Bishops and deacons

With reference to Philippians 1:1—These seven Asian ecclesias were very different in "gifts," "administrations," and "operations," from anything extant, called "church," in our time. The assemblies of the faithful in Christ were constituted of two classes of saints -- the rulers and the ruled. "Obey them that have the rule over you," says Paul, "and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account (Heb. 13:17). "The Elders which are among you," says Peter, "I exhort, who am also an elder ... feed the flock of the Deity which is with you, taking the oversight, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; not as domineering over THE HERITAGES, but being examples of the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet. 5:1-4).

These official brethren, called episcopoi and diakonoi, "overseers and assistants," (Phil. 1:1), constituted the pneumatikoi, or spirituals, of the congregations, because they were endowed with pneumatika, or spiritual gifts (Gal. 6:1), while the rest of the saints, constituting the ruled, were styled idiotai, or privates. To the Spirituals were given nine different gifts, called spirits (!greek! pneumata, 1 Cor. 14:12), not for their own gratification, but for the common good. These spirits are enumerated as, "a word of wisdom," "a word of knowledge," "faith to remove mountains," "gifts of healing," "inworking of powers," "prophecy," "discerning of spirits," "kinds of tongues," and "interpretation of tongues;" "all these inworked the one and the same Spirit dividing to each one respectively as he willed" (1 Cor. 12:1-11). Being thus ordered in Corinth and elsewhere, Paul said to them, "Ye are Christ's body, and members partitively" -- they were all of the body, but it was only specially endowed saints who constituted the foot, hand, ear, eye, and so forth, of the body; these special ones were members !greek! partitively -- special parts of the whole.