Churchwork
04-12-2006, 05:18 AM
Wouldn't that be the coolest thing, if we could find others in agreement to these basic truths (the questions to this forum)? Image 10 or 20 people posting regularly in agreement rather than talking because they disagree. The momentum generated would be monumentous. I did not know these things at the start, but I never assumed otherwise, which kept me humble to know them. Of all of these 37 questions, the one that was the most difficult of all to accept were question 18 and 19 (question 19 squeezed my brain to ask just the right question, but question 18 took about 6 months of prayer to finally accept, which is why I know how difficult it is for people to accept). For about 6 months I refused to accept that the unit of the church was a city. I fought tooth and nail. I rationalized that the unit of the church was a community, much smaller than a locality because the population sizes in the NT for cities was smaller. I knew there were no denominations in the Bible, and I knew there was no congregationalism in the Bible. So there were only two options. Either the local area, perhaps a couple mile radius, is considered a Biblical locality, or it is the whole governmental boundary of a Scriptural locality - city. I rationalized it this way: The maximum population of Jerusalem 2000 years ago was 40,000 people I had read somewhere. This meant to me that this could constitutate a couple mile radius locality within a greater city. And nowhere in the Bible does it call Christians in Rome the church in Rome, but the Saints in Rome, because 1 million people was too many for a locality. I was convinced. And remember, up to that point I had deeper teaching than others, for I accepted the truth: osas arminian, partial rapture, gap restoration, and tripartite man. I had all the seed working truth to finally accept Biblical locality according to cities and towns, yet I could still not believe it was what God was after. I rationalized myself that I thought perfectly about it, but then something happened. The Holy Spirit made an unexpected spontaneous move in my life. The Holy Spirit showed me this was wrong what I had been thinking. How did the Holy Spirit show me? He showed me by the aim being the New City in the New Earth is a physical city. I think I knew this already, but I didn't appreciate it. Then I appreciated it by studying Revelation 21 (http://www3.telus.net/trbrooks/Revelation_21.htm) a couple more times, and then connections began to be revealed intuitively. I believe this was the trigger point the Holy Spirit used, for me to look a step further, that it is possible, because God works in transitions, for these cities to actually be miniatures of the new city (http://www3.telus.net/trbrooks/rethinkingthework.htm), because communities are too small a model to replicate the new city on the new earth. The clincher was the arrangement seen in the Word of God: Apostles for a region of churches appoint Elders of a locality whom approve the Elders of the meeting places in a locality. Very simple. Just like the Lock Tumblers (http://www3.telus.net/trbrooks/LockTumblers.htm) of the seals, trumpets and bowls unlock a truth that is vital (partial rapture), so does the truth get unlocked with the knowledge of right relationship of Apostles and the Two Kinds of Elders. All of this was what I went through knowing full well that the apostles were appointing elders of a locality. If I had just accepted the Word of God, I would not have had to wait six moves for the revelation to the Word. But, it is a blessing nonetheless, since it gave me an appreciation why it is so difficult for people to accept this truth as it a difficult for me too. We have lost this first love in the first century. I came to the appreciation that overcomers will be reigning over cities in the millennial kingdom (Luke 19). In order to do so, these cities must be prepared ahead of the millennium with Elders taking care of the whole locality of believers there. There must be this transition from the dispensation of grace to the time of recompense. God works over these long periods of time, slowly but surely. In the backdrop of 13.7 billion years it is right quick though. God loves us and he will not let sin continue for another 6000 years, let alone a million or a billion. The realization of these truths by the conscience through intuition, the Holy Spirit has given a clarity that I could have never known before and none could ever take away.