It certainly must have dawned upon your understanding ere this that the church of God and the kingdom of heaven are the same spiritual structure. In the twelfth chapter of Hebrews several terms are used to denote the church of God. In the twenty-second verse it is designated by “mount Zion,” the “city of the living God,” the “heavenly Jerusalem,” and an “innumerable company of angels.” In verse [pg 145] twenty-three it is denominated “general assembly,” “the church of the first-born,” etc. In the twenty-eighth verse it is called the “kingdom.” By this we are made to understand that the church built by the Lord is identical with the “city of God,” the “kingdom of God,” the “heavenly Jerusalem,” etc. With this understanding we will better comprehend the meaning of many other texts.
The Head Of The Church.
“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.” Eph. 5:23. “And he is the head of the body, the church.” Col. 1:18. “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Eph. 4:15. See also Eph. 1:22; Col. 2:18, 19.
Christ is the head of his church, and as such he is the sole governor, or legislator. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Recapitulation In Conclusion.
The church is the body of Christ. Eph. 1:21, 22. There is but one body. Rom. 12:4, 5; 1 Cor. 10:17. Christians are this one body. 1 Cor. 12:27. They are of one heart and soul. Acts 4:32. There are no divisions. 1 Cor. 1:10. Christ is the head of this church. Col. 1:18. He is the door. John 10: 7. He is the foundation. Eph. 2: 21. He sets the members [pg 146] in the body (1 Cor. 12:18), and prays that they be kept in his name. John 17:11.
Officers In The Church Of God.
God sets the members in the body of Christ, which is the church, as seemeth best according to his unbounded wisdom. All are not an eye or ear or hand or foot. That the church of God may be complete as a body it has all the different members. Christ is the head, and the saved men and women are the other members of the body according to their calling, all governed by the head and consecrated to do his will. The ministry are the feet, the burden-bearers, the servants of all. They have the care or burden of the church. They carry the glad tidings of salvation. They are not to be carried about and served, but they are the servants. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.” Rom. 10:15.
The following officers are mentioned in the New Testament: apostles, prophets, evangelists, bishops, pastors, teachers, deacons, elders, and presbyters. Apostle is from the Greek “apostolos,” which is one sent forth to plant. Paul was an apostle. He was sent forth by the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:4. He was sent forth to plant. 1 Cor. 3:6. Prophet is from the Greek “prophetes,” which is one who is an expounder of prophecies and revelations and of future events. Agabus was a prophet, a teller of future events. [pg 147] See Acts 21:10, 11 and Acts 11: 28. Philip the evangelist had four daughters who did prophesy, or expound or explain the Scriptures. An evangelist is one who announces good tidings, while an apostle is one who plants churches or goes into new localities, and through whose preaching people are saved and a church thus planted. The mission of an evangelist is to visit those planted churches and water them. “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” 1 Cor. 3:6.
Bishop is from the Greek “episkopos,” and means a superintendent or overseer. Pastor is from the Greek “poimen,” and means shepherd or feeder or overseer, the same as bishop; consequently bishop and pastor are the same, an overseer or shepherd. The word “overseer” occurs but once in the New Testament: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God.” Acts 20:28. Overseer in this text is translated from the Greek “episkopos,” from which same Greek word we have the word bishop. Paul was then addressing bishops, and tells them to feed the church of God. Now a pastor is a feeder; therefore bishop and pastor are two words used to denote the same office. To note the qualifications of a bishop or pastor as set forth in the New Testament will doubtless be edifying to the reader.