Are You an Reverend? Are You An Apostle?
( This article His Holy Highness the Worshipful Bishop Rev. Dr. Apostle Grand Poobah was posted in Nov 2011 )
The bible warns us of a false religion that will dominate the world, and will work hand in hand with a "one world government".
The bible also warns Christians of false prophets and false teachers who will be part of that false religious system generally known as the Babylonian church. We will know them by their fruits; not by what miracles they can do or how good their preaching sounds.
The bible is full of warnings. Christians, however do not like to listen to warnings. Christians like to feel good, and deceive themselves feeling good. Which is why Jesus says, the road to heaven is straight and narrow; many will look for it but will not find it. Instead, they will find the broad road to destruction. Many are now on that broad road, feeling good about themselves, having been lured there by false teachers and false prophets. And many of these false teachers and prophets are easily recognized by their fruits, and the lust for high sounding titles is one of the fruits to watch out for.
Let me today talk about a few titles church leaders take on for themselves, to facilitate their ability to deceive. In the secular world of Malaysia, we see many con-men assuming titles of "Datuks" for themselves and using these titles to deceive others. ( For the benefit of non-Malaysian reader, “Datuk”-ship is equivalent to the “Lordship” title handed out by the British royalty to certain people). People easily fall for titles. So, even in the church, Christians also easily fall for people with titles.
Reverend is whose name?
Let's start with the title "Reverend". The word reverend means "worthy of adoration or reverence".
You see, in all bibles, there is no mention of this word as a job or role. It does not exist in that form. In fact, in most bibles, you cannot find this word at all. However, in the King James Bible you will see this word appearing only once as an adjective, and here it is:
Psa 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: He hath commanded His covenant for ever: holy and reverend is His name.
Clearly this adjective is reserved for use with Yahweh’s name only. Only Yahweh's name is REVEREND, and nobody else’s name can be reverend. But today, you have so many Reverend So and So. So, to that certain Reverend Chan Kow Chye, reverend is his name, just like reverend is Yahweh's name. Not content with making themselves equal with Yahweh, vain church leaders have even upgraded it to Very Reverend, Most Reverend, Right Reverend. So you see, they even consider themselves more reverend than Yahweh! Most Reverend indeed! Even more reverend than Yahweh. My! My!
So, senior pastors are not content being just senior. They would love something higher than being a senior. ( As we say in Malaysia, "Where got "senior pastor" in the bible, wan! ). But indeed they have made their own names reverend as well. Reverend not only is the name of Yahweh, but so also are the names of Reverend Timothy Sing, Reverend Edmund Kandasamy, Reverend John Doe and the likes of them.. Is your name really reverend, as the name of Yahweh is? O sinful and pompous man, are you worthy of adoration and reverence as Yahweh is? What Blasphemy!
You an Apostle, too?
Let us look at another title "Apostle". There are now many apostles. But admittedly, not all churches have the temerity to adopt that title for some of their leaders. Some churches love to do it more than others. You find them in Malaysia, and also in the West. But what does the bible tell us about who can be an apostle?
Let us study the passage at the end of Acts 1. The disciples had gathered themselves and decided that the Lord must have 12 apostles. With the death of Judas, 11 were left. So they spoke godly words among themselves and took it upon themselves to appoint another person. They picked 2 names, Justus, and Matthias. Not knowing who should be the finalist, they decided that they can twist a decision from God by drawing lots. The lot fell on Matthias. Matthias thus became the apostle appointed by men. These men thought that they have forced God's hand to confirm his appointment by drawing lots. But did you notice that Matthias' name was never mentioned again in the bible from that point on? Now, what does bible teach you here? God DOES NOT RECOGNIZE Matthias as an apostle. We cannot do God's job for Him. And so, in His own time, in Acts 9, God went on to appoint Saul as the 12th apostle, the one to replace Judas. If God had recognized Matthias as an apostle, the book of Revelation would say that there are 13 instead of only 12 of them! But no! there are only 12:
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
There will always be 12 apostles. Period.
You see, every Apostle was personally appointed by Jesus. That is the only way. But today, the church institutions that are supposed to understand the bible are doing exactly what the 11 apostles did with Matthias. They know the word, yet they offend the word. They think they can usurp the power of Jesus and appoint apostles. And very senior pastors ( would they appoint a junior to this title?) hungry for high sounding titles grab this man-appointed apostleship. And Christians foolishly fall for this title, and pander to anyone having it.
And, see what Jesus says to the church at Ephesus in the book of Revelations about some apostles:
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
No! Man cannot appoint apostles. Only Jesus can. So if any "apostle" tells me that his Apostle title has been given to him by Jesus in a vision or a dream, I would first give him the benefit of the doubt, at least. I would then observe his ministry to confirm it through the correctness of his teachings, and his other fruits to see if he is one of those liars. But if he says that his apostleship comes from this and that Christian body ...... that is a fake apostleship, the apostleship of Matthias. He is definitely a liar. So who appointed that apostle in your church?
Other man-created Titles
So, there is no need for me to talk about the other titles like Pope, Cardinal, Arch Bishop etc, etc. They are not biblical. Just high-sounding man-created titles for the purpose of religious deception, power, and control.
Are you a fool for titles because you do not read the bible properly?
Jesus says,
John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
( If you consider this article erroneous in any way, do correct me and defend yourselves in the comments below. I will not edit a word of your response. If you do not, it is only because you know you have no defense. And yet, knowing your inequity you would not repent, but choose to continue in it. )
