Where Are The First Century Churches? : Part Two

WHERE ARE THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCHES? : PART 2

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

The True Church, The Home Church, The Community Church, The
City Church, The Husband, The Elders, The Foolishness Of
Rehoboam, The Bishop, The Deacon, The Apostle, Barnabas And
Matthias, The Apostle Paul, False Apostles, Jewish Deceit,
The Pope And The Mitre, The Apostolic Succession Fallacy

Compared to the complex man-made worldwide hierarchies we
see today, the First Century Church was a very loosely-knit
structure. I am not speaking in terms of doctrinal unity and
spiritual love; in that respect, they were very much bonded
together; at least at first. I am speaking more in terms of
their physical organizational structure. As I pointed out in
part one, according to the Scriptures, the First Century
Church was not a physical empire of buildings; it was the
actual Body of Believers who initially fellowshipped in the
Temple, and then later in the privacy of their own
dwellings, and quite possibly in multi-family homes which
today we might refer to as communes. The idea of the True
Church being comprised of actual people, and not physical
structures, is clearly born out in the following words
written by the Apostle Peter:

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is
contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief
corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he
is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner," (1 Peter 2:5-7)

Thus we see a picture of God's spiritual Temple with Jesus
Christ as the Cornerstone, and we ourselves as living
breathing stones which form a part of His Temple. This idea
is further born out by many other verses which I have shared
in other articles. Exactly what is the smallest unit which
can technically be defined as being a Church? While this may
shock and offend some modern-day religionists, particularly
those who have spiritual and economic control over large
congregations, based on Jesus' own words, a Church can be
comprised of as few as two or three members:

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on
earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them." (Matthew 18:19-20)

Do you truly understand what the Lord is saying there? If
you and your wife, or if you and your wife and your children
sincerely believe in and love the Lord with all your hearts,
technically speaking, you are a Church. He is in the midst
of you. He said so Himself in the above verses. So who are
you going to believe; that big rich pastor with the large
congregation who condemns you for not attending his Church,
or God's Word? If you pray sincerely for something which you
really need, the Lord will both here and honour your
request, just as He would if you were in one of those large
congregations. If only two or three people are gathered
together in His name, He is in the midst of them. This is
because the Lord is not interested so much in quantity as He
is in quality. If you are pleasing in His sight and obeying
His Will for your lives, He will respond, just as the
following verse confirms:

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart." (Psalms 37:4)

So this gathering together of two or three people is the
smallest Church unit. You might refer to it as a Family
Church, or a Home Church; although you really don't even
need to belong to the same biological family in order to
come together for prayer, fellowship and a sharing of the
Word. Let me again share a few of the verses I included in
part one which prove the reality of the Home Church in the
First Century:

"Likewise greet the Church that is in their house. Salute my
wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto
Christ." (Romans 16:5)

"The Churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla
salute you much in the Lord, with the Church that is in
their house." (1 Corinthians 16:19)

"Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and
the Church which is in his house." (Colossians 4:15)

As we also saw in part one, in some cases, the Apostles
probably inherited large houses from some of their new
converts. Rather than sell them all, some of these homes may
have been kept and used to acommodate several family units,
and perhaps a few other individuals as well. Perhaps these
became what we might refer to as Community Churches because
the Disciples lived communally. The members of the Community
Church would give their belongings, or else the money gained
from selling their possessions, to the Apostles, and then
the Apostles would share the money received amongst the
Disciples in the city so that every one's needs were met. I
would guess that Community Churches consisted of perhaps a
few dozen people at best; but you could have a lot of these
in the same city. That may be how the Apostles were able to
acommodate several thousand new converts in one day. They
would simply divide them up the best they could. Some might
remain as individual Family, or Home, Churches, while others
would be moved into Community Churches.

I haven't found any Scriptural evidence to support the idea
that thousands of these new converts all camped out together
on someone's property, although that is a possibility. If we
take into consideration the persecution that the First
Century Disciples experienced at the hands of the Jewish
Elders, and then later at the hands of the Romans, such a
large group of people would have clearly been viewed as a
threat to established authority; thus, smaller Home and
Community Churches were probably the norm in my view.

In like manner, there were no large central concrete
buildings with a tall steeple, soft padded pews, organ
music, stained-glass windows, air-conditioning, plush
wall-to-wall carpet, etc., to house hundreds or thousands of
members. Do you honestly believe that those hard-hearted
Jews, who were all over Europe, would have allowed the Early
Disciples to actually build such a towering structure which
would pose a threat to synagogue attendance? Not in your
life! Such a building would have been an easy target for the
Jews. Not only that, but contrary to what happened a few
centuries later when the corrupt Roman Catholic Church came
to power, the First Century Disciples were not the least bit
interested in constructing Church buildings. This is clearly
evidenced by the words of the Martyr Stephen spoken only
moments before he was stoned to death by the jealous Jews:

"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with
hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth
is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the
Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made
all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart
and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your
fathers did, so do ye." (Acts 7:48-51)

Following the Home Church and the Community Church, the next
ecclesiastical level, as far as physical size was concerned,
was probably what we can refer to as the City Church; which
was collectively comprised of all of the smaller Home
Churches and Community Churches in any given city. In other
words, a City Church represented the full Body of Believers
in a particular city, regardless of with whom or where they
fellowshipped and lived. A clear example of this can be
found in the Book of Revelation where the Apostle John was
instructed to write a letter to each of the seven Churches
in Asia. You will notice that John addressed each Church by
the name of the city in which it was located, showing that
he was addressing all of the various Churches located within
one particular city. He was addressing the whole Christian
Body within that city.

During the First Century, a Church in one city would often
share their surplus with a needy Church in another city. One
clear example of this is found in the following verses from
Acts chapter eleven where Paul and Barnabas were sent to
take some relief to the Church in Jerusalem. Notice that the
Disciples from each of the Churches within the city
contributed what they could, and then it was collectively
sent to Jerusalem:

"And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto
Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and
signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth
throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of
Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to
his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren
which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to
the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul."
(Acts 11:27-30)

Based on my close study of the Scriptures, the City Church
appears to have been the highest organizational level of the
First Century Church. There is no Biblical evidence to
support anything higher than this. If there is, then it has
evaded me. After the City Church, it seems that the Lord
views the entire Body of Believers as His Worldwide Church,
or as His Bride as the Apostle John describes us in the Book
of Revelation. That being the case, let's take a look now at
the men who were chosen to govern the Lord's Church on these
various levels. To begin with, the spiritual head of each
individual family, or Home Church, was the husband, as was
instructed by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Church
at Ephesus:

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto
the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of the Church: and he is the saviour of
the body. Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so
let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."
(Ephesians 5:22-24)

In actuality, Paul was not really saying anything new. While
some feminists enjoy pointing the finger at Paul and
accusing him of being a woman-hater, the fact of the matter
is, that since the Garden of Eden, this is exactly the way
the Lord had ordained things to be following the fall from
grace of Adam and Eve. You will find it right in the Book of
Genesis. To resist the truth of the following verse simply
because you are a feminist, is to call God a liar:

"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he
shall rule over thee." (Genesis 3:16)

If several families and single individuals happened to live
together in a Community Church, it seems that they chose
spiritual Elders from amongst all of the adult male members
who would counsel together in order to resolve any matters
which might arise. Thus, within one city, depending upon its
size, you might have several different Churches of varying
sizes, both Home Churches and Community Churches. Each of
these would have their own spiritual Elders. It is also
possible that from amongst these Elders of each Home and
Community Church, they may have chosen City Elders. We find
a clear example of choosing Elders in the following verses
found in Acts chapter six:

"And in those days, when the number of the disciples was
multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against
the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the
daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of
the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we
should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore,
brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report,
full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over
this business. But we will give ourselves continually to
prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying
pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man
full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and
Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas
a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles:
and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them."
(Acts 6:1-6)

Another possibility is that the above incident was not an
election of Elders, but rather of Deacons. I will explain
this term more fully in a moment. From reading the
Scriptures, one thing we do know is that while the Apostles
at Jerusalem sometimes referred to themselves as Elders, an
Elder was not always necessarily an Apostle. For example,
the Apostle Peter referred to himself as an Elder in the
following verse. His reference to 'ye younger' may be a
reference to biological age, or it may be a reference to
spiritual maturity. In either regard, what he is saying
still holds true:

"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an
elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a
partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:...Likewise, ye
younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."
(1 Peter 5:1, 5)

In most cases, the Elders are clearly mentioned as being
separate from the Apostles; and we can assume, below the
Apostles in Spiritual status. In the following verses, we
clearly see Paul and Barnabas ordaining Elders in each of
the City Churches that they visited:

"And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had
taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium,
and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and
exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 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." (Acts 14:21-23)

Having read the above verses in which Elders are appointed
over each City Church, compare them to the following where
we see the terms 'Apostles' and 'Elders' mentioned in the
very same verses. The distinction is quite obvious. Luke is
clearly telling us that they are not always referring to one
and the same thing:

"When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension
and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and
Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this
question...And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were
received of the Church, and of the apostles and elders, and
they declared all things that God had done with them...And
the apostles and elders came together for to consider of
this matter...Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with
the whole Church, to send chosen men of their own company to
Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed
Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they
wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and
elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which
are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:"
(Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23)

"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 16:4)

Just so you don't become confused, the Jewish religious
leaders of the Sanhedrin were also referred to as Elders;
however, this is not what the above verses are referring to;
they are referring to the Elders of the fledging Christian
Church. As we have already seen, the Jewish Elders of the
Sanhedrin were clearly bent on destroying the power and the
influence of the Christian Elders. This word 'Elder' is
derived from the Greek word 'presbuteros', pronounced
pres-boo'-ter-os. It is probably safe to assume that it is
from this Greek word that the Presbyterian Church derives
its name. My Greek lexicon provides the following
information for this word:

----- Begin Quote -----

1) elder, of age,
1a) the elder of two people
1b) advanced in life, an elder, a senior
1b1) forefathers
2) a term of rank or office
2a) among the Jews
2a1) members of the great council or Sanhedrin
(because in early times the rulers of the
people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly
men)
2a2) of those who in separate cities managed public
affairs and administered justice
2b) among the Christians, those who presided over the
assemblies (or Churches) The NT uses the term bishop,
elders, and presbyters interchangeably
2c) the twenty four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or
court seated on thrones around the throne of God

----- End Of Quote -----

As can be seen, not only were the Elders the spiritually
older and more mature members of the First Century Church,
but they were also the physically older members as well.
They were old men. In both early Jewish and Christian
society, these old men were normally respected for their
great wisdom, spiritual insight, and understanding of God's
Word. Imagine how much wisdom Noah and his sons, and the
pre-Diluvian Patriarchs must have had after living for so
long. When the younger generation failed to abide by their
advice, it often resulted in serious consequences. We find a
perfect example of this in the story of foolish King
Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, from whom the Lord rent
the kingdom of Israel. Rather than follow the advice of the
old men, the Elders, Rehoboam listened to the counsel of his
younger friends:

"And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood
before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How
do ye advise that I may answer this people? And they spake
unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people
this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak
good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had
given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown
up with him, and which stood before him: And he said unto
them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people,
who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy
father did put upon us lighter? And the young men that were
grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou
speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy
father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto
us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be
thicker than my father's loins. And now whereas my father
did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my
father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise
you with scorpions." (1 Kings 12:6-11)

As I explain in other articles such as 'The Fruits Of
Disobedience', it wasn't long after this that ten of the
tribes rebelled against Rehoboam, and he was only left with
Judah and Benjamin. This was a curse upon him due to his
father's sins of not only marrying many foreign women, but
also encouraging the worship of their false gods throughout
Israel. In addition to Elders, each City Church had an Elder
known as a Bishop. The word 'Bishop' is derived from the
Greek word 'episkope', pronounced ep-is-kop-ay', from which
the Episcopalians apparently derive their name. My Greek
lexicon provides the following definition for this word:

----- Begin Quote -----

1) investigation, inspection, visitation
1a) that act by which God looks into and searches out the
ways, deeds character, of men, in order to adjudge
them their lot accordingly, whether joyous or sad
1b) oversight
1b1) overseership, office, charge, the office of an
elder
1b2) the overseer or presiding officers of a
Christian Church

----- End Of Quote ----

As can be seen by the above, a Bishop was basically a
travelling Elder. The following verses will confirm that he
was responsible for visiting and inspecting the Churches
within his town or city. Under special circumstances, a
Bishop's jurisdiction might extend a little further, as in
the case of the island of Crete:

"The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with
you. Amen. <<The second [epistle unto Timotheus, ordained
the first bishop of the Church of the Ephesians, was written
from Rome, when Paul was brought before Nero the second
time.]>>" (2 Timothy 4:22)

"All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us
in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. <<It was written
to Titus, ordained the first bishop of the Church of the
Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia.>>" (Titus 3:15)

Notice that Timothy's jurisdiction was only Ephesus; and
Titus' only jurisdiction was Crete. These are the only two
verses in the entire New Testament which describe the scope
of a bishoprick as the office is called. Thus, in normal
situations, it appears that a Bishop's responsibilities were
limited to visiting the various Churches within his city.
Part of his job was to maintain spiritual and doctrinal
unity between the Elders of each of the Churches within his
jurisdiction. When John wrote his seven letters to the
Churches in Asia, it is possible that those letters were
first received by the Bishops, and then passed down the line
to the various Elders of each individual Church, who then
shared them with their flocks.

Thus far I have mentioned husbands, Elders, and Bishops,
with some passing references to the Apostles. I will cover
the office of the Apostle more fully in a moment. Another
position mentioned in the Scriptures is the office of the
Deacon. This word is derived from the Greek word 'diakonos',
pronounced dee-ak'-on-os, which refers to a minister or
servant. The Greek lexicon provides the following
information:

----- Begin Quote -----

1) one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a
master,
a servant, attendant, minister
1a) the servant of a king
1b) a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned
to him by the Church, cares for the poor and has
charge of and distributes the money collected for
their use
1c) a waiter, one who serves food and drink

----- End Of Quote -----

From the above definition, it appears then that the Deacon
may have been an assistant to the Bishop who helped him to
perform his tasks. In other words, he may have been the
Bishop's righthand man whose primary responsibility was to
oversee the physical aspects of the City Church so that the
Bishop could devote himself to the spiritual matters such as
prayer, study of the Word, and counselling the different
Elders of his city. Perhaps this teamwork developed from the
fact that Paul usually had one or more men accompany him on
his various missionary journeys, such as Silas, Barnabas,
Timothy, Luke, Mark John, etc. The idea of Bishops and
Deacons working as teams may be indicated by the following
verse. In fact it is difficult to tell if Paul is greeting
the Church at Philippi on behalf of the Bishops and Deacons,
or if he greeting the Bishops and Deacons in Philippi, thus
indicating that there may have been more than one Bishop and
Deacon per City Church:

"Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all
the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the
bishops and deacons:" (Philippians 1:1)

The only other verses in the New Testament where the word
'deacon' is found, is in the following. Regardless of the
Deacon's precise position within the First Century Church
hierarchy, given the serious tone of Paul's comments, it
appears that the office of a Deacon was only given to men of
the highest calibre:

"Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not
given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the
mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these
also first be proved; then let them use the office of a
deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be
grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let
the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their
children and their own houses well. For they that have used
the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good
degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ
Jesus." (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

Undoubtedly, the most important position within the First
Century Church was that of the Apostle. In his Epistles,
Paul clearly placed them at the top of the list in terms of
spiritual authority within the Church:

"And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles,
then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of
tongues." (1 Corinthians 12:28)

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ:" (Ephesians 4:11-12)

The word 'Apostle' is derived from the Greek word
'apostolos', pronounced ap-os'-tol-os, which according to my
Greek lexicon is a delegate, messenger or one sent forth
with orders. In the case of the Original Twelve, it is
clearly evident that they were appointed directly by Jesus
Christ Himself to be His Delegates and Messengers. Consider
the following verses:

"And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and
of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;"
(Luke 6:13)

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained
you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the
Father in my name, he may give it you." (John 15:16)

"Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them
prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and
persecute:" (Luke 11:49)

"Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he
through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the
apostles whom he had chosen:" (Acts 1:2)

In the above verses, we see that out of the many Disciples
who obviously followed the Lord, He only chose twelve to be
His leading men. Exactly what were the orders that these
Twelve Men were given to carry out? The answer can be
summarized in the following verses:

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

Aside from being directly chosen by God Himself, and being
given specific orders and a mission to carry out, the job of
the Apostle is also to set down, maintain and preserve the
doctrine of the Lord's Worldwide Church. I am not referring
to denominational Churches or organizations who set up their
own leaders whom they call Apostles, such as the Mormons, or
to an individual who appoints himself an Apostle or Prophet,
but rather to the entire worldwide Christian Body of
Believers, the Bride of Christ. The following Scriptures
make absolutely clear that only God's appointed Apostles
have the spiritual authority to set down the doctrinal
foundation for His Church:

"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
(Acts 2:42)

"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 16:4)

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner
stone;" (Ephesians 2:19-20)

"And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in
them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
(Revelation 21:14)

According to the Scriptures, apart from being directly
chosen by Jesus Christ, the only other way that one can
become an Apostle, is if he is appointed an Apostle by the
Lord's already existing Apostles. Such may have been the
case with Barnabas in Acts chapter four:

"And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas,
(which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a
Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it,
and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet."
(Acts 4:36-37)

Notice that just as Jesus gave some of His Twelve Apostles
new names, in the above verse, Jose is likewise being given
the new name of Barnabas. It may be that it was at this
point that he was actually accepted not just as a regular
Disciple, but rather as a fellow Apostle. What casts some
doubt on this idea is that only a few verses later, in the
very same chapter, we read of the selection of Matthias.
While Matthias was also chosen by the Eleven, we never hear
of him again, at least not by that name, so I can only
wonder if perhaps he wasn't the Lord's choice:

"For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation
be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his
bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which
have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went
in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John,
unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be
ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And
they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed
Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord,
which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these
two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry
and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell,
that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their
lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered
with the eleven apostles." (Acts 1:20-26)

While Matthias disappears from the pages of the Book of Acts
and the rest of the New Testament, Barnabas, on the other
hand, becomes quite prominent. In fact, he is very
instrumental in introducing Paul to the Apostles in
Jerusalem:

"And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join
himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him,
and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took
him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them
how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken
to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the
name of Jesus." (Acts 9:26-27)

The fact that Barnabas was able to arrange this meeting
between Paul and the other Apostles may be another clear
indication that not only was Barnabas close to the top
leadership of the First Century Church, but that he was also
counted among them as a fellow Apostle. When new Disciples
began to be won in Antioch, upon hearing about it, the
Apostles chose Barnabas to go there to assist in the work.
Thus we see that he was a man sent with a mission, which is
one of the requirements for being considered an Apostle:

"Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the
Church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas,
that he should go as far as Antioch." (Acts 11:22)

While it may be difficult to determine at what exact point
both Paul and Barnabas were accepted as fellow Apostles,
only five chapters later, in Acts chapter fourteen, the
writer Luke clearly identifies them as such. The following
verse is taken from the incident at Lystra where Barnabas
and Paul were given the names of Jupiter and Mercury after
Paul had healed a man who had crippled feet:

"Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they
rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
(Acts 14:14)

It could be argued that this was just Luke's personal
opinion, but I don't believe that this was the case. By this
time, I think the Apostles in Jerusalem had begun to realize
that the Lord had indeed raised up Paul to be the Apostle to
the Gentiles. On several occasions, Paul made mention of
this fact in his Epistles:

"For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle
of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:" (Romans 11:13)

"Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I
speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and verity." (1 Timothy 2:7)

"Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a
teacher of the Gentiles." (2 Timothy 1:11)

As I stated earlier, according to the evidence I uncovered
in the Scriptures, an Apostle is one who is either appointed
directly by God Himself, or by another already-existing
Apostle. In this case, we know that Paul was directly chosen
by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. I discuss this in
detail in such articles as 'A Biblical Cafeteria, Or The
Whole Course? Part One'. From the Book of Acts, we know that
Paul clearly accepted his calling from the Lord. He was a
man chosen by God, and sent on a specific mission. When
Ananias was fearful of going to heal Paul's eyes after his
conversion, the Lord specifically told Ananias:

"...Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear
my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel:" (Acts 9:15b)

Later, in Acts chapter thirteen, the Lord confirmed the
calling of both Paul and Barnabas when He spoke through some
of the Prophets of the Church in Antioch saying:

"...Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them." (Acts 13:2b)

We are later told in the fourteenth chapter that they
successfully fulfilled their mission and returned to
Antioch:

"And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been
recommended to the grace of God for the work which they
fulfilled." (Acts 14:26)

What I find interesting concerning the Book of Acts, is the
fact that in a red-letter edition of the Authorized King
James Bible, aside from chapter one where Luke reiteratws
the Lord's commandment to the eleven Apostles, the majority
of the conversations the Lord holds in the Book of Acts, are
with either Ananias, who healed Paul, or with Paul himself.
As I pointed out in the 'Biblical Cafeteria' article, Paul
clearly received all of his orders and his understanding of
the Salvation message directly from the Lord. Clearly then,
Paul meets every condition set down in the Scriptures for
being considered an Apostle. Here are some additional verses
which confirm that he viewed himself as such:

"For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last,
as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle
unto the world, and to angels, and to men."
(1 Corinthians 4:9)

"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God."
(1 Corinthians 15:9)

"For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest
apostles." (2 Corinthians 11:5)

"I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I
ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I
behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing."
(2 Corinthians 12:11)

If an Apostle is one who is chosen directly by God, or by
one of His authorized representatives, and who is sent on a
mission with specific orders, then one who is chosen by
Satan would be the exact opposite. He would be a false
apostle. During His Earthly Ministry, the Lord clearly
recognized these false apostles and did not hesitate to
expose them in His stinging rebukes. Consider the following
two examples:

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is
made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than
yourselves." (Matthew 23:15)

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44)

The Lord was fully aware of the danger these evil law-bound
vipers posed to His fledgling Church; that is why even after
His departure and return to Heaven, He continued to warn His
followers via John's Revelation. He knew that just as they
had fought against Him in life, they would continue to fight
against His followers after His Death, Resurrection and
Ascension:

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how
thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried
them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast
found them liars:...I know thy works, and tribulation, and
poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of
them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the
synagogue of Satan." (Revelation 2:2, 9)

"Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which
say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will
make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know
that I have loved thee." (Revelation 3:9)

The Apostle Paul also clearly exposed these Jewish false
brethren who feigned to be apostles in order to cause
doctrinal division within the First Century Church. On a
number of occasions he warned the Disciples to beware of
these things. Following is just one example of Paul's
exhortations. You will find many more in the article
'Endtime Witnessing: Winning The Sheep And Waging The
Warfare':

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also
be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works."
(2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

What I find extremely sad, is the fact that despite many
warnings found in the Scriptures, today there are some
Christians who have been completely fooled by the demonic
deceitfulness of these Jewish snakes. The Lord and His First
Apostles clearly told us many times that these unbelieving
Jews are our worst enemies; yet today Christian America and
antichrist Israel are involved in a virtual love affair!
Some Christians seem to have the mistaken impression that
all is forgiven and forgotten. Quite frankly, I don't know
where they get this idea from, as in the last book of the
Bible, the Lord is still telling us to watch out for those
false Jews and false apostles! In God's eyes, this
American-Israeli marriage is nothing short of spiritual
whoredom! I encourage you to read my articles 'Revelation's
Babylon The Great Whore' and 'Is God A Racist?' for more
details.

Returning to our main topic of discussion, aside from the
husband, the Elder, the Deacon, the Bishop, and the Apostle,
a few other important positions within the First Century
Church were the Prophets and the Teachers. These were
followed by those who possessed other Gifts of the Spirit
such as healing, tongues, etc. It seems to me that the
positions of Prophet and Teacher may have been filled
primarily by some of the men we have already discussed;
after all, they would be the most spiritually in-tune and
more apt to properly prophesy and teach the doctrines of the
Church than anyone else. As we saw earlier, Paul did in fact
view himself as an Apostle, preacher and teacher. In the
following verse, he also indicates that Bishops must
likewise be apt to teach:

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach;" (1 Timothy 3:2)

Thus, if we consider all of the information I have presented
in this paper, perhaps the spiritual hierarchy of the First
Century Church may have been something like the following
list. This is only speculation on my part, as there simply
is not enough information available in the Bible to make it
absolutely clear. Some people have suggested that some of
these terms may have been interchangable. In the case of the
term 'Elder', I have already proven that this is so:

1. Husband over the immediate family of a Home Church.
2. Elders over a Community Church and/or City Church.
3. Deacon who assisted and accompanied the Bishop.
4. Bishop over the collective Churches within his city.
6. Apostle appointed directly by the Lord
5. Jesus Christ, the Bishop of Bishops, over everyone.

One thing of which I am relatively certain, is that it was
never part of the Lord's Original Plan to select someone to
oversee an entire country or the entire worldwide Christian
Body as we see in some modern-day religions. While early
Judaism did have a High Priest, as I have clearly explained
in the article 'Jesus Christ: Son Of God, High Priest Of
Melchizedek', with His Death on the Cross, Jesus became our
only High Priest and Intercessor before God the Father. The
idea of selecting a Pope was purely an invention of the
Roman Catholic Church in order to consolidate its power.
What may shock and surprise you, and perhaps even show you
the depth of Jewish deceit, is the fact that the very mitre
which the Roman Catholic Pope wears on his head, is designed
after the mitre worn by the Jewish High Priest! If you doubt
this, read the books of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament.

According to the Authorized King James Bible, the very next
person in command after the Bishops and the Apostles is the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who Peter referred to as the
'Bishop of your souls'. There is absolutely no mention of an
Archbishop, or of Cardinals, or of a Pope, or of anyone else
in between. This is all of human fabrication. Consider the
following interesting verse:

"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned
unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."
(1 Peter 2:25)

Thus again we see that the Roman Catholic idea that Peter
was the first Pope is utterly false. Aside from the events
described in the four Gospels and in the Book of Acts, the
only other things we know about Peter according to the King
James Bible, are that he spent some time in Babylon where he
either founded and/or headed a Church, and that he was
eventually crucified by the Romans; exactly as was
prophesied by our Lord. Here is the Scriptural proof:

"By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I
have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is
the true grace of God wherein ye stand. The Church that is
at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so
doth Marcus my son." (1 Peter 5:12-13)

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but
when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he
should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith
unto him, Follow me." (John 21:18-19)

Even if the First Century Church had chosen to elect a Pope,
it probably would have been Paul, and not Peter. A careful
examination of the Scriptures reveals that Paul outshined
Peter in some areas. This is not to criticize Peter by any
means. Once the Lord had dealt with his pride, he became a
great Apostle of the Lord, and a pillar of the Church at
Jerusalem; however, the successful evangelization of
Southern Europe and Asia, which eventually became the seat
of the Roman Catholic Pope, is an achievement which clearly
should be accredited to Paul and his companions. Paul had
the faith to launch out, while Peter and the others were
still bound to Jerusalem where they fell into compromise
with the law-bound Jewish concision. The Gentiles knew Paul.
He lived, preached, and travelled amongst them. He won many
of them to the Lord. I think he would have been their choice
for the first Pope. It was only later, perhaps after seeing
the actual fruit of Paul's labors, that Peter mustered up
the faith to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon.

The point is though, the First Century Church never elected
a Pope. The Roman Catholic Church uses the lie of apostolic
succession in order to support their false claim of being
God's true church. The Roman Catholics enjoy bragging about
their long list of Popes, but the fact of the matter is that
until about three hundred years after the martyrdom of Peter
and Paul, there was no Pope. As I have pointed out in other
articles, the authority of the Pope came about as a result
of a compromise between Rome and third-generation Christians
during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great. Both
Peter and Paul were more interested in the evangelization of
the world, than in some pompous position and title later
invented by the Roman Catholics. It is due in part to the
so-called 'improvements' made by all of these power hungry
self-appointed religious leaders that modern Christianity is
so divided and in such a mess today.

Everything I have uncovered in the Scriptures points to the
fact that the organizational structure of the First Century
Church stopped on a city or town level and went no further.
There was no overbearing hierarchy as we see in the world
today. The Churches within the same city were bonded
together by their travelling Bishop and the Deacon who may
have accompanied him. Likewise, the Churches in different
cities were bonded together by a common faith in Jesus
Christ, by a courier system, by the Spirit of Love, and by
an occasional visit from an Apostle. This is all born out in
the Book of Acts, as well as in the Epistles.

The whole idea appears to have been to make each local
Church as dependent upon the Lord as possible, and not upon
human figures. If you read the Epistles carefully, you will
see that the Apostles offered a lot of advice, but never do
we see them ordering anyone to do anything. Even in severe
cases such as the sexual problems at Corinth, or when false
brethren had begun to sneak into the Churches, all the
Apostles did was offer advice by basically saying 'This is
what I think you should do.' As Peter wrote, they were not
to be lords over God's heritage. There was no man, or a
group of men, or a husband and wife team, overlooking a
countrywide or a worldwide work as we see today in such
people as the Pope, the twelve apostles of the Mormons, the
David and Maria prophet team of The Family, the 'True
Parents' of the Unification Church, or whatever other
self-appointed 'prophets' and 'holy men' exist out there
today. As I have pointed out a number of times before, it
was when ancient Israel desired a human leader instead of
the Lord as their only king, that she went astray.

With these remarks, I am going to bring this article to a
close. By now you should have a clear understanding of the
true nature of the First Century Church as it is described
in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles. That is the vision,
and that is the plan laid down by the Lord Himself. You have
also been given a clear understanding of what it means to be
a true fulltime Disciple of Jesus Christ. With this
information, you now have the knowledge to go out and do
great things for the Lord; but will you? According to your
faith be it done unto you. I trust that this article has
been a blessing and an inspiration to many.