The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1958-01-25

days of the first century Chris
tan church aslthe context here
proves. A bishop was a Chris
tian preacher who served in
the capacity of overseeing, as
distinguished from the minis
tiers who went about from
place to place evangeliZing
communities, or the local bre-
thren who served under the SUI
pervision Of a bishop. "A bish-
OPP then must be blameleSS,
the husband of one wife, vigil
ant, sober, of good behaviour,
given to hospitality, apt to
teach" - To be blamelesS does
not mean that one will not be
criticized or maligned, but it
does mean that he will be in
nocent of any evil charges
made against him. He must
be the husband of one wife;
not having given a bill of di-
vorce to one, and then taken
another, or not having many
wives at once, as was common
among the GentileS and Jews.
"Not given to wine; but patti
ent, not a brawler, not covet-
Gus" - These are some of the
vices which can be a great
handicap, even snare, to a
bishop who possesses them.
Drunkenness, violence, and av-
arice, can spell defeat for any
person who has such weak
ness. Zone that ruleth well
his own house, having his chill
dren in subsection with all
gravity" = In the verse which
follows the apostle explains
why it is so important that a
bishop be one who rules his
own house we'll, for his home
will no doubt set the example
for the rest of the commu-
nifty. Cor if a man know not
how to rule his own house,
how shall he take care of the
church of God?) = There is a
certain consistency expected to
be followed by the man. of
God. If he expects to super
wise the lives of others, he
must first demonstrate his
ability to supervise and dis
cipline the members of his
own home. mot a novice, lest
being lifted up with pride he
fall into the condemnation of
the devil' = A bishop was re-
CURED to be a seasoned man
of much experience. A begin
ner in the ministry or a newly
converted believer could not
qualify to be a bishop. 1t was
necessary for him to know his
work and be able to command
the respect and confidence of
other people.
Moreover he must have a
good report of them which are
without; lest he fall into re-
proach and the snare of the
devil - The bishop of a
Christian church must be a
person with good reputa-
ton, well respected and spok-
en- of by those of the commu-
nifty.
QUALIFICATIONS OF A
DEACON:
Like wise must the dea-
cons be grave, not double-ton-
gued, not given to much wine,
not greedy of filthy lucre" -
These are some of the qualifi-
cations outlined for bishops.
for these men performed their
work in close connection with
the bishops. Deacons, in this
capacity, is another name Civ
en- a certain class of minister's
according to some New Tesla
ment scholars, and is not to be
confused with deacons as de-
scribed in the sixth chapter of
Acts. Holding the mystery of
the faith in pure conscience"
= 1t is not impossible or i'm
probable that some will at
tempt to become deacons with
out even having the faith they
represent to others. "And let
these also first be proved:
then let them use the office
of a deacon, being found
blameless" The office of
deacon is considered to be so
important that it should not be
entrusted to anyone who has
not proved himself to be wor-
thy and capable of the posi-
ton.
PRACTICAL POINTS ON
THE LESSON:
The growth of the early