Eldership

What is biblical eldership?

1. An older person.

2. An older, influential member of a family, tribe, or community.

3. One of the governing officers of a church, often having pastoral or teaching functions.

This third use of the word elder or eldership is common among many denominations of the modern Church. I see countless church groups and ministries offering books, workbook, and courses to teach ministers the art and skills of "eldership". They talk about training "leaders in the church", memorizing scripture, homework, assigned reading, and the facilitator’s role as guide to the group to questions and encourage interaction sharing answers, insights, and clarifications through verbally participating.

What this does is cause participants to invest their time energy and money in the idea of an elder being an office of the Church established by Christ. But the problem is that the term elder was not really used in the early Church to describe an office of the Church?

The term Elder was only noting a position of authority or respect conferred by age and experience within a family?

The family is the first institution of God. It is from a healthy, viable and free family that free and righteous society is born. Anything that does not promote, guard, protect, and strengthen the rights and well being of the Families of God is not compatible with the purposes of God.

The spiritual leadership and emotional support of the families of God, from which the children of God shall spring, is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Neither Jesus nor Moses called out men to be a substitute for the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in the hearts and minds of men.

The Holy Spirit does not dwell in temples built of dead stone built by the hand of man but in the living stones and hearts and minds of the people. This is why it was written that the kingdom of Heaven is within.

200 years ago religion was defined as the "performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men". Politics of the world has become a way to impose duties on our fellow man through force as if we are gods. Religion today is often used to justify that imposition of force on our fellow men.

The politics of the Church is the politics of the word which empowers man to seek “Real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men” unspotted by the politics of the world which is Pure Religion.

The purpose of the Church and the office of that Church appointed by Christ is to feed His sheep by facilitating every elder of every family in their personal practice of Pure Religion. To do this natural elders of every family should freely assemble to choose the best amongst them to connect all the people seeking the kingdom of God and The Way of Christ in a voluntary network of charity and love.

One of the primary qualifications for a minister of the Church or the Levites before them was that they were the head of a good family. They were chosen by the people to serve all the other elders and their families in free assemblies in a network of congregations of ten elders. Once that pattern is established and we understand that the purpose of the ministers includes more than emotional and spiritual support but also the provision of clothing, food, and shelter when needed we may begin to see the mission of the Church.

In Titus 3 verse 5 Paul is giving instructions about the appointment of existing elders to offices of the Church appointed duties by Christ. There is no reason to believe from the text that the term "elder" was an office of the Church. In verse 6 Paul describes the kind of elder you are looking to appoint is one that is already "blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children..."

What are the duties of an elder?

Biblical eldership is the performance of the duties imposed by God and Nature of every man who is an elder to their family and to the community as themselves according to the leading of the Holy Spirit within the commandments of God.

The institution of the family is the first institution of God. While the church in general is driven by the Spirit of God that Holy Spirit is only found dwelling in the hearts and minds of every man and woman. The Kingdom of God is within them from generation to generation.

For the next generation to receive the wisdom, values, and spirit of righteousness each family cannot just think or believe they love their neighbor but they must turn that love into competent actions^[1] through the natural sacrifice of charity.^[2]

For eldership to fulfill its duties it must include the will of God for your family and the next generation and what God desires you do for your fellow man. In order to attend to the weightier matters of Christ we must be diligent in our quest for the righteousness of God for every man. Charity cannot express or fulfill the competent love for and of Christ without an intimate knowledge of needs, cause, and effect of fervent charity upon the recipient of your personal sacrifice. It cannot be righteous without a humble willingness to forgive.

How important is this subject to the Church?

The Church specific is not an institution of man but of Christ. Christ called men out of the world just as Moses called out the Church in the wilderness from the camp of the Golden calf. Jesus, as the one who was to follow after John the Baptist the role of highpriest, chose and taught His disciples to be ministers of the people for His purposes which is the purpose of the God of Creation and Nature.

But as the Christ, the highest son of God and the righteous king of Judea and Israel he appointed His faithful disciples "a kingdom" to serve.^[3] He was able to do this because he had taken the kingdom from the pharisees by the words of their own mouth.^[4]

Jesus had chosen specific men, tested them over time,^[5] and promised to appoint a kingdom to His little flock.^[6] while prohibiting them from exercising authority over each other or the people in free assembly like the governments of the world did at that time and do again today. Unless the elders of every family also serve to set the table of the Lord there will be no Eucharist, no communion of the flesh and blood of Christ.

The people were always meant to have the free dominion of God in His Garden as long as they ate of the tree of life dressing and keeping the gift of this domain. Only then shall they be a peculiar people.

What is Pastoral eldership?

Is the pastoral mission of the Church primarily or exclusively "concerning or appropriate to the giving of spiritual guidance"?^[7]

"Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. It has been described in our modern context as individual and corporate patience in which trained pastoral carers support people in their pain, loss and anxiety, and their triumphs, joys and victories." University of Canberra

In the modern Church today there is a reference to Pastoral care as "emotional and spiritual" support but the words related to pastor in the Bible suggest, even state, a temporal Pastoral responsibility for the health and well being. The Hebrew word "raah"^[8] is not only the word for pastor and shepherd it is mostly commonly translated as "feed".

The Greek word poimen^[9] which we see translated pastor in the New Testament is commonly translated shepherd.

The term shepherd as an occupational title reached beyond emotions and spiritual needs of the flock and for 2000 years the Church was heavily engaged in daily ministrations of a temporal needs. The relegation of a pastors duties to primarily a spiritual or emotional caregiver is an apparition of the modern Church.

The original duties of a shepherd are said to be:'^[9]

-to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep
-to defend the sheep from attackers
-to heal the wounded and sick sheep
-to find and save lost or trapped sheep
-to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.

Jesus repeated that we were to Feed His Sheep and the apostles and the early Church were clearly rightly dividing actual bread from house to house.^[10]

We see the first to preach the kingdom of God at hand was John the Baptist who was the son of Zacharias a high priest of Judea. As the voice of one crying in the wilderness he is telling people to "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" because at that time it was "crooked" and needed to "be made straight" because the people had become a "generation of vipers" so that there was a recompense and "wrath to come"

John was calling not just for repentance but "fruits worthy of repentance". They could not just depend upon the fact that "Abraham to our father" ut their generation was going to have to think so differently that they produced "good fruit".

So, "the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?"

"He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." Luke 3:11

Those meats were equivalent to the free bread of Rome and the gift, gratuities, and benefits provided by the Sacrifice of the people called Corban but under Herod the Great and the Pharisees that sacrifice became a matter of compelled offerings as opposed to a freewill offering. If the sacrifices of the people were not based on a freewill offering they would make the word of God to none effect.

John was making a clear statement that the straight way of God is to care for the needs of society including food through charity, not by covetous practices and certainly not by compelling the contributions and sacrifices of the people through force like the fathers of the earth and rulers of the gentiles who exercise authority one over the other.

The word meat is translated from the Greek word broma which means "that which is eaten, food".^[11] Christ and the apostles provided the distribution of this "meat" for the people translated victuals in Matthew 14:15.^[12] We also seem the same word in Luke 9:13^[13] in the same reference to actua food distributed to the people for eating.

What does the Bible say about church eldership?

In every family, there is to be a king and high priest.

But like the Levites before them, ordained ministers of the Church chosen by the people should meet the qualifications of a trusted elder. But as an officer of the Church instituted by Christ, they must also meet the qualifications and requirements of Jesus Christ as the establisher of the Church.

The people should always look out among themselves and choose men they trust to provide these services. It was the job of the Church to appoint or ordain them over those matters of service. The people retained the power over their choice of votive offerings to support the ministers and services of the Church to the people.

The term ordain is Greek word kathistemi^[14] meaning "set in place", specifically "1b) to appoint one to administer an office".

Paul is not ordaining men to be elders but ordaining men who were already elders in their families to be bishops as "steward" of the Church. A steward was "the manager of a household or of household affairs" of the house of God which received the donations of all the elders of families to provide the daily ministration of the people. They were in charge of the "finances" of the polis of Christ, "treasurers or quaestors of kings". ^[15]

We see in the New Testament "the office of a deacon"^[16], "the office of a bishop"^[17], and "the office of the priesthood"^[18] but there is no office of elder.

Paul uses the term diakonia ^[19] translated "office" in refrence to himself but diakonia is more often translated ministry.^[20] He also uses a word translated office but the word is praxis ^[21] which actually means "a doing... a thing to be done, business".

Laity

Someone wrote that "Neither the word clergy nor the word laity appears in the Bible." That is certainly not true in the case of laity. For laity are people.

The term Laity has come to represent the people of a religious faith as distinguished from its clergy^[22].

The laity has played not only an important role in the function of the church it duties are an essential element of the kingdom of God. As a free people seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, they do not hold any office in the institution of the appointed Church for they are returned to their family and their possessions as free souls under God.^[23]

The clergy and the laity must both participating in what was called The Way in order to bear fruit. As Christ appointed them they do not exercise authority one over the other. Unlike the benefactors of the world who are the Fathers of the earth, the natural fathers who are the elders of every family with the guidance of the Holy Spirit must choose The righteous way of the perfect law of liberty.

Unfortunately, many damnable heresies have crept into the modern Church that has lead many to become workers of iniquity while still claiming to be followers Christ.

The Elders of each family were both priests and kings^[24] within their own family and the Christian community but to come together as a nation^[25] required someone to act as a priest on a national level.

The people of the early Church were gathered in congregations of tens as commanded by Moses and by Christ but they shared what they produced with the national priests of their society in charity to help maintain the community and strengthen its natural bonds of society in a daily ministration of welfare by freewill offerings instead of by force.

The table of rulers which should have been for the welfare of the people was a snare and a trap but the living altars of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus help set the people/laity free.

Such systems of voluntary assistance in society require the people to be diligent in their practice of virtue and their duty to their fellow man in what James calls Pure Religion.

In the ancient text, we see terms like Altars of clay and stone which represented councils of friends and the people or laity they served. Together in love, they provided social welfare needs which strengthened the community without electing a ruler or falling prey to the error of the Balaam.^[26]

The Levites as a national priesthood were not originally meant to burn up animals on piles of dead stone but they were a government institution designed to serve the public as a medium for causing the transfer of the offered sacrifices to those truly in need as the deserving poor.

The Pharisees had it wrong but other religious groups reading the exact same Torah at the time of Christ would have little or nothing to do with the bloody mindless rituals of the Pharisees. They considered the Pharisaical interpretation of the sacred scriptures to be a fiction and a fraud.^[27]

The deeds of modern Christians today are hated by God and Christ because they have let themselves be conquered by greed and wantonness. As Nicolaitans they are entangled again under the elements of the world into the bondage of The Mire through covetous practices which makes them merchandise and curse children.

Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus were all appointed tasks and positions.
When Jesus appointed a kingdom to His little flock He was delegating a responsibility upon them. When He required them to "sell all they had" and follow Him, there was no such command to the general population.
While the ministers sold their property and owned all things common, the purpose of the Messiah was to set the captive free while returning everyman to his family and to his possessions.
Those called out ministers could be called a form of *clergy*, but their duties, responsibilities, and limiting criteria were defined by Christ and may not resemble modern forms of clergy. The engine that drives the kingdom of God, which is faith, is found in the heart and mind of the individual and it is fueled by the Holy Spirit.
Terms like clergy, laity, elder, father, wife, son, or daughter have their place when properly defined, but neither God nor the Holy Spirit are a respecter of persons.
Like the "Church in the wilderness"—which consisted of those ministers of a "Peculiar people" who were "called out" of the *camp of the golden calf* by Moses—those who were "called out" by Jesus played a pivotal role in serving the people of the early Christian community through the free practice of "Pure religion".
Certainly the early Church advocated a Daily ministration for the needy of the Christian community that was dependent on Charity only. It was not like the system of Corban of the Pharisees nor the free bread of Rome which compelled the offerings of the people. It was the practice of Pure Religion by the early church that brought them into conflict with Public religion and the Covetous Practices of the World. To understand the clergy of Christ it may be important to distinguish it from the clergyism of the Modern Church and the clergy of the world.
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Footnotes

↑ 1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
↑ John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought
↑ Luke 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
↑ John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
↑ Luke 22:28 Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.
↑ Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
↑ 2018 Oxford University Press
↑
07462 ^הער^ ra‘ah \@raw-aw’\@ (רעה) ReshAyinHei a primitive root; v; AV-feed 75, shepherd 63, pastor 8, herdmen 7, keep 3, companion 2, broken 1, company 1, devour 1, eat 1, entreateth 1, misc 10; 173
1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to tend, pasture
1a1a) to shepherd

1a1b) of ruler, teacher (fig)

1a1c) of people as flock (fig)

1a1d) shepherd, herdsman (subst)

1a2) to feed, graze
1a2a) of cows, sheep etc (literal)

1a2b) of idolater, Israel as flock (fig)

1b) (Hiphil) shepherd, shepherdess

2) to associate with, be a friend of (meaning probable)
2a) (Qal) to associate with

2b) (Hithpael) to be companions

3) (Piel) to be a special friend
- 07462 (רעה) ReshAyinHei ra`ah is also translated feed 75, shepherd 63, pastor 8, herdmen 7, keep 3, companion 2, and broken, company, devour, eat, entreateth once each and 10 miscellaneous other ways. It is defined 1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed 2) to associate with, be a friend of ... It is the same three letters we see in 07463 (רעה) ReshAyinHei re`eh 1) friend, friend of the king (technical sense)
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1
4166 ~ποιμήν~ poimen \@poy-mane’\@ of uncertain affinity; n m AV-shepherd 15, Shepherd 2, pastor 1; 18
1) a herdsman, esp. a shepherd
1a) in the parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow

2) metaph.
2a) the presiding officer, manager, director, of any assembly: so of Christ the Head of the church; the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, 1985 pastors, 4166 elders, and presbyters 4245 interchangeably {#Ac 20:17,28 Eph 4:11 Tit 1:5,7 1Pe 5:1-4 etc.} 2a1) of the overseers of the Christian assemblies 2a2) of kings and princes

The tasks of a Near Eastern shepherd were:
- -to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep
- -to defend the sheep from attackers
- -to heal the wounded and sick sheep
- -to find and save lost or trapped sheep
- -to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.
↑ Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
↑
1033 ~βρῶμα~ broma \@bro’-mah\@ from the base of 977; TDNT-1:642,111; {See TDNT 147} n n AV-meat 16, victual 1; 17
1) that which is eaten, food
- It is also a shipworm (Teredo navalis) that bores into wooden piers, ships, etc. and in (dentistry) it can mean a cavity.
↑ Matthew 14:15 "And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
↑ Luke 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
↑ 2525 ~καθίστημι~ kathistemi \@kath-is’-tay-mee\@ from 2596 and 2476; v AV-make 8, make ruler 6, ordain 3, be 2, appoint 1, conduct 1, set 1; 22
1) to set, place, put
1a) to set one over a thing (in charge of it)

1b) to appoint one to administer an office

1c) to set down as, constitute, to declare, show to be

1d) to constitute, to render, make, cause to be

1e) to conduct or bring to a certain place

1f) to show or exhibit one’s self
1f1) come forward as

Ordain#An_Appointment_Ex_Officio
↑ 3623 ~οἰκονόμος~ oikonomos \@oy-kon-om’-os\@ from 3624 oikos meaning house and the base of 3551 nomos meaning law; TDNT-5:149,674; {See TDNT 539} n m AV-steward 8, chamberlain 1, governor 1; 10
1) the manager of household or of household affairs
1a) esp. a steward, manager, superintendent (whether free-born or as was usually the case, a freed-man or a slave) to whom the head of the house or proprietor has intrusted the management of his affairs, the care of receipts and expenditures, and the duty of dealing out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet of age

1b) the manager of a farm or landed estate, an overseer

1c) the superintendent of the city’s finances, the treasurer of a city (or of treasurers or quaestors of kings)

2) metaph. the apostles and other Christian teachers and bishops and overseers
↑ 1 Timothy 3:10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
1 Timothy 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
↑ 1 Timothy 3:1 ¶ This [is] a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
↑ Hebrews 7:5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
↑ 1248 ~διακονία~ diakonia \@dee-ak-on-ee’-ah\@ from 1249; n f AV-ministry 16, ministration 6, ministering 3, misc 9; 34
1) service, ministering, esp. of those who execute the commands of others
L 2) of those who by the command of God proclaim and promote religion among men
2a) of the office of Moses

2b) of the office of the apostles and its administration

2c) of the office of prophets, evangelists, elders etc.

3) the ministration of those who render to others the offices of Christian affection esp. those who help meet need by either collecting or distributing of charities

4) the office of the deacon in the church

5) the service of those who prepare and present food
↑ Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
↑ 4234 ~πρᾶξις~ praxis \@prax’-is\@ from 4238; TDNT-6:642,927; {See TDNT 657} n f AV-deed 4, work 1, office 1; 6
1) a doing, a mode of acting, a deal, a transaction
1a) the doings of the apostles

1b) in a bad sense, wicked deed, crime, wicked doings (our practices i.e. trickery)

2) a thing to be done, business
↑ Clericus is a Latin term for clerk associated with scriba, scriptor, scrivener who were known to make, keep, or record important records and communications. Clericus "meant 'a person ordained to sacred functions' or 'a man of learning'".(The Legacy of Rome).
Klerikos (κληρικός), meaning appertaining to an inheritance, in reference to the fact that the Levitical priests of the Old Testament had no inheritance but held all things common for the Lord. It came to mean a "churchman," and among some churches evolved to meaning a priest or religious leader.

Clerus is the Latin term that has been translated in to the word clergy. There is no reason to expect to find it in the bible. We see it in Latin liturgy as in the Statement, "Plerumque clerus erravit." "Basically the clergy was wrong." Ambrose, Expositio in psalmum David CXVIII, SERMO XVII, Saeculo IV, v17.
↑ Return to family
Leviticus 25:10 "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family."

Leviticus 25:41 "And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return."

Exodus 20:2 " I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Matthew 23:9 "And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."

Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together."

2 Corinthians 6:18 "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

1 John 3:1 ¶ "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."
↑ Priest and king
Hebrews 5:6 As he saith also in another [place], Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;... 17 For he testifieth, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.... 21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

Psalms 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
↑ Priest to nations
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.... 1 Peter 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation(genos 1085), a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Hebrews 7:24 But this [man], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
↑
The way of error
2 Peter 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Jude 1:11 "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots(not "unspotted" like Pure Religion) in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"

Revelation 2:14-17 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication ("to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another into idolatry"). 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it]."

Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
- The way of the world is the way of Cain and His city-state, the Corban of the Pharisees and the cities of blood, Nimrod and the Nicolaitan, Babylon and Balaam, Sumer and Sodom, Pharaoh and the foolishness of Saul, and more recently FDR and LBJ and all the welfare States who use legal charity which is not The Way of Christ, the Kingdom of God nor the righteousness of God.
↑ Adventures of Artifice in Languageland http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/sacrifice.php

[1] 1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

[2] John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought

[3] Luke 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;

[4] John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

[5] Luke 22:28 Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.

[6] Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

[7] 2018 Oxford University Press

[8] 07462 ^הער^ ra‘ah \@raw-aw’\@ (רעה) ReshAyinHei a primitive root; v; AV-feed 75, shepherd 63, pastor 8, herdmen 7, keep 3, companion 2, broken 1, company 1, devour 1, eat 1, entreateth 1, misc 10; 173
1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to tend, pasture
1a1a) to shepherd

1a1b) of ruler, teacher (fig)

1a1c) of people as flock (fig)

1a1d) shepherd, herdsman (subst)

1a2) to feed, graze
1a2a) of cows, sheep etc (literal)

1a2b) of idolater, Israel as flock (fig)

1b) (Hiphil) shepherd, shepherdess

2) to associate with, be a friend of (meaning probable)
2a) (Qal) to associate with

2b) (Hithpael) to be companions

3) (Piel) to be a special friend

07462 (רעה) ReshAyinHei ra`ah is also translated feed 75, shepherd 63, pastor 8, herdmen 7, keep 3, companion 2, and broken, company, devour, eat, entreateth once each and 10 miscellaneous other ways. It is defined 1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed 2) to associate with, be a friend of ... It is the same three letters we see in 07463 (רעה) ReshAyinHei re`eh 1) friend, friend of the king (technical sense)

[9] 07462 (רעה) ReshAyinHei ra`ah is also translated feed 75, shepherd 63, pastor 8, herdmen 7, keep 3, companion 2, and broken, company, devour, eat, entreateth once each and 10 miscellaneous other ways. It is defined 1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed 2) to associate with, be a friend of ... It is the same three letters we see in 07463 (רעה) ReshAyinHei re`eh 1) friend, friend of the king (technical sense)

[poimen-9] 9.0 ^9.1 4166 ~ποιμήν~ poimen \@poy-mane’\@ of uncertain affinity; n m AV-shepherd 15, Shepherd 2, pastor 1; 18
1) a herdsman, esp. a shepherd
1a) in the parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow

2) metaph.
2a) the presiding officer, manager, director, of any assembly: so of Christ the Head of the church; the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, 1985 pastors, 4166 elders, and presbyters 4245 interchangeably {#Ac 20:17,28 Eph 4:11 Tit 1:5,7 1Pe 5:1-4 etc.} 2a1) of the overseers of the Christian assemblies 2a2) of kings and princes

The tasks of a Near Eastern shepherd were:

-to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep

-to defend the sheep from attackers

-to heal the wounded and sick sheep

-to find and save lost or trapped sheep

-to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.

[11] -to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep

[12] -to defend the sheep from attackers

[13] -to heal the wounded and sick sheep

[14] -to find and save lost or trapped sheep

[15] -to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.

[10] Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

[broma-11] 1033 ~βρῶμα~ broma \@bro’-mah\@ from the base of 977; TDNT-1:642,111; {See TDNT 147} n n AV-meat 16, victual 1; 17
1) that which is eaten, food

It is also a shipworm (Teredo navalis) that bores into wooden piers, ships, etc. and in (dentistry) it can mean a cavity.

[18] It is also a shipworm (Teredo navalis) that bores into wooden piers, ships, etc. and in (dentistry) it can mean a cavity.

[12] Matthew 14:15 "And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

[13] Luke 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

[14] 2525 ~καθίστημι~ kathistemi \@kath-is’-tay-mee\@ from 2596 and 2476; v AV-make 8, make ruler 6, ordain 3, be 2, appoint 1, conduct 1, set 1; 22
1) to set, place, put
1a) to set one over a thing (in charge of it)

1b) to appoint one to administer an office

1c) to set down as, constitute, to declare, show to be

1d) to constitute, to render, make, cause to be

1e) to conduct or bring to a certain place

1f) to show or exhibit one’s self
1f1) come forward as

Ordain#An_Appointment_Ex_Officio

[15] 3623 ~οἰκονόμος~ oikonomos \@oy-kon-om’-os\@ from 3624 oikos meaning house and the base of 3551 nomos meaning law; TDNT-5:149,674; {See TDNT 539} n m AV-steward 8, chamberlain 1, governor 1; 10
1) the manager of household or of household affairs
1a) esp. a steward, manager, superintendent (whether free-born or as was usually the case, a freed-man or a slave) to whom the head of the house or proprietor has intrusted the management of his affairs, the care of receipts and expenditures, and the duty of dealing out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet of age

1b) the manager of a farm or landed estate, an overseer

1c) the superintendent of the city’s finances, the treasurer of a city (or of treasurers or quaestors of kings)

2) metaph. the apostles and other Christian teachers and bishops and overseers

[16] 1 Timothy 3:10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
1 Timothy 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

[17] 1 Timothy 3:1 ¶ This [is] a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

[18] Hebrews 7:5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

[19] 1248 ~διακονία~ diakonia \@dee-ak-on-ee’-ah\@ from 1249; n f AV-ministry 16, ministration 6, ministering 3, misc 9; 34
1) service, ministering, esp. of those who execute the commands of others
L 2) of those who by the command of God proclaim and promote religion among men
2a) of the office of Moses

2b) of the office of the apostles and its administration

2c) of the office of prophets, evangelists, elders etc.

3) the ministration of those who render to others the offices of Christian affection esp. those who help meet need by either collecting or distributing of charities

4) the office of the deacon in the church

5) the service of those who prepare and present food

[20] Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

[21] 4234 ~πρᾶξις~ praxis \@prax’-is\@ from 4238; TDNT-6:642,927; {See TDNT 657} n f AV-deed 4, work 1, office 1; 6
1) a doing, a mode of acting, a deal, a transaction
1a) the doings of the apostles

1b) in a bad sense, wicked deed, crime, wicked doings (our practices i.e. trickery)

2) a thing to be done, business

[Clericus-22] Clericus is a Latin term for clerk associated with scriba, scriptor, scrivener who were known to make, keep, or record important records and communications. Clericus "meant 'a person ordained to sacred functions' or 'a man of learning'".(The Legacy of Rome).
Klerikos (κληρικός), meaning appertaining to an inheritance, in reference to the fact that the Levitical priests of the Old Testament had no inheritance but held all things common for the Lord. It came to mean a "churchman," and among some churches evolved to meaning a priest or religious leader.

Clerus is the Latin term that has been translated in to the word clergy. There is no reason to expect to find it in the bible. We see it in Latin liturgy as in the Statement, "Plerumque clerus erravit." "Basically the clergy was wrong." Ambrose, Expositio in psalmum David CXVIII, SERMO XVII, Saeculo IV, v17.

[retfam-23] Return to family
Leviticus 25:10 "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family."

Leviticus 25:41 "And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return."

Exodus 20:2 " I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Matthew 23:9 "And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."

Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together."

2 Corinthians 6:18 "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

1 John 3:1 ¶ "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

[priestking-24] Priest and king
Hebrews 5:6 As he saith also in another [place], Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;... 17 For he testifieth, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.... 21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

Psalms 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

[priestnation-25] Priest to nations
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.... 1 Peter 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation(genos 1085), a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Hebrews 7:24 But this [man], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

[Errorbn-26] The way of error
2 Peter 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Jude 1:11 "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots(not "unspotted" like Pure Religion) in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"

Revelation 2:14-17 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication ("to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another into idolatry"). 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it]."

Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."

The way of the world is the way of Cain and His city-state, the Corban of the Pharisees and the cities of blood, Nimrod and the Nicolaitan, Babylon and Balaam, Sumer and Sodom, Pharaoh and the foolishness of Saul, and more recently FDR and LBJ and all the welfare States who use legal charity which is not The Way of Christ, the Kingdom of God nor the righteousness of God.

[34] The way of the world is the way of Cain and His city-state, the Corban of the Pharisees and the cities of blood, Nimrod and the Nicolaitan, Babylon and Balaam, Sumer and Sodom, Pharaoh and the foolishness of Saul, and more recently FDR and LBJ and all the welfare States who use legal charity which is not The Way of Christ, the Kingdom of God nor the righteousness of God.

[27] Adventures of Artifice in Languageland http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/sacrifice.php

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Eldership

Contents

What is biblical eldership?

What are the duties of an elder?

How important is this subject to the Church?

What is Pastoral eldership?

What does the Bible say about church eldership?

Laity

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Footnotes

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Eldership

What is biblical eldership?

What are the duties of an elder?

How important is this subject to the Church?

What is Pastoral eldership?

What does the Bible say about church eldership?

Laity

Other links

Footnotes

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