I wanted to post this part of the January 2008 Bible Study on Church Government.
http://bible-truths.com/audio/Church Government Pt_1.mp3
http://bible-truths.com/audio/Church Government Pt_2.mp3.
The transcript is not complete, so this is just a part from the audio.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT:
The shortest subject in the Bible and you will see what I say that in a minute.
Do you “Obey them that have the rule over you?”
Denny sent me this article from the
Wall Street Journal that I guess he got off the forum. The subject was on The Backlash Against Tithing. I took this one little excerpt from this one guy, when he objected to his church’s instructions to tithe, Kirk C. took it up with the church leaders… It explains that he didn’t think that it was Scriptural. Well they sent back a letter to him and the Pastor in the letter closed with this verse from Hebrews 13.
Heb 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them: for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
This is the part I wanted to bring out, “Obey your leaders.” This is what the minister was telling him, ‘you know what the Scriptures say don’t you Kirk C. The Scriptures say obey your leaders and submit to them.’ Meaning that he, as a pastor or teacher of the gospel, he had authority over him and they needed to obey and submit to that authority.
In Hebrews 13:7 it says, “Remember them which have the rule over you…”
Then in Hebrews 13:24 “Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.”
So just how many of you obey those that have the rule over you? That’s what the King James says, but that is not what the Scriptures say. It’s not totally wrong, but it is somewhat wrong and you get a wrong feeling. I don’t know what translation this man was quoting from “Obey your leaders and submit to them” (NASB). We do find three time in the thirteenth chapter of Hebrews this phrase, “remember - obey, them that have the rule over you.” Later I am going to show you a better translation of those Scriptures.
All major churches and religions have a rule, they have a government, they have a hierarchy. Catholics: elders, deacons and lower level it’s the Nights of Columbus and so on, which are not really ordained priests per say. Then they have priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the pope, that’s the hierarchy. Those people have real authority in the Catholic church.
Now on the negative side, recently I think it was in the range of $65 million that the church pay out as kind of hush money for damages to those people in the Boston area who were molested by this hierarchy of priests and so on. By what authority can they take poor peoples, the widow’s mite, money? $65 million worth of those mites and pay it to people that have been sexually molested by the priests. By what authority can they do that? Well by the authority of the church. You owe the church money, they take your money and they do with it what they will. If it requires blackmail money, they’ll pay blackmail money. That’s real authority you see.
Back in the roaring twenties, I guess that was the period where Al Capone and “Pretty Boy” Floyd and all these people were operating. They would require the merchants in the cities, Chicago and New York and so on to pay them protection money. If you were a merchant and you didn’t pay them protection money… and they would protect you too, it isn’t that they just stole your money, if you paid them money they would protect you. They would look out for you, so that hoodlums didn’t rob your store. There was a certain amount that they would do. By what authority could they make you pay them money or not only would they not protect you, but they themselves might burn down your business? You see that’s real authority, that’s fear. Those people didn’t want to give them that money, they feared the consequences. We can see immediately that is evil. Can’t we see that is criminal?
Isn’t this exactly what the governments of churches and religions do? Of course it is. It’s all based on fear. The doctrines are based on fear and giving them the money is based on fear, because if you don’t then they’ll get you with the doctrines, you see. If you don’t pay your tithes you’re robbing from God and you will go to hell, I mean that‘s as simple as it is. People say, ‘we shouldn’t come to Christ or be Christians out of fear.’ Listen I can’t tell go how many leaders, that sit there on that ivory and gold gilded stage of TBN and have personally given testimonies that the first and major reason that they accepted Christ or became a Christian was FEAR OF GOING TO HELL. I’ve heard it with my own ears numerous times.
All major churches and denominations have a church government and they usually have a regional, national and/or international headquarters (does that word ring a bell, ‘headquarters’… and ‘the work’). From that headquarters is issued the government of that denomination. They have the power the hire and fire, to dis-fellowship you and embarrass you in the multitude of the congregation and/or assign you to hell. They exercise or at least they think they have that power.
The independents that don’t have a worldwide church or congregations, but just have their own personal ministry, they are worse yet. When you take people like Paul Crouch… there is not a Paul Crouch church I don’t think, where you go a listen to Paul Crouch preach every Sunday. Benny Hinn has a church, but I don’t think he pastors it though. Then you have some that do pastor a church like John Hagee and Joel Olsteen and Creflo Dollar has a congregation and some of those. Then you have others like Joyce Mires, I don’t know if she has a congregation that she pastors every Sunday or not. But most of those, their big thing is television, their television ministry where they go and rent these convention centers. Swagger is back and Jim Baker is back. How do they show their authority?
We talk about authority and government, hierarchy and all of these things, power, rulership, you know “Obey them that have the rule over you” (Heb. 13:17). The one thing that these people want is your money. They want your money. You listen to Creflo Dollar and Joyce Mires and Paula White, they want your money. They all want you to be prayer partners, they call them warriors and partners and all of that, in other words they want your money. Now anybody that can control your money is exercising great authority over you. Anybody who can claim your money… now here is the thing, they don’t say give me your money, I mean they’re not that stupid, people would see through them. They say give God your money and here is where to send it. Can you see that?
If you are watching Paula White and you want to obey all this… and it’s on every program, it’s nonstop. That girl’s got dollar signs just flipping in her eyes, that woman is obsessed with worldlyism and materialism; money, clothes, jewelry, homes, jet, power, the woman is just absolutely possessed of it. So she teaches all these every morning of every day, all these rules and regulations and building the foundation. Last year it was 07 and that’s the year of completion, ‘this year God is going to complete His blessings on you.’ Well what do you do in 08 then? ‘Oh 08 is the number of resurrection, so this is the year you are going to be resurrected into the new… and 09 is when some other thing.’ It’s like an used car salesmen.
Any car salesman new or used worth their salt on the face of the earth can give you a reason why this day, today, not tomorrow, but today is the best time to buy a car at their dealership. Here is the reason why and if they don’t have reasons they make them up. They make them up… we have too many cars and we have to reduce them and get rid of the inventory… It’s a July sale… it a manager’s sale, it’s some kind of a sale. There is always a reason why, today.
So these ministers will never run out of ammunition. Not only can they tell you why 08 is the year that you are suppose to do all this, but they can tell you on Tuesday why Tuesday is the day of the month of the year that you were suppose to do this. It’s all nonsense, just unbelievable nonsense. But they quote Scriptures from the Bible and stuff and low and behold… two (2) things; either 1) greed sets in or 2) fear. Sometimes they use both, fear and greed.
People are told if they don’t tithe they are robbing God and if you rob God you are a thief and if you are a thief you will go to hell. But they are also told if you do tithe it will open up the windows of heaven and pour you out all these material blessings, cars, money, diamonds, furs, whatever. So it’s greed and fear and they all use it and they use it well. Those that use it the best, they make the most.
The one that gets me is… you give it to God, show God. How do you do that? Well you give it to them. They put themselves in the place of God! When you give to Paula White you are giving to god, what does that tell you? Come on people wake up.
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I just thought this would be helpful right now for this thread,
mercy, peace and love
Kat
Author
Topic: Submitting to authority (Read 6536 times)