By Roderick C. Meredith

Good News

October 1957

Vol. VI, Number 10

                      Whose Opinion Counts?

We have all been reared with the modern concept that in religious

matters a man should be governed primarily by what HE thinks.  Is

this God's way?

                     by Roderick C. Meredith

   "AFTER years of study and prayer, Mr. Armstrong has come to

see that this is binding on us today," I said to Mr. Brown. "The

Bible reveals it, and as Christians we must obey."

   "Well, here's the way I look at it," he began, and then

continued to give his PERSONAL opinion based on HUMAN REASON with

very little knowledge of the Bible to guide him.

   As a minister of Jesus Christ, I was trying to show him -- NOT

MY WILL -- but GOD'S will.  I was proving my points right out of

God's word.  I had mentioned the opinion and belief of Mr.

Armstrong to show that a more experienced servant of the true God

was persuaded of this same truth.

   Was Mr. Brown impressed?

   NOT AT ALL.  On the contrary, he proceeded to put his HUMAN

REASON and "feeling" on the same plane as our studied belief on

God's word.  In his own mind, Mr. Brown reasoned that HIS opinion

was just as good as OUR opinion.

   But was it a matter of two differing "opinions" of equal

value?  Or do God's true ministers carry AUTHORITY to speak in

His name?  If so, how much is that authority to be RESPECTED?

   These are questions that every true Christian should

understand.  Mr. Brown was supposed to be converted.  Is such an

attitude as his the mark of a truly converted person?

Authority of Ministers

   In Matthew 16:15-20, we read the account of Christ bestowing

on Peter the "keys of the kingdom of  heaven."   Nearly all

commentaries agree that the principal meaning of these "keys"

includes the WAY of salvation which the apostles were to proclaim

to the world.  Based on the principles of this WAY, the apostles,

through whom Christ GOVERNS His Church, were given authority to

make decisions which would be bound in heaven.  They could

"bind," or FORBID certain things; and they had authority to

"loose," or PERMIT certain things.  In other words, they were

given the AUTHORITY to make BINDING DECISIONS -- based on God's

word and the "keys" of salvation they had received.  These

decisions involved PERMITTING or FORBIDDING certain things --

defining what is RIGHT and WRONG!

   Matthew 18:15-20 clearly shows that this authority was

conferred on ALL the apostles -- not just Peter.  They were all

with Jesus for over three years, learning from Him the WAY of

salvation so they could preach it to the world.

   Jesus had shown them in dozens of places that ALL decisions

must be conformed to God's will and His LAW (Matt. 5:17-19).  In

their judgments, they were to follow Christ's example when He

said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and

my judgment is just; because I seek NOT MINE OWN WILL, but the

will of the Father which hath sent me" (John 5:30).

   God's true ministers will be yielded and submissive to GOD'S

will.  They will seek His will in diligent study and earnest

prayer.  They will confer with other true ministers and Bible

scholars for, "in multitude of counselors there is safety (Pro.

11:14).  In every way, they will seek God's will and His guidance

through the Holy Spirit.

   But when God's true servants do make a decision based on His

word, IT IS TO BE RESPECTED, for it is BOUND IN HEAVEN.  You are

not showing respect to the man and his "opinion," but to the

OFFICE in which has placed His ministers, and by which CHRIST

RULES HIS CHURCH.

   When the Israelites refused to hearken to God's servant

Samuel, God said, "... they have not rejected thee, but have

rejected ME, that I should not reign over them" (I Sam. 8:7).  If

you take the decisions of God's ministers lightly, YOU ARE

DISRESPECTING GOD HIMSELF!

Be Sure of Ministers

   All of your respect to any minister should be based upon the

fact that you have first PROVED to yourself that he REALLY IS a

true servant of God.

   Jesus continually warned: "Beware of FALSE prophets, which

come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening

wolves.  YE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS" (Matt. 7:15-16). You

need to look at the "fruit," the RESULTS in proclaiming the TRUE

GOSPEL, in LEADING the flock into the truth and ways of God, in

healing the sick -- the ACCOMPLISHMENTS in the work of the

ministry, carrying out the commission of Christ.

   Notice that Jesus went on to say (Matt. 7:21-23) that many

would PROFESS to do good works in His name, but He told them,

"depart from me, ye that work INIQUITY," or "lawlessness."  The

word iniquity is more correctly translated LAWLESSNESS.  Jesus

was showing that PROFESSING ministers who break God's law ARE NOT

HIS MINISTERS at all!  "I NEVER knew you," Jesus will tell them.

And God's word shows that these law-breaking ministers never

really knew Christ either (I John 2:4).

   Satan and HIS MINISTERS appear as "angels of light" (II Cor.

11:14).  But they teach that you are free to DISOBEY God's law.

   Another way to examine their "fruit" is to see if they are

willing to "GROW in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and

Saviour Jesus Christ" (II Pet. 3:18).  Some "Christians" -- EVEN

SOME WHO PROFESS TO BE IN THE CHURCH OF GOD -- REFUSE to GROW

into more truth!

   Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit, "will guide you

into all truth" (John 16:13).   Spiritual CHANGE, GROWTH, and

DEVELOPMENT is one of the important signs that a person is really

guided by God's Spirit.  No MAN gains ALL of God's truth at once.

We must all GROW in knowledge.   Some churches and some ministers

have known a portion of God's truth.   But when they became

UNWILLING to GROW into more truth through the guidance of the

Holy Spirit, they soon began to twist and pervert what little

truth they had, and to spiritually ROT AWAY and DIE!

   To prove whether or not a man is truly God's servant, look to

the "fruits" of submission to all of God's commands, of a real

UNDERSTANDING of God's word, of a willingness to GROW in grace

and knowledge, and of the underlying motive of LOVE behind every

thought and deed.

   God will reveal to you who His true ministers are if you

study, pray, and look at their fruits.   Once you know, should you

respect them and the OFFICE in which GOD HAS SET THEM?

   YES, YOU SHOULD!

God's Responsibility

   Once God has REVEALED to you by the "fruits" who His true

servants are, YOU should recognize the responsibilities and

duties which God has given them.   When a matter of church

government or policy comes up, realize that they have the

AUTHORITY to decide the issue.

   They do NOT have the right to exercise that authority

according to their own HUMAN REASON.   Jesus Christ is the LIVING

HEAD of the TRUE Church of God -- the body of Christ (Col. 1:18).

When He was instructing the disciples on how to exercise their

authority to enforce church discipline (Matt. 18:15-20), He said

that if two or more of them would agree on anything, God would

BIND it in heaven.  "For," Jesus said, "where two or three are

gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

   Christ himself will in Spirit be with and GUIDE His servants

in making right decisions.  These words of His have MEANING!

Jesus said that He WOULD guide His servants in directing the

Church.  He said that they SHOULD make decisions -- based on

GOD'S REVEALED WILL and GUIDED BY HIS SPIRIT.  These decisions

were to include church DISCIPLINE and what is to be "bound" or

"loosed" -- defining what is PERMITTED or FORBIDDEN to God's

people by "RIGHTLY dividing the word of truth."

   Christ Himself -- the Head of the Church -- has PROMISED to

guide His ministers in directing the Church.  Their decisions,

then, will also be GOD'S decisions.   They are BINDING on God's

church.  His TRUE Church will be OBEDIENT!  It is government BY

God, THROUGH His servants.

   It is God's RESPONSIBILITY to chasten His Servants if they

abuse their authority.  YOU CAN'T READ THEIR HEARTS.  But God

CAN!  Their authority came from Him, not from some "board" of

men.  God "sets" or APPOINTS the true ministers and teachers to

guide and rule His Church (I Cor. 12:28).  He ALONE has the power

to remove them from office.  He can do it by circumstances, by

affliction -- by DEATH if need be!

   Remember that even though Samuel's sons were abusing their

office (I Sam. 8:7), the people had NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to put

them out!  It was up to GOD to decide if, when, and how this was

to be done.  In taking this authority in their own hands, the

people rejected the RULE OF GOD -- the KINGDOM OF GOD!  If you

plan to enter THAT Kingdom, learn NOW to OBEY those whom GOD sets

in authority.

Your Part

   Christians must be alert to the prophecy that EVEN FROM AMONG

THEIR LEADERS some would arise speaking perverse things --

TWISTING God's word (Acts 20:29-31).

   In order to recognize perverse teachings, and in order to

"grow in grace and knowledge," you need to PRAY and to STUDY

God's word continually.  If you do this intelligently you will

never be deceived.  Remember the important test Christ gave was

to examine the "fruits" in a minister's life and work.  A false

minister simply CANNOT produce the fruits -- people converted in

OBEDIENCE to God's law and His way.   So respect and OBEY God's

true ministers, but constantly study to acquire the mind of

Christ (Phil. 2:5) and to perceive a deceiver who might arise.

   A good example is the Bereans whom Paul commended because

"they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched

the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11).

They respectfully listened with open and READY minds.  Then they

SEARCHED the scriptures to prove WHETHER THOSE THINGS WERE SO.

   The Apostle James tells Christian believers to "receive with

MEEKNESS the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls"

(James 1:21).  Once God reveals to you who His true ministers

are, listen respectfully and with OPEN MINDS to their

instruction.

   Then you need to "STUDY to show thyself approved unto God, a

workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word

of truth" (II Tim. 2:15).   The more you STUDY, the more you will

understand and agree with the instructions of God's TRUE

servants.

   "PROVE all things; hold fast that which is good" (I Thes.

5:21).  But PROVE it by the Bible -- NOT by what you THINK, or

WHAT SOME DENOMINATION TEACHES!   Remember Jesus said, "Thy WORD

IS TRUTH" (John 17:17).

   In all your study, however, you should keep an ATTITUDE OF

RESPECT for what God's ministers have said.  You shouldn't go to

the Bible with the idea of REFUTING what they have taught, or of

JUSTIFYING your own ideas.  But search the scriptures (Acts

17:11) whether THOSE THINGS be so -- THE THINGS GOD'S SERVANTS

HAVE TAUGHT.

   The respect to God's ministers is respect to God himself who

"calls" any TRUE minister to that office, and it is respect to

the Holy Spirit through which God will inspire and direct His

servants.

Unity in the Church

   Many of you brethren have had to come out" of this Babylonish

system and its churches.  You have been regarded -- and perhaps

HAVE REGARDED YOURSELF -- as an "independent" or radical in

matters of belief.

   Many of you, having been disillusioned by false ministers,

have come to feel that you could place no reliance on anyone or

anything except yourself.  You have been in the habit of studying

the Bible and accepting YOUR conclusion as final.  It was between

you and God alone.  "Me and God," said the German Kaiser.  That

is the way some of you have felt and acted -- perhaps without

realizing it.

   But SHOULD you be an "independent"?  Didn't Jesus build a

Church which will endure FOREVER?   Haven't we just shown you that

God's true ministers -- whom He sets in His Church -- speak in

His name with authority?

   If you have really been converted, you have been "baptized" or

PUT INTO God's Church by receiving His Spirit.  You are then NO

LONGER an "independent," but a member of the true Church of God

-- the body of Christ.

   "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all

churches of the saints" (I Cor. 14:33).  Even though you may be

separated from local church fellowship, you BELONG to God's

Church which has ORDER and GOVERNMENT in it -- not confusion.

   The apostle Paul commands us to be humble, "Endeavoring to

keep the UNITY OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3).

Some ministers quote this text to persuade their congregation to

blindly follow them in a FALSE unity, NOT of the Spirit.  The

UNITY OF GOD'S SPIRIT is that mutual harmony and love which it

produces because we will ALL be seeking God's WILL.  It is NOT a

"unity" based on MAN'S REASONING swayed by the devil!

   God gave some individuals positions of preaching and teaching,

"TILL we all come into the unity of the faith" (Eph. 4:12-13).

His ministers are RESPONSIBLE for teaching and guiding the flock

in the RIGHT way as God's Spirit reveals UNTIL they come into the

"unity of the faith."

   We are ail still human and have a lot of GROWING to do.  We

won't all see eye to eye on every point of doctrine at first.

God's children are "knit together" -- not in doctrine -- but "in

LOVE" (Col. 2:2).

   But God has set His ministers in the Church to preserve order,

and to teach and instruct the brethren with AUTHORITY so that

each one may finally come to have "the mind of Christ" (Phil.

2:5).

The Final Authority

   In Hebrews 13:17, Paul gives an inspired command to, "OBEY

them that have the rule over you, and SUBMIT YOURSELVES: for they

watch for your souls, as THEY THAT MUST GIVE ACCOUNT, that they

may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable

for you."  Here, and in verse seven, God is commanding OBEDIENCE

to His Ministers.  It is THEY who "must give account."  They are

RESPONSIBLE for teaching you the TRUTH.  When there is a doubt as

to the meaning of a scripture, or when there is a Church policy

to be decided upon, God's ministers are given the AUTHORITY to

make those decisions to be based on His REVEALED will.  And He

holds them RESPONSIBLE for seeking HIS will!

   This of course applies ONLY to those whom you know by the

"fruits" are God's TRUE ministers.

   And even then, if there is ever a case when you have a REAL

CONVICTION that one of God's ministers is teaching something

contrary to His will, you ought to, "obey God rather than men"

(Acts 5:29).  But KNOWING that any true minister of God will be

honest in seeking the truth, be sure to discuss the matter

privately with him.  Remember that you are not to rebuke an elder

or minister, "but intreat him as a father" (I Tim. 5:1).  Then,

any TRUE minister of God will STUDY and PRAY over the matter, and

in due time will either show you your error -- or he will confess

his mistake and be thankful to find and teach the TRUTH.

   God himself has chosen ministers who are still quite HUMAN.

But His ministers will remain yielded to Him and be willing to

GROW.  It is HIS RESPONSIBILITY to remove them if they don't.

   In all matters, then, it's GOD'S OPINION that really COUNTS!

   God has specially "called" His ministers to act as His

spokesmen -- teaching the people HIS will.  Christ set the

example (Matt. 7:29) when He astonished the people by teaching

with AUTHORITY.  That authority is to be RESPECTED!  It is not

respect to the man, but to the OFFICE, and to GOD who placed him

in the office.

   God's ministers need your PRAYERS, and your LOVE and

CO-OPERATION in carrying on this great work He has committed to

all of us.  Mr. Armstrong has set a wonderful example by his

love, humility, wisdom, zeal, and his constant willingness to

GROW into more truth as God reveals it.  God's TRUE ministers

will continue to seek and to teach HIS will -- not their own.

   We realize the great RESPONSIBILITY we have as God's

ministers.  We pray that you true brethren will respect the

AUTHORITY God has given us with which to carry on His work.  This

work of God is rapidly growing!   To accomplish our mission

successfully, we need to practice the way of ORDER and CHURCH

GOVERNMENT which God has commanded.   This way of God will be a

great blessing to us -- and to the MILLIONS who will hear the

TRUE GOSPEL because we have been WILLING to set aside our selfish

interests and to work together in HARMONY -- under God's guidance

-- in carrying out His great work.

   Let us all submit ourselves to GOD'S GOVERNMENT in His Church

-- and in His kingdom to come.   As the TRUE Church of God, let us

go forward together with LOVE and UNITY, guided by Divine WISDOM,

and inspired by a contagious ZEAL to carry out with God's POWER

and AUTHORITY the great work of proclaiming the gospel of the

kingdom as a "witness" to all nations before Christ's soon return

as King of kings.