Paul, and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus
Christ,
to all the saints
in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,
with the bishops
and deacons:
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Philippians 1: 1
-- 2
Before we go any further into our
study of these letters to the churches it would be good to review and to
understand the Christian ministry and its relation to the Christian
community. I'll take some time to
review this and for some it may be new information but it will give you a growth
in your faith not only for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ put your faith in
your local church that is teaching authentic truth of God. The Christian community has a twofold
purpose and the first purpose would be that it exists as a power or principle
in this world, but also as an institutional and organized form that is intended
to preserve and protect the church.
Remember, you are the church, but called out ones and this protection is
for you and is not designed to obstruct you.
Jesus Christ established the visible Church with the apostles and that
is that punishment authorize the apostles to be teachers and rulers, and also
established to sacred rites, baptism and the holy Communion both are which can
be observed till the end of this world.
The authorization to the apostles as rulers and teachers extends to
those who would be placed in that position within the church at lest we forget
at the same time Jesus Christ did not lay down minute arrangements, rather only
the simple and necessary elements of an organization, thereby leaving the
details to be shaped by the growing and changing wants of the Church in the
various ages to come and within the various countries in which they
reside. You see there are any
differences amongst the congregations that are simply that: in differences and
are not to be denigrated. There are
also certain elements that are not in different, and it is those that must be
maintained amongst the churches and be unity between the churches. Christianity at least in this respect is a
dispensation of the Holy Spirit and differs widely from the Mosaic theocracy
because a dispensation of the letter.
Matthew wrote in regards to Jesus Christ establishing authority to the
disciples stated: "Assuredly, I say
to you, what ever you bind on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will
be done for them by My Father in heaven" (Matthew Chapter 18:18). Jesus showed his establishment also when he
spoke to Peter that he would build his church: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I
will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it"
(Matthew: 18). John establishes as
a second witness and testimony to this fact:
"So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on
them, and said to them,’ Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (John 20: 21 -- 23). As can be seen and shall that the
ministerial office was instituted by Jesus Christ before his ascension and that
it was solemnly inaugurated upon the first Christian there at Pentecost in this
by the pouring out upon them the Holy Spirit. With the power of the Holy Spirit
upon them, and that is also true of view, you have the kingly power of Jesus
Christ on earth to found, that is to establish, maintain, and extend the
church. This was the command given by
Jesus before his ascension: "But you
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth" (Acts 1: 8).
The
Ministry includes the preaching of the Gospel, the administration of the
sacraments, and church discipline, the power to open and shut the gates of the
kingdom of heaven, in other words, to declare to the penitent for forgiveness
of sins, and to the unworthy excommunication in the name and by the authority
of Jesus Christ. A side note here: how
often does a church actually excommunicate anyone for their sins that they will
not repent of and allow them to participate in the church which only brings
that church into defilement if not corrected.
The ministers of the Gospel in the eminent sense, servants of God, and,
as such, servants of the churches in the noble spirit of self-denying love
according to the example of Jesus Christ, for the eternal salvation of the
soul's encrusted to their charge. This
unspeakable dignity brings with the corresponding responsibility. The internal call to the sacred office and
the moral qualification for it, must come from the Holy Spirit. Night here is where many churches today
fail; there needs to be through the church that they recognize and ratify
through their proper organs that the apostles or ministers or pastors were
indeed called immediately by Christ to do the work of the church, a found in
the church, as the churches not to sit I apathetically, or lethargic, no they
are to be involved to take an active part in all the religious affairs.
Therefore,
those called into the service of ministry are to be personals that were
inwardly and outwardly designated by the voice of Jesus Christ and His church,
who were to be solemnly set apart and inducted into the ministerial functions
by the symbolic act of ordination. This
is done by prayer, and the laying on of hands, in the early church it would've
been the apostles and or their representatives as it would be today, conferring
upon them this authority and seething to them showing that they have the
appropriate spiritual gifts. Paul
begins this latter writing to the bishops and the deacons, and without a doubt
men of authority were put into place to guard, to protect, to instruct, through
the Word of God those entrusted to them, the church. They are not called for self aggrandizement, as we so often see
in many church leaders today. They're
not there for power, they are not there for money, they are there to be your
servant according to the Word of God, nothing more, nothing less.
Moreover you shall select from all the people able men,
men of
truth, hating covetousness; and place such
over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties, and rumors of
tens, and let them
judge the people at all times.
Exodus 18: 21 – 22a
Praise God for this leadership
