City Church & Eldership

Fri May 27 11:22:46 PDT 2011

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

May 27, 2011

 *C. MATURITY - CITY CHURCH & ELDERSHIP - May 26, 2011*

 *1. MATTHEW 16:18 (16:13-20) THE CHURCH: BELONGS TO JESUS. “And I also say
unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this :rock I will build my :church
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (NNT). *Here we see the
first of 114 references to the word “church”. Again, the rules of pedagogy
cause us to consider carefully the insights from this first reference. The
church was purchased by Christ by His blood. Therefore *we belong* to Him!
And the “counsels” of hell will *not* prevail against Christ's Church!
*Hallowed
be your :name.*

 *2. MATTHEW 18:15-17 THE CHURCH: SOLVES INTERPERSONAL PROBLEMS. “And if
your :brother sin, go, reprove him between you and him alone: if he hear
you, you have gained your :brother. 16 But if he hear not, take with you one
or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word stand.
17 And if he refuse to hear them, tell the church: and if he refuse to hear
the church also, let him be to you as the Gentile and the publican.” *This
is the *second* reference to *church*. Here is a 4-fold manner in which to
solve interpersonal problems - and according to Jesus - this is the
*only*way for NT observant believers to solve such problems!
*Your :kingdom come.*

 *3. ACTS 13:1-3 THE CITY CHURCH: HAS AN ELDERSHIP IN ITS GATE. “Now in the
church that was at Antioch were prophets and teachers, both :Barnabas and
Symeon :called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen foster-brother of
Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And as they ministered to the Lord, and
fasted, the Holy :Spirit said, Separate me then :Barnabas and Saul for the
work unto which I have called them. 3 Then, having fasted and prayed and
laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” *Each City Church in NT
times had its Eldership in the Gate of its city, just as did Bethlehem in
the OT. The 5-fold Eldership of prophets and teachers waited on God - had
the Word of the Spirit - fasted - and *obeyed* the Word of the Spirit. *Your
:will be done, As in heaven, so on earth.*

 *4. ACTS 15:22 (15:1-35) THE CHURCH & ELDERSHIP: JOINT DECISION. “Then it
seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose
men out from them, and send them to Antioch with :Paul and Barnabas; Judas
:called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.” *Probably no
greater controversy arose in the early church but that caused by the
“Judaizers”. The Book of Galatians was written by the Spirit through Paul to
address this problem. How satisfactory was the 4-fold solution here! *Our
:daily :bread give us this day.*

 *5. RUTH 4:1 (4:1-21) THE OT CITY ELDERSHIP. “Now Boaz went up to the gate,
and sat down there; and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came
by; unto whom he said, Ho, you! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned
aside, and sat down” (ASV '01). *The cities of Israel from ancient times had
an Eldership in the Gate of their cities, with many synagogues within. How
important was their decision here. Boaz took precedence over the nearer
kinsman. David and David's Greater Son Jesus - came from this decision! *And
forgive us our :debts, as we also have forgiven our :debtors.*

 *6. REVELATION 2:7 (2:1-7) SEVEN CHURCHES: SPOKEN TO BY THE SPIRIT. “Who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him that
overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of :life, which is in the
Paradise of :God. *All city churches should be listening to the voice of the
Spirit. Pastor Bob Birch of Canada thoroughly understood this.
*Overcomers*in each city church emerge as individuals who hear (which
implies obedience)
the Word of the Spirit. *And bring us not into temptation.*

 *7. 1 CORINTIANS 16:19 (16:19-24) THE CHURCH: CAN ALSO LOCALLY BE IN A
HOME. “The churches of :Asia salute you. Aquila and Prisca salute you much
in the Lord, with the church in their house.” *There are 14 local churches
mentioned in the NT. Aquila and Priscilla led 3 of these in 3 city churches.
The elder of each local church formed the plural city church Eldership as
seen in Acts 15. *But deliver us from the evil one!*

 *NOTE**: *The City Church with its Eldership in the Gate - is *the Pedestal
* holding up God's Word: His Bible Numeric Outlined Interlinear Greek NT. In
the 1967 Vision I saw the City Churches with their Eldership as being God's
Pedestal to *support* His Word: *specifically* this Interlinear product! We
are not to be under any false illusions on this. It is God's purpose that
this unique Interlinear Greek NT for Laymen - hold pre-eminence over all
other NT texts and translations. The Numeric Phenomenon marks it as being
unique. It is *not* in the Aramaic text. It is not in the Hebrew translation
of the NT. God for His own purposes and according to *His own* counsel, has
determined to set it in this particular product. God's Numerics - not the
Anglicans Westcott and Hort - established this text.

 There is much confusion in this area, with many divergent theories and
opinions. God is the final adjudicator! And we have His verdict through *His
* Numeric phenomenon.

 Back to the Church - God's Pedestal for His Word! It comes from the Greek
word ek-kl*e*SIa, which appears 114 times in the NT. Once in Acts 7 it
refers to *Israel* in the Wilderness; 3 times it refers to the secular city
of Ephesus (Acts 19:21-41); 14 times it refers to a church in the home such
as in 1 Corinthians 16:19; 15 times for the Universal Church: Jew and
Gentile in the One New Man for all time; but - *81 times* concerning the
City Church! Revelation 2 and 3 contain 14 of these 81 references to the
City Church.

 It is important that we have *God's* perspective on these teachings. It
matters little to us who is right or wrong - it only matters that *our God's
* perspective is allowed to be predominant. Let God say what *He* wants to
say - and let the Bible mean what *it* wants to mean. All of this will come
out in the wash upon the return of Christ Jesus - our Lord of lords and King
of kings.

 Roland Allen from England, missionary to China and Africa, author of
“Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?” and “The Spontaneous Expansion of
the Church” - had these two books placed in my hands in 1949 by Harry Conn
of Chicago, when I was attending Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.
These two books and the exhortation of Mr. Conn started me in the direction
that has led me to the above. Jim Watt

 *SPECIAL**: “I Have Never Forgotten You” - *Oscar winner Nicole Kedman
narrates this fascinating Tribeca Film Festival selection for documentarian
Richard Trank, who relays the remarkable story of architect turned Nazi
hunter *Simon Wiesenthal*. After losing nearly 90 family members in the
Holocaust and surviving a German deathcamp, Wiesenthal volunteered to help
the American War Crimes Unit track down war criminals on the lam, and went
on to find more that 1,000 of them. - *1 hr. 45 min. 2006*

 My wife Marie and I received the above from Netflix, and found it one of
the most outstanding documentaries on the Holocaust of all we have ever
viewed. In it Frederick Forsyth tells how he worked with Wiesenthal in
producing “The Odessa File”. Also, Anthony Hopkins recounts the outstanding
part Wiesenthal played in the production of Steven Spielberg's “Schindler's
List.” Added also is Wiesenthal's key part in the production of “The Boys
from Brazil”. It is a pity that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran could
not immerse himself in the truth of this - rather than the lies he walks in.
J & M

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