OBEDIENCE!
How Many know What The Word Means?
How Many Do
Not?
What does Holy Scripture say about obedience?
What
happens to those who refuse to be obedient?
"And Pharaoh said, Who [is] the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let
Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go."
Exodus
5:2
Pharaoh refused to obey the Word of GOD and look what happened to him and
all of Egypt? He and his country were cursed by the ten plagues which are
graphically described in Exodus 7-12, the last of which was the death of all the
firstborn children in Egypt including Pharaoh's son.
Read what GOD had to
say regarding this Pharaohic incident:
"And Moses went up to God, and the
Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house
of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now
therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be
my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be
to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.""
Exodus 19:3-6
See? Those
who obey the Word of GOD are given rewards. What happens to those who do not
obey?
For the answer to that one, I would suggest that everyone read Numbers
16. It is about the disobedience to the GOD given authority of Moses, by Korah
and his followers. Moses did everything he could to try and convince Korah,
pleading with him that he was defying GOD by his disobedience, and yet Korah and
his followers rejected his pleas. Read the final outcome of Korah's rebellion in
Numbers 16:30-35. It isn't pretty.
However, Korah being puffed up with his
own self interests, would not listen to Moses, who was the father figure of whom GOD had chosen to lead His
people. Now read about Martin Luther and his disobedience against the authority of the
Catholic Church, and you will see that the story of Korah has amazingly
parallels. Now read Numbers 16 again, but this time substitute the name of the
founder of your church for Korah, and for Moses, the name of the Catholic Pope.
Here is what Saint Cyprian of Carthage (205-258) said regarding the
disobedience of Korah and others. It could just as well apply to Martin Luther
and his contemporaries some 1300 years later.
"But the enemies of the one Catholic Church in which
we are, and the adversaries of us who have succeeded the apostles, asserting for
themselves, in opposition to us, unlawful priesthoods, and setting up profane
altars, what else are they than Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, profane with a like
wickedness, and about to suffer the same punishments which they did, as well as
those who agree with them, just as their partners and abettors perished with a
like death to theirs?"
Epistle LXXIV-16, to Firmilian
Whew! Powerful
words from a great Saint.
Here is yet another example of what happens to
those who are disobedient:
"While they were in Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron
spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a
Cushite woman. They complained, “Is it through Moses alone that the Lord
Speaks? Does He not speak through us also?” And the LORD heard this. Now,
Moses himself was by far the meekest man on the face of the earth. So at once
the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the
meeting tent.” And the three of them went. Then the LORD came down in the column
of cloud, and standing at the entrance of the tent, called Aaron and Miriam.
When both came forward, he said, “Now listen to the words of the LORD: Should
there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal myself to him, in dreams
will I speak to him; Not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears
my trust: face to face I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles. The presence
of the LORD he beholds. Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my
servant Moses?” So angry was the LORD against them that when he departed, and
the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white
leper!"
Numbers 12:1-10
Wow! Those verses are loaded. First GOD
said He speaks to Moses directly, His father figure.
Then look what happened to
Miriam who was disobedient to GOD's visible representative on earth?
She was
turned into a leper for her disobedience. What do you suppose what will happen
in our time to those who are disobedient to GOD's visible father figure on
earth, and to those who refuse to obey the commands of Holy
Scripture?
Those who fail to profit from the mistakes of
history are doomed to
repeat them over again.
"Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man
able to say: Behold this is new; for it has already gone before in the ages that
were before us."
Ecclesiastes 1:10
"Obey your superiors and be subject to them, for they keep watch as having
to render an account of your souls; so that they may do this with joy, and not
with grief, for that would not be expedient for you." Hebrews 13:17
"Remind
them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for
any honest work,..." Titus 3:1
So many non-Catholics claim to follow the
teaching of Holy Scripture. I would venture to ask them if they thought the
founders of the Reformation, Luther, Calvin, Munser, Zwingli, and the others,
obeyed these verses as well? If they were not obedient, how then could their
followers be obedient? Are we free to pick verses that we like, which follow our
trends of thought, and to reject those which seem to conflict with our beliefs?
What does Scripture have for an answer to this question?
You will find the
answer in Acts 5:29,
"But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God
rather than men."
How many of the followers of Martin Luther, and the other
'reformers' heeded this verse, or even knew it was in Scripture? Since all of
Holy Scripture is the Word of GOD, doesn't this verse teach us that we must obey
all of it? Were the followers of Luther and the others in obedience to the Word
of GOD, or did they simply obey the opinions of mere men? What does this next
verse say?
"I laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let
everyone take care how he builds thereon, for other foundations no one can lay, but that which has been laid, which is
Jesus Christ."
1Corinthians 3:10-11
Obviously, Martin
Luther and his contemporaries were disobedient to this
verse as well, for they laid many other foundations, the
beginnings of the tens of thousands of which we have today.
"And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has
given to those who obey him."
Acts 5:32
For those who obeyed the
opinions of mere men rather than the truth of GOD, does this mean that they do
not have the Holy Spirit? If you think they do, then aren't you rejecting this
verse?
A persons personal opinion has no bearing whatsoever on doctrinal
truth.
Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life", John
14:6. Since truth is a person, the person of Jesus Christ, whatever He said
is truth, simply because He said it. He said in Luke 10:16, "He who hears
you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects
him who sent me."
In this verse Jesus gave authority to His visible
representatives on earth to speak in His behalf.
Didn't Luther and the other
'reformers' reject GOD's Father Figure on earth,
who is the direct successor to Saint Peter?
In so doing did they not reject the Father and the Son as well?
Is it no
wonder then that they could not have the Holy Spirit as well?
"Now therefore
amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your GOD,
and the Lord will repent of the evil which he has pronounced against
you."
Jeremiah 26:13
Is this not a suitable fit with Luke 10:16, "He who
hears you hears Me..."?
"Jeremiah said, "You shall not be given to them.
Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall be well
with you, and your life shall be spared.""
Jeremiah 38:20
The prophets in
the Old Testament spoke in GOD's Name, in the first person.
Here are
examples...
"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their
kinsmen, and will put My words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I
commanded him. If any man will not listen to My words which he speaks in My
name, I Myself will make him answer for it."
Deuteronomy 18:18-19,
"And
He said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak My
words to them."
Ezekiel 3:4
The precedent was set many times in the Old
Testament that GOD would speak through a visible human person on earth, a Father
Figure. Since GOD is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), then
why do some say He does not speak through the Pope, His visible Father Figure on
earth today?
With so many differences of opinion in the tens of thousands of
non-Catholic churches, if you believe that GOD does not speak through the
visible Pope, then pray tell, give me the name of the person GOD does speak
through? Go back to Luke 10:16 again, for Jesus Christ did give authority for a
visible person to speak in His behalf.
"If you fear the LORD and worship
him, if you are obedient to him and do not rebel against the LORD’S command, if
both you and the king who rules you follow the LORD your God—well and good. But
if you do not obey the LORD and if you rebel against his command, the LORD will
deal severely with you and your king, and destroy you."
1Samuel
12:14-15
"If they obey and serve him, they spend their days in
prosperity, their years in happiness. But if they obey not, they perish; they
die for lack of knowledge."
Job 36:11-12
"But this command I gave
them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and
walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they
did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the
stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not
forward."
Jeremiah 7:23-24
"But if they do not obey, I will uproot and
destroy that nation entirely, says the LORD."
Jeremiah 12:17
"But
Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver [thee]. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of
the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul
shall live."
Jeremiah 38:20
"It is he who shall build the temple of
the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne.
And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding shall be
between them both. And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a
reminder to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah the son of Zephaniah. And those
who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord; and you
shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to
pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God."
Zechariah
6:13-15
"For he will render to every man according to his works: to those
who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will
give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey
the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury."
Romans
2:6-8
"Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity,
licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of
fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factious, occasions of
envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Galatians 5:19-21
"Factious"? The dictionary says, "Factious: (1)
relating to internal dissension. (2) promoting internal dissension." Doesn't
this sound like the mind set of the reformers? The Reformation certainly did
lead to the "thousands of factions"* which we have in Protestantism today. The
word "factions" leads us to yet another verse, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by
the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing; and there be
no dissensions among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in
one judgment." 1Corinthians 1:10"
Well then, those who do not obey GOD's
visible representative on earth will have much to fear.
"Do you not know
that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of
the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience,
which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once
slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of
teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have
become slaves of righteousness."
Romans 6:16-18
"You were running
well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?"
Galatians 5:7
"If
anyone does not obey our word as expressed in this letter, take note of this
person not to associate with him, that he may be put to
shame."
2Thessalonians 3:14
"Although he was a Son, he learned
obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source
of eternal salvation to all who obey him,..."
Hebrews 5:8-9
There you have it, many verses to remind us that we must be obedient to the one
Church which Jesus Christ founded, and to GOD's visible father figure on earth.
There are so many verses listed here which are a dire warning for those who
refuse to be obedient to GOD given authority.
"Every one then who
hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built
his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been
founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and
does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the
sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat
against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
Matthew
7:24-27
"Blessed are those who hear the word of GOD and keep
it."
Luke 11:28
©
Written by Bob Stanley, March 6,
2002
Updated June 27, 2002
Updated March 30, 2007
"Have
I then become your enemy, because I told you the truth?"
Galatians
4:16
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