PREACHING THE GOSPEL
In our search for the true church, we need to find a place where the preacher preaches the gospel, not a man-made creed. The Bible is our guide, our only guide. So that is where we must turn to find out what God commands.
We have seen that our attitude is important in our giving, our singing, taking the Lord’s Supper, and our praying. All of our worship must be done in the right spirit and according to the commandments of God.
This is not an option. This is a command. The verse says, “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” John 4:24 (KJV).
Paul told Timothy in I Timothy 4:1-2 that there would be false teachers. Paul knew that men would compromise the truth. He knew they would add to the scriptures and take away from the scriptures. He warned Timothy to be watchful for the souls of those whom he would teach.
In II Timothy 4:2, Paul told Timothy, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (NKJV).
Preachers must be ready to do whatever they need to do, within the commands of the scriptures, to teach the congregation the gospel. Preachers must be men, not women. Women are not to usurp authority over men according to I Timothy 2:11-12. Paul told Timothy, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (NKJV).
When we look around at the various religious groups, we can see that women are taking an active role in the worship service, including preaching and teaching over men. The scripture says women may not exert authority over the men. The men are to lead. So, we need to look for the church that supports the teaching of the scripture. A woman cannot rebuke, exhort, teach, or have authority over a man.
We also need to examine the scripture to see what we can call our preacher. Paul says in II Timothy 1:11 that he was appointed to be a preacher and a teacher. He instructs Timothy in II Timothy 4:5 that he is, “…to do the work of an evangelist”. So we can call our preacher a minister, which means servant, or we can call him an evangelist.
We may not call our preacher, reverend. Psalms 111:9 says that God’s name is reverend. How can we be so presumptuous as to call a man a name meant only for God?
We may not call our preacher, “father”. Matthew 23:7-12 tells us that God is our Father. Again, we cannot use a name for God to identify a man in a religious title.
Some religious groups refer to their preachers as, “Pastor”. The term, “pastor” means minister or shepherd. No preacher in the Bible is referred to as a pastor. Elders are pastors and are also called overseers and bishops. See Acts 20:17,28.
Preachers are not to be elevated over other members of the congregation. They are servants, just as individual members are servants.
We have narrowed our search as we look for the church that Jesus built. We have eliminated churches that do not give as they are prospered, do not partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, do not sing without an instrument of music, and do not pray to God the Father. Now we can also eliminate those that do not have only men as preachers and/or give them titles not authorized in the Bible.
The last part of our search will focus on the organization and leadership of the church that Jesus built.
Sandra Oliver