LESSON FIFTY-EIGHT

THE CORPORATE EXPERIENCE
OF THE DISPENSING
OF THE DIVINE TRINITY

(6)

OUTLINE

5. Serving in the church:
   1. As elders.
   2. As deacons and deaconesses.
   3. As prophets and teachers.
   4. As good stewards of the varied grace of God, ministering such grace to one another.
6. Functioning in the meetings of the church:
   1. Having a psalm.
   2. Having a teaching.
   3. Having a revelation.
   4. Having a tongue.
   5. Having an interpretation.
   6. For building up.
   7. Prophesying.
7. Growing in the church.
8. Having our possessions in common:
   1. Sharing our abundance with those who lack.
   2. Those who gather much having no excess, and those who gather little having no lack.
   3. Strongly showing that we have overcome the usurping power of enticing and deceiving riches.

TEXT

The believers corporately experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity through their living in the church life. In this lesson we will consider further aspects regarding the believers’ living in the church life.

E. Serving in the Church

The believers should not only obey the church (Matt. 18:17) and meet with the church (1 Cor. 14:23a, 26a); they should also serve in the church. Serving in the church means serving in spirit and in coordination for the building up of the Body.

1. As Elders

In the church there are some brothers who serve as elders. In the first local church, the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), there were elders who took care of the administration of the church (11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22; 16:4; 21:18). Acts 14:23 says that elders were appointed in every church. Hence, there were elders in the church in Ephesus (20:17). Later, Paul directed Titus to “appoint elders in every city” (Titus 1:5). The New Testament indicates that the elders were not voted in by their congregation but were appointed by the apostles according to the elders’ maturity of life in Christ. They were charged by the apostles to care for the leadership and shepherding in their churches.

In 1 Peter 5:2 Peter charges the elders concerning the matter of shepherding: “Shepherd the flock of God among you.” The Greek word rendered “flock” is literally “little flock.” This refers to the church of God (Acts 20:28), which is little in number (Luke 12:32) compared to the world. In the church of God the elders are not rulers; they are shepherds. Sometimes a shepherd may have to rule the flock, but such ruling is not the ruling of a king. It is a ruling of someone who cares for the flock. Shepherding is to exercise a proper care over the flock. The flock needs to be cared for, protected, and led in the right direction. They need to be brought to a place where they can eat and drink. This is shepherding. Furthermore, Peter does not tell the elders to shepherd their own flock. He charges them to shepherd the flock of God. The flock is not the elders’ possession but God’s possession. In a sense, the elders are employed by God to shepherd His flock.

In the New Testament, an elder is called an overseer (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; 1 Pet. 5:1-2). The Greek word for overseer is composed of over and seer, hence, overseer. An overseer in a local church is an elder (Acts 20:17, 28). The two titles refer to the same person. Elder denotes a person of maturity, and overseer denotes the function of an elder. It was Ignatius who in the second century taught that an overseer, a bishop, is higher than an elder. From this erroneous teaching came the hierarchy of bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the pope. This teaching is also the source of the episcopal system of ecclesiastical government. Both the hierarchy and the system are abominable in the eyes of God.