Cowley's Talks on Doctrine

by Matthias F. Cowley

CHURCH ORGANIZATION.

We have treated briefly upon the subject of Divine Authority, merely pointing out the absolute necessity of such authority in order to obtain complete salvation, and how it was bestowed and perpetuated whenever a Gospel dispensation existed upon the earth. It will not be amiss to deal briefly with the subject of Church Organization, as this specifies the distribution of divine authority to the various offices in the Church of Christ, each having specific duties to perform.

In the beginning we wish it distinctly understood that we accept of the New Testament as the record of this organization, and that nowhere within that sacred record is even an intimation that, by divine appointment, the offices established in the Church of Christ by the Savior of mankind would be done away. On the other hand, neither do we claim that the New Testament contains a full and explicit statement of every office in the Church, with the several duties of each officer and the relationship which each council or order of authority bears to every other council. The New Testament is fragmentary and has been translated and re-translated many times since it was first written by inspired apostles and prophets; those translations were by men not claiming the inspiration which characterized the men of God who wrote it.

In this connection we must not forget the statement of Holy Writ: "The things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. * * * But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I. Cor. ii:11, 14. ) Therefore, where the inspired record is not sufficiently full in elucidating any principle, nothing short of new revelation from God will clear away the mist and bring us to a knowledge of the truth. The writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James and Jude, so far as they bear upon the sayings and acts of the Savior during His earthly ministry, are the testimonies of what they saw and heard personally, as well as the revelations of the Holy Ghost to them, subsequent to the crucifixion and ascension of the Savior. Paul embraced the Gospel later, and was not personally associated with Jesus in His ministry. His testimony is equally binding, however, as he "wrote and spoke as he was moved upon by the Holy Ghost." "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." (Matt. xviii:16.)

In Matthew, chapter 10, commencing with the first verse, we have this statement: "And when He had called unto Him His Twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the Twelve apostles are these;" then follows the name of each of the Twelve. Mark gives more detail as to when and where they were called, as follows: "And He goeth up into a mountain and called unto Him whom He would; and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve," etc. (Mark iii:13, 14.) Luke records the calling of the Twelve in the sixth chapter of his book, beginning with the twelfth verse: "And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles." Paul says in I. Cor. xii:28: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles;" and again in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 11: "And He gave some apostles."

From the statements of four New Testament writers, it is plain that the first officers placed in the Church of Christ were apostles. Jesus delegated unto Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that whatsoever he should bind on earth should be bound in heaven, as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, thus delegating to the apostleship all authority essential to the preaching of the Gospel, and administering in all the ordinances thereof, at home and abroad, for the salvation of all who would render obedience. It is apparent that other men such as Paul and Barnabas received the apostleship, but while this was the case it is evident that the Twelve apostles constituted a quorum. When Judas fell, one was chosen to take his place in that quorum, as written in the Acts of the Apostles, first chapter, 23-26 verses. It would appear from the reading of the Scriptures that while these twelve still lived, Paul and probably others received the holy apostleship, but did not become members of that council.

The work of preaching the Gospel to all the world, to every creature, was undoubtedly too extensive for the accomplishment personally of twelve men, so Jesus chose others to assist them. "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come." (Luke x:1.) As He conferred upon them similar powers and gave them a similar calling to preach the Gospel, they were undoubtedly the next associates of the Twelve in preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. Some think by the language used by Luke, "other seventy," that He had chosen one quorum of seventies before this one, but this is not necessarily correct, as it will apply in meaning to "other" than the Twelve apostles.

In Hebrews, fifth chapter and first verse, Paul says: "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God." While it is true that the words "high priest" are used in a more general sense in some instances, such as in Hebrews, third chapter, first verse, where the Savior is called both the "Apostle and High Priest of our profession," it appears evident from the above quotation and other passages that there was in the order of ecclesiastical government in the Church of Christ a distinct officer with specific duties called a High Priest.

Again, in Acts, fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse, we read: "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed." "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders. * * * And the apostles and elders came together." (Acts xv:4-6.) "And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem." (Acts xvi:4.) "And from Miletus He sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church." (Acts xx:17.) "And ordained elders in every city as I had appointed thee," (Titus i:5.)

The term "elders" is used in many other passages of Scripture. In some instances the apostle is called an elder, as Paul and John allude to themselves personally as elders. In some places the term is used in reference to the aged, as in I. Timothy, chapter v., verses 1, 2: "Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity." Yet the quotations made will be ample to prove that the office of Elder was an order anciently in the organization of the Church of Christ.