Oh, how I miss the Brethren Assemblies modeled after the first-century church. The "people of the book" was their example and reputation.
Everyone would speak openly about Christ. When there was a disagreement we would go to the word of God to work out together God's meaning rather than sharing man's ideas. There was no resistance to learning, growing, and becoming more godly as we see in most gatherings today.
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
The Bible studies among the Brethren were centered around the Holy Spirit as the leader and teacher.
The worship was around the Lord's supper with each man rising to give scripture and expound on it as led by the Holy Spirit. Another man would rise to pray, another one would call for a song. The women were covered and the men were uncovered, in obedience to 1st Corinthians 11.
The worship was every week around the Lord's table as commanded by God.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 "23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25, In the same way, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes."
1 Corinthians 14: 29-31`
"29 Have two or three prophets speak, and have the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one is to keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace."
1 Corinthians 12:6-8 "…6 There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,…"
There was no one-man paid pastor in the first century, no seminaries, any elder was chosen from among the believers who were part of each gathering. Having been proven to have sound doctrine and righteous life, they were chosen because they were recognized as walking with the Holy Spirit in humility, others in the group could see the calling of God on the life of that elder.
Spiritual gifts were allowed to be expressed, all men taught and preached, the women taught women and children and supported their husbands in the Lord.
Today's preachers are chosen based on their "seminary school training" without strong evidence of holiness and Holy Spirit giftedness.
There is a mentality that only the "paid pastor" is allowed to preach, and is the only one with the wisdom. In other words, the working of the Holy Spirit in all believers has been diminished and denied.
Just as so many people become lazy in their own lives they want a leader to tell them what to do and be but within the parameters of their own desires. Most church attendees today are satisfied with whatever the preacher says without evaluating it according to their own Bibles. It is clear they do not read their Bibles at home apart from the gathering because they often do not know basic Biblical doctrine.
There are many arrogant preachers with degrees in the pulpits today who are unreachable and unteachable.
2 Timothy 2:22-25 "…23 But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. 24And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. 25He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth."
The phrase "able to teach" in the original language does not mean he must be talented in preaching, it means the elder who leads must be able to be taught, he must be teachable.
When we attend a gathering in which tradition takes priority over God's word we are witnessing stubborn "ear-tickling" in which the people are more concerned about their comfort and desired beliefs than they are in growing in wisdom and truth.
2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,"
Those who are trained in seminary are instructed how to grow a church by giving the people what they want as well as tactics in manipulation. Truth is not very important so much as making the people feel happy and loved. The love is not God's love but human superficial love that has no value for the spiritual life of the one hearing the messages.
If we want to follow Christ we must be willing to ask the Lord to bring truth with the willingness to give up all the traditions we were taught, in order to follow Christ.
It will not be easy unless you are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit. He will expunge from your soul the need to be accepted by people and the desire for comfortable traditions.
Those who desire comfort and happiness above the truth of God will not grow spiritually if they are even born again.
Jeremiah 6:14
"14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace."
Many people are sitting in pews of buildings today feeling satisfied and happy as they are being fed lies and flattery to keep them returning to the pew the following week. After all, the paid pastor must have his wages, which means bodies in the pews. Scripture has been taken out of its context to justify a salary.
When we have elders from among the brethren they need not be paid. They work their own jobs making their own way so as not to be a burden to the church. All church monies can be given to missions and traveling missionaries who come to preach, so they can be supported to be able to travel to the next town.
In our churches today there ought to be far more weeping over sin than laughing at jocularity. Silly joking and all manner of levity are used in the pulpit while many in the pews are on their way to hell thinking they are going to heaven when they die.
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
Seminaries even train their people to start out with a joke to get the people laughing. Its manipulation without regard to the souls of those in those pews.
Romans 1:18-32
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ..."
Worship ought to be serious, we come before a righteous and holy God in obedience to Him. Joking and laughing for the purpose of manipulation diminishes the seriousness of worship and learning from the scriptures. How can one be on their face before the Lord while they are laughing uproariously at something foolish?
1 Peter 5:8
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
1 Peter 4:7
"The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers."
1 Peter 1:13
"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
I reject the notion that there must be a special building and a paid pastor because God rejects it. If you don't believe me take a good look at what has happened to the churches They have become a social club to entertain the people without regard to their spiritual condition.
2 Timothy 4:1-3 "1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears, they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.…"
In our day there is far more need for correction, rebuke, and encouragement in righteousness than anything else. Foolishness, mockery, and apostasy is all around us now as we watch the end times play out as God said they would.
Many people believe unbiblical things in the church brought in by those who have been trained in psychology. They have left their first love and the truth of the Bible to follow doctrines of psychology, the very doctrines of demons.
The gospel in the psychology-based churches has watered down the gospel making it a "feel good" gospel, not at all what Christ or the apostles preached. This false gospel is impotent in the ability to convict the sinner of his/her need for repentance.
The mentality that "if we are really friendly and ignore sin and false conversion, they will like us and therefore they will like Jesus", is ridiculous at best.
God told us to speak the straight unvarnished truth in the love of Christ, this will be rejected by most people. If you don't believe me then perhaps you need to take another look at what they did to Christ and the apostles. All but one were martyred for speaking the truth.
My plea today is that we all reject the humanistic wisdom that is in the church today and embrace God's truth in His Word, interpreting what we read there as led by the Holy Spirit, not by human teachers or writers.
Human writers can help at times solidify what God has already said, but the human writers must be evaluated with the Bible as the plumbline, not the other way around.
