THE LEADERS OF OUR NATIONAL CHURCH – (Are they leading us down the path to destruction?)
(All Bible verses are taken from the Authorised Version)
WITH the latest controversy developing in our National Church (Church of England) perhaps we should look at what the Bible has to say about the leaders (the ‘shepherds’) of that church, and what kind of character references they should have for the job.
The latest controversy being, whether a sodomite should be allowed to be a bishop in the church.
I notice, looking at the Church of England’s Web Site that we are now Anglicans-there is no mention of the word Protestant at all! Well, I AM A PROTESTANT! That means I accept the Word of God in its entirety and believe Him over any mere man be his title Archbishop or be he “very learned” in the latest theories and fancies; and I therefore wish to PROTEST on behalf of the FAITH once delivered to the Apostles.
“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” – (Malachi 3:6)
God does not change, nor do His laws and principles of life:
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” – (Matthew 5:18)
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; (of sacrifices) for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” – Ephesians 2:15
Notice it is because God does not change that we still survive. He made certain promises to our forefathers, which He will keep. He will chastise us for our sins but we will not be utterly destroyed although that is what we deserve.
The ordinances underlined above are the only part of the Law that has been fulfilled or completed in our Lord’s death and resurrection – the rest remains until He comes again in judgement!
The issue now, is the Archbishop of Canterbury and others of our leaders fit to be in that position according to God’s principles?
Let’s see what the Word of God has to say on the matter:
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;” – (I Timothy 3:2)
“Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.” – (I Timothy 3:12)
“… and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.” – (Titus 1:5,6)
St Paul states quite clearly the criteria for those who would hold the positions of bishops, deacons or elders.
1) First of all, are these men blameless? That is between them and God. But by their fruits, judged by the Word of God as above, we are to know if they are legitimately to hold a position of trust and leadership in our Church.
They after all are responsible for the elucidation and administration of God’s Word in order that people might have the opportunity to repent of their sins and be saved. If they do not proclaim the Word of God correctly both by their words and their actions, it may be that they will be responsible for the destruction of many souls, including their own.
“When I say unto the wicked, 0 wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” – (Ezekiel 33:8,9)
2) The husband of one wife. I wonder how many fill that criteria, and the wife?
“Even so must their wives be grave, (dignified in conduct) not slanderers, sober, (self-controlled) faithful in all things.” – (I Timothy 3:11)
How many of their wives live up to that?
3) Vigilant – to be alert, watchful. In other words being ever on guard against sin wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head.
4) Sober – Of course not a drunkard, but also as above dignified in conduct.
5) Of good behaviour – which a sodomite is not, seeing that is an abomination in the sight of God.
6) Given to hospitality – Which of course all Christians should be, caring for others’ needs.
7) Apt to teach – This is where the leaders of our Church fall down terribly, how can they teach the Word of God when they clearly do not either know it or believe it themselves?
As Christians we are not, or should not be in the business of pleasing the world, being liberal or fashionable. The most important thing to us is GOD, pleasing Him, loving Him, obeying Him, and since He wants only what is good for us, He knows what is, better than any mortal, it should not be a hardship to hold to His Word.
The Ten Commandments are not the whole Law, they are a summary, and there are many Statutes and Judgements within the pages of the Law, that our church leaders do not teach, which would be an incredible blessing to all if they did and the people abode by those laws. The following are a couple of examples:
THE CANCELLATION OF DEBT
“At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release.” – (Deuteronomy 15:1, 2)
Just think what a blessing that would be for our poor oppressed people, weighed down with year after year of mounting debts with no way out other than to lose their homes or worse. These poor people do not know that this is totally against God’s will that they should suffer like this. And that it need not be this way!
TAXATION WOULD BE FAIRER UNDER GOD’S LAW
“And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth (10%) unto thee.” – (Genesis 28:22)
There are many, many other passages to do with this all talking of only a tenth (10%) required for a tithe or tax as opposed to our varied income tax of at least 22% +.
There are many other laws dealing with our personal well being and that of the nation as a whole. But how many Christians have ever studied them or realise they are still in force and that if we followed these God given Statutes and Judgements we would not have the health problems that we suffer from today?
It is the duty of the Shepherds to teach these things to us and they do not! From the Archbishop down there is hardly one that is truly fit for the position of bishop or deacon, (there should be no priests anyway now as the Lord is our Priest after the order of Melchisedec for ever, as the sacrificing priesthood was finished with our Lord’s ultimate sacrifice of Himself.)
He now is the only priest we need to intercede for us for our sins.
Revival and repentance do not come about with the happy-clappy entertainment that goes on in churches today, (you might get the numbers because people like to be entertained!), but I’m talking about believers in the TRUTH and that comes only by preaching the pure Word of God. Instead of trying to be popular and trendy, the ministers in our Churches should be pointing out the people’s sins to them, calling them to repent and showing them the better way, God’s Way.
Now I know that the above will not be popular with many, and you might say who are you to tell us what to do? But I am telling you nothing, I merely show you God’s Word, it is He that tells you that if you would be His disciple then you must abide by His rules. If you cannot, then you must vacate the position of authority you have in the Church of England – surely you have enough integrity to be honest about that, don’t you?
Would you normally join a club whose rules and principles you do not agree with, unless you do so intentionally to change those rules. In which case St Paul says;
“And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Cnrist Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:” – (Galatians 2:4)
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, (lust, adultery, sodomy etc) and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” – (Jude 1:4)
Far be it from me to accuse any clergy of the above, but even in St Paul’s day they had to be alert to the infiltration of the enemy and deal with them. It grieves me to see how my Church has become so apostate, it has lost its way and degenerated to such a degree that I can no longer attend the services. Going to another denomination is not an option for me as I still hold to the King James Authorised version as the overall best translation of God’s Word, The Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles. The breakaways and offshoots from the Church of England have mostly done away with these anyway and do their own thing; that is not for me.
I know there are many like me who do not have a church we can attend, not because we do not believe any more, but BECAUSE WE DO. But the shepherds have gone themselves astray, so how can they teach us?
Although I am in my fifties now, I am still working, am fairly up to date with fashion trends and attitudes and I do not condemn every thing out of hand just because it is modern or not my taste. But one thing that is not up for adjustment, makeover, update, upgrade or any other fashionably PC change, is the Ever-living, Unchanging, Almighty, Creator, Father God and His Word! And I for one will not compromise on that.
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.” – (Ezekiel 34:10)
