Main reference: Mt 7:21-27 (Rv 1:2, Mal 2:5-7, 10)
What is the appointed task of a true religious leader?
It is said in Malachi 2:7, “For the lips of a priest (pastor) ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction--because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty.” In Malachi 2:6 it says, “True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.” And in Malachi 2:10, it is said, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we deal treacherously (make up words by deceiving craftily) every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
This Word, as stated above, is from Malachi chapter 2 in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This is the duty of a priest appointed by God.
A priest should walk with God, be the messenger who speaks on behalf of God, and be a “walking Bible” that has the Word inscribed within his heart like God. If a priest is ignorant, then he is dishonoring God, and the congregation members following him will also be ignorant. If a priest is ignorant of the Bible and God is not within him, then how can he act according to the will of God? If one does not know the will of God, then only self-imposed acts and law from one’s own thinking and judgment remain. How can this kind of person be the messenger who speaks on behalf of God?
The qualification to become a priest or a leader of God is that one’s lips should keep the truth, and become the one who is with God like Jesus. Today, would the one who added to or took away from the book of Revelation become a messenger of God? Or would the one who did not add to or take away from it but rather mastered [the book of Revelation] become a messenger of God (refer to Rv 22:18-19)? Yes, God’s covenant is a covenant of life and peace. [A priest] should have the law of truth in his mouth, walk with God in peace and uprightness, and turn many people from sin. Also, a priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth for a priest is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.
But, God will not tolerate a priest who turns from the way and causes many people to violate the covenant of God. Therefore first, a priest (pastor) should do according to the will of God as His messenger and always walk with God. Second, he should have the knowledge of the Word of God. Since a priest is the messenger who speaks on behalf of God, he should let the congregation members know what they seek. Like in Hosea 4:6, if both priest and congregation members do not have knowledge about God, then they are destroyed together. So, if a priest does not have knowledge about God and turns from the way, then he should leave and give his position to others. Without having this kind of conscience, if he keeps the position with greed, covets power and fame, and acts according to his own thinking, then these acts will be no different to those of the serpent. God will not tolerate the one who breaks His covenant and commits acts of betrayal due to these things, and He will appoint a new pastor and do new work.
So, God promised one pastor, and when the time was right, He came to the promised pastor and worked with him, who was Jesus. Since Jesus worked with God, he was a true pastor and true religion. Likewise, a true pastor should have knowledge like God who is the Word, and act in the right way.
Jesus was the pastor promised in the Old Testament. Then, who is the true pastor promised in the New Testament? The Old Testament has passed, and it is the New Testament that has come to us. There is also a promised pastor in the book of the New Testament. It is recorded that in the last days, all nations would fall and churches would be destroyed, and people would become captives and churches would betray God. At this time, whom should congregation members follow in order to receive salvation? In the last days, believers become blind and deaf, and they are like the night that has no knowledge about the Bible. If a blind man follows a blind man, they will not know that they are blind, and both of them will fall into a pit (Mt 15:14). It is said that the last days are like the days of Noah and the days of Lot (Lk 17:26-30). It is said that although the time of the Lord’s Second Coming is like the time of Noah and the time of Lot, the world remains unchanged. So with what can we know about this time?
In Malachi chapter 2, we saw what kind of person God’s priest was, that is, the true pastor. We have lived our life of faith to earn eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven. Who is the true pastor in the New Testament that God promised? And whom and where do God, the Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus come down to? At the First Coming of Jesus, the priests of Judah and Jerusalem, who were called the most holy people, and kingdom and priests among all nations, received the spirit of the devil and did evil acts such as persecuting and killing God’s son, Jesus. What does it say it will be like in the New Testament, at the time of the end of Spiritual Israel? Just as in the time of the First Coming, the one who destroyed stands in the holy place, and kills the two witnesses who serve the Lord (Rv 11) at the time of the Second Coming. This makes it clear that although all people are "people," the spirits inside them are different. Both at the First Coming and Second Coming, there are the betrayer, destroyer, and the savior (2 Thes 2). The betrayer would do the work of betrayal that is recorded, the destroyer would do the work of destruction that is recorded, and the savior would do the work of salvation that is recorded.
A true religion and true leader should teach the events that will occur in the last days to his congregation members so that they do not get destroyed. Also, he should make those who broke the covenant to repent so that there won’t be any acts of betrayal, and should let them know about the savior when the savior comes. This is the appointed task of religious leaders. If he only loves power, fame, and money and does not feed his flock of sheep, then how can the congregation members realize and earn salvation when the promised tribulation comes? If a pastor does not know and realize the betrayal, destruction, and salvation and cannot teach this to his congregation members, then this pastor cannot be called a true pastor. He will be called a false pastor for his heretic teaching.
The congregation members themselves should go into the Word of the Bible, realize the Word, and avoid tribulation and destruction, and be led by the Word.
SHINCHEONJI Healing All Nations
http://cafe.daum.net/scjschool/E3qZ/705
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