Is That Speaking as the Oracles of God?

Introduction:

A. Intro Text: Nehemiah 13:24 “And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.”

1. The reason the Jews, God’s physical nation (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), did not know their own language was the intermarrying that occurred with other nations (Nehemiah 13:23).
2. The solution was for Jews to stop marrying outside of their own (Nehemiah 13:25).

B. We as Christians, God’s spiritual nation (I Peter 2:9), are to have our own language.

1. The Lord said: (I Peter 4:11) “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God..."
2. An oracle is “the words or utterances of God”.
3. Christians cannot allow denominational folks to do what other nations did to the Jews – we cannot allow denominational folks teach us their vocabulary.
4. Thus, when speaking of spiritual matters we need to be using biblical language; i.e. calling things by Bible names, doing things in Bible ways.
5. Terminology we will examine in this lesson will be those improper terms that lend credence to denominational theories; we shall not be so picky as to make issues out of terms wherein there is no issue.

I. Is Giving Men Religious Titles Speaking as the Oracles of God?

A. In speaking about the prideful errors of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus addressed the wearing of “religious titles” (Matthew 23:7-12).  Wearing ANY RELIGIOUS TITLE IS WRONG!

1. We do not have to go through and show the different titles, as what Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees is sufficient.  However, for clarity sake we will.
2. Today we see men called “Father”, which was clearly condemned by Jesus (23:9).
3. Many times we see the same individuals called “priests”.

a. All Christians are priests:

• I Peter 2:9
• Revelation 1:6

b. Jesus is the High Priest (Hebrews 3:1).

4. Denominational preachers often accept the title of Reverend.
a. The word “reverend” appears once in the KJV and ASV 1901, and does not appear in the NKJV, NASB, NIV, or RSV.  The NKJV has “awesome” instead of “reverend”.
b. The one passage in which is appears is speaking towards a characteristic of the name of God (Psalms 111:9).

B. Many denominational preachers are known as “Pastors”.

1. We read of the English word “pastor” only once in the New Testament: Ephesians 4:11 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.”

a. The term means a herdsman or a shepherd.
b. Thus, a “pastor” is an overseer of the sheep.

2. The “pastors” in a local church are also called “elders”:

a. Pastors or Elders are a plurality of overseers (Acts 20:17; 28).
b. Elders [plural] were appointed (Acts 14:23).
c. The elders [plural] are overseers of the flock [local church] (I Peter 5:1-2).

3. An elder can also be called a bishop, and is held to certain qualifications that are many times overlooked (I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9).

a. An 18-20 year old Mormon boy is not an elder by definition of the term [older] or by many of the qualifications; i.e. husband of one wife, having faithful children, etc.

C. We hear the term “brother” sometimes used as a title.  Brother is a descriptive term just like fellowlabourer (Philemon v. 1).
D. Sister as a religious title (typically for Catholic Nuns) is the same principle as “brother”.  I Timothy 5:1-2 “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.”

II. Are Some Common Comments we Hear out of the Mouths of Christians Speaking as the Oracles of God?

A. Comments using the word church inappropriately are too common.

1. The church is the body of Christ, and is His church (Colossians 1:18).

a. Therefore, you have no church.
b. Do not say “my church does or is _________…”

2. The saved make up the church (Acts 2:47).

a. Join my church does not follow the truth.
b. Attend my church is abusing the proper usage of the word “church”.
c. One will be in the church when converted (I Corinthians 12:12-13 and Galatians 3:27).

3. Christians are the church / body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:27).

a. So, one cannot come to church.  They can assemble with the church.
b. Do not speak of the building you assemble in as the church.

4. Comments such as “I believe church of Christ doctrine” or “the church of Christ teaches” implies that the church has a doctrine like denominations do.

a. The true body of Christ follows the word of God (II John 9 and I Timothy 3:15).
b. No church, person, etc. has any right to change the word of God (Galatians 1:8-9).

5. You never read in the New Testament about a “church of Christ” preacher.

a. Paul was an Apostle, and also identified himself as a preacher (I Timothy 2:7 and II Timothy 1:11).
b. To be descriptive, one could say you are a preacher of the Gospel, or a Gospel preacher as describing what you are doing, but not as a religious title; just as an elder, deacon, teacher, etc. explains what one does.

B. Some Christians say they are part of the Restoration Movement.

1. Was the church started in the first century or the Restoration Movement (Mark 9:1, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1-4; 47)?
2. Is Alexander Campbell the founder or the church, or is Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18)?

C. Speaking of “human institutions” or human ideology as they are Christians, churches, work of churches, or part of the brotherhood.  Ask yourself, can any of the following be a church or a Christian?  Are any of the following statements recorded in the word of God?

1. Church of Christ or Christian Orphan Homes.
2. Church of Christ or Christian Colleges / Day Cares / Schools.
3. Church of Christ, Christian, publications.
4. Church of Christ or Christian Missionary Society.
5. Church of Christ or Christian Camp.
6. Church of Christ or Christian Youth Rally.
7. Church of Christ or Christian fellowship meal / fellowship hall.
8. Church of Christ or Christian bus.
9. Church of Christ or Christian music.
10. Church of Christ or Christian singles club, boy scouts, boy and girls club, or any other para-church program or organization.
11. On and one we could go, what does it prove?

a. None of the above are Christians.
b. None of the above are works of a local church.
c. Therefore, all of the above are foreign statements to the Scriptures.
d. While we as Christians, individually or concurrently, could do or own many of the things above; those things would not be part of the church, etc.

D. You will hear people ask “are you a Protestant or Catholic?”

1. If you are a Christian, if you are a disciple, then you are neither of the two.
2. Acts 11:26
3. The Protestant Movement began about 1500 years after men were made Christians through obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

III. How Can We Focus More on Speaking as the Oracles of God?

A. We need to educate ourselves from the scriptures so that our vocabulary is biblically based (John 5:39).

1. Learn the word so that you can meditate upon it (Psalms 1:1-2).
2. Renew your mind to think spiritually (Romans 12:2).

B. We can realize that our role is not to learn from denominational folks, but to teach them.

1. No where do the Scriptures show that it the Christians duty to go into the world and learn.
2. The word of God is to be taught by the faithful to the lost of the world (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15-16, Acts 5:42, Acts 8:4, Acts 14:21, Acts 20:20, etc.)

Conclusion:

A. The word of God has not changed (I Peter 1:23).

1. Since the word has not changed, we must conclude the language change of some Christians is not because of study.
2. With that conclusion, we see that some today are speaking “the language of Ashdod.”

B. The solution with Israel is similar to what needs to be done when brethren begin using denominational language:

1. The Law of the Lord was read and a point made (Nehemiah 13:1).
2. Today, when we read the Law of the Lord, a similar point is made (Ephesians 5:11; I Corinthians 15:33).

 

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2003 by Brian A. Yeager may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others.