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ducts VARIOUS OPERATIONS. for
these in the ONE Church there are
aJso variOUS ADMINISTRATIONS Or
executive departments, with an
executive manager over each de–
partment or operation (verses 4-
6). Remember an executive ad–
ministrator DOES NOT SET POLICY
OR PROCEDURES OR DOCTRINES.
He administers-he carries out
and directs- what has been al–
ready set from above.
The President of the United
S tates does NOT MAKE THE LAWS.
He administers the policies as
functions authorized by Con–
gress- enforces the laws made by
Congress. Administrators are set
in the Church merely to super–
vise, direct, execute the policies,
procedures, doctrines assigned to
them from above.
The ONE Church, undivided, is
emphasized again in verse 20 :
" But now are they many mem–
bers, yet BUT ONE BODY"- ONE
UNDIVIDED CHURCH! Even Goo
is composed of more than one
Personage, yet but the ONE Goo!
Goo, remember is the Divine
Goo FAMILY. Those in the
Church are a lready begotten
sons- begotten members of that
Goo FAMILY. But not yet BORN
as Goo BEtNGS!
Notice verse 25, "there should
be no schism in the body, but that
the members should have the
same care one for another."
To administer these many op–
erations, God- not a vote of the
members- "hath set sorne in the
church , first apostles, secondarily
prophets, thirdly teachers. " Or,
as stated in more detail in Ephe–
sians 4: 11 (Revised Standard
Version) : "And His gifts were
that sorne should be a postles,
sorne prophets, sorne evangelísts,
sorne pastors and teachers."
An apostle ís "one sent forth"
wíth Christ's Gospel message,
including the supervision of pro–
claiming that message to the
world by means and persons other
than himself. Also an apostle was
given supervision over all the
local congregations or churches
(1 Corinthians 16:1 , 11 Corin–
thians 11 :28) .
The prophets set in the founda–
tion of the Church are those of
January
1981
the Old Testament, whose writ–
ings were used to form a consid–
erable part of New Tes tament
and Gospel teaching and func–
tioning. The word
prophesy
is
often used in the sense of "to
preach, or proclaim." So some of
the preachers might we ll be
termed "prophets"- but no
prophets are mentíoned as having
either admínistrative, executive
or preaching functions in the
New Testament Church.
Evangelists were leading minis–
ters, proclaiming the Gospel to
the public, even raising up local
churches and having supervision
over sorne churches under the
apostle. Therefore an evangelist
may hold executive functions un–
.der the apostle in the Church
headquarters or Work today. An
evangelist is not necessari ly sta–
tionary. Pastors are s ta tionary
~~
The Church is the
spiritual Body of
Christ-not a secular or
worldly organization,
club or institution.
' '
pastors over a local church or
contingent group of local church–
es. Then there were placed in the
Church teachers- not necessarily
preachers.
Y
et all ministers and
teachers are called elders in other
New Testament texts. Therefore,
in God's Church today there are
both preaching and nonpreaching
elders. Preaching elders pastor
local churches. Then sorne elders,
not preaching, are called local
elders in the Church today.
Now further about CHURCH
ORGANIZATION.
The CHURCH is the spiritual
Body of Christ- not a secular or
worldly organization, club or in–
stitution.
Y
et it is HIGHLY ORGA–
NIZED.
Notice how thoroughly orga–
nized: "Now, therefore, ye are no
more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God."
Not ice the Church is a FAMILY,
even as Goo is a Divine FAMI–
LY- "the household of God."
Continue, " And are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, J esus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone, in
whom all the building"- the
Church is a building "fitl y
framed together" (WELL ORGA–
NIZED--all parts joined and func–
tioning together in harmony and
teamwork)- "groweth unto an
holy temple in the Lord: in whom
ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the
Spirit" (Ephesians 2: 19-22) .
The Church also is to grow into
a HOLY TEMPLE-the spiritual
TEMPLE to which Christ shall
come-even as He carne to a
material temple of stone a nd
metaJs and wood the first time.
Notice further: " ... the head,
even Christ, from whom the
wh o le body f it ly joined to–
gether' ' - ORGANIZED- "and
compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the
effectual working in the measure
of every part, maketh increase of
the body ..." (Ephesians 4:15-
16) . Compacted means knit to–
getber, compressed together, as
closely together as if welded
together. This shows ORGANIZED
UNITY, HARMONY!
Old Tes ta ment Israel , th e
Church of the Old Testament,
was also a nation in the world–
though not OF the world as God
organized it. Jts GOVERNMENT
was HIERARCHICAL.
lt
was Theo–
cratic Government- government
from the top down- the very
opposite of " democracy."
The CHURCH is organized un–
der Theocratic Government, hier–
archical in form . The members do
not set officials in the Church.
God sets EVEN THE LAY MEMBERS
in the Church
(1
Corinthians
12:18).
Jesus said explicitly, "No MAN
CAN come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw
him" (John 6:44) . The world,
except for the specially caBed, is
CUT OFF from God!
We have just covered the truth
that Goo set officials to serve on
the human level under Christ, in
41