Message Two—God’s Administration on This Earth

THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

God’s Administration
Message Two—God’s Administration on This Earth

Scripture Reading: Exo. 19:6; 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; 1 Sam. 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65; Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; Gal. 2:16; Acts 2:42; Heb. 1:2a; 1 Pet. 3:15-16; Rev. 22:18-19; 1 Cor. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6; Heb. 8:1; Rom. 8:10; Acts 13:1-4; 1 Tim. 5:19-20

I. God’s administration in the Old Testament—Exo. 19:6; 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21:

A. We cannot see much of God’s administration among God’s chosen people until Exodus 19—v. 6.

1. At Mount Sinai the Lord told the children of Israel that He wanted them to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation”—v. 6.

2. In this kingdom at Mount Sinai, God’s administration among His people on this earth began.

B. God’s administration in the Old Testament was by His instant speaking plus His constant, written word through some agents—28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65:

1. God’s administration was neither an autocracy by a dictator nor a democracy of the people; God’s administration among the children of Israel was a theocracy, indicating that God Himself came to govern, to rule, to administrate the people of God directly yet through some agents.

2. These agents were the priests, the elders, the judges, or the kings working together for God’s theocracy; they were the direct administrators.

3. The theocracy among the nation of Israel was according to God’s constant speaking as written in the law or God’s instant speaking as revealed through the breastplate of the high priest by means of the Urim and the Thummim; God’s instant speaking through the prophets was by the Spirit of God coming upon certain persons to enable them to speak God’s word—Exo. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65.

4. If we are going to understand God’s administration in His move in the New Testament today, we have to go back to the type of the New Testament government in the Old Testament; God’s administration is a direct ruling and governing by God Himself; this direct divine ruling is a theocracy.

II. God’s administration in the New Testament—Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; Gal. 2:16; Acts 2:42; Heb. 1:2a; Matt. 28:19-20; John 16:12-15; 2 Pet. 3:15-16:

A. In the New Testament, the apostles appointed the elders to carry out God’s administration in each local church—Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5.

B. In the Old Testament kingdom of God, the constitution was the law, and in the New Testament kingdom of God, the constitution is the teaching of the apostles.

1. In the New Testament, Christ replaced the law, but concerning the aspect and sense of God’s administration, the teaching of the apostles replaced the law—Gal. 2:16; Acts 2:42.

2. The teaching of the apostles is the complete New Testament; no one should add anything or take away anything from the divine revelation—Heb. 1:2a; Matt. 28:19-20; John 16:12-15; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; Rev. 2:7; 22:18-19.

C. In the New Testament kingdom, according to the teaching of the apostles, the elders were the direct administrators; furthermore, according to the Lord’s instant speaking, all the believers in Christ are priests of God, including the elders, having Christ as the High Priest living within them—1 Cor. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6; Heb. 8:1; Rom. 8:10.

D. Today in God’s administration on this earth, besides the ones who are the priests to receive the revelation from the Lord directly and the administrators to carry out what God spoke, there are the prophets and the teachers to help the eldership and the priesthood—Acts 13:1-4.

E. After the apostles appoint the elders and commit the church into the hands of the elders, they did not have the position to administrate the church, but they did have the position, right, and responsibility to charge the elders to do it; in the New Testament the apostles were to keep their hands off of the administration of the local church in its business affairs, not in its need of the apostles’ teaching, instruction, and charge—1 Cor. 5:13; 1 Tim. 5:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:34.

F. The churches are local in administration but not absolutely independent:

1. When the apostles kept their hands off of the affairs of the churches, this did not mean that each local church became one independent entity; nor did it mean that since the churches were under the teaching of the apostles, they became a federation—1 Cor. 4:17; Rev. 2:1, 7.

2. On the one hand, the churches are local separately; on the other hand, all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ—Acts 8:1; 13:1; Eph. 4:4; Col. 3:15.

G. The teaching of the apostles is the real leadership in the New Testament.

1. In the four Gospels, the leadership was with the Lord Jesus; that was the leadership in a Person.

2. The apostles were not strict in this matter of the movement of the co-workers; but all the apostles were very strict in the teaching of the apostles—2 Tim. 4:9; Titus 3:12; 1 Cor. 16:12; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-10:

a. The leading ones are not strict in directing the move of their co-workers—cf. 1 Cor. 16:12.

b. The leading ones are strict in the teaching of the New Testament—cf. 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11.

H. God’s delegated authority in the leading ones—2 Cor. 13:10:

1. God’s delegated authority in the leading ones is for building up and not for overthrowing; Paul had authority, not to destroy or overthrow, but for building up—2 Cor. 13:10.

2. God’s delegated authority was in the teaching of the leading ones; authority always follows the proper speaking; Paul exercised his authority in his teaching; he taught the same thing everywhere in every church, and the churches followed his speaking—1 Cor. 4:17b-21; 7:17b; 16:1; 11:2; 2 Thes. 3:6, 9, 12, 14.

3. The leadership in the ministry was in the leading ones’ dealing with the problems and affairs of the churches; Paul was strong in dealing with the church in Corinth—1 Cor. 1:10; 5:11-13; 11:34b.

4. The leadership in the ministry was also in the leading ones’ avenging of the saints’ disobedience; Paul intended to avenge all disobedience when the Corinthians themselves had learned obedience—2 Cor. 10:6.

5. The leadership in the ministry was also in the appointing of and dealing with the elders; not only did the apostles have the authority to appoint the elders, but they also had the authority to judge them, including the authority to remove them—Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; 1 Tim. 5:19-20.

III. God’s government is neither autocracy nor democracy, but theocracy; God’s theocratic government in the churches in the New Testament is according to the life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God indwelling the leading ones; the result of this divine coordination of the New Testament priests and prophets in the Body of Christ is the God-commanded blessing—Acts 15:6, 23, 28; 2:42; 1 Thes. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17; Acts 13:1; Psa. 133:3.

Ministry Excerpts:

GOD’S ADMINISTRATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

God’s administration on this earth is very much related to the church’s administration. If we are going to see God’s administration on this earth, we have to see the administration of the church. To study this matter, we must go back to the very beginning of God’s move among man in the Old Testament.

A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation

In the book of Genesis since the fall of Adam, God moved on this earth among His chosen people. Through His move in the book of Genesis, God gained some important persons and eventually He gained the house of Israel. The crucial persons that He gained were Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph. Through Jacob with Joseph, God gained the house of Israel as a small group of people, but in that house we cannot see much of God’s administration. We cannot see much of God’s administration until we come to the time of Moses recorded in Exodus.

In Exodus 19 at Mount Sinai the Lord told the children of Israel that He wanted them to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation” (v. 6). The nation of Israel probably had over two million people by that time. The children of Israel were not saved from Egypt individually. They were saved corporately as an entire race of people. They did not come out of Egypt one by one as individuals, but they came out as a corporate people, even as a nation and a kingdom. When they came to Sinai, God called them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In this kingdom at Mount Sinai, God’s administration among His people on this earth began.

God’s Government by His Instant Speaking plus His Constant,
Written Word through Some Agents

God’s administration was neither an autocracy by a dictator nor a democracy of the people. God’s administration among the children of Israel was a theocracy, indicating that God Himself came to govern, to rule, to administrate the people of God directly yet through some agents. Among the children of Israel, these agents were the priests and the elders working together for God’s theocracy. The priests were the ones who received God’s word, God’s speaking, God’s instructions. God’s speaking, His constant and instant speaking, was the living constitution of the children of Israel. Until the law was given, there was no constant speaking of God, but there was always His instant speaking. The law was the constant speaking of God. The law, like the United States Constitution, may be considered as the first written constitution of God’s people written by God Himself. The Old Testament, however, shows us that the written constitution of God by itself was not adequate. There was still the need of God’s instant constitution, His instant speaking. God’s instant speaking always goes along with His written word. The theocracy among the nation of Israel was a government according to God’s constant speaking as written in the law or God’s instant speaking as revealed through the breastplate of the high priest by means of the Urim and the Thummim (Exo. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65).

The very crucial part in God’s government was God’s instant speaking through the Urim and the Thummim on the breastplate of the high priest. Among the people of Israel, there were the elders on the one hand and the priests on the other hand. Although the Scripture does not clearly indicate how the elders were produced, it does tell us how the priests were produced. God chose the entire nation of Israel to be a kingdom of priests. He intended for every male Israelite to be a priest. But the children of Israel fell and failed to arrive at God’s purpose. Thus, God turned His choosing of the entire nation of Israel as priests to a family, the house of Aaron. The house of Aaron became a house of priests to replace the nation of priests. Aaron as the father was appointed by God to be the high priest and all his sons became the priests (Exo. 28:1). This was the way the priests were produced in the Old Testament.

After the high priest received the instant speaking from God, he did not directly execute or carry out what God spoke. Instead he passed on the word he had received to the elders, and the elders became the direct administrators among God’s people. Joshua could be considered as the leading elder among God’s people at his time. The high priest accompanying Joshua was Eleazar, a descendant of Aaron. God asked Moses to tell Joshua that if he wanted to know God’s will or leading, he had to go to Eleazar the priest, who would “ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord” (Num. 27:21). These two persons went on in God’s move together. One bore the responsibility to go into God’s presence to receive God’s instant speaking, and the other received the divine speaking to administrate among God’s people. In principle, the administration of God was always carried out by the elders according to the divine speaking received through the Urim and the Thummim. When the priests became weak, such as at the time of Eli (1 Sam. 1:12; 3:12-14), the prophets were raised up to strengthen God’s speaking (3:20-21). God’s instant speaking through the priests was by the Urim and the Thummim, but God’s instant speaking through the prophets was by the Spirit of God coming upon certain persons to enable them to speak God’s word.

Whatever happened in the Old Testament was a type of the New Testament government. If we are going to understand God’s administration in His move in the New Testament today, we have to go back to the Old Testament to receive the full understanding of the practice of God’s administration. God’s administration is a direct ruling and governing by God Himself. This direct divine ruling is a theocracy. We must see the principle of God’s divine government among His people. His government is by His instant speaking plus the constant written word. The instant speaking was either through the priests or the prophets, but neither the priests or the prophets were the direct administrators. The direct administrators were either the elders, the judges, or the kings.

GOD’S ADMINISTRATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Elders Appointed by the Apostles

Now we come to the New Testament. In the Old Testament, we are not able to find out how the first group of elders was produced. There is also not a direct word in the New Testament to tell us how the first group of elders in the New Testament church was produced. Both Peter and John were elders in the church in Jerusalem (1 Pet. 5:1; 2 John 1; 3 John 1). James was also an elder there (Gal. 2:9; Acts 12:17; 15:2, 13; 21:18). He was a flesh brother of the Lord Jesus (Gal. 1:19; Matt. 13:55) and was not saved before the Lord’s death (John 7:3, 5). Either through seeing the Lord’s death or through the appearing of the Lord to him in His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7), James believed in the Lord. Thus, the time from his salvation to his becoming an elder was very short. Eventually, he became the leading elder in the church in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem is represented by the name James in Galatians 2:12, and in the book of Acts, James is the prominent one among the elders in Jerusalem (12:17; 15:13; 21:18). How were James, Peter, and John produced as elders? The Bible does not directly tell us.

When the apostle Paul was raised up by the Lord and sent out by the Holy Spirit, the Lord used him to establish new churches. Acts 14:23 tells us that Paul returned to appoint elders in each of these new local churches probably within the same year. The appointment of the elders is recorded clearly in Acts 14:23. The elders were established among the saints by the apostles who had preached the gospel to them and had formed them into a local church. Titus 1:5 tells us that the apostles who established the churches had the position and the right to send a representative to establish elders. This was the case with Titus. Titus was representing the apostle Paul to establish elders in each city of the island of Crete. These verses show us that the elders were properly produced in the New Testament through appointment by those who preached the gospel to them, who taught them the truth, and who formed them with the saints into a local church. These apostles should be the ones who appoint the elders to carry out God’s administration in each local church.

The Teaching of the Apostles—
the Constitution of God’s New Testament Kingdom

We have seen that in the Old Testament, the law could be considered as the written constitution of God’s people. What replaced the law in the New Testament for God’s administration among His people? We know that Christ replaced the law, but we are referring to the aspect and sense of replacing the law in God’s administration. In the New Testament, the teaching of the apostles replaced the law. Acts 2:42 says, “And they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.” Immediately after the three thousand were saved on the day of Pentecost, they began to continue steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. In the Old Testament kingdom of God, the constitution was the law, and in the New Testament kingdom of God, the constitution is the teaching of the apostles.

The teaching of the apostles is the complete New Testament. It comprises firstly the teaching of the Lord Jesus in the four Gospels. The first group of apostles were charged by the Lord Jesus to teach the new believers what the Lord had taught them. This is clearly recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. The teaching of the apostles also includes what is recorded in the Acts, the Epistles, and the book of Revelation. At the conclusion of the book of Revelation, John tells us that no one should add anything or take away anything from the divine revelation (Rev. 22:18-19). This means that with the book of Revelation, the teaching of the apostles has been completed. From that time onward, no one is allowed to add or deduct anything. If you add something, you will suffer the plagues; and if you deduct something, you will suffer the loss of the divine blessing. The entire New Testament, which is the complete teaching of the apostles, must be considered as the constitution of God’s New Testament kingdom.

The Elders as Priests and Administrators

Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, made this matter of God’s administration in the New Testament very clear. He charged the brothers in Corinth to remove a certain sinful man from the fellowship of the church (5:13), which is also the fellowship of the apostles and of the saints. His desire was that this evil person would be removed from the church, but he would not do it by himself because he was not the direct administrator. Therefore, he charged the ones who were the direct administrators in the church. By the New Testament teaching and example, we can realize that some elders had been established in the church in Corinth. Paul gave such a charge to the brothers, but he did not carry out the administration. The elders were the direct administrators of the church there. The written constitution of the New Testament kingdom of God is the teaching of the apostles, the complete New Testament, and the direct administrators in this kingdom are the elders.

Furthermore, in the New Testament age, there is still some instant speaking. In the New Testament, we have the reality of the high priest and the priests. In the Old Testament, the priests are one group, and the elders are another group. But in the New Testament, these two groups are one. All the believers in Christ are priests to God (1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6), including the elders. All of the elders are priests, and Christ is the High Priest (Heb. 3:1). Where is Christ? We know that He is seated at the right hand of God in the heavens (Rom. 8:34), but we must see that for God’s movement among us on this earth, our High Priest, Christ, is in us (8:10). All of the elders need to declare that Christ, the High Priest, is in them. We have such a High Priest (Heb. 8:1). The elders, who are also the priests, should be the ones who administrate the church in God’s government. If there is a problem in the church under the administration of the elders, how shall they solve it? In the Old Testament, it was necessary to study the law to find out what to do to solve the problem. If there is a problem in the church, we have to study our New Testament constitution.

All of the elders of the church need to realize that they are the real priests. They are the elders and the priests. As an elder, you have the High Priest within you, and you can share in His loving capacity as symbolized by His breast. You love the saints with Christ’s love and go into His presence with such a loving capacity, waiting on Him and reading the letters on the stones of the breastplate, that is, reading all the members of the church. By reading the members of the church, taking the members as the letters of a divine typewriter, a word, a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph, and even a chapter will come to you, telling you what to do and how to do it.

The Prophets and Teachers

Besides the elders as the priests and as the administrators, there are the prophets and teachers as illustrated in Acts 13:1-4. In Acts 13 in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers. These prophets and teachers are the ones who can help in the priesthood and in the eldership. They are like the Old Testament prophets who helped the elders, the kings, and the priests. Today in God’s administration on this earth, the principle is the same. Besides the ones who are the priests to receive the revelation from the Lord directly and the administrators to carry out what God spoke, there are the prophets and the teachers to help the eldership and the priesthood.

The Teaching of the Apostles Being the Real Leadership

In the four Gospels, the leadership was with the Lord Jesus. That was the leadership in a Person. The Lord Jesus was the Leader who had the leadership. In the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus sent His disciples to certain places. His disciples were to obey whatever He said. In the Acts and the Epistles, Peter and Paul were supposed to be the leaders, but for the most part, they did not send anyone anywhere to do the work. All of the going-out workers were sent by the Holy Spirit. Acts 13 tells us that Barnabas and Saul were “sent out by the Holy Spirit” (v. 4) from Antioch to the Gentiles. Of course, Paul did charge some of the younger brothers who were closely related to him, such as Timothy and Titus, to go to certain places and to do certain things (1 Cor. 4:17; Titus 1:5). He charged both Timothy and Titus to come to him, and they received these orders (2 Tim. 4:9; Titus 3:12). But there is at least one case referred to in 1 Corinthians 16:12 that we must see: “Now concerning our brother Apollos, I urged him much that he would come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come whenever he has opportunity.” Paul was very burdened to help the Corinthians solve their problems, and their problems involved him and Apollos. This is why Paul expected that Apollos would go to see the Corinthians personally. Paul did not say that he charged Apollos. He said, “I urged him.” To urge someone to do something is much different from charging them. Paul said, “I urged him much…and it was not at all his desire.” Although Paul urged him, Apollos still had the liberty, the freedom, not to do it. And he did not do what Paul wanted. Apollos said that he would come whenever he had opportunity. This may seem like a small verse, but it is very important to the truth concerning the leadership. This verse is very strong to prove that Paul did not exercise any control over the work for the Lord.

Paul was not the leader in the New Testament move of God in the sense of commanding the co-workers to do things. Peter and Paul were not strict in this matter of the movement of the co-workers. If they urged a worker to do something, and he felt not to do it, there was no problem. But all the apostles were very strict in the teaching of the apostles. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4, Paul urged Timothy to remain in Ephesus to charge certain ones not to teach differently from God’s New Testament economy. The apostles would not tolerate any teaching that was different from God’s New Testament economy. The aged Apostle John, in his second Epistle, told the saints not to receive anyone who brings a teaching other than the teaching of Christ (vv. 9-10). He said that these ones went beyond the teaching of Christ. This means that they went beyond the teaching concerning Christ, which is the basic teaching of the New Testament, the teaching of the apostles. John was strict to the extent that he even charged the saints not to greet such ones. In the matter of the teaching of the apostles, the apostles were very strict. This proves that the teaching of the apostles actually is the real leadership in the New Testament. (A Timely Word, msg. 2)