Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
The new things that have come; The responsibility and accountability of the Royal Priesthood, part 9.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
God has provided two systems of authority for every believer in the Church-age.
A. The authority is the word of God, with emphasis on the mystery doctrine found in the epistles of the New Testament.
B. The authority of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, whereby the individual believer becomes aware of his invisible assets and the available power to become an invisible hero or spiritual champion.
HEB 13:7, Remember those who rule over you, who communicate the word from God to you; carefully consider the issue of their way of life; imitate their doctrine.
You remember pastors by attending their Bible class, by praying for them, and by understanding that they have an abnormal life.
HEB 13:7….carefully consider the issue of their way of life; - the issue of a pastor’s way of life is Bible doctrine.
HEB 13:17, Keep obeying those [pastors] who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will render an account.
Keep obeying them, in order that they may do this [accounting] with happiness and not with groaning, for this is unprofitable for you.
Since the pastor’s authority is Bible teaching, his ministry does not violate the privacy of the individual royal priesthood.
ISA 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn.”
“This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
2TI 4:2, Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, and do this with all patience and teaching.
2TI 2:15, Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman with no reason to be ashamed, handling accurately the message of truth.
1TI 4:10, For because of this [communication of doctrine], we work hard to the point of exhaustion,
and we hang in there tough because we have confidence in the living God who is the Savior of all men especially of believers.
2TI 2:24, And the servant of the lord [pastor-teacher] must not be quarrelsome, but gracious to all, able to teach, patient when wronged;
To be patient when wronged means pastors must avoid defending themselves against all sorts of gossip, maligning, and judging.
And he functions under the same principle that all believers must function;
If God doesn’t promote you, you’re not promoted, 1PE 5:6.
The pastor must have humility and be free from arrogance.
EPH 4:16b, he himself [pastor] causes growth in the body.
The function of the pastor is to teach, to inculcate the mystery doctrine of the Church-age.
In spiritual adulthood, invisible heroes are manufactured and God is glorified.
The pastor-teacher causes spiritual growth in one way only, and that is by communication, not by illustration or being an example.
There is no spiritual growth or momentum in the Christian life through program churches, Christian fellowship, or Christian service.
No believer advances in the Christian life through any form of works, or by following the example of some pastor, or by sacrifice, service, or interaction with other believers.
A. God uses prepared men.
B. God uses faithful men.
C. God uses doctrinal men.
D. God uses mature men.
A. Preparation, which is a continual function.
B. Patience, a very important teaching aid.
C. Perseverance which refers to teaching accurately and consistently, and repeating again and again and again.
Privacy is that principle of freedom whereby an individual has the right to grow on his own level and in his own desired pace without the manipulation and observation of others.
The tendency is to get arrogant and want to apply it to everyone else’s experience.
The only human dependence of the royal priesthood is the divine provision of your very own pastor/teacher, and consistent positive volition under his teaching ministry.
COL 3:17, And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Every believer with positive volition has the right to assemble in the local church for the purpose of doctrinal inculcation and changing his norms and standards to Biblical ones.
Therefore, the believer must be confident that when a passage of scripture convicts him, the conviction is from the Spirit and not his peers.
This is why the Royal Family honor code condemns mental attitude sins because they motivate gossip, maligning, and judging.
1PE 2:9, but you are a chosen race,
A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,
In order that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
MAT 18:15, And if your brother sins (against you) go and reprove him in private.
ROM 14:4 who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
ROM 14:10 But you why do you judge your brother? or you again, why do you regard with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Privacy includes the principle of live and let live, 2TH 3:10-12.
Apostates always violate the privacy of others,
1TI 5:13, And at the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.
The principle of life is violated by murder, slavery, and tyranny. Property is violated by stealing.
1PE 4:15, By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a busybody which is one who violates the privacy of others.
1CO 2:15, But he who is spiritual [the spiritual man] discerns or appraises all things, yet he himself is discerned by no man.
You are not subject to investigation by other believers; that is a part of the privacy of the priesthood.
1CO 11:28, But let a man examine himself,
2CO 13:5, Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?
GAL 6:4, But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
1CO 2:15 But he who is spiritual [the spiritual man] discerns or appraises all things, yet he himself is discerned by no man.