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What We Believe and Why
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

NO ONE IS AT LIBERTY TO VIOLATE THE GOD ORDAINED PATTERN FOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION
EXODUS 25:40 Acts 7:42-45

We are endeavoring to show you that every church should be patterned after the church which Jesus built; and that since the Lord's church was independent, all churches should be independent.

IV. We do not believe that any person or church is at liberty to alter, change, or forsake God's pattern:

A. The great God whom we serve is a jealous God, and is very much opposed to any man altering His methods or plans even in a small way: Listen to His warnings:

1. The divine attitude of God on changing His plans is seen in Darius in Ezra 6:10-12. To God it is a most serious offense.

2. in Rev. 22:18-19 God warns about changing His book, wherein are contained the methods and plans of God, even about running His church as we've seen.

3. In light of these two passages, what do you suppose God thinks of a church which violates or turns from His methods and plans of operation?

4. Listen to these other passages which lead us to believe God wants things done exactly as He prescribes:

a. God said, "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set." Prov. 22:28.

b. God told Joshua, "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest," Joshua 1:6-9.

c. God's word says, "Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left," Deut. 5:32.

d. He said in Deut. 28:14 "And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day."

e. Through his prophet Jeremiah, God said, "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you," Jer. 7:23.

f. And, God says in Deut. 5:33, "Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. "

g. It was because the Ephesus church had altered God's pattern that He said to them in Rev. 2:4 "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

h. And, to let it be known that he is following God's pattern to a "t", Paul is careful to point out, "I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. . ." I Cor. 15:3 and I Cor. 11:23.

5. Now, if the scripture has any meaning, we are not at liberty to vary, alter, and attempt to improve God's methods:

a. To the contrary, we are to follow His plans and leadership precisely, realizing and acknowledging Him and Him alone as the boss.

b. Churches who practice unscriptural organization by failing to remain independent would do well to consider God's attitude about their activities.

B. The scriptures provide a host of examples which illustrate that God would have us follow precisely His instructions:

1. By comparing Heb. 11:4 with Rom. 10:17 it can be seen that Abel followed God's instructions while Cain didn't. The result is that Abel's satisfied God, while Cain's disgusted him, Gen. 4:1-15.

2. Noah built an ark "according to all that God commanded him, so did he," Gen. 6:22. And, only he and his family survived the flood, Gen. 7:23.

3. But, the righteous man David (Rom. 4:6) chose to do a good thing in a slightly different manner than God had prescribed; and to his sorrow, lie found that it kindled the wrath of God:

a. He decided to move the ark of God from the city of Baale to Jerusalem (II Sam. 6:2), a thing which was good and according to the will of God, (I Chron. 13:1-4).

b. Any time that ark was to be moved, it was to be carried on foot by priests (Ex. 25:14).

C. And, that ark could only be carried upon the shoulders of the priests who were the sons of Kohath, Num. 7:9.

d. But, David proceeded to move it on an oxen (I Chron. 13:9) drawn cart, I Chron. 13:7 and II Sam. 6:3.

e. The result was the death of a great soldier of David (Uzzah) in II Sam. 6:7, a halting of the moving of the ark for 3 months (I Chron. 13:13-14), and the fear of God fell on David who asked, "How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?" I Chron. 13:12.

f. It is noteworthy that when later David moved that ark on to Jerusalem, the priests "bare the ark of the Lord" (II Sam. 6:13) and the sons of Kohath (I Chron. 15:5) bore it upon their shoulders (I Chron. 15:15) just as God had originally commanded. And David acknowledged that if he'd have done it that way to begin with, God would not have been so angered, (I Chron. 15:2, 12-13).

4. King Saul also took upon himself to do something reserved for God's priests only (Lev. 1:7-9) by intruding into the office of the priest (I Sam. 13:8-10). He found to his sorrow that his failure to follow God's method even in a good sacrifice, displeased God and was considered foolish, I Sam. 13:13-14, I Sam. 15:11.

5 . Look at what happened to Moses when he disobeyed God in as small a matter as smiting (hitting) a rock (Num. 20:11) instead of speaking unto it (Num. 20:8). The result is recorded in Num. 20:12.

6. There are plenty of other fine examples in the Bible which teach us to stick closely to God's plans in all things.

C. So, in light of what we see in the Bible on this subject, we can not help but conclude that no man or church has the liberty to depart from the patterns which God has given us to follow:

1. There is not one case where anybody ever did depart from doing God's things His way and yet had the sanction of God on him in his departure.

2. And, if God wants people to follow His patterns in all things; then it cannot help being true that His people ought to follow His church pattern.

3. The first church and all the churches in the Bible were independent:

a. These churches are the pattern (God's pattern) for all churches to follow.

b. Since they were independent, so should we be also.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"