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Following a Particular Human Leader

3/22/2014

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Be careful to whom you associate yourself with. We do not follow men; we follow the scriptures.

One major problem of today's believers is that many follow the "big" men of the assembly (church) such as Luther, Calvin, Darby, and other organizations in the world. Many believers fall too deeply in love with their teachings and opinions instead of sticking with the black and white text of the New Covenant. These believers tend to talk about what these men say, instead of taking verses and sharing their own understanding of the biblical matter.

We can recognize them easily because they distinguish themselves from other believers by labeling themselves names after the man or group they follow: Lutheran, Calvinists, Darbyites, Baptists, Pentecostal, etc. Unintentionally or not, they create partition within the body of Christ. They commit the sin of sectarianism.

This is similar to what happened in the assembly of Corinth. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1: 11-13, "For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers... Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ. Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!"

In the same way, these believers create division, even competition, instead of unity in the assembly.

Again, be careful to whom you associate yourself with. These "big" men of the assembly (church), how "big" they may be, are still humans and are susceptible to mistakes like every one of us. By reading the history and biography of these men, we can find flaws easily. Yes, they MAY be saved and have some sound doctrines, but what they believed and taught may not be 100 % in line with the scriptures.

To name a few, J. N. Darby believed in the baptism of infants. Mature believers know that there is nothing in the New Covenant that supports this. So if one says he is a Darbyite, he automatically puts himself under this false doctrine. Likewise, Luther, in his lifetime, hated the Jews so much he told the German people to burn the synagogues! The list could go on and on about the rest of the "big" men in the assembly. But my intention for this blog is not to enumerate their mistakes.

My point is that we should remind ourselves, as believers, to stick to the scriptures and not to go too far following the strides of ordinary men. It is good to examine what they say. It is part of questioning and studying the scriptures anyway. But to blindly follow every teaching they have to the point of not searching the scriptures to prove whether their  teachings are valid or not-- is wrong.  Even worse when we take their names to label ourselves and causing division instead of promoting unity in the assembly. 

After all, who is Luther? Who is Calvin? Who is Darby? Even Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who is far "BIGGER" than all these "big" men, rebuked the Corinthians for committing such a sin!


"So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you— whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God." 1 Corinthians 3:21-23

Let us associate ourselves only to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We follow Him and nobody else.






Related readings: Sin of Sectarianism
                              Building on the Foundation of Christ







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Thou and Thee

3/20/2014

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The words "thou" and "thee" are very appealing to the ears. They sound sophisticated and classy, like you are speaking in a higher ground whenever you utter them. But actually, these words only mean "YOU" in modern day language. Just "you". "Thou" and "thee" are archaic and have been replaced in almost all context by the modern counterpart "you".

Early English translations of the Bible used "thou" and "thee" as the singular second-person pronoun to follow the grammar of the time. But notice in these translations, in the King James version for example, that "thou" and "thee" were not exclusively used for God. Men addressed other men with "thou" and "thee" as well. Like Paul talked to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:21, just to give an example , "I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality." Therefore, "thou" and "thee" are mere words and do not produce solemnity nor spirituality. 

It is sad for me to notice that many English assemblies these days make a big fuzz about "thou" and "thee" to the point that whenever a brother prays without using these words, he is perceived as carnal or disrespectful. They put a degree of spirituality with these words as if they were solemn and reverential in themselves, when in fact they only mean "you" in today's English. These people remind me of the Messianic Jews who replace English names with Aramaic words in their English Bible translations! They read English Bibles, with of course English words, but they do not accept English names! They say the English names are blasphemous. They do not accept the English name "Jesus" because they say it means "a pig"!!! What a profanity! They mix English and Aramaic in an English translation because for them it is SPIRITUAL. And anybody who does the opposite is carnal or not a 'believer' at all.

In the same way, some assemblies mix modern day language with archaic language to make an "elite spiritual language". Some hundred years ago, "thou" and "thee" were street words. The believers during those years used these words casually as they were part of their colloquial language. But now, the assemblies seem to have made a tradition of "how to address the Lord" by using the special pronouns "thou" and "thee".  And the sad part is, they pass it on to younger believers as THE ONLY WAY to talk to God. This practice promotes a wrong sense of spirituality among brethren plus it could confuse visitors who do not know these old English words.

I, personally, do not have anything against those brothers who use "thou" and "thee" when praying during assembly meetings. But I don't think it is right to push this in other brothers-- not letting them use the modern language "you" in praying-- as if it was a direct command or even a doctrine from God.



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"Lord, you know our hearts. Let us glorify you in every word we say and in every thing we do. Amen."





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Pastor-Teachers to Rebuke Elders

3/20/2014

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"...I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth," 1 Timothy 1:3

In reading the scroll of 1 Timothy, Paul instructed Timothy, a pastor-teacher, to openly rebuke some elders of the local assembly in Ephesus for misbehaving so that they will NOT continue on sinning. By doing this, he would set things right and prevent other elders from doing the same mistakes. We do not know what the elders did wrong specifically, but it should be bad enough for Paul to write Timothy a letter and to tell him to bring them (the elders who sinned) to the court in front of the assembly for an open rebuke. 

Contrary to what many people think, Timothy was not an elder. He was a pastor-teacher who went around with Paul teaching at different places. But in 1 Timothy 1:3 we read that Paul urged him to stay in Ephesus for some time to fix the problem with the elders in their local assembly. He stayed there to teach the believers in Ephesus, along with the elders, how to behave according to the doctrines imposed by the Lord Himself.

Humanly speaking, it could have been very tempting for Timothy to side with some elders but Paul warned him to be neutral, to guard without showing prejudice, and not to do even one thing dominated by the spirit of partiality.


1 Timothy 5: 19-21 "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality."

Elders are known to be the watch keepers of the flocks of the local assembly. They are the leaders. But remember that they are also human beings like all of us. The elders of today are as susceptible to mistakes as the elders of the early assemblies. Today, we do not have Paul nor Timothy to rebuke the elders who do wrong, so who could dare bring them to court and point out their misconducts whenever they commit one? I believe that Paul gave us a perfect example on what to do in such cases as written in his epistle.

Today, we may not have Paul nor Timothy to rebuke elders and to point out what they have done wrong. But we certainly have the teachings of the New Covenant, particularly the scroll of 1 Timothy, to guide us. Also, we still have pastor-teachers, like Timothy, who travel around different local assemblies and educate us about the teachings of the early apostles as it is written. These pastor-teachers are designated by God as gift to the Assembly (See Ephesians 4:13), not designated by people based on college diplomas. Moreover, these pastor-teachers are full time workers who look out for the good of all local assemblies (in contrary to the pastors of denominations who lead one group). They are the ones who should openly rebuke any misconduct done by elders. And they should do this the same way Timothy did it before: neutral, showing no prejudice, and no spirit of partiality.


As much as we, believers, respect elders, we (elders included) should also respect the pastor-teachers who are tasked by God to keep the local assemblies pure and in line with the sound teaching of the New Covenant. And part of keeping the assembly pure, is dealing with the human errors and misbehaviors done by the elders.






 
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    Gaetan Robichaud

    "There is only one Name under whom believers should be gathered--the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is one PERFECT ASSEMBLY--God's local assembly."

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