\n
While I was teaching the session Revelation that took place in Ukraine, one of the pastors asked me which\u00a0are the principles of organization of the local church from the New Testament.\u00a0<\/span>This question made me curious to study deeply the subject and I started with the Book of\u00a0Acts.<\/span> In this article I will share the first principles which I\u00a0have found.<\/span> <\/p>\n Before\u00a0His Ascension to heaven, the Lord Jesus told the disciples about the Holy Spirit that each of them would receive and which would give them authority to\u00a0share the Gospel to the remotest part of the\u00a0earth.<\/span> So, authority\u00a0was given not\u00a0for creating and maintaining a well made system of management, but for the spreading of the\u00a0Gospel and\u00a0salvation of the sinners. <\/span>The Savior told the apostles:<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;\u00a0but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.<\/strong>\u201d (Acts 1:7-8)(NASB) <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Lord Jesus\u00a0didn\u2019t let another organization than that of the 12 apostles.<\/span> After Judas sold Jesus and after the Resurrection and Ascension of the Savior\u00a0to heaven, one of the first concerns Peter had, was maintaining this system of 12 apostles.<\/span> Therefore, he came with an initiative,\u00a0and we don\u2019t read anywhere that\u00a0the Lord Jesus asked him this or the Savior\u00a0would make any\u00a0reference to it later.<\/span>\u00a0Peter\u2019s initiative was that someone would take the place of Judas to be an apostle and they did that by drawing lots, and none of the servants were elected in that way anymore.<\/span> <\/p>\n Because the apostles were\u00a0concerned about the preaching of\u00a0the Gospel and teaching those who became disciples, the church was\u00a0increasing quickly.<\/span> <\/p>\n Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.\u00a0So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, \u201cIt is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.\u00a0Therefore, brethren, select from among you <\/strong>seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.\u00a0But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.\u00a0The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.\u00a0And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.\u00a0(Acts 6:1-6)(NASB)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This job of \u201cdeacon\u201d was established as a response to the needs generated by the growth of the church and to resolve a situation of conflict.<\/span> Meanwhile, the establishment of this job was necessary to not load\u00a0the apostles with other responsibilities, which he would have\u00a0stopped them to preach the\u00a0Word\u00a0and, therefore,\u00a0the Gospel\u00a0would not have been spread with the same power.<\/span> <\/p>\n In chapter 8 of the Book of Acts it is reported:<\/span> <\/p>\n Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1)(NASB)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Suddenly many churches\u00a0started to be planted and there was\u00a0apostles\u2019 responsibility\u00a0to supervise and maintain well this wonderful work\u00a0of Gospel spreading.<\/span>\u00a0It is reported in the same chapter:<\/span> <\/p>\n Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John. (Acts 8:14)(NASB)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In this case, the apostles, who composed the team who supervised the\u00a0church co-worked beautifully and delegated the responsibilities wisely.<\/span>\u00a0All were\u00a0concerned to spread the Gospel and not\u00a0to obtain and maintain supremacy.<\/span> In the next chapter it is written that \u201cPeter went to visit\u00a0all saints\u201d and\u00a0so he\u00a0helped them in their spiritual growth.<\/span> <\/p>\n The example of the Antioch church may serve as a model for planting and growth of a church and because many details about this church are included in the Book of Acts, we will be able to see also the\u00a0genesis of the\u00a0organization system of the church.<\/span> I will write a\u00a0separate article to address this subject.<\/span><\/p>\n Translated by Felicia Rotaru<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While I was teaching the session Revelation that took place in Ukraine, one of the pastors asked me which\u00a0are the principles of organization of the local church from the New Testament.\u00a0This question made me curious to study deeply the subject and I started with the Book of\u00a0Acts. In this article I will share the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[7742,8605,9182,10046,10844,14267,19275,19832,20714,329,7795,8639,9268,10056,10968,14649,19330,19847,24172,942,7796,8673,9374,10083,11151,14723,19422,19866,25076,1101,7797,8737,9547,10248,11212,14824,19430,19884,1643,7799,8799,9632,10326,11281,15704,19439,19889,2224,7859,8824,9648,10336,11530,16130,19475,19979,2330,7955,8834,9668,10339,11788,16232,19522,20028,2524,7969,8845,9683,10345,12190,16907,19549,20144,2911,8050,8864,9726,10372,12251,17163,19596,20194,3000,8238,8996,9801,10383,12418,18058,19680,20200,4151,8239,8998,9847,10399,12438,18347,19712,20217,4842,8252,9023,9848,10427,12511,18580,19713,20237,6130,8343,9027,9857,10518,12860,18950,19724,20239,6420,8347,9056,9922,10619,12873,19252,19766,20252,6800,8482,9121,9961,10723,12981,19257,19772,20394,7380,8604,9178,10043,10757,13172,19273,19820,20502],"class_list":{"0":"post-56184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-answer-from-the-bible","7":"tag-job","8":"tag-saul","9":"tag-t","10":"tag-antioch","11":"tag-the","12":"tag-mai","13":"tag-session","14":"tag-hell","15":"tag-lord-jesus","16":"tag-da","17":"tag-gospel","18":"tag-sin","19":"tag-pl","20":"tag-sc","21":"tag-revelation","22":"tag-ou","23":"tag-initiative","24":"tag-food","25":"tag-athe","26":"tag-ore","27":"tag-man","28":"tag-earth","29":"tag-disc","30":"tag-ca","31":"tag-vise","32":"tag-ue","33":"tag-praying","34":"tag-state","35":"tag-subject","36":"tag-co","37":"tag-men","38":"tag-stud","39":"tag-organ","40":"tag-po","41":"tag-saints","42":"tag-ong","43":"tag-ukraine","44":"tag-good","45":"tag-arme","46":"tag-work","47":"tag-vin","48":"tag-pro","49":"tag-new-testament","50":"tag-the-lord-jesus","51":"tag-la","52":"tag-who","53":"tag-jews","54":"tag-word","55":"tag-god","56":"tag-plan","57":"tag-ion","58":"tag-apostle","59":"tag-disciples","60":"tag-nicolas","61":"tag-word-of-god","62":"tag-savior","63":"tag-faith","64":"tag-heaven","65":"tag-te","66":"tag-ta","67":"tag-holy-spirit","68":"tag-ange","69":"tag-separat","70":"tag-vote","71":"tag-deacon","72":"tag-mo","73":"tag-church","74":"tag-p","75":"tag-do","76":"tag-salvation","77":"tag-sion","78":"tag-ine","79":"tag-amo","80":"tag-leni","81":"tag-wor","82":"tag-post","83":"tag-fa","84":"tag-j","85":"tag-pr","86":"tag-cer","87":"tag-the-church","88":"tag-si","89":"tag-teaching","90":"tag-peter","91":"tag-har","92":"tag-model","93":"tag-conflict","94":"tag-power","95":"tag-rom","96":"tag-heart","97":"tag-hebrews","98":"tag-responsibility","99":"tag-st","100":"tag-ministry","101":"tag-vis","102":"tag-r","103":"tag-death","104":"tag-but","105":"tag-felicia-rotaru","106":"tag-lie","107":"tag-father","108":"tag-ins","109":"tag-vot","110":"tag-maria","111":"tag-prayer","112":"tag-l","113":"tag-genesis","114":"tag-ny","115":"tag-persecution","116":"tag-pastors","117":"tag-cip","118":"tag-teme","119":"tag-stat","120":"tag-pray","121":"tag-apostles","122":"tag-gene","123":"tag-i","124":"tag-usa","125":"tag-preaching","126":"tag-ani","127":"tag-testament","128":"tag-rai","129":"tag-o","130":"tag-le","131":"tag-reve","132":"tag-wise","133":"tag-help","134":"tag-john","135":"tag-creat","136":"tag-om","137":"tag-churches","138":"tag-tea","139":"tag-b","140":"tag-mari","141":"tag-study","142":"tag-example","143":"tag-jude","144":"tag-legat","145":"tag-eli","146":"tag-spiritual","147":"tag-pasto","148":"tag-un","149":"tag-anges","150":"tag-eve","151":"tag-chorus","152":"tag-will","153":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\nThe authority was given for preaching the\u00a0Gospel<\/span> <\/h4>\n
\n
\nApostles followed the maintenance of organization<\/span> <\/h4>\n
\nThe growth of the church\u00a0implies the development of organization system<\/span> <\/h4>\n
\n
\nPersecutions imposed changes of the organization<\/span> system<\/h4>\n
\n
\n