I need your help! We are confident in the salvation of many souls of baptized into Christ who came before as no matter their shortcomings, they confessed their faults one to another (James 5:16). Our fathers and grandfathers, for the most part, in my opinion, were more humble that we are! Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Philippians 2:3 As Christians we are to humble ourselves to each other as we are to have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5). Still even though we are to have great humility, we are not to trust and obey human beings without first and continually proving/qualifying/judging their words of instruction to make sure that the faith they are teaching is God’s word (2 John 8-11; Matt. 18:17; James 3:1; 1 John 4:1). There are some extenuating circumstances however: THE FIRST exemption seems to be the child-parent relationship especially when a child is very small and has to completely trust that his parents will protect him (cf. Eph. 6:1-3). THE SECOND circumstance where we must trust, is for righteous governments to police us and keep us safe (Rom. 13:4). “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Rom. 12:18. THE THIRD circumstance where we need to trust is when there are qualified witnesses or police protecting the whole against us in the church. First among these are qualified elders (I like to call them defensive preachers, as they are Christ’s first choice of witnesses to police congregations) or other mature Christians (witnesses Matt. 18) who come to the novice or the heretic and ask him or her to be quiet (cf. Titus 1:10, 11). THE FORTH circumstance to trust men without exception is when those men delivered us God’s word through the help of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 13:7, 17)! Otherwise today there are no other exceptions or circumstances to men spiritually that we should trust without verification. There is no man or any other being between you and God (Psalms 8:4,5 A.S.V.), and you will have to give account for yourself when you stand before the judgment seat of God! Trust God only, and then in your own talent, and wisdom and ability given to you by God given to you by God to understand all of His word, as nobody else can separate you from the love of God (Rom. 8). There are no men that can spiritually feed you the meat of the word of God, that can chew it up for you! (cf. you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink). Elders and other Christians can “tend” to your needs, can lead you to the word, but they cannot force you to eat, they cannot force you to obey them or God, as they are not so qualified. Preachers, elders and apostles and others during the 40 years of miracles (cf.Micah 7:15 33 A.D. – 73 A.D.) had the gift of the Holy Spirit and therefore did have “all authority to feed mankind and demand that he eat, but now that the church has matured we simply humble ourselves to the word of God (James 3:1; 1 John 4:1 note “office” means “a work” Rom. 12:4), and individuals who take upon themselves the authority that first century Christians had to demand that men obey them are heretic, preeminent or wolves (cf. Acts 20:28ff; 2 John 8-11), because to hold on to such preeminence forces us to ignore and pervert much of God’s word! The preacher and elder who claims that they have the “gift” that they are New Testament Christians, or that they are “sound” (all with implication that mankind can “trust them” without verifying) could be compared to Cain the son of Adam and Eve who’s motive for murder might have been that he too thought himself to have received a gift of a miraculous education or the same kind of education that his parents received, so that he did not need to be proved/judged/qualified by another man (Gen. 4:8; James 3:1; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 8-11). The reason that claiming preeminent authority is so dangerous in the church today is that to make such claims means that we claim to only have to obey first principles (the great commission as the Catholics say), and then ONLY those second principles which the “sound” ones preach on or write about or “feed” us! Indeed because some of our leaders think of themselves as sound without knowing the whole of God’s word, the members follow, and it is not uncommon at all for men or women (few or singularly) in the church today to act and think of themselves as boss as certainly did the elect lady in 2 John, who thought of herself, or maybe with some help of friends who agreed, qualified to decide who the preacher was or wasn’t for the congregation in 2 John. Nor is it uncommon today to have elders and preachers or teachers or members violate Matt. 18:17 or 2 John and mark men for the whole church to avoid, as if the qualifications for those who we are as individuals to mark and avoid are not given to all men to decide for themselves (I Cor. 5:11; 2 John; Matt. 18:17; Eph. 5:11). Indeed when men listen to preeminent men and women and only “their” teachings we lose the ability to argue scripture, or debate, or fight the good fight of faith, because we cannot even comprehend and recognize the simplest matters. Consider the work of enrolled widows in the church today (1 Tim. 5:9,10; I Cor. 7:39, 40 cf. “alone in the Lord”) as preeminent men refuse to allow widows to have a work, because they believe it would take away from their preeminence! Yes many men today, very talented men even believe that they can preach and speak with the same kind of authority that Peter or Paul had, that they have the gift of the Holy Spirit and that they must be obeyed when they speak, and of course they must refuse to deal with some second principles such as the fact that there are to not be any preeminent men among us (cf. Col. 2:18; I Cor. 6:3)! Many of our best preachers think that having a P.H.D., or writing a book, or calling themselves sound is more important that providing for themselves, their families, the church and the world readings of the whole will of God! And of course they cannot buck the clergy/lay system that preeminent men have set up, because they think too highly about money (cf. Jude 11). How do we get back on the right track? Simple really, we must give diligence to understand the whole will of God – all of us (cf. Heb. 6:1, 2; Rev. 10:9-11). Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass (after the bible is completed R.M.), that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord (both first principles [i.e. Baptism Acts 22:16] and second – all of God’s commands R.M.) shall be saved (ultimately on the last day cf. Heb. 6:1, 2; Rev. 10:9-11 R.M.). I have started an online school, and it is not my school, not even your school but it is Christ’s school, it is His word! My plans are to simply read every book of the bible, and then give commentary. The church’s work then is to prove all things one or two chapters at a time! When you identify mistakes I made based upon the whole of God’s word (Grammar police welcomed as well!) Let me know, we will go back and correct that chapter. Of course too as we grow we will allow chapters to be replaced by men who do a better job. I would love it, if in the future we could have the entire bible available to all men worldwide, delivered by preachers, better than I, and where I could simply be a director of the school, if the Lord is willing. You might wonder why I do not think online sermons will work, without the offer to read to humanity and our own the whole will of God. My answer is that we simply cannot argue, or explain, or reason, or debate the word of God, with any degree of success until we start honestly dealing with the whole counsel of God! Simple logic works, but not without the whole will of God! God’s word will not come back void – IF we read all of it to the world. And mostly, in the Lord’s church we have not been honest about dealing with every word of God, not because we were rebels, but because we did not understand how. I recommend a start, for our friends and neighbors, our children and ourselves the book of Revelation. Solomon said the end of a thing is better than the beginning, and Revelation gives us the conclusion of the bible and insight into all of the rest of it. I would love to utilize the evangelistic tools given to us by God and simply read the book of Revelation (as a start) as Revelation is about God the Father raising “us up together, and sitting us together in heaven with Christ Jesus (cf. Eph. 1:20) That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus..” Eph. 2:6, 7. I will teach it, and you will have to understand it. I will make mistakes and you have to catch them- so watch for them as that is what preaching is all about (James 3:1; 1 John 4:1). Now of course, I need your help to get more involved in this school. I need some congregations to support this evangelistic effort to all of mankind. I am pretty certain that souls are saved when men do all that Christ commands (Acts 2:21; Heb. 6:1,2; Rev. 109-11), that this will work exceeding well, and that His commandments are easy to understand once we get rid of preeminent men and teaching! And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. Numbers 13:30 By your side in the Kingdom of Heaven, Randall Maxwell, Director of Christ’s School of Biblical Studies. How to study the bible: https://youtube/watch?v=gszeS1Z0aHw The book of Revelation: https://youtube/watch?v=Twnu3pAslyE P.S. tracts are available and I will be working on the availability of Revelation on DVD. I think I can make it available for about $10. Also I am available to teach classes in the Kansas City area. I think that you will be most impressed with how logic and proper reasoning work exceeding when we consider the whole will of God concerning any study. If you are interested in any of this material feel free to send me a private message.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:27:37 +0000
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