2012-08-01 - "Church" - Word Study

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

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

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

August 1, 2012


 *2012-07-31 - CHURCH - ek-kleSIa - 114x - A 7-FOLD NT PICTURE*


 *INTRO: There are 114 references to the word “church” ek-kleSIa - in the
NT. The word comes from “ek” - “from” or “out of” + kaLEo, “to call”. So -
members in a true church - are those who have been “called out of the world
by God.” John 15:16 perhaps makes this clear as Jesus tells His 12
disciples that they had not chosen Him, but He had chosen them, and
appointed them.*


 *THEME: Every believer should understand his status as a member of
Christ’s church. Following are 7 of the 114 “church” references. The
complete definition requires all 114 references to be considered. Yet 7
typical references tend to reveal a fairly accurate understanding.*


 *1. MATTHEW 16:18 (16:13-20) JESUS’ WORD ON HIS CHURCH. “And I 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). *Note that the
church is *not* ours - it belongs to Jesus! One will sometimes hear a
leader refer to “my church”. Not so! It belongs *only* to Jesus, and it is
to be governed according to His Word, not human or denominational
tradition. Jesus accused the Jews of His day of making void the Word of God
according to their “tradition”!

- Peter is the surname Jesus gave Cephas. It means “Little rock - PEtros”.
But Jesus says *not* upon PEtros will He build His church - but upon
“peTRA” - a huge rock ledge. The Newfoundland Banks of the NE coast of
North America is such a rock ledge (peTRA); smaller rocks (PEtros) may be
found upon it. Jesus *Himself* is the chief corner stone of His Temple,
with we as Living Stones built upon Him. The apostles and prophets are the
foundation stones attached to Him, the Chief Corner Stone, tying it all
together. In this light, I have difficulty accepting that Peter’s
confession is the “peTRA”.

- The keys of the Kingdom Jesus give to Peter to bind and loose - must be
understood in the light of the Greek “Perfect Passive Participle”. In the
Williams translation it reads this way: “Whatever you bind on earth *must
already have been bound in the mind of God in heaven*”. God is not our
water-boy - we are His water-boy. We must walk sufficiently close to Him
like George Muller did - to know His mind. Then we speak *His thoughts* on
earth, and they are then bound and loosed down here! Jesus did not as Son
of man speak *one word* that did not originate with His Father in heaven;
nor did one miracle - but it was first shown to him as His Father’s mind.
He was the perfect servant (DOUlos) to His Father. The 4 Servant Songs of
Isaiah exactly foretell this spirit in God’s only-begotten Son!

- This reference to “church” in this verse is the *first* of 114
references. Those who teach pedagogy say that in “the law of first
reference” - we find *the definition* of a word. I have labored somewhat
more on this reference - because I believe it is important that we sense
what God would have us know of *His thinking* concerning this Word Study.


 *2. MATTHEW 18:15-17 (18:1-20) THE ONLY RULE FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS IN THE
CHURCH.*

“*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 does not hear,
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 and third of the 114 references to the NT
word *church*, the only times Jesus refers to this Word.

- John Wesley calls these 3 verses: “The Cure to Evil Speaking.” We are *not
* to speak a critical word concerning any fellow church believer to anyone
else, before we have *first* shared that word with *him*! To break this
rule is to be guilty of *evil speaking*! If he does not hear us, then we
take one or two more, and repeat our problem with him. *No other* plan than
this will keep us free from evil speaking. If he will not hear the 2 or 3,
then and then only can it be told to the *church* - the local church. In
1971 in Seattle under the leadership of Dennis Bennett and Derek Prince, 30
visiting Apostolic Teachers signed a pledge to handle *all* interpersonal
problems in this way only! It brought tremendous revival. Over 1000 Seattle
Metroplex citizens became believers that week, besides many healed,
delivered and baptized in the Spirit. 50,000 attended meetings that week in
June. It was front page news in both Seattle Dailies.

- Is God interested in what we in the church do concerning Matthew
18:15-17, and this *first* rule Jesus gave to the church? Decidedly so!
Unfortunately - it is the first rule most often broken.


 *3. EPHESIANS 5:32 (5:22-22) CHRIST AND HIS RELATIONSHIP TO HIS
CHURCH. **“This
:mystery is great: but I speak **in regard** to Christ and the **church**.”
*There are 3 other reference to “church” in this context. The reference I
have selected out of these 4 refer to the *Mystery* of the
relationship ofChrist to His church, as illustrated by the
relationship of a husband to
his wife. Imagine - God has arranged to have the human marriage
relationship to portray the divine relationship of Christ to His Heavenly
Bride, His Church, the One New Man, His Temple, His Army - and many more
analogies!

- So - the marriage relationship is a *high* and *holy* calling. It is
designed for a man and wife, *not* homosexual relationships! When nations
slip to the level of legalizing what God calls an abomination - we are as a
nation *not far* from the judgment of God. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah.
Remember Gibeah and the tribe of Benjamin in the last part of the book of
Judges!

- The relationship of Christ and His Church is termed by the apostle Paul
as *A Mystery*! There are 27 mysteries listed in the NT, and this is one of
the high ones. God chose Paul to receive understanding of NT mysteries, and
for 3 years following his conversion, Jesus in the desert taught him these
- plus much more. What the 12 disciples received in 3 years from Jesus
prior to Pentecost - Paul received in 3 years *after* Pentecost, and no
other apostle had such understanding in these mysteries for the Gentile
part of the Church, the One New Man.


 *4. EPHESIANS 1:22 (1:15-2:10) JESUS: HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO THE CHURCH! “And
he (the Father) put all things in subjection under his :feet, and gave him
for a head over all things to the church.” *God the Father has set forth
His only-begotten Son in the highest light in this portion of Scripture -
and related it all to Jesus’ relationship to the *Church*! *He* is the
Head. And the *Church* is His spiritual body, of which *we* are members in
particular - or individually. What a High and Holy Calling we have in Jesus!


 *5. EPHESIANS 3:10 (3:1-13) THE CHURCH: GOD’S CHANNEL TO TEACH SATAN
WISDOM! God created all things - “in order that now unto the principalities
and the powers in the heavenlies be made known through the church the
manifest wisdom of :God.” *Ephesians is accounted by most as containing the
highest portrayal of church truth. I am one of those many. There are 7
pictures in Ephesians that are analyses of our relationship to Jesus
Christ! No other NT letter comes up to this level. (The Book of Revelation
is not classified with the 21 NT letters).

- I like to link the book of Romans with Passover; Ephesians with
Pentecost; and the two letters to the Thessalonian church to Tabernacles
and the Return of our Lord. To master Ephesians and its unique insight to
the church should be a “must” for each one of us. When I had a choice in
1945 to outline my first NT book in the light of my discovery of Bible
Numerics through Ivan Panin - I chose the Book of Ephesians for this
purpose. I wondered if I touched ground when I walked for the next week! I
was in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the time.


 *6. 1 CORINTHIANS 16:19 (16:19-24) CITY CHURCHES PLUS A CHURCH IN THE
HOME. “The churches of :Asia salute you. Aquila and Prisca salute you much
in the Lord, with the church in their house.” *Here we see in one verse a
contrast between two types of churches.

- Later we will consider the 7 City Churches of Asia, first in an Outlined
Overview - and then in the 7th reference to church in this particular study.

- But the 14 local churches - or churches in the home are what make up the
one church in a city. It is composed of many local churches, which in the
beginning had but one elder in each such church. The plurality of Eldership
was then “city”, not local. It is obvious that mega-churches need to adapt
such principles - yet in China, intensive persecution has pushed them back
to the beginning syndrome!


 *7. REVELATION 1:4 (1:4-7) THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA. “John to the seven
churches in :Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and
who is to come; and from the seven Spirits :before his :throne.” *There are
7 City Churches referred to in this book, and in chapters 2 and 3 are
referred to 14 times by the word “church”, ek-kl*e*SIa. How many local
churches in each of these 7 city churches? We are not told. But insofar as
local churches met in homes in that day, they would not number too many
members - and a city church like Ephesus that evangelized the entire area
of Asia Minor, modern Turkey, - must have had scores if not hundreds of
local churches in the home. Paul spent 3 years there, and then
placedTimothy as the Apostolic City pastor in his place when he move
d on. He did the same with Titus in Crete, and trusted him to appoint
elders in each city church, one for each church in the home.


 *CONCLUSION: * These are difficult concepts for us today, because of the
change that human denominational traditions have brought into the church.
We tend to interpret the NT in the light of our present situation. That we
cannot do! We must let the Bible mean what *it* wants to mean, and God say
what *He* wants to say. The two are not the same. Since 1946 I have steeled
myself to read the NT in this light.


 Check out our paper on the Revelation 2 and 3 Outlined-Overview to see a
somewhat normal interpretation of these 7 City Churches of Asia Minor. See
John Dawson’s “Taking Your Cities for God” for added insights on this
subject. - Jim Watt



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