Preparation #29 (Church Offices)
Brian
Kocourek
JEREMIAH
EPHESIANS 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men….. 11 And he
gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till
we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we [henceforth] be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ:
E-31 SPEAK TO THIS MOUNTAIN
57-1215 The
Bible said there's five offices in the Church
that is ordained
of God and put in the Church--office holder. First
is apostles, prophet, teachers,
evangelists, pastors. They are God's
foreordination, by predestination, by foreknowledge. He
saw it,
placed it in the Church for every age.
E-61 AS THE EAGLE STIRRETH UP HER NEST 59-0815 Now, God is a good... He sends His Word. If you
won't believe His
Word, then He puts in the Church five different
offices: First, apostle, prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists.
They are for the perfecting of
the Church.
E-3 GOD'S PROVIDED WAY OF HEALING 54-0719.1A Gifts and
callings are without repentance. Those
things are first given of God. Them offices is set in
the church by God. And in my
opinion, there's where so many of this day, has
made a mistake.
When we say, "Now, I will go over and seek for God to
make me this, that." You cannot do
that. See? You are what you
are by grace, nothing that you can do within yourself. God gives. God
has set in the church apostles, teachers, and prophets.
Is that right? God has set in the church for the perfecting...
So not the bishop has them, or the elder has, or
someone else, but God
has. And they--they are... Those offices has put
in the church.
E-40 PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES 59-112 These gifts aren't called by the church, or so forth, they are chosen by God. Apostles;
second, prophets; third, (I may not have
these lined just right,) third I think is
teachers and evangelists and
pastors. Five spiritual offices in the
church to set the church in order. Apostles, prophets, teachers,
evangelists, pastors. Those are
called offices by God.
E-12 JESUS CHRIST THE SAME 61-0205.2E Then
besides that, He's got five ministerial offices. First is apostles or missionaries. The word apostle means
"one sent." A missionary means "one sent."
Secondarily, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and so forth. Those are God-given
gifts that's set into the Church. They're predestinated of God, and
set to the Church. You can't make yourself a minister. God's got
to call you to be a minister.
E-153 TAKE ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD 62-0701 John
14:12, Jesus said, "He that
believeth in me, the works
that I do shall he do also."
What is it? It's God in the church in
these five predestinated offices, backing up every Word that
He said with the Holy Spirit, Himself, in there which is the Word made manifest. Proving His resurrection,
proving that He lives.
156-2
54 QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS 64-0823.2E There
is five offices elected of God. "For God has set in the Church
apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists." God
did that. Man has deacons and so
forth, and everything else, but you
see, but God set in the Church
for the perfecting of
the Church--can't divide it. … NOTICE, HE SAID THE 5-FOLD ARE NOT VOTED
IN… GOD PLACES THEM IN HIS CHURCH… THE DEACONS AND SO FORTH ARE VOTED ON BY THE
PEOPLE…
I TIMOTHY
3:8
¶
Likewise [must] the deacons [be] grave, not doubletongued,
not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9 Holding the mystery of the
faith in a pure conscience. 10 And let these also first be proved; then let
them use the office of a deacon, being [found] blameless. 11
Even so [must their] wives [be] grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful
in all things. 12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one
wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13
For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to
themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ
Jesus.
E-52 THIRSTING FOR LIFE
60-0304 And this
little deer will get out to itself,
away from the
herd. That's the one the wolf
works on. And to you, old man or woman,
when you separate yourself from believers... People say,
"I can stay at home, be just as good a Christian
as I
can at church." You can't. The
Bible said, "Not forsake our assemble ourselves together, and that much more as we see the
time coming." If you're a Christian, you long to go where other
Christians are, and fellowship with other Christians. So you cannot
stay away from church and live the same life. You--you
can't do
it, because it's like, "I'm
hungry, but I will never go to a table. I just... I will never eat. I just--I
ain't going to do." See? You've got to go and feed on the Word of
God, and fellowship one with
another. We need one another more now than we ever did
need each other is
now. When you get yourself singled out from the rest of them
making yourself just a little different, you don't want to associate
with them because they believe
this, and don't want
to associate with that, you're
getting on dangerous ground, right
then, keeping away from church. Find the one of your choice, and
remain there, and be a Christian
brother to all of them. That's the
way to be a real Christian. Then we've got fellowship, protection; people love you and pray for you.
3 IDENTIFICATION
64-0216 If you
don't have a church, you must see you'll die
spiritually. You'll just dwindle away.
019 And if any persons then has a--a complaint
against a deacon, or against the deacon, or somebody in the church, it takes
three people. Three people would come and say--witness at the mouth of two or
three witnesses. Come tell the pastor that there's a grievance against a
deacon. Then if there's a grievance against a deacon, the deacon isn't a just
man, a perfect man... He must hold the office of a deacon blameless, and then
found blameless. And if that congregation finds out that that deacon's not
holding that office, he gets three with him and takes it to the pastor. That
deacon's asked to stay home over the night, and then the pastor from--comes and
brings the congregation together, gives the grievance. And if the congregation
votes for the deacon to continue on, the deacon continues on. If he con--votes
for the deacon to be dismissed, they elect a new deacon that very night.
See? 020 Therefore, no one person has nothing to do in
this; it's the majority of the people. Yes, sir. If twenty votes for him, and
twenty-one votes against him, he goes, or vice versa. See? That is, it's the
sovereignty of the local church, and then each one of the members has a say-so
in the church. Anything goes on wrong, then they can come right around, and the
only thing they have to do is to be before God that they are absolutely see
that nothing hinders the moving of the church. 021
But the full and complete authority of the church is the pastor. Read
that in the Bible; see if that's not Bible order. That's exactly right. There's
no one above the elder. I have nothing to do with what Brother Neville does
here. That's up to you and Brother Neville. If Brother Neville wanted to preach
Jehovah Witness doctrine, that's up to him and you. See? If he wanted to preach
anything he wanted to, that's between you and him. That's all. If the
congregation votes for him in there to preach that, that's all right. That's up
to him.
CHURCH ORDER
COD 63-1226 008 Now, the first one is: 220. How shall the
church act towards calls for financial help of--for food and clothing?
What--what act, what--what should the church do? Now, we realize that the
church is responsible for its own, for our members here of the church; we are
totally responsible as far as we have needs to supply them with. We are
responsible for our own; that's steady, constant members of the Tabernacle that
come here and worship with us. We are duty bound to them, as our brothers and
sisters who have proven to be our members of this gathering. Now, we realize
that there is millions tonight without food, without clothing, and we would
love to be able to help the whole group of them, to do everything we could; but
financially we cannot do that; we can't support all the world. But we are duty
bound to our own. And I think, in that, and then if we have anything left over
that you'd want to contribute to people who are not members here of this
church, something that you'd want to give to them, it should be met between the
board of the deacons. 009 The deacons is the one that--that has to
meet this opposition, or this problem, rather; because that in the Bible when
the dispute come up about food, and clothing, and so forth, in the Book of
Acts, they called the apostles in about it, and they said, "Go look out
for yourself seven men of honest report and full of the Holy Ghost that they
might attend to these things, because we will give ourself
continually to the Word of God and in prayer." And it isn't the pastor's
duty to look out to the--for the food and so forth. That's supposed to be by
the deacons. It isn't the trustees; it is the deacons' office to do this. And
then this should be... Remember in the Bible they was contributing to their
own, the Greeks and the--and the Jewish, where the argument come up that one
was getting a little more than the other, but it was people who had sold all
their goods and had give it into the church for its support, and then to--to be
divided out among them equally. And there was a little dispute come up, and
there's where we got our first deacons. And that's one of their duties, is to
do that
TOTAL
DELIVERANCE 59-0712 020 Now, each one of these has things in common.
And I think that your meeting should not be together, but it should be as each
office, 'cause the deacons has nothing to say to the trustees unless they got
some business to present to them. And vice versa, the trustees is over the finance
and things of the building; they have nothing with the deacons. The deacons are
the policemen of the church, and the assistants to the pastor. And the trustees
is the holding of all the property. The trustees has nothing to do with the
spiritual end of it, and the deacon has nothing to do with the financial end of
it. Therefore, it must be. And the Sunday school superintendent is over his
Sunday school. So I've got it all wrote, typed out, to be on the bulletin
board. 021 And then we are also going to get in a frame
the doctrine that the church stands for, and have it framed in here in the
church; what we stand for, the--the principles, the doctrine of the church.
Now, to be a church, we got to have a doctrine. We don't draw down any stake
and say, "We just go this far." We go out just as far with fellowship
with everybody that God will let us go in His Scriptures with the people. And
now stick together; be of one accord, one heart, and move on for God. That's
the way God wants us to do. Now, let us pray and then open the Word.
CHURCH
ORDER COD 63-1226 901-134
068 Now the trustees, only
thing, they're under duty by God to watch that finances and take care of that,
the things that goes on like that. I told you about them tapes, and--and about
other things here that goes on, about the building and repairs, and taking up
the finances and things, that's--that's what they're trustee of: the property,
finances, and things. The deacons has nothing to do in that. And neither does
the--the trustee have anything to do with the deacons' office. Now, if the
deacons wants to ask the trustee's help on anything, or the--or the trustees
the deacon's, and you're all working together... But that's your duties, is
singling out. See? All right.