TEMPORAL ORGANISATION INSTITUTED FOR THE SPIRITUAL CHURCH

By The Venerable Dr. Ifechukwu U. Ibeme

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The Christian Church is the Spiritual Body of Christ and the Household of God, but instituted by Christ as
the organised Fellowship of Believers sent on mission in a temporal world.

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The Apostle Paul first preached in Ephesian Synagogues during his Second Missionary Journey and left
them in the care of Priscilla and Aquila whom he brought along from Corinth (Act 18:18-22) and were
later joined briefly by Apollos from Alexandria (Act 18:24-26). During his Third Missionary Journey, Paul
returned to Ephesus (Act 19) as he earlier promised (Act 18:21). It was then that Christian Disciples
known as followers of the Way in Ephesus (Act 19:9), driven from the Jewish Synagogue began to meet
separately at the school of a certain Tyrannus under Paul’s leadership for three years (Act 19:8-12;
20:31) to be ordered as a Christian Church and Presbyters ordained for them. These Presbyters were
later invited by Paul to a retreat in Miletus (Act 20:17). At this leadership retreat, Paul reminded these
Presbyters that it is the Lord who made them Bishops to take heed of His Church as pastors of His flock
which He purchased with His precious Blood (Act 20:28).

Acts 20:17-18, 27-32

(17) And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH.
(18) And when they were come to him, HE SAID UNTO THEM, You know, from the first day
that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all times,
…..
(27) For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
(28) TAKE HEED THEREFORE UNTO YOURSELVES, AND TO ALL THE FLOCK, OVER
WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS MADE YOU OVERSEERS, TO FEED THE CHURCH OF GOD,
WHICH HE HAS PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.
(29) For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock.
(30) Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them.
(31) Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn
everyone night and day with tears.
(32) And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to
build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them who are sanctified.

The Greek word EKKLESIA translated “Church” in English means a lawfully “CALLED OUT ASSEMBLY” of a
city, duly summoned to discuss State matters of the city (Act 19:39), but also refers to an illegal
spontaneously gathered multitude of the people of a city (Act 19:40-41). Christ and His Apostles used
the word, “Church” to refer to the UNIVERSALLY ETERNAL Church of Christ assembled from both heaven
and earth (Heb 12:23), as well as the LOCALLY TEMPORAL Churches of Christ assembling in various
places on earth (Act 15:41).

A LOCAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH refers to any locally GATHERED (Heb 10:25) and properly ORDERED (Phil
1:1; Tit 1:5) ASSEMBLY of SAVED disciples who answer the CALL to be SANCTIFIED with the Word IN
CHRIST (Act 20:32; 26:18; 1Cor 1:2; Eph 5:26) and to enlist to SERVE as the Lord’s harvest LABOURERS
(Mat 9:38) in a given locality.

The ONE UNIVERSAL SANCTIFIED CHURCH (Heb 2:10-11) is the ONE BODY of Christ (1Cor 11:27), ONE
HOUSEHOLD of God (Eph 2:19) and ONE FELLOWSHIP of the Holy Spirit, which Christ has Commissioned
for Evangelisation and Discipleship in all the world till the end of the age (Mat 28:18-20), and to meet
(Heb 10:25) everywhere as MANY Ordered LOCAL ASSEMBLIES of the Saints (Act 14:21-23; Tit 1:5-7;
Heb 13:7, 17) for Local Orderly Daily Worship and Fellowship (Act 2:41-47; 1Cor 14:40).

⌂ A CHURCH (Grk=EKKLESIA) does not mean a DENOMINATION.

⌂ A Church Denomination is a network of Churches under a specific leadership.

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⌂ CHURCH does not mean a worship location or auditorium but a worship ASSEMBLY or the
COMMUNITY of a local PARTICIPATING congregation.
⌂ The Church also means all the CHURCHES that universally belong to Christ as His BODY.

The Church of Christ is CALLED OUT OF THE WORLD through the Gospel and SENT INTO THE WORLD for
the Gospel. SPIRITUALLY, the Church is the Body of Christ in heaven ETERNALLY called out of the world
but PHYSICALLY, the Church is the ambassadorial Priesthood of God’s Kingdom TEMPORALLY sent out on
earth. The organic Body of Christ NEEDS NOT BE a temporally organised institution for its BEING while
the ambassadorial Priesthood of the Kingdom HAS BEEN instituted to be temporally organized for its
MISSION.

The Church is the Body of Christ under CHRIST’S ORGANISMIC HEADSHIP independent of temporal
organisation and human leadership, yet the Church as the Fellowship of Christ’s Disciples carries out her
mission to the world through the form of temporal organisation as instituted for HUMAN
ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP by Christ and His Apostles and practiced in the Apostolic Church.

Revelation chapters 1 to 5 reveal that Christ relates with His Church in two forms. Firstly is the LOCAL,
temporal, militant, missionary, and VISIBLE CHURCHES uniting contemporary believers in each political
city state organized under particular contemporary earthly LEADERSHIPS to whom Christ sends
respective messages (through the Spirit as well as through Messengers like Apostles, Prophets, Bishop-
Presbyters and Pastor-Teachers) as found in Revelation 1 to 3. Secondly is the UNIVERSAL, eternal,
triumphant, regent, and INVISIBLE CHURCH uniting all generations of saints in one messianic heavenly
sanctuary ordered under Christ’s eternal heavenly HEADSHIP with whom He deals face to face as found
in Revelation 4-5. From Hebrews 12:22-24 we understand that the visible temporal Churches are
missionary agents or militant arms of the one invisible eternal Church.

The succession of organised institution of the temporal community and commission of Christ’s Disciples
began with Christ Himself when He appointed the Apostles to be trained as His authorized missioners
and witnesses (Mar 3:13-19; Luk 6:12-16), servant leaders of all the disciples (Mar 10:42-45) and
enthroned servant judges of all Israel (Luk 22:27-30). To this instituted apostolic Church (Eph 2:19-22),
Christ committed the responsibility to organize and implement Gospel witness and worship, discipleship
and discipline by His authority.

Through the mandate of the Great Commission, the risen Christ instituted and commissioned the Church
to organise and accomplish discipleship and discipline through the Church’s fellowship and prayers (Luk
24:44-52; Act 1) as well as through the Church’s organized mission, preaching, baptism, teaching and
practice (Mat 28:16-20; Mar 16:14-20) which the Apostles put into practical effect from the Ascension
(Act 1) till the Pentecost (Act 2) and subsequently.

So what we see the Apostles do from the Ascension is because Christ instituted the Apostolate as the
servant officers of the Temporal Church of the saints empowered by the Holy Spirit to organise the
mission of Christ’s Kingdom Gospel on earth (Acts 1-5). In turn, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and
as the Church grew and the need arose, the Apostles instituted the Diaconate, Presbyterate (priesthood)
and Episcopate as servant officers of the Temporal Church to ensure that the Church is pastoral
oversight of the Lord’s Flock of the saints (Act 20:) for effectively organised implementation of Gospel
mission of the Church on earth (Act 6-15).

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Since the Apostolic times, several other officers have been successively evolved by the Churches in
various places, at various times and for several purposes some of which has vanished while some have
endured. Some of these purposes and officers are godly while some are ungodly.

Over the years, the divinely instituted organization of the Temporal Church has not only been misused
but has also been misunderstood by many. While the materialistic, ostentatious and autocratic
OPPORTUNISTS have both misused and misrepresented the instituted organisation of the Church, many
anarchic, iconoclastic and antinomian NONCONFORMISTS have misunderstood and maligned this
divinely instituted organisation of the Church’s work, walk, worship and witness.

Contrary to separatist ecclesiological misconceptions and muddling, the visible temporal “wheat and
tares” ORGANISATIONAL Churches of Christ’s Disciples which gather contemporarily on earth under
human clergy-council LEADERSHIPS are the missionary representatives and militant agents of the
invisible eternal “wheat only” ORGANISMIC Church of Christ’s Body which is gathered permanently and
triumphantly in heaven under Christ's messianic HEADSHIP. The temporal Churches will always have
tares until the end though are being sanctified and washed to be presented without blemish but eternal
reigning and resting Church will always be free from all tares for ever. So the temporal Churches under
fallible Organisational Human Leaderships is holy (set apart) though impure and being purified (Rev 1-3);
whereas the eternal Church under infallible Organismic Christ's Headship is holy (set apart) and already
pure (Rev 4-5 and Heb 12:22-24). The fallible and temporal organizations are the ambassadorial and
missional agents of the infallible and eternal organism.

From Apostolic times, all new local Churches whether near or far, were in fellowship with, (not for
schism or separation from) their fellow older Churches. Starting or planting a new Church by brethren
from an existing Church was for expansion and collaboration, not for division and contention. Later,
nonconformists like Diotrephes began to malign and prate against Apostolic order (3John 9-10) and
schismatics like Cerinthus began to break away (1John 2:18-23), and heretics like Simon Magus (Act
8:18-24) and others began to be excommunicated for disciplinary purposes (Tit 3:10; 2John 9-10).

Brethren in older Churches planted or started new local Churches, not as new independent Churches
but as new sister Churches or new daughter Churches that shared the same faith in Christ and same
allegiance to the authority, fellowship and doctrine of the Apostles. However each local Church in the
Apostolic times had its variety of organisational and pastoral leadership structure instituted by the
Apostles:
 some leaders were appointed or ordained officers to lead in the ministry of the Word and
worship i.e. LOGOS and LITURGY matters (clerical presbyters/priests, bishops Act 14:23; 15:6,
23; Phil 1:1; 1Tim 3:1-15),
 some were elected and commissioned for the ministry of the tables and the treasury i.e.
LOGISTICS (caritative deacons/deaconesses Act 6:3-6; Rom 16:1),
 some played charismatic and itinerary roles (teachers, evangelists and prophets Act 13:1-4; Eph
4:11-13),
 there were also financiers and sponsors of the Churches (patrons/patronesses or
hosts/hostesses Act 16:14-15, 40; Rom 16:3-6; 1Cor 16:19; Col 4:15; Phm 2).

Neither Christ nor the Holy Spirit seem to have constrained the Apostles to institute a uniform or fixed
form of leadership structure in the early Church, for they had:
 the Apostles, the Table-Deacons and the Church initially (Act 6:1-6), and later the Apostles,
Elders and the Church in Jerusalem (Act 15:2-4, 22);

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  the Apostles, Prophets, Teachers and the Church in Antioch (Act 13:1-3; 14:14);
 the Bishops, Deacons and all the Saints in Philippi (Phil 1:1), Ephesus (1Tim 3), etc;
 even today many Churches or Denominations have their own forms of the Clergy, Council and
Congregation.
Yet we can identify clearly emergent and adapted trends with commonly shared pattern.

Updated April 6, 2018

by Ven. Dr. I. U. Ibeme
Copyright © PriscAquila Publishing, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
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