).
- Since the emphasis in both passages seems most easily applicable to public worship, women are not to be in positions of authority over men.
- Nowhere in the New Testament is a woman ever commended to serve as an elder
- In fact, it’s obvious that I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9, which list qualifications for elders, can only refer to a man
*Some contents adapted from Dr. Harold Willmington’s notes on the church