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Of Y'Shua The Messiah Of The Apostolic Faith
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There are two leadership offices in the church: the Bishops and Deacons. A bishop has authority over a deacon, and is responsible for watching for the people of God’s souls and for spreading the Word of God. (Hebrews 13:7, 17) A deacon, on the other hand, is responsible for maintaining the natural side of the church. While a deacon does pray and fast for the people, a bishop does this even more so. It’s the deacon that is more focused on making sure that things run smoothly in the church, such as: the upkeep of church facilities, and making sure that the various departments in the church are doing their jobs and that no one in the church is being neglected naturally. All this is found in Acts 6:1-6, where it says, “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.” Now, I say (to clarify) that a deacon can minister the Word of God as well, because later on in this chapter, we find Stephen doing just that. But it’s the bishops that primarily have the task of preaching the Word. And it’s also good to know that a deacon can later become a bishop, like Philip is later revealed to be an Evangelist (which is a bishop (keep reading, this will be explained, also)).
Before we go further, I think it’s good to clear up a common misunderstanding. Some of you reading this may be wondering why the office of an Elder wasn’t mentioned in the previous chapter. Well, that’s a good question. The office of an elder was not mentioned because there is no such office. Elder is not an ordained office. There are many churches in which the leaders lay hands on men and ordain them to be Elders, but that’s not what the Bible says to do. The Bible says to ‘ordain elders’, not ordain men to be elders. First, you need to know what an elder is. An elder is an old man (it’s just that simple), one that is aged. And, when Paul told Titus in Titus 1:5 to “ordain elders in every city”, he was telling Titus to ordain the older men that are faithful, rooted and grounded, and ordain them to be bishops or deacons. You see, you do not have to ordain a man to be an elder. He is your elder whether you lay hands on him or not. This misunderstanding is why you have churches ordaining teenagers and young men to be Elders! When they introduce themselves as being Elder, but they are younger than you, and you’re still young, then there’s something wrong with that picture! Of course, any old man in the faith can use this title when introducing himself, and it makes perfect sense, because he is an elderly person. Some get confused when they read in Acts 14:23, where it says “…when they had ordained them elders in every church”. The word them is referring to Paul and Barnabus, because it was ‘them’ that did the ordaining. They did not lay hands on them and say, “You are now an Elder”, no, no, no, they ordained them to be bishops!!!
Now, don’t take this information wrong. Elders in the church are very, very important!!! They have a serious role in the church. It was the apostles and elders that always came together to discuss important matters in the church. You see, the apostles highly valued the thoughts and views of the Holy Ghost filled older men in the church. Acts 16:4 says, “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.” No doubt, some of these elders were Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and/or Teachers.
Now, back to the bishops and deacons. They both must be blameless before they can serve in their office (see 1st Timothy 3:2-12 and Titus 1:6-10 for Bishop/Deacon list of qualifications). A deacon is chosen by the saints, and then hands are laid upon them by the bishopric. But a bishop is chosen because of the manifestation of his gift that God gave him. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” Now we’re getting somewhere.
Many don’t understand how the bishopric works, because the Church Leadership Structure hasn’t been set up correctly for such a long time. The reality of it is this: the bishopric is an office, and the bishops which hold that office are divided into five categories of gifts, having different levels of authority, which are these: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, the Five-Fold Ministry. These are the five gifts of the Office of the Bishopric. And so, when a man in the church begins to display one of these gifts, when he is no longer a novice (a beginner in the faith), hands will be laid upon him by the other bishops.
Here is an explanation of the five gifts:
First are the Apostles, which have the highest level of authority in the church, due to the revelation they receive from God concerning his Word and desire for His people. All apostles do not have the same knowledge or level of revelation from the Spirit. Some of the apostles are, simply put, very strong, honest hearted leaders (but not receiving deep mysteries from God), while others, like Peter and Paul, are very gifted in the area of understanding the deep mysteries of God, and you will have some apostles that also have the gift of a prophet. But combined, they are all very important to the work of the ministry.
Second are the Prophets. They also have a high authority in the church, because they receive revelation from God in the form of prophesying things to come, and giving warnings and direction for God’s people.
And, third you have the teachers of the church, which are divided into three kinds of teachers specializing in three types of teaching: the Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. Evangelists have authority over the pastors and teachers, and the pastors have authority over the teachers.
Evangelists receive messages from the
Before we go further, I think it’s good to clear up a common misunderstanding. Some of you reading this may be wondering why the office of an Elder wasn’t mentioned in the previous chapter. Well, that’s a good question. The office of an elder was not mentioned because there is no such office. Elder is not an ordained office. There are many churches in which the leaders lay hands on men and ordain them to be Elders, but that’s not what the Bible says to do. The Bible says to ‘ordain elders’, not ordain men to be elders. First, you need to know what an elder is. An elder is an old man (it’s just that simple), one that is aged. And, when Paul told Titus in Titus 1:5 to “ordain elders in every city”, he was telling Titus to ordain the older men that are faithful, rooted and grounded, and ordain them to be bishops or deacons. You see, you do not have to ordain a man to be an elder. He is your elder whether you lay hands on him or not. This misunderstanding is why you have churches ordaining teenagers and young men to be Elders! When they introduce themselves as being Elder, but they are younger than you, and you’re still young, then there’s something wrong with that picture! Of course, any old man in the faith can use this title when introducing himself, and it makes perfect sense, because he is an elderly person. Some get confused when they read in Acts 14:23, where it says “…when they had ordained them elders in every church”. The word them is referring to Paul and Barnabus, because it was ‘them’ that did the ordaining. They did not lay hands on them and say, “You are now an Elder”, no, no, no, they ordained them to be bishops!!!
Now, don’t take this information wrong. Elders in the church are very, very important!!! They have a serious role in the church. It was the apostles and elders that always came together to discuss important matters in the church. You see, the apostles highly valued the thoughts and views of the Holy Ghost filled older men in the church. Acts 16:4 says, “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.” No doubt, some of these elders were Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and/or Teachers.
Now, back to the bishops and deacons. They both must be blameless before they can serve in their office (see 1st Timothy 3:2-12 and Titus 1:6-10 for Bishop/Deacon list of qualifications). A deacon is chosen by the saints, and then hands are laid upon them by the bishopric. But a bishop is chosen because of the manifestation of his gift that God gave him. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” Now we’re getting somewhere.
Many don’t understand how the bishopric works, because the Church Leadership Structure hasn’t been set up correctly for such a long time. The reality of it is this: the bishopric is an office, and the bishops which hold that office are divided into five categories of gifts, having different levels of authority, which are these: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, the Five-Fold Ministry. These are the five gifts of the Office of the Bishopric. And so, when a man in the church begins to display one of these gifts, when he is no longer a novice (a beginner in the faith), hands will be laid upon him by the other bishops.
Here is an explanation of the five gifts:
First are the Apostles, which have the highest level of authority in the church, due to the revelation they receive from God concerning his Word and desire for His people. All apostles do not have the same knowledge or level of revelation from the Spirit. Some of the apostles are, simply put, very strong, honest hearted leaders (but not receiving deep mysteries from God), while others, like Peter and Paul, are very gifted in the area of understanding the deep mysteries of God, and you will have some apostles that also have the gift of a prophet. But combined, they are all very important to the work of the ministry.
Second are the Prophets. They also have a high authority in the church, because they receive revelation from God in the form of prophesying things to come, and giving warnings and direction for God’s people.
And, third you have the teachers of the church, which are divided into three kinds of teachers specializing in three types of teaching: the Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. Evangelists have authority over the pastors and teachers, and the pastors have authority over the teachers.
Evangelists receive messages from the