In preface, this is a word to the wise...and those not so wise. Which I am commenting on because over the these times of the gentiles and the church, the perspective toward biblical authority has changed; and when I say "biblical authority"--I do not mean authority according to what one may interpret is what is correct--but what is actually meant without any such variance, but rather as authority from God.
With little exception, God did not come down from heaven and speak man to man until Jesus came, nor since them. And you might ask a hundred people what biblical authority or authority from God is, and get a hundred different answers. But God's method, with the exception of Christ, has been consistent and is written: He picks, as with David, often from what would otherwise seem to be the least of people, usually men, or perhaps a donkey or an evil king--comes upon them in spirit, and delivers what He wills, when He wills, "precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” Isaiah 28:10 --Individuals. Which, no, did not stop after Jesus's twelve apostles all died, but as it is written:
But there is an issue that seems to persist. At the time of Christ, the response of God's people was to accuse Jesus (who embodied the authority of the Father) of having a demon, wanted to kill Him, and eventually did. Then His apostles were also likewise killed for delivering the same message. Then the church fathers, who were told that "false teachers" would come among them, whether by the false teachers or the true, followed with much the same, casting out or killing anyone who seemed to challenge their authority...which then continued to include the burning of witches, etc.. And now days? Well, certainly we are more "civilized" and do not kill (heaven forbid), but excommunicate, or merely call "heretic!"
And this we do in spite of the fact that those accused may very well be accused by those foretold "false teachers" and their pupils, who might just be those who are actually chosen and sent by God for the benefit of the church. And although it is a biblical certainty that this very thing would come (according to God), who wants to believe they themselves have been the victim of such false teachers, and are now rejecting God by rejecting those He has sent?
With little exception, God did not come down from heaven and speak man to man until Jesus came, nor since them. And you might ask a hundred people what biblical authority or authority from God is, and get a hundred different answers. But God's method, with the exception of Christ, has been consistent and is written: He picks, as with David, often from what would otherwise seem to be the least of people, usually men, or perhaps a donkey or an evil king--comes upon them in spirit, and delivers what He wills, when He wills, "precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” Isaiah 28:10 --Individuals. Which, no, did not stop after Jesus's twelve apostles all died, but as it is written:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
9(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 48-16
But there is an issue that seems to persist. At the time of Christ, the response of God's people was to accuse Jesus (who embodied the authority of the Father) of having a demon, wanted to kill Him, and eventually did. Then His apostles were also likewise killed for delivering the same message. Then the church fathers, who were told that "false teachers" would come among them, whether by the false teachers or the true, followed with much the same, casting out or killing anyone who seemed to challenge their authority...which then continued to include the burning of witches, etc.. And now days? Well, certainly we are more "civilized" and do not kill (heaven forbid), but excommunicate, or merely call "heretic!"
And this we do in spite of the fact that those accused may very well be accused by those foretold "false teachers" and their pupils, who might just be those who are actually chosen and sent by God for the benefit of the church. And although it is a biblical certainty that this very thing would come (according to God), who wants to believe they themselves have been the victim of such false teachers, and are now rejecting God by rejecting those He has sent?
Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. Luke 11:35
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