The Church Jesus Established

Lesson 12 - THE ALL SUFFICIENT CHURCH

The church, just like the work of Christ (Eph. 1:3-14), was in God's eternal purpose (Eph. 3:10-11). The church is the manifestation of God's wisdom. The manifold (many-colored) wisdom of God is seen when one observes God's provisions for the church. Jesus is an all-sufficient Savior (Eph. 2:22,23). God's Word is all-sufficient (II Tim. 3:16,17). Likewise, the church is sufficient for the purposes God intended. Our belief in this principle has a great effect on how we view both the organization and work of the church.

The Church is Fully Equipped to Do All that the Lord Gave it to Do

Eph. 4:7-16. Notice Vs.8,10 - Christ gave GIFTS that the church might be filled. The gifts consisted of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (vs 11). Note the function of each:

• APOSTLES and PROPHETS. These laid the foundation (Eph. 2:20). The prophets are New Testament prophets (cf. Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 12:28-29), chosen by the laying on of apostles' hands (Acts 19:6). We have their work in the completed revelation (Eph. 3:1-5; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
• EVANGELISTS. Announcing the good news, preaching, teaching (2 Tim. 2:2; 2 Tim. 4:1-5).
• PASTORS. Same as bishops, elders (Acts 20:17,28; 1 Pet. 5:1,2; Phil. 1:1). Appointed from qualifications (I Tim. 3; Titus 1) to oversee the local church (Acts 14:23). The oversight of these men is limited to "those allotted" which I Peter 5:2 tells us is "the flock among them" (the local church where they were appointed).
• TEACHERS. For the purpose of instruction in God's Word (2 Tim. 2:2; Acts 13:1).
• DEACONS (not mention in Eph. 4). These are servants of the local church (Acts 6:ff, "serve" is the verb form of word for "deacon"; Phil.l:l).

There are no other offices is the church. The modern proliferation of offices and organizations of which the Lord never spoke are unauthorized.
Note: See Lessons 13,14 and 15 for further discussion of the offices of Elder,Deacon and Evangelist.

The Purpose of the Gifts

Vs. 12 "For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;"

• "For the equipping of the saints" (NASB); The word "for" here is from the Greek preposition PROS, which is used "of the goal aimed at or striven toward…for the purpose of, on behalf of..." (Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 717). Equipping (Greek: KATARTISMOS) basically means "putting a thing or a person into the condition in which he or it ought to be,"
• "For the work of service" (NASB); "For" (Greek EIS) means "in order to" (Arndt & Gingrich, p.228). God gave gifts with the goal that the saints might be perfected in order that the saints might do the work of service. The work of service (Greek: DIAKONIA). Includes benevolence and evangelism. It is used of benevolence or aid in Acts 6:1; 11:29; 12:25; Rom. 15:31; 2 Cor. 9:12,13. Thus, the church is all-sufficient to do its own benevolent work. Used "of the general ministry of a servant of the Lord in preaching and teaching" (Arndt & Gingrich, p.183). Paul frequently mentioned his "ministry" (2 Cor.4:l; 6:3; 1 Tim. 1:12). Timothy was instructed to "do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry" (2 Tim. 4:5). The church is sufficient to do its own "evangelistic" work.
• "To the building up of the body of Christ" (NASB); Building Up (Greek: OIKODOME) is used figuratively "of spiritual strengthening, edifying, edification, building up" (Arndt & Gingrich, p. 561). As a congregation does its work of ministry and worships and studies in God's appointed way it will "build up" itself in love (Eph. 4:16).

Please Note: The church is all-sufficient to do what God gave it to do. Sometimes men assign works to the church that God never authorized. The church is not all-sufficient to perform such works because God never designed it to engage in them.

Examples of the All  Sufficient Church

• The Jerusalem church was able to provide for its own needy saints through the church's collected funds (Acts 4:33-37). When physical responsibilities needed to be met, servants (deacons) can fulfill the job (Acts 6:1-6).
• The disciples at Antioch sent benevolent relief "unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea" (Acts 11:27-30).
• The churches of Macedonia and Achaia sent contributions for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem (Rom.15:25-26; 2 Cor.8,9). This was designed be a temporary measure to relieve their plight (II Cor. 8:13,14).
• The Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch to preach (Acts 11:22,23).
• The Antioch church sent out Barnabas and Paul to preach (Acts 13:1-4).
• Barnabas and Paul went (among other places) to Philippi (Acts 16:31-33). The church at Philippi church supported Paul financially to preach (Phil. 4:15-16).
• Teachers and preachers could be trained by evangelists and other capable teachers (II Tim. 2:2).

In all this there is no mention of any man made organization carrying out the work of the church. There is no mention of any one church (and its eldership) sponsoring the work of a collection of congregation. The church today just as adequately equipped to accomplish the work God has given it without these human concepts. A denial of the adequacy of the church to do the work God has assigned is an admission that Christ did not give the necessary "gifts" to get the job done.

Questions:

1. Explain what "all-sufficient" means in connection with Jesus, the Scripture, and the church.

2. How is the role of apostles and prophets different from that of evangelists, pastors and teachers?

3. Do you think the text of Eph. 4:11-16 is saying that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were given to accomplish most of the church's work?

4. Clearly, elders may scripturally lead a congregation to send a preacher whose work will benefit another congregation (Acts 11:22,23); clearly, they may direct their own congregation to send benevolent relief to another congregation (Acts 11:27-30). But is the only congregation they are authorized to have charge over?

5. Is there any evidence that the 1^st century church sent funds to man-made organizations to accomplish its work?

 [ Introduction - The Pattern Concept]   [Lesson 1 - Defining The Church]  [Lesson 2 - Authority Over The Church]  
  [Lesson 3 - How Scripture Authorizes (Pt. 1)] [Lesson 4 - How Scripture Authorizes (Pt. 2)] [Lesson 5 - The Universal - The Local Church]
[Lesson 6 - Church Not A Denomination]    [Lesson 7 - Timeline -  Church's Establishment]    [Lesson 8 - Worship Christ Designed]
[Lesson 9 -Observing The Lord's Supper]  [Lesson 10 - Worship in Song]   [Lesson 11 - Worship In Prayer]  
  [Lesson 13 - Elders] [14 - Deacons ]  [Lesson 15 - Evangelists ]   [Lesson 16 - The Social Gospel]     
     [Lesson 17 -Benevolence-According to the Pattern]

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This page last updated: October 27, 1999