Here you can see that the apostles appoint the elders, and the apostles also remove the elders. However, the direct administration of a local church is not in the hands of the apostles; it is in the hands of the elders. The apostles bear particular responsibility for expanding the work, not for administrating business affairs. The administration and care of a local church are the responsibility of the elders, not the apostles. The apostles take care of carrying out the work of the church as a whole. The Bible makes a clear distinction between the workers, the local churches, and the elders concerning their limit of authority, the arrangement of their work, and their coordination. Therefore, we are here to try to find out the way to go on properly.
A brother once asked how a matter should be decided in the work or in the church after it has been discussed. I think that every worker or every elder in a locality has the common feeling that a message meeting is rather easy but a business meeting is difficult. There is no problem when it comes to spiritual matters. The greatest problem is with the business meeting, because in that kind of meeting, it is very easy for everyone to have his own view; everyone’s opinion is different. Many of the problems lie especially with the matter of decision making.
Today I want to show you, as I have spoken in these past few months, that Acts 15 is the only place in the entire Bible which records a meeting in which the church discussed business affairs. While there have been many councils in the Catholic Church, there was only one such conference in Jerusalem. The entire church has had only one such conference. God specifically placed this unique conference in the Bible to be a pattern. Hence, you should never make the mistake of considering that chapter fifteen of Acts is not so good. Rather, you need to realize that chapter fifteen is the most precious chapter in the whole book of Acts. Without Acts 15, we simply would not know what to do when we tried to handle business affairs. It is very good that Acts 15 has been set before the church. The pattern given to us by this unique instance is the pattern accepted by the church for the past two thousand years. We acknowledge that this is the highest pattern.
In Acts 15 a problem arose. Many foolish brothers think that being free from problems is a sign that a church is spiritual. But please keep in mind that the sign of a church being spiritual is not that it is free from problems. Instead, the sign of a church being spiritual depends upon whether it has ways to solve problems and whether those ways are appropriate. If the church is spiritual, many things will happen to it. Once a church becomes spiritual, many problems will have to be considered. If a church is not spiritual, any way and any thing is all right. If a church is not spiritual, it is peaceful and without problems. The more one lies under the hand of the “strong man,” the more peaceful his situation is. The more spiritual you are, the more problems you have to solve.
Jerusalem had a problem. Where did that problem come from? Many people who formerly were zealously serving Judaism went to different places. Some went to Antioch and told people that the believers in the church should also be circumcised according to the regulations of Moses. Under these circumstances both Paul and Barnabas had to go to Jerusalem, and other brothers in the church in Antioch also went up with them.
I want you to pay special attention to the fact that when they went up to Jerusalem, they went up to see the apostles and elders. Acts 15:2 speaks of going up to “the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.” Verse 4 says, “And when they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders.” The church, the apostles, and the elders, all three, received them.
Some of the believers were former Pharisees. Their background was Pharisaic. They stood up to say, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to charge them to keep the law of Moses” (v. 5). I want the brothers and sisters to see how matters were discussed in the conference recorded in the Bible. The conference in Jerusalem was a conference of the apostles and elders; it was not a conference of the church. The responsibility was on the apostles and the elders. Of course, such a thing was no problem to the apostles and elders. But a few believers, who formerly were Pharisees, rose up and said that they wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised and to keep the law. I want the brothers to pay attention to this matter that it was the apostles and the elders who played the primary role in discussing matters in the church and that it was also the apostles and elders who later made the decision in these matters. But when the apostles and the elders made decisions, they had to listen to the opposing brothers. The apostles and elders could have very easily made a decision on this matter. They had no problems; they were very clear before God. But a few believers, formerly Pharisees, felt that believers should still be circumcised and keep the law. What did the church in Jerusalem do? The apostles and elders of Jerusalem met and also allowed these brothers to come and present their arguments. You should give those who oppose and who have different opinions the opportunity to speak by telling them, “Speak as much as you wish.” Never consider that this is not spiritual. God desires that the responsible brothers, the brothers with authority, would be those who can listen to others. The responsible brothers, the brothers with authority, should have the ability to sit and listen to all the opposing words. If a brother cannot listen to the speaking of others, to the arguments of the opposers, then he is not qualified to be a leader in the church.
Hence, you can see that “the apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter” (v. 6). The former Pharisees still advocated the practice of circumcision and the keeping of the law. The phrase “when much discussion had taken place” implies that much effort was made, many words were spoken, various arguments were presented, and different views were made known. Many brothers agreed that the believers should be circumcised, and many brothers disagreed. The apostles and elders allowed the brothers who had opinions and the brothers who wanted to speak to present their views. Although this meeting belonged to the apostles and elders, they allowed the brothers to speak and allowed anyone who wanted to come to attend. Those who wanted to speak were given the opportunity to express their opinions. This is the principle by which things are settled in the Bible. Never annul a person’s speaking, and never refuse to listen to others. Even if their words are weak or irrelevant, you still need to let them speak and present their opinions. But they cannot make the decision. In this way, at least when the brothers whose spiritual condition is proper, that is, the responsible brothers, listen to those words, they will know how to make a decision. Many responsible brothers in the church lack this habit of listening to others. They may only listen to one person’s words or to a few men’s words, but they never listen to everyone’s words. The church is neither autocratic like Thyatira, the Roman Catholic Church, nor is it democratic like Laodicea. The church is in the principle of Jerusalem. The principle of Jerusalem is all the brothers speaking, with the responsible brothers making the decision.