John:
When you were Preaching last night this what I heard the spirit ringing in my ears, quoting this scripture:
“Touch not, taste not, handle not which all will perish with the using” (speaking of the Commandments and Doctrines of men).
In pondering these words in the shower this morning, I realized that I have always failed to completely hear what was being said here. My thoughts had always focused on doctrines and commandments of false religion, but God is referring to the fact that the use of any commandment given by any man contrary to the will of God will cause men to perish. This is especially true if they are considered elders by those young in the faith.
Wendell
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Yes, Wendell, that is true.
Many of God’s people are in bondage today, not to Christ but to the doctrines and commandments of men who claim to speak for Christ. They are in bondage to the traditions of the people they trust the most. Given a choice, these precious brothers and sisters will follow the spirit (the counsel and example) of their elders before they will follow the Spirit of God. The best we can do for them (and if we truly love them we will do it) is to show them how to walk in the righteousness, peace, and joy of God without following the commandments they fear to forsake.
God’s people do not have the knowledge of God. They are more afraid of their own liberty, “the liberty of the sons of God”, than they are of death itself. That’s why they stay in bondage and die in it rather than live free with the Lord. May God help us to live so that in our presence, they will at least sense the liberty that Jesus is offering them.
The Lord recently showed me that elders among His people who refuse the liberty of Christ and impose their overbearing religious bondage on young ones are held guilty of the blood of the young people they drive away from the Lord with oppressive commandments. Those elders may maintain an appearance of righteousness with their religious styles, but God despises what they do to the young who cannot bear the heavy burden of vain religious traditions and who choose liberty in the sins of this world over bondage in the sins of false religion. Who is worthy of greater condemnation, the ones who oppress the young with vain religious commandments, or the young who cannot bear that heavy yoke and want to be happy and free?
On the Day of Judgment, there is going to be “shock and awe” among many devoutly religious people when God condemns them, while the young whom they have condemned in this life are comforted. I am telling you, Wendell, there is going to be utter astonishment at the righteous judgment of God when it is revealed. The depth of the astonishment on that day took my breath away, when I saw how it will be. It makes me ask God for mercy, to show me how not to be a stumbling block for any of His people.
jdc
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Hi John,
It is easy to see why the priests and elders, and anyone that was keeping the traditions of the elders thought that Jesus was a rebel when he was here. All the son of God did while he was here was to do the will of his father. And that sometimes came into conflict with “the commandments of men”. And I know that there are people around us who think the same thing about us, that we are just rebels, always going against their traditions and teachings.
Give me Jesus and they can have the rest.
Stuart
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I’ll second that.
If we refused the “commandments of men” because we love God more, we are not rebels. We are servants of the Higher Power, which Paul told us always to do (Rom. 13:1).
jdc