"It is easier to fool people than to convince people they have been fooled." Mark Twain
All the lies that have been accepted within the Church are difficult to remove because they are based on appealing to emotion rather than rational thinking.
Many people in many gatherings have been intimidated into relying on the "pastors" rather than the Holy Spirit Who lives in them.
Those who rely on people will be caught up in much deception and false doctrine. Those who trust the Holy Spirit will have wisdom greater than most and will be seen as trouble makers by the many.
The church is full of narcissists in our day. Many people are proud of their allegiance to a man, the preacher while demeaning those who may have great wisdom but are seen as someone who does not have a degree, therefore, they cannot know the truth.
2 Timothy 3 is a description of the end times apostate church. God said these people would have a form of religion but deny the real God. As born again believers we do not have religion, we have a relationship with Christ and He lives in us. We do not indulge in meaningless feel-good rituals as most people do, we live each day trusting the Holy Spirit to guide and train us.
And, make no mistake, the protestant church has as many wrong beliefs and rituals as does the Catholic church, but since they are different from the Catholics they think they don't have any.
We used to hear this in the Catholic church, "only the priests can know" mentality restricted people and intimidated them into falling in line with false doctrine. Now in the protestant church, the people treat the hierarchy, that is "pastors" of the gatherings the same way we used to treat the priests, as though they could do no wrong and no one should question them.
God's church does not recognize "pastors" as the authority, it is not a title or a position, it is a calling and according to scripture, there should be two or more in the gathering.
When we rely on men we have an idol, even if that man is your husband. Wives must share their Holy Spirit views with their husbands, especially when the husband is beginning down the wrong path. Since husbands just like wives are not perfect they too need accountability and input when they have tunnel vision. We all have tunnel vision and need input from one another at times.
There are as many women as men who are on the wrong path thinking they are popular so they must be right. The truth is there is a God-ordained order in the church, men are to lead and women are to be the support.
"Helpmeet" has the connotation of being a counselor and advisor to the men. Support when the man is obeying God and a counselor when the men may have a blindspot.
We are never to obey anyone, pastor or husband when they are disobeying God.
Ananias and Sapphira is a good example in which the wife, Sapphira obeyed her husband and died along with him. Perhaps the story would have been different if the wife had attempted to talk her husband out of lying they might have both lived. Or if the wife refused to disobey God but the husband would remain stubborn then I am confident the wife would have lived while the husband died.
Ezekiel 33:8-9 "…8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life."
Ezekiel 18:20-21 "20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of the father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him. 21 But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.…"
A woman is not responsible for the sins of her husband unless she declines to influence him to do what is right. If she will not speak up and goes along with the sin of the husband she will be responsible too. The sinning husband will be responsible for influencing the wife to sin and also for his own sin.
A woman will be counted as righteous when she obeys God even if her husband will not listen to her.
Each individual is responsible before God to obey Him. No one will be able to say at the judgment; "but Lord my husband told me to do it." We know from the account of Ananias and Sapphira that obeying anyone else in sin is to disobey God.
Acts 5:29 " 29But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. "
Ladies if you love your husband you will tell him the truth of God and if he does not listen then you must stop speaking and go over his head to Christ, leaving there with him while continuing to walk in obedience to Christ yourself.
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