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The Church System:
Most religions and Christian Churches use what is called a hierarchical government
structure and this type of government structure is rule from the top down. They
appoint men as Deacons, Elders, Preaching elders, Ministers, Evangelist, and
the one at the top usually refers to himself as the "Apostle" or the
Leading Evangelist. In the Catholic Church we find them as Priests, Cardinals,
Bishops, and of course the man at the top is the Pope. Although the names are
different it is exactly the same thing, a hierarchical type government! The
system in some cases is controlled by the Minister and in some Churches by a
council called the "Council of Elders" or the "Council of the
twelve" which they get from the twelve apostles. Churches also set up what
can be termed as the "Churches Theology" which is in reality what
that particular Church believes as is stated in their statement of beliefs which
is either written by the Minister in charge or the Council. Most Churches set
out guide lines that must be followed such as what is most important to teach
and how to teach it. Also they have to address the subject of preaching to those
outside of the Church in order to bring in more members. Without this basic
function the Church would not grow in the way they would like so one can understand
its importance. Is it wrong to have ministers, elders and deacons in the Church?
Well scripture is very clear on the fact that ministers, elders and deacons
were appointed for different service, but the question is what guidelines should
the Church use as their "Theology" and their statement of beliefs?
How should the Church choose their teachers, elders, and those that have gifts
from God to edify and help the Church grow? Jesus and the apostles left good
examples and we will learn a great deal about this today.
Many preachers have assumed that the government of God today should be hierarchical
and ran like the Old Testament priesthood because of the structure of the priesthood.
This system that was known as the priesthood set up by Moses as instructed by
God was a good system at the time for the needs of the people and what God intended
to teach them and do with them. What is not understood in most Churches that
set up this type of system is that Jesus eliminated the priesthood when He brought
in the New Covenant so we should look for the type of system Jesus Himself would
set up. You will notice they pick and choose from the old covenant as it fits
the needs of their church, and looking at the past priesthood structure we can
see the many Church organization of this world.
(1) There was only one living high priest at a time.
(2) God worked through the high priest only.
(3) If tithes were paid to anyone other than the high priest the sinner was
robbing God.
(4) The high priest interpreted the law as a judge.
(5) The high priest had the authority to appoint or disfellowship as he deemed
necessary.
(6) If you separated from the priesthood you lost contact with God.
(7) The Priest was the only ones to serve God in the temple.
In that old system the people needed the priest to not only make atonement
for their sins, but no one could contact God except through this system as God
had set it up. Many could not even understand the oracles of God at that time
except they hear it from the priest. Many would not know when or how to keep
the holy days except the priest count the time from the waning moon to find
the time of the Molad so the people would know when to begin and where to go.
When we study the book of Hebrews we find that today under the New Covenant
we have access to God the Holy Father through Jesus the Messiah. We find that Jesus
made void the Old Covenant and that Jesus alone is the head. (Our study on The
Covenants goes into the book of Hebrews in detail)
When many ministers are asked to prove from the bible if God wants the hierarchical
type government set up in His Church today, in most cases they don't bring
up the scriptures they should but refer you to Exod 18:23. "If you do this
thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this
people will also go to their place in peace." Notice the words "God
so commands you" This is what the minister will focus you on because of
the word "COMMANDS". But beware my friend because either they are
deceiving you, or they don't know the scriptures, because if they are going
to use this to point people to God, then they should be sure of the meaning
and intent of the author. The word Command here in Exod. 18:23 is Tsavah
in Hebrew and means to enjoin or better put (if God so wills) we will do this
or that.
The word in Hebrew for Command as, God giving a command is mitsvah; and
this word denotes a command, law, ordinance, or a precept from God. There's
a world of difference in the meanings here, because the word "Tsavah"
is used, the true meaning is getting God's blessings on something we do as men,
and that is all this was. Moses' Father-in-law saw that Moses was being overwhelmed
by answering the people's questions and solving problems. The solution was to
appoint able men that feared God, men of truth to be rulers of thousands, rulers
of hundreds, like a pyramid structure. Again I say this was not a bad suggestion
nor was it evil, but it was nothing more than a solution to the problem at hand,
not a command from God! The statement "If you do this thing, and God so
commands you, then you will be able to endure." was in fact, "If you
do this thing and God wills, (or God agrees) then you will be able to endure
or this will help with the problem.
The hierarchical government:
The hierarchical type government is not of God and is in fact the doctrine of
the Nicolaitans, which we even find in scripture that God hates, so let's look
at the term Nicolaitan and learn why God hates it. First let's check the Encyclopedia
records that record that Nicolaism is a Christian heresy whose adherents are
called nicolaitans. "Nico" means "conquer" in Greek, and
"Laitan" refers to lay people, or the laity; hence, the word may be
taken to mean "Lay conquerors" or Conquerors of the Lay People, or
the name itself meaning 'victorious over people', or the same thing as the hierarchical
type church government which is men RULING from the top down as if they have
the authority of Jesus Himself. They are mentioned twice in the Book of Revelation
and according to Revelation 2, vv. 6 and 15, they were known in the cities of
Ephesus and Pergamos (around AD 99). In this chapter, the church at Ephesus
is praised for "hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which God stated He
also hates and the church in Pergamos is blamed for having them who hold their
doctrines. Now I must say here that there's no other first-hand evidence to
give us certainty about the nature of this sect and no evidence supporting the
claim that Nicholas was in fact a Heretic just to be fare to the question.
I did find some information in our research from the International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia and will state it here. It stated..."The Nicolaitans
disobeyed the command issued to the gentile churches, by the apostolic council
held at Jerusalem in 49-50 AD, that they should refrain from the eating of "things
sacrificed to idols". This restriction prevented the Christian communities
from joining the public festivals, and so brought upon them suspicion and dislike,
but it was necessary to prevent a return to pagan morals. In writing to the
Corinthians, Paul gives warning against the same evil practices, basing his
arguments on consideration for the weaker brethren as recorded in 1 Cor. chapter
8).
But can we find biblical teachings that teach against
the type of church government structure which the Nicolaitan definition refers?
The answer is yes and we find them taught by Jesus Himself. It doesn't say Nicolaitans
as we see in the book of Revelation as it is a system not a title.
What did Jesus and apostles teach concerning the structure of the New covenant
church, and who will always have authority over this church? As I stated…Jesus
gave us the example of the true structure He wanted in His Church, so let's
read what is recorded in John 15:5. "I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can
do nothing." The truth from God is that a vine is the best way to depict
God's type of government because this type of government puts Christ as the
Lord and gives everyone who truly follows Him the opportunity to serve and lay
up treasures in heaven without contriving and backbiting. There's no reason
to politic when the Messiah has already qualified to rule and never forget
that it was Satan from the very beginning that wanted to ascend to take the
position of God, and anytime a man places himself between Christ and the brethren
or seeks the position of Christ's authority in anyway whatsoever, he is not
doing God's will.
Notice that Jesus states in the above scripture concerning the structure like
a vine that He wants us ALL to bear much fruit, so we ALL can grow, not just
the minister or the deacons or elders. We also find in Matt 20:25-28 that Jesus
instructed His disciples not to lord over their brethren. Let's read it…"But
Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over
them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great
among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you,
let him be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
How should servants be appointed to serve in the Church?
Whether the needs are ministers, elder, deacons, those that keep the funds,
or someone heading up a church group to help the homeless in your community,
the appointment should be done the way that was set up in the first church.
The fact is that the people in each local congregation knows who have born the
fruits needed for the service that they are going to be placed in to serve.
We find in scripture the example of choosing by the local congregation in
Acts 14:23 23. "So when they had appointed elders in every church,
and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed."
The word "Appointed" in the Greek here means to be a voter (by raising
the hand), i.e. to select, appoint or ordain. So the one chosen was ordained
by those in the congregation raising their hands in agreement as to the appointment.
There is much more logic doing it this way than some man at what has recently
become know in our time today as headquarters choosing when he has not been
very aquatinted with neither the congregation or the person in question. Another
point is that in most cases the person being considered has already been serving
and God has truly chosen them long beforehand. Even so we find that after the
appointment the congregation then commended them to the Lord as we read in the
above scripture. It is very important to commend them to the Lord as Jesus is
the one in charge,
Many Christians have come to understand that the hierarchical government set
up in the Churches are not Biblical nor is the will of God, and even some ministers
are admitting that God does not want the hierarchical system used in His Church
and has began to preach against it. It is good that some are preaching the truth
on this subject, but we should not let our guard down brethren, because
although some ministers are preaching that the hierarchical type Church government
is not what Jesus or the apostles taught, some are at the same time setting
it up under new names and ideas. A good salesman can sell you the same product
you rejected last week under a new package, so we need to educate ourselves
on the ways we can detect what is truth, not by what is preached against, but
by what being done by the minister. Here again brethren we must check out the
fruit of the tree. I'm going to list some points below that I will call "Hierarchical
Symptoms" so we can take a look at what is being done so we can understand
the techniques that are used to deceive. There are definite techniques being
used to control of the congregation.
Beware of the Hierarch:
Remember that the term Nicolaitan broken down is "Victory over the people"
so by this term we can detect those that use the hierarchical government to
RULE over the Church. The first thing a power hungry Hierarch will do is put
forth his over stated credentials that entitles him to be your teacher. He may
even go as far as presenting historical facts claiming his lineage ties him
to the Apostles, priesthood, or even, as one man did, to the lineage of Jesus
Himself. Once he has you believing he is qualified he then will place himself
as the authority, and as some have done in the past, claim he is "divinely
appointed by God" and is given "a special commission on this earth.
You will know he has done this when he isolates himself from the common people
by not allowing anyone to contact him directly and only those he determines
worthy can have his personal phone number because only those that are "leaders"
can know the inside scoop. (Ever notice how separate tables are set up for ministers
and elders at church dinners?) Why? I thought they were to be the ones that
serve the brethren?
He then sets himself up as the one to determine who can be an elder or teacher
and he will have to be the one that appoints others for baptizing, and anointing,
and never mind if people are being healed by God through people the Hierarch
has not approved. He will use terms like pillars in the church to separate those
he can use to uphold HIS teachings, and authority. He will say God does the
calling, but his actions will show he will not let God do the calling because
if the person does not agree with the Hierarch he will announce publicly that
this person must be an heretic who does not even have God's Holy Spirit. I have
heard them say this myself…I'm not making this up! A strong and
dangerous judgment I must say! The Hierarch will use shunning and isolation
techniques such as telling you not to read any material he has not approved
or written, and that you should not listen to others outside of the church and
to do so could lead you away from Christ. You will be taught that this church
is the one God is working with and the others are either not the lead church
or not true churches of God at all.
He will infer that you need him to interpret the Greek because you are not
as versed in it as he is, however what he should tell you is that the books
to obtain and read are the Strong's concordance, and Zodhiates complete word
study of the Old and New Testaments as well as George Ricker Berry's
Interlinear Greek New Testament, and the Tanakh for the Old Testament, but
they will not do this because then you will know as much as they do. Another
symptom will be that the hierarch will start settling issues and disputes, and
begin to teach dress codes, dating, and marriage but then he gets into if you
should marry this person at all, and also what he determines to be proper child
rearing techniques. He will not allow common people to ask questions and get
straight answers from the Bible but will only cover many topics in sermons and
then dance right over the points. The reason this is done in sermons is so no
one will question the subject in public, but I believe that the floor should
be opened to the congregation for discussion after the sermon. If he knows his
bible or his subject this should not be a problem for him.
The Hierarch will quote the scripture correctly and then misapply it for his
own purpose or he will use a verse if it has just the word he wants in it, hoping
you won't check up on him. Many will actually skip over scriptures because they
shine a light on the truth thus not allowing them to spin the meaning. Some
will quote the scripture and state "can it mean this or that?" Then
on into their sermon make the "could it mean" statement as if it's
indeed a fact. He will go all around it and then make statements as if what
he is saying is fact without using scripture. He will also read a scripture
and then state "this means" when in fact it does not mean that. He
will claim his writings are "absolute truths" and that he is the one
God reveals this truth to. He will say that he needs correcting also, but when
someone proves him wrong from the Bible on a subject that he does not want to
change, for what ever reason, he will not address the subject point by point
with scripture. Brethren, if a man takes on the responsibility to become a steward
of the scriptures then he must be very sure of what he will convey as the truth,
or he runs the risk of becoming a false messenger.
The Hierarch will also present an idea that sounds very urgent and convince
people that this is what we all should strive for in these last days. Just as
an example he could say that in the last days just before Jesus returns many
people that have never been called will wake up to the truth and come out of
this worlds system. At that time they will need someone to teach them the truth,
and help them come to Jesus in true repentance. The Hierarch will tell you that
he is getting ready for this special time with books and sermons to help these
people, and he needs your tithes to help him publish more. Brethren don't
be deceived by these many cunning, and deceiving, statements designed to take
your money by making you feel if you don't give to them you are going against
God or your going against the work of God in the end time. It will not take
your money for God to send His two witnesses, nor will it take your money for
them to have the power God gives them to do such a mighty work of preaching
repentance and the gospel message. Their authority comes from God. When someone
claims that God has sent them to warn (witness) to this poor dying world, BUT
they need YOUR support; They need your money…these men are false preachers,
and have not been sent by God!! Please don't take this to mean that we should
not support the publishing of the gospel message now. We should give as God
instructs us, but we don't have to fear for our salvation as if we are going
against God if we don't give it as a command to some man. The truth is that
NO MAN has the right to DEMAND a tithe from you as if it's a command from God!
(See Tithe link below)
There is a reason we find so many different church denominations with so many
different teachings contrary to one another although they ALL claim the same
book as their guide, and I believe the main reason is the hierarchical government
structure. Men come to think they are in charge and forget the teachings of
Jesus Himself as we covered above. It is as a vine as Jesus Himself taught.
Many start out wanting to just serve and do God's will, however this type of
system breeds the desire to politic and the system itself can not exist unless
a man places himself as the head of the church which is placing himself between
Christ and the brethren. This type of system also locks the brethren into a
"framed way" of bible study to the point that many scriptures are
overlooked in order to continue the "Church's Doctrines" It's the
Church's Doctrines that become more important as understood and taught by headquarters,
and even the minister has to work within the framework of headquarters or run
the risk of being removed.
Biblical scriptures tells us to prove all things so let's look into this subject
of Church Government with the humble and willing mind to understand from the
written word of God without spinning scripture. The Christian must be willing
at all times to be corrected and must continually seek to grow in the knowledge
of the truth if we are to reach our reward in the Kingdom of God. Yes salvation
is through the Messiah alone, but he who does not run or does not run well
can find themselves in the ditch with the blind. The fact is that the hierarchical
church government that originated from the Catholic Church has failed in every
way possible and has lead many into the Apostasy which teaches brethren to worship
all manner of false gods, and if only truth was important to them we all would
know and understand the same things but the truth is not what is important but
power, and a high position is what they seek and many of these churches have
become nothing more than a money making business.
All one needs to do is talk to hundreds of brethren that have been greatly
abused and suppressed by this type of system. History shows how these men have
abused the money that was in-trusted to them, and how they, even today, live
far richer then those that send in their tithes. If a minister is receiving
his living and driving a car, wearing clothes, or living in a home that far
exceeds the life style of the brethren, he my friend is a hireling! How can
he in good conscience live better than the poor of the congregation? The problem
is when some that have been appointed as ministers or elders begin to "Exercise
authority" over the Church and think that the "Buck" stops with
them. The truth is that Jesus is governing His Church from His headquarters
in heaven through every truly begotten child of God. Jesus is the one that appoints
and gives gifts in whatever He has determined them to do. It's Jesus that
rules, and has the authority to say if someone has His Holy Spirit. It's
Jesus that can read the hearts of us all not some man that does not know what
you truly feel and desire. Jesus knows what He has put each and every one through
in life to bring us to the place we are so we can be used where He determines,
not some man that went to some "Collage" or that was ordained by some
high ranking minister.
Jesus, nor the apostles, were ordained by anyone except God the Holy Father or even
went to the learning institutions of their day! Brethren under the new covenant
we can individually go directly to God the Holy Father and be taught by the
Holy Spirit. Jesus the Messiah governs in love by the power of God and it is
by this Spirit of God that we can receive the love of God and it is by this
Spirit of God we can know and do His will. We can go to Jesus for all our needs
and even receive wisdom, instruction, faith, mercy, strength, hope, and yes,
we can even ask if there is something we can do to help in the preaching the
gospel to others. The scriptures always interprets the true meaning, and if
we will just accept what is recorded and prove all things from the written word,
the text and the scriptures we can come to a great understanding of God's plan
and will in our lives. If a person has the Spirit of God working with them they
will love the Holy Father and the truth He sent by His Son Jesus. It should be the
Spirit of God that teaches and motivates us all to do His will.
A True Minister:
A true minister or elder that is truly submitting to Jesus will be showing by
his fruits that he truly is sent by God, because he will never try taking over
by placing himself between Jesus and the brethren saying we must be part of
his Church supporting him or we will be lost, or claim to be sent by God to
be the only one to do the work. A minister truly submitting to God will always
point you to Jesus, and he will realize that Jesus does the calling not only
for salvation, but for preaching the gospel. God the Holy Father draws the
person to Jesus. The true man of God will seek to help the poor, the widow and
fatherless. He will give hope to the down trodden, and visit the sick and comfort
the dying. He will not be a respecter of persons eating with the rich and politicians.
You will not see him setting up there at a special table.
He will keep the line of communication open to all that wants to ask a question
and a true minister of God will do everything for the good of the people. He
will love the truth and defend it from those who would pervert it, and teach
against all pagan teachings like the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, as he knows
it leads God's people away from God and towards the world so he will tell you
the truth about it. He will teach the truth even if it means losing his position
as a minister or even if he knows it will cost him his life. He will preach
the truth even if he receives no salary for his labor, as the apostle Paul stated
"Woe to me if I don't preach the gospel". He would rather teach the
truth to seven faithful Christians for free, rather then teach lies and half
truths to thousands of people who have itching ears wanting to hear only smooth
teachings. Did you know that some ministers make more money a year than the
President of the United States?
He will never say follow ME as I follow Christ, because to do that is to get
the minds of the people off Christ and on the man. Did Paul say follow ME as
I follow Christ as is taught today? Many misguided ministers quote 1Cor. 11:1
and then state "Follow me, just as I also follow Christ." but the
truth is that the King James version incorrectly uses the word follow. The Greek
word used here is "mimetes" and it means imitator. Webster's New World
College Dictionary renders imitate as to seek the example of, take as one's
model or pattern, to mimic, or resemble. This rendering denotes becoming like
Jesus, and could be used by Paul in that as long as he conducted himself in
a Christ-like manner, then those who saw his actions could learn by example.
Ever see a small child imitate someone? What a big difference that is from follow.
Webster's New World College Dictionary renders "follow" as to go along,
to accept the authority of, to obey, yield to, or to advocate the ideas, or
opinions of those followed.
Now this rendering has a completely different meaning than to imitate Paul
as he imitates Christ. Paul was in essences being the example for others to
see. Where following him would get our eyes off Christ and on Paul (or any man)
thereby the possibility of being deceived if the man would cunningly change
the doctrine as many has in the past and will in the future. The one thing God
wants mankind to always remember and it's the very thing we always seem to forget,
and that is, GOD IS SUPREME! God has never and will never give up or trust His
authority or His people to any angel or man. The hierarchy that is placed between
the believer and God is just to keep the people under control, looking to the
Hierarch and sending their money in. If you want to do a test to see where the
Hierarch's heart truly is, (or your ministers heart truly is) tell him you still
want to be a part of his group, but you will be sending all your tithes to the
poor from now on. I suspect you might get the sermon that you will be
ROBBING God!
You might want to hear the eye opening sermon on tithing so you can refute those
that try to take your money and state it is a command from God. The great point
here is if that if they state it is a command from God…If you don't give
your money you are not sinning.
There are definite techniques that are being used either by design or from a minister being educated in a hierarchical system. God is the judge as to what each man is doing, but as stated above, we need to understand these techniques that are used to deceive so we can continue in the true relationship with Jesus the Messiah. It is a relationship between you and Jesus. It is my sincerest hope and prayer that this information informs many to beware of wolves in Shepherds clothing and help us to look to Jesus as our only Savior, and Master.
You also might want to read.
Apostolic
Succession and Temporal Power.