Some believers believe that the pastors and elders of the religious world have all been chosen and appointed by the Lord, and that they are all people who serve the Lord. So they believe that only obeying the pastors and elders is obeying the Lord, and that defying or condemning the pastors and elders is defying the Lord. They even believe that, in churches, only the pastors and elders understand the Bible and can explain the Bible, and so long as that which is preached or done by the pastors and elders accords with the Bible and is based on the Bible, then people should obey and follow them. So does this kind of obedience to pastors and elders accord with the truth? Does an understanding of Bible knowledge represent an understanding of the truth and knowledge of God? Exactly what approach should we take to the pastors and elders that conforms to God's will?
The two times that God has become flesh to walk the earth and carry out the work of saving man He has been met with the utmost resistance, condemnation and frantic persecution from leaders in the religious world, a fact that has puzzled and even shocked people: Why is it that every time God unfolds a stage of new work He is always met with this kind of treatment? Why is it that those who most frantically and aggressively resist God are the religious leaders who read the Bible over and over again and who have served God for many years? Why is it that those religious leaders that people see as being the most devout, the most faithful and the most obedient to God are actually unable to be compatible with God, and instead are always acting perverse and being enemies of God? Could it be that God made a mistake in His work? Could it be that God’s actions are not amenable to reason? Certainly that is not the case! There are two fundamental reasons that various denominations and sects have people who are able to play the role of resisting God, turning into enemies of God, and these are: First, along with these people not possessing the truth and not having knowledge of the work of the Holy Spirit, they also do not have knowledge of God, they always rely on their limited knowledge of the Bible, theological theories and people’s conceptions and imaginations to delineate God’s work that is always new and never old; Second, since mankind is deeply corrupted by Satan, its nature is arrogant and self-conceited, it is unable to obey the truth, and it especially values status. The combination of these two aspects leads to the tragedy of mankind forsaking and condemning the true way time and again throughout history.
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