Clip "Break the Spell" (6) - Is Obedience to Pastors and Elders the Same as Obedience to God?

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Pastors and elders are ordained by the Lord, that's true. (Amen!)
Obeying pastors and elders is obeying the Lord. (Amen!)
But do they have confirmation of the Holy Spirit's work?
Can they give testimony to experiencing the Lord's words?
They can't. They cannot.
Can they show us the path of entering into God's words?
He's right, there's no path.
Wait a minute. You're wrong.
In the Bible, Paul clearly said,
Amen.
That proves that pastors and elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit.
Yeah. Yes.
And doesn't that represent being appointed by God? (Yes!)
God appointed them as overseers to the flock.
There's no way that's wrong. (Yes!)
Isn't that right? That's how it is!
Yes, indeed. It's right.
That's exactly right.
Right.
Brother Dou, I've been thinking these past few days
while we've talked about this on how we used to blindly interpret the Bible,
misuse verses, and twist its words.
That's right. Yes.
Most of what we say is based on our own notions and imaginations,
our own absurd ideas.
This violates the Lord's words.
We don't understand the truth. We have been foolish.
Yes, we have been. Completely.
I think we should treat each word of the Bible correctly from now on.
The words of the Bible are against certain backgrounds.
Right.
We can't just take any verse and use it applying it however we see fit.
Right! That's right.
If we use the verse
"and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers"
to refer to all pastors and elders,
isn't that ridiculous?
Yes, it is. Absurd. Completely. Yeah.
We must understand.
Who said
"and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers"?
Just who were these words talking about?
If you can't answer that and just apply it however you want,
aren't you removing the context? (Yeah!)
Isn't it distorting the Bible?
Yeah, they are distorting it!
Oh, yes, that's what they are doing.
Can Paul's words show what the Lord Jesus intended? (No.)
Can Paul represent the Lord Jesus?
No. He can't.
Only God's words are the truth. Only God's words can be used as proof!
Amen!
As for Paul, he is not Christ. He's just a person. (Amen!)
His words are not truth.
Even if he was enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
we can only say his words conform with truth. (Yes. Amen.)
We cannot treat the words of Paul as the truth and use them as proof.
Absolutely! Amen! Yes. She's right.
Sister Fu is right. Paul's words do not represent the Lord's will. (Yeah.)
Brother Dou,
how can you use Paul's words
as proof that all pastors and elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit?
You say that they are appointed by the Holy Spirit,
but do they have confirmation of the Holy Spirit's work?
Can they give testimony to experiencing the Lord's words?
They can't. They cannot.
Can they show us the path of entering into God's words?
He's right, there's no path.
And can they bring true supply into our lives? (They can't.)
What have we gained from listening to pastors and elders
after all of these years?
Can't you see the truth?
These preachers from the Church of Almighty God have enlightened us today.
How can you still use Paul's words
to say pastors and elders are appointed by God? (That's right.)
Don't you understand or is this false confusion? (Right.)
They're just pretending to be confused.
Yeah. I agree.
I really don't understand.
Yeah, it's so obvious. Don't they understand?
They use these methods to deceive us.
Yeah, we can't listen to them anymore. (Yes.)
Brothers and sisters, let's communicate more on this issue please.
All right. Yes, let's. I agree.
Some people in religious circles often misuse the Bible to make up rules.
They claim the hypocritical Pharisees and pastors
are all appointed and used by the Lord.
Isn't this severely resisting and blasphemy to God?
Yes. She's right.
Doing that is so wrong.
Many people don't know how to distinguish.
They believe but don't magnify God and advocate gifts and status and power,
blindly believing in the pastors and elders. (Yes.)
They can't tell whether one has the reality of the truth
and the work of the Holy Spirit.
They just think if one is certified as a pastor and can explain the Bible,
that they are appointed by God, and that we have to obey them.
That's how we've been.
Some people even more absurdly
think that obeying pastors and elders is obeying God,
and resisting pastors and elders is resisting God.
If we go according to such ideas,
well then, remember the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees,
who knew the Bible well and often taught it to others, (Yes. Yeah.)
but resisted the Lord Jesus when He appeared to work back in the day,
and even eventually had Him crucified. (Yeah.)
I ask, were these people appointed and used by God?
No. Definitely not. No way.
If one followed the Jewish leaders and condemned the Lord Jesus,
then does that mean they were obeying God?
No, no way. It doesn't mean that.
It does not mean that.
Would you say that
those who rejected Jewish leaders and followed the Lord Jesus,
they were resisting and disobeying God?
They weren't. Certainly not.
The view that obeying pastors and elders is obeying God,
and resisting pastors and elders is resisting God,
it really is a ridiculous and harmful one. (Yes. That's true.)
It is absurd. (Yes.)
As believers of God, we should know:
if religious pastors and elders resist God,
and if their path opposes God and betrays the truth,
then we should stand on the side of God and expose them, reject them. (Amen!)
That is true obedience of God. (Amen!)
That is what it means to satisfy God's intentions. (Amen!)
We won't listen to them anymore. (Right.)
Well then, now when it comes to pastors and elders,
we should all understand the truth and God's intentions.
If pastors and elders really pursue the truth,
then they will surely have the work of the Holy Spirit, (Yeah! Yes.)
and lead us to practice God's words to fear God, shun evil. (Amen!)
Following and respecting people like that
is certainly in line with God's intentions. (Amen!)
Praise God. Thanks be to the Lord.
But if they don't love the truth,
if they only care about theology or Bible knowledge,
only to show off to have people obey them,
if they don't bear witness to God,
if they don't lead people to experience God's words,
then they are people who are condemned and cursed by God.
And it would be opposing God if we were to worship them to follow and obey them.
That's right. Right!
That would be against God's intentions. (Yeah! Yes.)
Everyone, isn't that right? (Yes.)
We should reject those who resist God.
We mustn't follow their evil ways.
Pastors and elders are all like that.
They hate the truth and resist God like the Pharisees.
Yeah. It's true. That's right. They are.
We should despise them and abandon them.
Indeed. If we continue to obey them,
we'll be on the side of Satan opposing God. (Amen.)
We must see through these things. (Yes, right.)
We can't listen to them anymore!
Right.
Everyone, most people in religious circles
are unable to see the pastors' and elders' essence of resisting God. (Yes!)
They believe that as long as pastors and elders explain the Bible,
and as long as everything they say conforms with the Bible,
then they should follow and obey.
That may sound reasonable.
But think about it, do pastors and elders really know the Bible?
Do they really know God's work?
Does having biblical knowledge mean they understand God?
No.
Can listening to them, explain the Bible
really guide people to know and obey God?
I don't think anyone in religious circles are able to answer this.
Yeah.
Let's think about this:
Back when the Pharisees appeared to others as if they understood the Bible,
well, they did not recognize the Lord Jesus when He appeared.
Instead, they relied on rules in the Bible to try and trap the Lord Jesus.
They resisted and condemned Him. (Right.)
Because the Lord Jesus expressed God's words,
they condemned the Lord Jesus, said He was blasphemous.
In the end, they even nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross.
What was the problem?
Were they not arrogant and unknowing of God?
Yes.
This story proves to us
that knowing the Bible and explaining the Bible
does not mean one understands the truth,
and does not mean he knows God and His work. (Yes. True. Exactly.)
Those who truly experience God's work pay attention to practicing God's words.
In God's words, they see all God's wondrous deeds,
understand the care and thought God has for mankind,
they see all the words expressed by God in His work
are really the truth that people should enter. (Yes. Yeah!)
They also understand why God expresses these truths, what His intentions are,
and what He seeks to achieve through His work on people.
Those they truly understand.
Yes. Yeah.
Such people truly understand God's work.
Only such people truly understand the Bible. (Amen!)
Only after today do I really understand. (Yes.)
People who truly understand the Bible
focus on communicating God's words,
God's own intentions, His requirements, His work and His disposition, (Yes.)
and can lead people into the truth, and can make them fear God and obey Him.
Amen.
What do pastors and elders preach instead? Answer that.
Bible facts and theology.
What is the consequence of teaching such things?
Consequence?
It only serves to make people more arrogant.
They feel superior with their biblical knowledge.
As a result, when God becomes flesh to express the truth,
they deny God, resist God, and oppose God!
Absolutely right.
It seems that pastors and elders explaining Bible knowledge
is really resisting God! (Yeah. Right.)
They're just like the Pharisees from way back when. (Yeah, I agree.)
Why aren't these pastors and elders
able to communicate their knowledge of practicing God's words?
Why can't they communicate their understanding of God's work and disposition?
It's because they don't have genuine experience of God's words and the truth.
They only focus on studying the Bible to attain biblical knowledge,
which is why they cannot receive the work of the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, that's right.
So how could their service possibly receive God's approval?
He's right. God would not approve. (Of course.)
God has become flesh as the Son of man to express the truth
and do the judgment work, revealing each person.
Those who love the truth, hate the truth, good servants, evil servants,
those who serve God or serve mammon will all be revealed. (Yes.)
As for those pastors and elders,
they continue to take verses out of context and misconstrue the Bible,
even believing "There is no utterance and work of God outside the Bible,"
spreading lies and fallacies to resist God's work in the last days.
Yes. He's absolutely right. Surely is. True.
Tell me, is this not deceiving people and misleading them?
Yes, that is right.
Pastors and elders deceive us.
Who knows how many believers
have been led astray, harmed and ruined by these lies?
Yeah.
How many people have lost the chance
to come before God's throne to attend God's banquet
and lost the chance to be made into an overcomer?
So harmful.
How can they do such a thing?
Everyone,
aren't these pastors obstacles for us trying to accept and find the true way?
Amen. I agree. They are doing that.
We won't be deceived again. (Absolutely.)
We weren't able to see it for so long. (That's true.)
Yeah. It is true.
Let's read the words of Almighty God
to discern the pastors and elders even better. (All right. Yes.)
Thanks be to God.
Yes. Thanks be to the Lord.
Thanks be to God. (Be to God.)
Yes, well. Oh! Yes! It's true.
Amen!
Agreed.
How did we not know before?
Brothers and sisters,
before when pastors explained Bible knowledge and theological theory,
we blindly worshiped and followed them.
Now I know we were so foolish, with no ability to distinguish.
Yes. I agree. We were so ignorant.
Yeah. Biblical knowledge and theology are too harmful. (Amen.)
If not for the words of Almighty God, we'd still be deceived by our pastors!
Yeah! Yes. That's right.
That's right. I used to think if I followed the pastors,
I'd go to the kingdom of heaven.
Now I realize the path they lead is not the right path! (Amen!)
They're the modern Pharisees.
We mustn't be deceived any longer! (Yeah! That's right!)
They are demons!
But pastors have more knowledge than us. They know the Bible.
They're still capable.
But they don't know God. They're hypocrites.
They'll be cursed by God! (Yeah, that's right.)
God will curse them.
Following pastors and elders is definitely dangerous. (That's right.)
They cannot lead us into the kingdom of heaven! (Right! Yes.)
We must reject them. (We will.)
We won't be deceived anymore. (We won't be.)
I agree. Yeah!
We must reject these pastors and elders. We won't listen to them anymore.
Brothers and sisters,
Almighty God has exposed the true essence of pastors and elders
who resist God and deceive man. (Yes.)
Pastors and elders often misinterpret the Bible when explaining it.
They rely on imagination to explain Bible knowledge and theory,
just to show off, build themselves up, and make people follow them.
But they never exalt the Lord or bear witness to Him,
they just want to place people under their control. (Yeah. Yes.)
Why is it there are so many people who worship their pastors and elders
and those who can explain the Bible, but so few who can magnify the Lord?
What's the problem here?
During Almighty God's work of judgment in the last days,
many people don't investigate for the truth.
They don't pray to God. They just follow the orders of their pastors and elders.
Do these people believe in the Lord or their pastors?
We've been following pastors, not the Lord at all. (Yes.)
We should all look inside to see if we have done this.
Yeah. I agree. Yes, he's right.
Long ago, the Lord Jesus exposed the Pharisees' resistance against God,
so why can't we discern when it comes to pastors and elders in the last days?
Yeah.
And there are still those who worship them, follow them.
They have embarked on the path of resisting God,
and as a result are despised and hated by God.
Where's the sense in this?
Haven't they been deceived by pastors, elders for too long?
Yes, he is right.
Yes.
Now, many who love the truth and hunger for God's appearance
have seen right through the antichrist nature of religious leaders.
They have left the religion
and accepted Almighty God's work of the last days for the Lamb's banquet.
Amen!
Praise God.
As for those who still worship and follow these religious leaders,
they will surely only encounter disasters. (Yeah. Yes. This is all true.)
Brothers and sisters, listen, we don't have much time left.
Great disaster will soon descend.
Yes.
If we do not accept Almighty God's work in the last days,
we will fall into disaster, weeping and suffering. (Yes. It's true.)
This is true.
It is true.
Brothers and sisters,
disasters all around the world are getting bigger.
Four blood moons have appeared, and the celestial events have occurred.
Yes.
It seems the destructive disasters are about to happen.
Yes. Indeed.
The incarnate God's work of judgment starting from the house of God
will be completed soon. (Yes.)
We've been so lucky to hear God's voice
to accept Almighty God's judgment in the last days.
This is true rapture into the kingdom of heaven. (Amen! Thanks be to God. Yes.)
To attend the marriage supper of the Lamb is our greatest blessing surely.
Amen. Thanks be to God.
Almighty God has rescued us from the deception of pastors and elders, it's true.
We have abandoned the darkness to be brought before God's throne.
Amen! Thanks be to Almighty God!
Amen! Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.
Recently, we've read many words of Almighty God
and talked of many problems that exist inside religion.
Yes.
We finally see our belief in God
deviated only because we had worshiped and obeyed pastors and elders.
Yeah.
We had blind faith in the words of religious leaders.
And for that reason, we treated the words in the Bible as letters and doctrines,
held onto them as they were rules. (Right. Yes. That's right.)
We didn't understand God's words or know how to experience God's words.
We didn't. That's right.
We never knew to seek the truth when we prayed,
and we didn't have a true communion with God.
Right.
I see. How was that even believing in the Lord?
We called it that,
but really, we were just worshiping and obeying pastors and elders.
She's absolutely true. Absolutely right.
This way without knowing it, we embarked on a path of resisting God,
becoming hypocritical Pharisees.
That's right. Yes. I agree.
Great thanks be to Almighty God.
Thanks be to God.
Today, Almighty God … Almighty God has saved us all.
Amen!
Almighty God's words let us understand what believing in God is.
Yes.
Almighty God's words let us know the truth and gain discernment, (Amen!)
so we no longer have blind faith in the Bible or religious pastors and elders.
Yes. Thanks be to God.
We have broken free from
the control of the letters of the Bible and religious leaders. (Amen!)
We have broken the spell that trapped our belief in the Lord for years! (Amen!)
Praise God.
We'll no longer suffer under their control.
Now finally,
we can come before God's throne and enjoy the supply of God's words,
and attend the wedding supper of the Lamb, (Amen!)
receiving God's personal watering, supply, shepherding.
Amen!
I believe we're so blessed.
Yes. So blessed.
We're too lucky! Thanks be to God!
In all my wildest dreams,
I never thought we'd go before God's throne
and enter into the training of the kingdom.
Amen! Praise God.
This is a chance, a rare opportunity for us to be made perfect by God!
Amen! Thanks be to God!
We have all been exalted by God!
Amen! Praise God. Amen!
Many thanks be to Almighty God. (Amen!)
Thanks be to Almighty God.
Thanks be to God's grace and mercy.
Thanks be to God.
Brother Li, Yangzhuang is up ahead.
Up there are many people who believe in the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Right then, let's hurry. (Good. Let's go.)
Let's do it. (Yes.)