By C. Eldon McNabb

"There was a strife among (the twelve), which of them should be accounted the greatest.

And (Jesus) said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptation. And when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:24-30; Matt.19:28).

"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: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, . . . being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away " (1 Peter 5:1-4).

These are but two of several New Testament passages which deal with the subject of New Testament Church governance, plus the O.T. passages which also deal with it. It would appear that most Christian ministers, in their searching of the Holy Scriptures, have somehow failed to recognize the importance, and intent, of these passages. For instance, one might not realize the fact that Luke's words here show clearly that Jesus intended for one of them to be chief among them. Matthew's account, in Matt. 20:24-28, did not make that point clear. Yet in Matthew's account in Matt. 24:45-47, he portrays Jesus as being very direct in pointing out that there would be a number of men who would be appointed Chief, and told us, specifically, what reward is to be given to "that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing." He said, "Verily I say unto you, That He shall make him ruler over all His goods."

Who Was First?

Jesus Christ of Nazareth! This is shown by the words of Jude, when he said, "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints." Enoch was the seventh counting Adam. Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, and Enoch are a list of "generations" which is an allegory of seven Anointed men of God, from Jesus forward, who will serve as the "Chief" of the Church of God. In 1 Cor. 15, Paul even said that Jesus was the "second Adam." And it is written, in Isaiah 41:4, "Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am He." We know that "Enoch walked with God," and was "translated that he should not see death." He is clearly an allegory of the coming prophet of whom Jesus spoke in Matthew 25, who will blast forth the "Midnight cry:" "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him." And that prophet and his servant will lead us out, to meet Him for the marriage. As it is written, "You Saw how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you unto myself" (Exodus 19:3-25).

Who Was Second?

John Zebedee, in John 20:30,31, summed up the principle point of his account of the gospel of Jesus Christ, saying, "(I wrote this), that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." Then he proceed to tell us how that Jesus appointed Peter to be the first "Servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over His household, to give them meat in due season."

Who Was the Third?

Luke and Paul, together, did us a great service; by pointing out to us, in The Acts of the Apostles, and in 1 Corinthians, who it was that replaced Peter in that office, after about seven years, when he had brought the Church to perfection. Peter was in a unique situation, in that he was finishing the work which Jesus had begun, rather than having been given a special work which was altogether his own. That is why James called Peter "Simeon," in Acts 15. Jesus had called Simon bar-Jonah by the Greek/Gentile names "Peter" and "Cephas;" which is what He did in giving new names to about a half dozen of His Twelve: James and John: Boanerges; Thomas: Didymus, etc. But James called Peter by his Jewish name, Simeon, to help us to understand who Peter was, according to the prophets. We are told, in Joshua 19:1, that Simeon had his (their) inheritance with Judah. That's what Peter was doing by building the N.T. Temple which Jesus had begun by laying the foundation of the Church, with Twelve Apostles and Seventy Prophets.

So, why am I going on about Peter? Because it is important that we know that Peter, although appointed "Ruler Over the House," was not one of the seven anointed men of God which are prophesied of in the first seven generations, but James was one of them.

This all conveniently brings us to the words of Solomon, in Eccl. 3:15, on the matter of "Prophecy and God's Church." He said, "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past." We see, from this, that everything which we are told about happening in the Church, in the Bible, is in prophecy somewhere. And anything which is going to happen in the Church, in these last days, has already happened in the Old Testament types and shadows. The New Testament mate for Eccl. 3:15 is Hebrews 13:7,8. Christian ministers use this passage for such things as healing and prosperity, but I marvel that they almost never use it in context. He said, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (way of life). Jesus Christ the same yesterday (in Moses day), and today (Paul's day, and ours), and for ever." As God said, "I am the Lord, I change not." Why must we insist that He has changed?

Now a closer look at the Counsel at Jerusalem, in the 15^th chapter of Acts, where James called Peter "Simeon." It is here that we see James, the Anointed of God, in action; moderating a conference where a large group of men, of strong opposing opinions, are disputing about a subject on which they firmly disagree.

"When there had been much disputing among them," Peter arose and reminded them how that a long time ago God had chosen him (and given him the keys of the kingdom of heaven): that the Gentiles, by his mouth, should hear the gospel.

"And after they held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.

"Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day."

Having patiently listened to all of the differing thoughts and ideas, James rehearsed what Peter had said, and declared, "And to this agree the words of the prophets." He proceeded to quote Amos 9:11, but he also referred to other of the prophets, without quoting them; making references to Moses and Deut. 17:8-13; thereby showing that he was acting with the authority of one who is sitting in Moses' Seat.

That very Counsel, itself, was called according to the commandment which we are given in Deut. 17:8-13, "If there arise any matter too hard for thee in judgment, . . . then get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites (The Apostles and Elders), and unto the Judge that shall be in those days (James), and inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of Judgment." Peter being in the seat of "the priest," which is mentioned in verse 12.

That passage is punctuated by the word "sentence" four times, making it obvious why James said, "Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication and from things strangled, and from blood." And the brethren agreed, saying, "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."

James continued, saying, "For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." Basically he was telling them, "the justification for my passing sentence here in this matter is that I am the Judge now; sitting in Moses' Seat." James listened to all of the arguments, and then passed judgment on the matter by the support of the prophets, much as Jesus did when He was here. James evidently believed that God had not changed in the matter of the governance of His people.

You may be wondering, "Just how many men are prophesied of to be anointed of God to lead/feed the Church until the work of the Gospel is finished?" The answer to that is given to us in Isaiah 41:4, and in the listings of the Generations in Genesis 5:1-29, with Jude 1:14, and others. There were seven generations from Adam to Enoch; to be fulfilled by Jesus and the man who is to announce the coming of "Jesus the King," and five other anointed men of God as well. Likewise, there were ten generations from Adam to Noah; to be fulfilled by Jesus, the second Adam, and the Noah, who will deliver us from the flood which issues out of the mouth of the dragon/serpent (Matt.24:37-39). And there must be a succession of eight men between them: five other men, who are "The Anointed" of God, together with three other men who sit in that seat, who are to be there at such a time as the Church is in existence, but not a time for one of those seven prophets. It is certain that those three are anointed with the Holy Spirit to minister for the Lord, but they are not anointed in the same sense as those seven.

Jesus, Peter, James and Jude, served the Church of God in the first century A.D.; Peter being the exception to the title of "God's Anointed." Accordingly, God has ordained that six men serve the Church of God during the 20^th century; two of them being the exception.

I know that most of us, who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, do not like the idea that God would choose out a special group for a special work; much less choose, and anoint, a man to rule over them and feed them. However, that is the way God works, to fulfill the prophecies which He has given. Many of those prophecies were fulfilled by the Churches of God, between 1903 and1980. You might make the case that those churches are still with us, and they are, but they have rejected every aspect of God's definition of Church; especially of His method of leadership.

Nine of those ten generations of God's chosen leaders have come and gone; including the three "exceptions," one of whom still living today, as far as I know. The time of Jesus' return is imminent. That seventh anointed is here now: that tenth generation, for he was prophesied of, that he should be working at his job for forty years, before the end of the Grace Age. He certainly needed much of that time, together with his group of Apostles and Prophets, to find, and correct, the errors which we have inherited from our spiritual forefathers (Jer. 16:19).

The Spirit spoke expressly, in April, 1962, commanding me to "Preach barley harvest." Now Jesus said, "The harvest is the end of the world." And it was no coincidence that the Pope of Rome launched the Ecumenical movement sometime in 1962, beginning the gathering, "First the tares." The revelation of "Barley Harvest," coupled with the revelation of Jubilee, shows us that "the harvest" is forty-nine years, plus one (for the wedding). If you will count from the beginning of the harvest, in 1962, you, yourself, will readily see that the gathering of the wheat "into the Lord's barn" has either begun, or must begin very soon.

You might not want to believe that these things are true, and that nobody living today can possibly know the times. I would remind you that, during the administration of the law, there were men "Of the children of Issachar, which . . . had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment." Can we possibly contend that men in the pre-Holy Ghost era knew more about God's time than Holy Ghost-baptized men and women can know today?

The time is short. Behold the Bridegroom cometh. It is high time for us to awake from our slumber, and for the Bride to get herself ready to go out to meet Him.