Please remember that in God’s work and in the church of God there can never be a situation in which there is no order. We need to see before God that even with two people, one is put ahead of the other. When ten people are together, there will be one in front and nine in the back. When twelve are together, one will be in front and eleven will be in the back. God is always the God of authority and the God of order. There is never a committee system of three or five men. There is no such thing in the Bible! There may be several elders, but God does not establish a committee. Although God does not set up a chairman, we need to listen to the one whom God establishes among the elders when carrying out the Lord’s affairs. Today when we talk about the matter of the work, it is exactly the same. There were twelve apostles in Jerusalem, but God placed Peter in the forefront. The rest of the eleven had to wait in the back and listen to what he said. The James that we spoke of earlier was not the older brother of John. The older brother of John had already passed away. This James was in the forefront in the local church. We need to see this matter before God. Not only do we have Barnabas and Saul, but Barnabas was spontaneously ahead of Saul. In the work there are always those in the forefront. If two sisters have learned the lesson of recognizing authority, they will immediately realize that one of them needs to stand on the ground of obedience when they are together. The first thing in the coordination of the work is the coordination of the authority of God. Once we do not have the coordination of authority, all the other coordinations are empty.
Please note that God’s word in the Bible is very fine and detailed. “God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then...” (1 Cor. 12:28). We must see that God is not a God of confusion but a God of order. God does not believe in disorder or confusion. God believes in order, and God is a God of authority. That is why He says “first.” It does not mean that there is a system of organization or committees, in which everyone has the right to speak and vote. God does not recognize this at all. This is man’s way. In His Word God says, “First...second...third...then....” This is the arrangement of God. Therefore, when the brothers come to work in the church or in any matter, they must see their own place. They must learn to line up. Today if three people are walking together, they should know spontaneously which brother is in front of them. If they have a question, they should ask that brother. This is the principle of the church here. It is very beautiful. When two or three brothers are together and something happens, some should immediately take the position of obedience and ask, “Since this matter must be decided, what do you say?” Even when two are together, we should know who stands before us. This is not a matter of ordination or assignment. If we have to assign, then things have been spoiled already. It is obvious that some stand in the forefront and some stand behind.
It is not God’s intention that we listen to the authority that He has established because this person is perfect. Rather, God says that this person’s authority is higher than ours; therefore, we need to listen to him. We do not listen to this person because he is more perfect than we are. We need to listen to him because he is in front of us. The basis for obedience is not that the one to whom you listen is perfect. The basis for obedience is whether or not the one to whom you listen is in front of you. If something goes wrong, he bears the responsibility. Let me illustrate. God says that wives must obey their husbands. The wife should not obey him on the basis of whether or not he is perfect. If husbands had to be perfect, all of the wives in the whole world would not need to obey their husbands, because no husband is perfect. The wife must obey her husband simply because he is the husband. Whether or not he is perfect is not the issue. The issue is whether or not he is the husband. If he is the husband, the wife needs to obey him—period. It is the same in the relationship and coordination among the co-workers in God’s work. If two are put together, then they should spontaneously know their place. When something happens, we should always know when to stand aside and say, “Brother, you speak.” We should wait for him to speak because he is in front of us. We are not obedient to man’s selection, but we are obedient to God’s authority. Once a brother stands in front of us, we should be obedient to him. It would be strange if there were no one to obey and if we could not even find someone to obey. If this is the case, we have absolutely not seen the arrangement of God’s authority in the Bible.
This is the way when two brothers are together in the work: Spontaneously, Barnabas was in the forefront and Saul was behind. In the Holy Spirit’s assignment, Barnabas was naturally put in front and Saul was behind. At the beginning of Acts 13, Barnabas was in the forefront the whole way when they went out. Verse 7 says, “Sergius Paulus...called Barnabas and Saul to him and sought to hear the word of God.” Again, Barnabas is spoken of and then Saul.
In Acts 13:1, I would like for you to notice that Barnabas was the first one among many prophets and teachers and that Saul was the last. Do not think that Paul was advanced at the beginning. There is no such thing! When they went out, the last one was Saul. “Now there were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers: Barnabas and Simeon, who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” Barnabas was first, then Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and lastly Saul. Among the five, the first was Barnabas and the last was Saul. Perhaps all of these others were ahead of Saul in the Lord at that time. When they went out, the Holy Spirit also recognized Barnabas to be in the forefront. “And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (v. 2). Again it is Barnabas and Saul.
Later, when they were on the way in verse 7, Sergius Paulus “called Barnabas and Saul to him and sought to hear the word of God.” The Holy Spirit still recognized Barnabas as being in the forefront.