We have treated briefly upon the subject of Divine Authority, merely
pointing out the absolute necessity of such authority in order to
obtain complete salvation, and how it was bestowed and perpetuated
whenever a Gospel dispensation existed upon the earth. It will not be
amiss to deal briefly with the subject of Church Organization, as this
specifies the distribution of divine authority to the various offices
in the Church of Christ, each having specific duties to perform.
In the beginning we wish it distinctly understood that we accept of
the New Testament as the record of this organization, and that nowhere
within that sacred record is even an intimation that, by divine
appointment, the offices established in the Church of Christ by the
Savior of mankind would be done away. On the other hand, neither do we
claim that the New Testament contains a full and explicit statement of
every office in the Church, with the several duties of each officer
and the relationship which each council or order of authority bears
to every other council. The New Testament is fragmentary and has been
translated and re-translated many times since it was first written by
inspired apostles and prophets; those translations were by men not
claiming the inspiration which characterized the men of God who wrote
it.
In this connection we must not forget the statement of Holy Writ:
"The things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. * * * But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for
they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned." (I. Cor. ii:11, 14. ) Therefore, where the
inspired record is not sufficiently full in elucidating any principle,
nothing short of new revelation from God will clear away the mist and
bring us to a knowledge of the truth. The writings of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John, Peter, James and Jude, so far as they bear upon the sayings
and acts of the Savior during His earthly ministry, are the testimonies
of what they saw and heard personally, as well as the revelations of
the Holy Ghost to them, subsequent to the crucifixion and ascension
of the Savior. Paul embraced the Gospel later, and was not personally
associated with Jesus in His ministry. His testimony is equally
binding, however, as he "wrote and spoke as he was moved upon by the
Holy Ghost." "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be
established." (Matt. xviii:16.)
In Matthew, chapter 10, commencing with the first verse, we have this
statement: "And when He had called unto Him His Twelve disciples, He
gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and heal
all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of
the Twelve apostles are these;" then follows the name of each of the
Twelve. Mark gives more detail as to when and where they were called,
as follows: "And He goeth up into a mountain and called unto Him whom
He would; and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve," etc. (Mark
iii:13, 14.) Luke records the calling of the Twelve in the sixth
chapter of his book, beginning with the twelfth verse: "And it came
to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and
continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day He called
unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named
apostles." Paul says in I. Cor. xii:28: "And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles;" and again in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 11:
"And He gave some apostles."
From the statements of four New Testament writers, it is plain that
the first officers placed in the Church of Christ were apostles. Jesus
delegated unto Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that whatsoever
he should bind on earth should be bound in heaven, as recorded in the
sixteenth chapter of Matthew, thus delegating to the apostleship all
authority essential to the preaching of the Gospel, and administering
in all the ordinances thereof, at home and abroad, for the salvation of
all who would render obedience. It is apparent that other men such as
Paul and Barnabas received the apostleship, but while this was the case
it is evident that the Twelve apostles constituted a quorum. When Judas
fell, one was chosen to take his place in that quorum, as written in
the Acts of the Apostles, first chapter, 23-26 verses. It would appear
from the reading of the Scriptures that while these twelve still lived,
Paul and probably others received the holy apostleship, but did not
become members of that council.
The work of preaching the Gospel to all the world, to every creature,
was undoubtedly too extensive for the accomplishment personally of
twelve men, so Jesus chose others to assist them. "After these things
the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before
His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come."
(Luke x:1.) As He conferred upon them similar powers and gave them a
similar calling to preach the Gospel, they were undoubtedly the next
associates of the Twelve in preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of
the earth. Some think by the language used by Luke, "other seventy,"
that He had chosen one quorum of seventies before this one, but this is
not necessarily correct, as it will apply in meaning to "other" than
the Twelve apostles.
In Hebrews, fifth chapter and first verse, Paul says: "For every high
priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to
God." While it is true that the words "high priest" are used in a more
general sense in some instances, such as in Hebrews, third chapter,
first verse, where the Savior is called both the "Apostle and High
Priest of our profession," it appears evident from the above quotation
and other passages that there was in the order of ecclesiastical
government in the Church of Christ a distinct officer with specific
duties called a High Priest.
Again, in Acts, fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse, we read:
"And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had
prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they
believed." "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received
of the church, and of the apostles and elders. * * * And the apostles
and elders came together." (Acts xv:4-6.) "And as they went through the
cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained
of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem." (Acts xvi:4.) "And
from Miletus He sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church."
(Acts xx:17.) "And ordained elders in every city as I had appointed
thee," (Titus i:5.)
The term "elders" is used in many other passages of Scripture. In some
instances the apostle is called an elder, as Paul and John allude to
themselves personally as elders. In some places the term is used in
reference to the aged, as in I. Timothy, chapter v., verses 1, 2:
"Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger
men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters,
with all purity." Yet the quotations made will be ample to prove that
the office of Elder was an order anciently in the organization of the
Church of Christ.
In I. Timothy, third chapter, verses 1, 2, we learn of the office of
Bishop, with some essential qualifications. "This is a true saying:
If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A
bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant,
sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach." Also,
in Titus i:7: "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God,
not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not
given to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
sober, just, holy, temperate." These passages show clearly the office
of Bishop to be a department in the government of the Church of Christ,
and should be held by a married man.
"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest
named Zacharias, of the course of Abia." (Luke i:5.) The order of the
Priest as established in ancient Israel seems to have continued in the
New Testament dispensation. Although the offering of sacrifice was
consummated at least for that period, in the atonement of our Savior,
it is apparent that John the Baptist, Philip, and others, were priests
after the order of Levi, having authority to baptize for the remission
of sins, and to preach faith and repentance, but not to officiate
in the higher ordinances of the Gospel which secured the baptism of
fire and the Holy Ghost, nor to preside over the Church of Christ and
regulate the affairs thereof throughout the world.
In Acts xiii:1, I. Cor. xii.28, and Eph. iv:11, we learn of an officer
called Teacher, though nothing as to the especial functions of that
office.
Paul to Timothy, in the third chapter of his letter, refers to the
Deacons, and enumerates some of the qualifications essential to the
possession of men who bear that sacred calling in the Church of Christ.
In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, twelfth chapter, verse 28, the
apostle declares: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts
of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." "And He gave
some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists (patriarchs);
and some pastors and teachers," (Eph. iv:11.) "Now there were in the
church * * * certain prophets and teachers." (Acts xiii:1.)
Peter and Paul, in their writings, make reference to the ancient
patriarchs, and although no definite statement is made, as to such an
office existing in their time, it is more than probable that it existed
in the Church of Christ whenever that Church had an existence on the
earth.
The quotations give us the names of, at least, the following offices
as departments of the Holy Priesthood and essentials to the work of
the Lord: Apostles, Patriarchs, High Priests, Seventies, Elders,
Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. The words pastors, shepherds,
evangelists, etc., are also used in reference to officials in the
Church, but it is probable that some terms were used not so much to
name the exact title of a man's position or calling in the order of the
priesthood as to indicate the nature of the work his calling enjoined
upon him. For instance, a pastor is one who has charge of a flock, a
shepherd; applied religiously, one who has the oversight of a Branch of
the Church (president of conference, for example); and this term would
apply to Elders and Bishops, who, according to the New Testament, had
watched over branches of the Church in different parts of the earth.
We wish to again call attention to the fact that the exact and full
duty in detail of each officer is not wholly explained in the Jewish
Scriptures. The precise order in which all of these officers were
placed is not clear. The difference between the general duties common
to all and the particular labors enjoined upon one officer, which
distinguished him from every other officer in the church, is not told.
This is not surprising, either, as undoubtedly each man in his order
understood his duties from the instructions of the living oracles of
God. Furthermore, they had writings, which are referred to in the
Testament, but which are not preserved and handed down to us; and it is
probable they had still other writings that are neither compiled nor
alluded to in the Scriptures.
The New Testament contains letters of instructions, exhortations,
warnings and testimonies of the apostles to the Church and to the
world, and does not claim to be a complete exposition of Church
Organization, etc. The Church was guided by direct revelation, and
was to be so guided in all time; and the fact that man, with all his
learning and the benefits of researches made by preceding generations,
cannot organize a church after the ancient pattern, is indisputable
proof that we need more revelation from God. The world by wisdom
knew not God. Suffice it to say, that as long as we need divine
instructions, which will be the case forever, we need the God-given
officers which Christ placed in His Church, and which He designed to
continue as long as the Church should exist.
Here is the testimony of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 4: "And He
gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some
pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." In this
connection it is perhaps sufficient to remark that the history of the
world is ample proof that apostles, prophets and inspiration are always
needed. The reader is asked to carefully study the chapter on the
"Church," given in this work, as it points out the duties of officers
in the Church Organization, as given us by modern revelation.