 |
 |
Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
"Now it is Different?"
I am as aware as others in regard to a need to change with the times. We realize we cannot live in the past. We know that many things can and should be changed for the better. But we also know that some think there are no limits to changes that can and should be made. To that view, I must offer resistance.
In the religious world there is a mindset that thrives on change. For some it is foolish to look to the past for any direction in today’s beliefs. In Hiscox’s Standard Manual for Baptist Churches, we find the following in chapter 4, page 22: It is most likely that in the Apostolic age when there was but “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism," and no differing denominations existed, the baptism of a convert by that very act constituted him a member of the church, and at once endowed him with all the rights and privileges of full membership. In that sense, “baptism was the door into the church.” Now it is different.
Note: “Now it is different.” They are saying that by the passing of time, the change of mind by man and the intrusion of the various denominations, that which God said in the New Testament is no longer applicable: We have changed it.
Some questions deserve, yea demand to be put forth. By whose authority is it “now…different”? Who made it different? Is God’s will for me modified by the changing of my mind? The author of the quoted material gives his reason for it being “now…different”, but that “reason” is based on man’s preferences, not the desires and demands of God.
Sincerity of purpose is insufficient reason to say God’s way can be changed. The very existence of the doctrines of man is unauthorized in the Bible, not to mention the right to modify God’s ways. You do not have to be resistant to change to know that man can’t change what God has said, John 10:35. Note some of man’s changes.
God’s redemptive plan
When Christ’s church was born, the Holy Spirit gave the terms of entrance to “holy men of God” (see Acts 2, 2 Peter 1:21, John 14). Paul did not instruct Timothy to “preach what men want,” but warned against that very thing, 2 Timothy 4:1-5. We hear about the “sinner’s prayer,” and read from men who say “accept Jesus as your personal Savior.” But we also find many that want to eliminate some things God told His preachers to say (see Mark 16:15-16).
Who told man he could change whatever he wants? It may have been some convention, seminary or “official.” But God and His will are still the same, notwithstanding.
God’s worship plan
The simplicity of worship in the early church is easily seen, even in documents of man’s origin. God’s Word gives simple, clear instruction for that worship: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth,” John 4:24. The word “must” should be sufficient for man to refrain from attempting changes just for his own pleasure.
The object of worship is God. The purpose is to praise and exalt Him, not to please man. A by-product of such “spirit and in truth” worship is that man is edified, strengthened and encouraged to do as Paul did, to finish our course and to keep the faith (see 2 Timothy 4:6-8). Attempting to change God’s plan is to reject His authority and to deny the faith.
God’s organization plan
We realize that any institution must have a plan, an organized means of accomplishing its purpose. God was aware of that without our input, and He gave instructions for the church to be “set in order” (see Titus1:5, Acts 14:23, Philippians 1:1).
In God’s plan, seen in Philippians 1:1, the organization is described in the following terms: “Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”
Note: saints; bishops; deacons. Other passages flesh out these terms (see 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5), giving us all the instruction needed to follow God’s plan.
It was not God but man who established such offices as arch-bishop, reverend, pope, clergy, cardinal, etc. It is likely that man thought such offices were needed in the church, but God’s plan had no need for any of them.
Others
Other changes that arose as time passed [unlimited fellowship, changes in the role of women and in the Lord’s Supper, in what constitutes worship, the work of the Spirit, etc.], lack credibility with God, and therefore illegitimate.
Change is not a bad thing, for the very principle of conversion is change. But change just for the sake of change is not only folly but it defies the authority of God.
|
|
|
|
“All change is not growth,”
“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for change.”
“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
“My son, fear thou the Lord and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change,”
“Undoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself,”
“There is nothing as permanent as change,”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
