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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

1. To keep right with God
2. To feed and lead the flock of God
3. To warn and watch…to protect the flock
4. To pray and study
5. 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