We are now living in the era of Grace. So let us look at the New Testament to find out what the Word of God teaches, concerning the leadership roles of men in the Church. The New Testament is very clear concerning the God-ordained role of men over women in the running of the Church. And so, all professing Christians must subscribe to this fact; of a men-only leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ.

First, let us look at First Corinthians, chapter fourteen, verse thirty-four to thirty-eight. These verses are very clear in what they mean. They are also so strong that nobody can bend them. They clearly establish the leadership role of man over the woman in the running of the Church. For easy reference, let us quote these verses right here:

“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” (First Corinthians 14: 34-38, KJV, emphasis mine).

I do not know what Paul would do to the many men of our day, who willfully disobey this instruction of the Lord, if he were here present on earth with us. So-called men of God find nothing wrong with electing, schooling, ordaining, and anointing women, in their own ways and manner, claiming to have made them suitable and empowered for leadership roles in the Church.

Many of such so-called men of God, have the audacity to anoint their own wives, sisters, daughters, nieces and female friends, claiming to have thus made them become eligible to lead in the affairs of the church. These men claim God called them, but cannot wait for the same God to call these female relations of theirs – if He ever will. Because they suffer from impatience and possibly arrogance, they claim to have been authorized by God, whose so-called authorization makes them worthy to call females of their choice into His service.

I wonder of what spiritual use, groupings (churches?) with such leaders who claim to have the mandate of God to call women into leadership roles, are to the Kingdom of God. Such groupings are not part of the Body of Christ – the Church. These are man-made businesses, established as dynasties, whose sole intent is to make money out of their ignorant followers.

My prayer to God for you, my dear reader, is that you will begin to see so-called men of God, who clad themselves with powers they claim to have been given by God to elect, train and ordain their wives as leaders of their churches they founded, as not true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let us also look at the substance of First Timothy chapter two, verse eleven to fourteen. These verses stand out so clear in meaning that, they hardly need any exposition. Again, let us quote them here for ease of reference:

“Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (First Timothy 2: 11-14, KJV).

From these verses, we have the reason from God’s own mouth, why He does not choose women for His work. One reason is as stated earlier-on in this article: Adam begat Eve out of his bones and flesh, and therefore she must be subject to him forever.

The second reason is traced back to the events that led to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Because of the role the woman (Eve) played in the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, God does not permit her to play any leadership roles in His business.

God has given His reasons why woman cannot be entrusted with any leadership roles in His business. I wonder which mortal beings can have the courage and audacity to think otherwise. For God, the issue of woman’s ineligibility to play any leadership roles in His business is forever settled. No person can fight God over this, or be able to reverse His rule.

In First Timothy 3: 2, 12 and Titus 1: 6, the Word of God further establishes His choice of man over woman, in leading His business. Again it will be easy to follow the discourse, if we quote these verses here.

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (cf. First Timothy 3: 2, 12, KJV).

These verses are clear in what they mean. It is only men with single wives, children and homes, who qualify to be bishops and deacons. No law exists, that states that, women who have single husbands, children and their own houses, can be eligible for the functions of a bishop or deacon.

That would be a ridiculous law. But many so-called men of God have managed to select, teach and ordain women for the functions of bishops and deacons. In their confusion, they call such women, deaconesses – a man-made word (alien to the entire bible-revelation), which is coined to try to fit it into their skewed understanding of the Word of God. How sad that men could behave in such foolhardiness and ignorance.

Let me say that, any person, casually familiar with the prose or the letter of the Holy Bible, will realize in it, the use of certain words in the masculine gender sense only. They are never used in any way close to the feminine gender sense. In fact, they defy any feminine gender connotations. These words are: apostle, bishop, elder, evangelist, deacon, pastor, priest and teacher.

Of course, the masculine-gendered word ‘priest’ might seem to have a feminine counterpart: ‘priestess’. But that is only so outside the context of both the Old and New Testaments and of Israel, (the true jurisdiction of these testaments). That is why this word ‘priestess’ is never used in description of any woman in Judaism and of Israel.

Another male-gendered word, ‘deacon’, rooted in the Bible, has also been wrongly given a feminine gender counterpart in the word ‘deaconess’. Even though the word ‘deaconess’ has never been used by God and the holy men He inspired to write the Bible, it has been forced into Bible interpretation, in reference to today’s women-leaders in church settings, as being counterparts to deacons.

Whoever courageously came up with the word ‘deaconess’, to fit into his views in Bible-interpretation, should have in the same vain, done more work in giving mankind, feminine forms to such typically masculine-gendered words as: apostle, bishop, elder, pastor, and teacher. Maybe, he should have taught us that, ‘apostleess’, “bishopess”, “elderess”, “evangelistess”, “pastoress” and “teacheress”, are the respective feminine-gendered forms of these words. And I wonder how many people would have been thrilled and appreciative of his ingenuity in such a feat. [—this article is continued in Part Eight: soon to be published].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

The Master took to himself, only men to be trained for the work of evangelizing the world. These were to work in his stead after his ascension to heaven. During the time the Master was training these men for their role in taking the salvation-message to the world, he sent them out on two occasions as part of their training programme.

On both occasions, he sent out only these chosen men in pairs but never blended them with any women. Bible scholars have come to refer to these errands as the Mission of the Twelve (cf. Matthew 10: 1-42, Mark 6: 7-13, Luke 9: 1-6) and the Mission of the Seventy (cf. Luke 10: 1-24).

The fact that the Master chose only men to be his twelve apostles (one man representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel?), and these men-only missions of the Twelve and of the Seventy, must be the starting point where every true disciple of the Master must begin to understand and appreciate the God-ordained leadership role of men, in the business of the Kingdom of God.

But alas, many of today’s so-called disciples of Jesus Christ are hardly impressed by the manner of the Master, and the spiritual significance of choosing only men for his assignments.

Apostle Peter is my most-admired disciple of Jesus Christ. I see him throughout his apostolic work, act as a copy-cat disciple of Jesus Christ, the Master. Just watch him lead the search for a replacement for Judas Iscariot, when the latter’s bishoprick became due for grabs, after his horrible demise.

Apostle Peter in Acts 1: 15-22, spelt out the required credentials of the person who was qualified to take-up the bishoprick of Judas Iscariot. Looking critically at his requirements in verses twenty-one and twenty-two, Mary Magdalene, Joana the wife of Chuza (Herod’s steward), Susanna, Mary the mother of James, and many other women (Luke 8: 2-3 and 24: 10), did not qualify simply because they were women.

These women were ever present in all the travels of the Master, to minister to his needs out of their substance. The Master knew of their presence in the crowds that followed him in all his travels because they were always present to supply his needs. And yet the Master never gave these loyal women to his cause, any roles or assignments in his ministry.

So, who was Peter, an ordinary disciple of the Master to do otherwise? Apostle Peter could therefore never elect and anoint a woman to replace Judas Iscariot; no matter how much qualified she might seem in all other areas, aside from not being a man.

Not long after Peter led the Church in getting a replacement for Judas Iscariot, the Church again had need to look for leaders for a particular assignment. We can read of this assignment and the election of the men for its execution, in Acts 6: 1-7.

From my understanding of many accounts about the apostolic Church, this account in Acts 6: 1-7 is the best situation, that could ever have led to the establishment of a so-called Women’s Ministry and the election of women (as deaconesses?) to prosecute the objectives of that ministry. And yet the wisdom of the apostles of Jesus Christ did not permit the election of women for the assignment.

The apostles had on hand, a problem of dealing with a women’s issue. It concerned the provision of food by the Church to widows. The distribution of food to Grecian widows did not seem fair as Jewish widows in the Church seemed better-favoured over the Grecian ones.

This led to murmurings in the Church. Of course, these murmurings had the potential to kill the love and fellowship of the congregation. The apostles had to deal with this canker which in Israel’s history had always led to the judgments of God upon the people.

One would have thought that since the issues in contention were about the cooking of food in the kitchen and the serving of it at tables to vulnerable women, women-folk, should have been at the forefront to deal with them. After all, these issues obviously were in an area where women’s God-given talents and natural gifts, could deal with them adequately, possibly without any Holy Spirit endowment.

And yet the apostles did not find it prudent to elect, ordain and anoint women for the task. They had to look for as many as seven men for the solution of the problem. These were no ordinary men. For this service to the Body of Christ, these men were to be of good report, full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith.

At the end of the election and ordination of these seven men, there was peace, love flourished, and the work of God prospered. Jesus Christ and God the Father in Heaven were satisfied with their servants on earth for their actions and gave them their backing and blessing.

You see, the apostles worked with the mind and wisdom of the Master. Also, the Master worked with them in all their endeavours (Mark 16: 20). Working in and through his disciples, the Master would never elect and ordain women for any assignments in his Church. These truths the apostles knew very well from two sources.

The first source was the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in them constantly taught them the deep things of God and of His Wisdom. They could never do what was not in the mind of God or what He would not approve of.

Secondly, they learnt of the Master in four years of serious discipleship training, whatever they could do or never be allowed to do. And this training gave them the wisdom of being copy-cat imitators of all the ways of the Master.

When these men were with the Master, while he was on earth with them, did he not set the example for them, that, the greatest in his work must be the one who serves? And so these disciples learnt to serve thousands of men, women, and children, without being assisted in their tasks by women and or children (cf. Matthew 14: 15-21, Matthew 15: 32-38, Mark 6: 35-44, Mark 8: 1-9, Luke 9: 12-17, John 6: 5-13).

Whenever the disciples of Jesus Christ executed their God-ordained work of serving in the Kingdom, they received no assistance from women. Whether the task was to serve five or seven thousand men, in addition to the large numbers of women and children who were ever present, they received no assistance from any women in this service.

And whether the task was the collection of left-over food, to fill seven or twelve baskets, the disciples of Jesus Christ did not get assistance from their women-folk present.

The Master did not endorse women participation in the ministry he established for his genuine and loyal disciples. And therefore, he, never superintended over any assignments of his followers, which had women play roles (no matter how menial) in the ministry he ordained for them (his followers).

My dear Man of God, who are you then, to bring women into the Church of Jesus Christ, as leaders in place of and on behalf of men? Do you have the mandate of God to do so? No you do not. May God, be merciful to us in this error. [—this article is continued in Part Seven].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Prophetess Deborah came onto the political scene of Israel unannounced. Unlike her predecessors, Othniel and Ehud, God did not introduce her. Immediately after her, came another deliverer raised by God to deliver His people. He was called Gideon. Gideon was elaborately introduced by God as His messenger (cf. Judges 6: 12 – 8: 32).

Odd enough, Deborah did not enjoy the testimony of God that He raised her as a deliverer to His people. There is no statement in the Bible that clearly reveals Deborah was raised-up and sent by God in the same way that Othniel, Ehud and Gideon were given glorious testimonies about their God-ordained assignments.

Maybe, she just filled a void at her own will: she called herself into action. It is most likely that, this was what she did. Just like Miriam the prophetess, the joy of having the power of the Holy Spirit upon her for singing might have led her to make bold and courageous acts like leading men to war, at a time when men were afraid to. But even then, do we not see how dependant she was on Barak, a man of valour, for her military campaigns? (cf. Judges 4: 6).

Nothing that I know about prophetess Deborah leads me to the conclusion that she was a messenger sent from God to lead His people. Her success in the war-campaigns against Gentile-king Jabin, and his captain Sisera, not withstanding, there is no reference in the Bible that God sent her.

That is not say God was not with her: since the Holy Spirit was with her and inspired her to sing, albeit of herself, and friends. Deborah too, like Miriam could not be a messenger sent by God to lead men.

We could go on to examine Huldah the wife of a man called Shallum (Second Kings 22: 14-20 & Second Chronicles 34: 20-28) and the un-named wife of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 8: 3), who were both mentioned in the Old Testament as being prophetesses. Clearly, none of them was sent by God to deliver His Word to any people. Huldah was neither under the command of God to send a message to king Josiah of Judah, nor was Josiah told by God to send the high priest Hilkiah and scribe Shaphan to her for one.

King Josiah of his own volition sent his messengers to confer with her. Prophetess Huldah therefore, also stands as one of the prophetesses who were never sent by God with His Word to men. As for Isaiah’s wife we do not know for what reason she was mentioned as a prophetess: or was it in relation to her pregnancy, the only issue related to the mention of her name?

From all the foregoing, we can safely say that a prophetess is one who sings under the unction of the Holy Spirit. This understanding of the function of the prophetess should deliver many people from holding the wrong view that, a prophetess is the female counterpart to the male-prophet, and is also inspired like the male-prophet to carry God’s Word to people.

This wrong but popular stance held by many that a prophetess is a God-chosen woman to be His messenger-spokesperson, conveying His instructions in place or alongside of God-ordained men-prophets must, today, be disabused from the minds of Bible-believers.

With the issue of who is a prophetess now settled, let us look at some practices of Judaism to further establish the fact that God purposefully set-up the leadership role of man over the woman. It is common knowledge to Bible students that, Judaism, as set-up and defined by the Law of Moses, showed a men-only leadership.

Many times we read in the Old Testament that Israel appeared before God in fulfillment of the Law. For many, their understanding of these verses of the Bible is that, the entire population of men, women and children appeared in the presence of the Lord. But it is wrong to suppose so, since the whole population of Israel could never assemble in one place. It was simply not possible for such a gathering to be made.

These were men-only congregations and or convocations, which the Law of Moses commanded for the observance by the males of Israel. It was compulsory for all men to stand before God in a holy convocation three times every year. This was a commandment given for the compliance of only men. We find this in Exodus 23: 17, Deuteronomy 16: 16-17, 23: 1-2, Leviticus 4: 13-15, and 23: 2.

The ages of males qualified to stand before God in these gatherings were twenty and above. These males comprised those of the eligible military- and nuptial-age of twenty (Numbers 1: 2-3, 26: 2, 32: 11 and Joshua 5: 4-7), and those who were family-heads, military leaders, spiritual leaders, and royal heads. Just look at the composition in the select group of men who appeared before Joshua and God, before his demise, which we find in Joshua 23: 2 and 24: 1.

Every serious-minded student of the Bible knows of the obvious disposition of the Law toward males, over their females. Even the post-natal purification rites for a woman, under the Law, were different when she brought forth a male-child from when the child was a female.

When a woman brought forth a male-child, she was unclean for only seven days. She could therefore come out to be present at the circumcision, naming and presentation to God rites for her son, which were by the Law to be performed on the eighth day after the birth of every male-child. Thereafter, her purification process lasted for thirty-three days.

On the other hand, a woman who delivered a female-child was by Law considered unclean, for as many as fourteen days. Thereafter, she continued while in seclusion, the process of her purification for a further sixty-six days. In Leviticus 12: 1-6, we find God’s instructions devoted to these issues, for the strict compliance of the children of Israel. Please, read these verses for your edification.

We must keep in remembrance that the Law of Moses continued to be legal tender for the transaction of any business between man and God, onto the advent of the Messiah. In the days of the Law of Moses, God dealt with mankind on the basis of man’s submission and obedience to it. And it was only Israel who was privileged to have the Law. His right-standing before God depended on his obedience to this Law.

This explains the misery of being alienated from God, which Gentiles suffered before being reconciled unto Him by the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before that reconciliation of the Gentile-world to God, the Messiah of God said that, not one jot or tittle of the Law of Moses would ever pass away or fail; not until heaven and earth have passed away (cf. Matthew 5:17-18 and Luke 16:17).

Well, heaven and earth have not passed away yet and so the leadership status of the man established by God the Almighty in the Law of Moses, still stands today under the Grace Dispensation of God. We cannot doubt this if we truly are the loyal disciples of Jesus Christ.

But do we see this law of God, in which He established man as the perpetual leader of the woman, being adhered to today? Even among people who claim to be the followers of the Master, Jesus Christ, do they obey the Will of God in this? Personally, I do not see obedience to this Law. And why is this so, one may ask?

The reason is simple – many people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, are indeed not his disciples. True disciples of Jesus Christ are hard to come by in our world today. This is because a true disciple is one who imitates every way of his Master. And no imitator of Jesus Christ will permit or accept women leaders in the Church. [—this article is continued in Part Six].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Why would Miriam claim to be a spokesperson of God when she did not seem credible enough to lay claim to it? Of course, we all know that at one point in time, Miriam led the women’s group in Israel’s journey out of Egypt to Canaan, to sing a powerful song of praise to God. This was when the children of Israel crossed the Red sea safely, while the horse-men of Pharaoh drowned by the mighty hand of God (Exodus 15: 20-21).

This was the only occasion that Miriam came into contact with the Spirit of God. The euphoric feeling that she gained in this one-off contact with the Holy Spirit, might have carried her aloft and above all Israelite women for a long time. This spiritually uplifting experience, must have led her to think and believe that she was a messenger of God, who was spiritually at par with her two siblings (Aaron and Moses), and that she was chosen to run errands for Him by speaking forth His word to Israel.

After we heard Miriam sing a song of praise to God when the children of Israel crossed the Red sea, we next hear her criticise Moses for taking an Ethiopian woman to wife. How sad. This prophetess used her tongue to criticise the true man of God, instead of praising Him for mightily using him (her own brother) in the manner He was doing! Of course, her punishment for this sin, in being hit with leprosy, was deserved (Numbers12:1-16).

I am sure that her experiences of later years would have led her to reconsider her stand and, in sober-mind, rid herself of the delusion she had that God spoke through her. She, no-doubt, must have come to repent of her sin of envy and jealousy of her younger sibling (Moses), which must have caused her to speak presumptuously.

The third and last mention of Miriam in the Bible was one which announced her death and burial (cf. Numbers 20: 1). Miriam therefore, went the way of all flesh with only one good service to God to her credit! And yet she was considered a prophetess! This means that it was in her singing of praises to God, under the power of the Holy Spirit, in only one known occasion, that she was labeled: prophetess.

To sing under the power of the Holy Spirit therefore, means to prophesy. And it was not only Miriam who sung to earn the appellation, prophet, or in her case, prophetess.

The first king of Israel, Saul the son of Kish, was also a prophet by appellation because he sung praises to God when the Spirit of God first came upon him. In his case too, it is in this one known occasion that he was called a prophet.

Saul joined a company of prophets who, in function, were singers and instrumentalists under the unction of the Holy Spirit (cf. First Samuel 10: 5-13). Saul became known as a prophet because, on the day that he had the Holy Spirit of God come upon him, he joined this musical band of prophets and became as one with them in what they were doing – singing praises to God.

Note that, after Saul’s prophesying in singing, God never used him in even one instance, to carry His message to Israel his nation. And yet his name has entered the history of God’s dealings with mankind as a prophet, at one time in his life.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that singing under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, can also be termed: prophesying. From the Old Testament days unto the early days of the New Testament church, inspired singing of praises to God, either in clear understandable words or babbling tongues, remained the commonest manifestations of a person’s contact with the Spirit of God.

It was obviously so, for as many as seventy leaders of the house of Israel during the Old Testament days (cf. Numbers 11: 25-27). What could these seventy elders of Israel be doing with their vocal cords on end, prophesying without ceasing? What these elders did was the same thing Saul the son of Kish and a company of known prophets also did with their vocal cords – prophesying without ceasing.

It is not possible that on both occasions, these groups of men were delivering some message from God, without ceasing; could it? What-with all these many people using their vocal cords (and as such, all said in the Bible to be prophesying) at the same time?

What message could they be delivering and never ending or ceasing from that task? If at all they were delivering a special message from God, to who was it directed? The only thing they were doing was singing and making music in praise and worship of God.

May it therefore, be firmly established from the foregoing that, to prophesy also means, to sing under the unction of the Holy Spirit: thereby, not limiting prophesying to the delivering of messages from God.

In Acts 21: 9, we read of Philip the evangelist having in his home, four virgin-daughters who did (or could) prophesy. That is not to tell us that these virgins ever had a mission from God, to send His Word to any people of the world, either in times past or present then.

Of course, the work of sending the gospel message to the world was what their father was doing in all diligence, at the time we were told of their virginity and prophesying prowess (a feat usually exhibited together as a quartet?).

I am sure these virgins, pure and holy as they were, could never think of entering into any competition with their father in evangelizing the world. These virgins were singers who were always under the power of the Holy Spirit whenever they sang.

They, like Miriam, who is revealed to us in God’s Word as a prophetess; the seventy elders of the house of Israel in the Book of Numbers; king-elect Saul and his company of prophets; and the family and friends of Cornelius (Acts 10: 46), all ministered in songs of praises to God under the unction of the Holy Spirit immediately they had their first contact with the Holy Spirit. Women singers, singing under the unction of the Holy Spirit are considered to prophesy, and hence the reason why they are called prophetesses.

What about the mention in the Book of Judges in the Bible about a woman by the name Deborah, who is also referred to as a prophetess, someone might ask? Of course, many Bible readers know about this woman, who is also said to have been a judge of Israel. But many people do not know about her in much detail.

Prophetess Deborah was like prophetess Miriam: a songstress. The whole chapter five of the Book of Judges is devoted to her song of praise to God, of herself, and of people she considered to be of valour. She is the only prophetess I have heard of who praised herself when she sung under the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Judges 5: 7, 12, KJV).

Prophetess Deborah emerged on the national scene of Israel during a time of political and spiritual turmoil. There was at the time, no clear-cut political or spiritual leadership in Israel. At her time, Joshua, the successor of Moses had died and all the elders of Israel who saw the power of God during their wilderness journey had also passed away (Judges 2: 7-10).

At the time of Deborah, Israel was living in one of his habitual periods of disobedience. These bouts of disobedience normally caused him to suffer punishment at the hands of his enemies. But because of the promise of God to bless Abraham and his seed forever, anytime he cried out to God for help, He always sent them men-leaders to deliver them from their enemies.

During the post-Joshua era, the first of these deliverer-leaders was Othniel; a man who was evidently called, anointed and sent by God (Judges 3:9-11, KJV). The next deliverer-leader was also a man raised and sent by God who was named Ehud (Judges 3: 15-30). Next after Ehud, God raised another male-deliverer by the name Shamgar (cf. Judges 3: 31). [—this article is continued in Part Five].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Every spiritual work of God, in Israel, was done by only the male-line of Levi. The work of cleaning, arranging items of and for worship, offering of sacrifices on the altar, and any work relating to worship of God, were all done by a men-only Levitical priesthood.

If you are blessed to have the spirit of the Bible carry you along, as you meditatively read it, you will see that the house of Levi, and indeed the house of every man in Israel, did not have women being regarded as descending from those houses. Female children were never recorded at birth to have descended from their fathers.

Females were never counted in any population census. They were never eligible for inheriting their fathers. They did not have any portion in the land distribution of Israel.

Every part of the Law of Moses is clear in forbidding women-leadership in spiritual issues. When a woman brought forth a male-child as the first-fruit of her womb, that child was by the Law, to be given up for the service of God, in the company of the Levites.

By that birth, the male-child was ordained to be the priest of God, according to the Levitical order, forever. Therefore, when such children were weaned, they were handed over to the priests, to be taught, trained and groomed, for their God-ordained roles in the Aaronite priesthood, when they came of age for this service, at thirty.

This was how-come a first-born son of Elkanah by his wife Hannah, who was named Samuel, came to be enlisted into the priesthood of Israel, even though Elkanah was an Ephraimite and not a Levite (First Samuel 1: 1 – 2: 11).

When a female-child was similarly begotten, as the first to open the matrix of her mother, she was also by Law to be dedicated to the service of God. The father (and the mother?) did not own such a child, in the eyes of the Law of Moses, the Law of God. God owned such a child.

But unlike the first-born male-child, she could never join or be part of the Levitical priesthood, which God established for His worship. Therefore, any female-child who opened the matrix of every woman in Israel was to be redeemed. The fathers of such children were under obligation to buy-back or redeem them from God, as it were.

Such female-children were taken to the house of God, after being weaned of their mothers, to be given or handed-over to Him through the Levites. At these presentations, a price was placed on them at the discretion of the priests. This price was immediately paid by the fathers to the Levites and the female-child taken back home by the father, to live in submission and service to him forever.

I am sure, from all the foregoing, the choice of man by God to lead women is obvious. In my study of the Bible, the only service that I have come across to have been rendered by women in the company of men, in the worship of God, is singing of psalms and hymns.

It seems to me that, it was only the sons of Asaph who had in their ministration of worship before the Lord, women as singers. It was a rare concession given to the daughters of the house of Levi. It is only Ezra 2: 65 and Nehemiah 7: 67 which show evidence of women participation in singing, in the worship of God.

God has since the establishment of the state of Israel, used men only as prophets to communicate His Will to them. There is abundant evidence that there were never any female counterparts to men-prophets. Throughout Jewish history, God never called and sent a woman with His message to the nation of Israel or his king or any man for that matter.

How about the mention of the word prophetess in God’s Word, one may ask? The word ‘prophet’ is one of the problematic words in Greek-English Bible translation and therefore does not easily or readily reveal itself to our understanding. This is because the word ‘prophet’ is a transliteration of the Greek word ‘prophetes’, since it seems to defy a proper translation.

This transliteration does not help the non-Greek readers of the Bible much. Many forms and variants of the Greek word ‘prophetes’ exist. They are also transliterated variously as ‘prophet’, ‘prophetess’, ‘prophecy’, ‘prophesy’, etc.

Many of today’s users of the English Bible do not understand these words simply because they do not have their roots in English. They were borrowed whole-scale from Greek into English. This transliteration does the English-speaker very little or no good, at all. What is the good in being told for example that the meaning of the Greek word ‘prophetes’ in English is: prophet?

For me this is not helpful. And I wonder how many people are helped to understand this word by such transliteration. To understand the word ‘prophet’ is for one to either learn some Greek grammar and literature or gain its understanding from the spirit of the Bible.

For many people familiar with the Bible, a prophet to them is one who foretells future events. Even though that is true, it is not always the only function of the prophet. The prophet also at times carries the word of God to His people to deal immediately with current crises or any bad situation. Prophets who function in these two ways either hear with their spiritual ears, the Word of God from Him directly or through His angels, or they receive it through their spiritual eyes in dreams and visions.

Another kind of prophet is one who utters information, not foretelling of future events or bringing immediate solutions to current crises or bad situations. This prophet testifies to an event happening or just happened. An example of this kind of prophet was Simeon (Luke 2: 25-32), who was led into the Temple in Jerusalem to testify of the Baby Jesus as being the Messiah of God. Also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, the prophetess of Luke 2: 36-38 fame was such a person who spoke not foretelling the future but testifying of a current event and thanking God for it.

There is yet another kind of a prophet that is hardly known by most bible students: the singing prophet. This is a man (and very rarely a woman), who sings under inspiration of the Holy Spirit when He (Holy Spirit) comes upon that person.

A person might function in this manner only once in his (or her) lifetime, and yet gain recognition as being considered a prophet, forever. It is in only this manner of functioning that women have been known to have participated in the work of God, and therefore called: prophetesses.

The most notable of such women was Miriam, the elder sister of both Moses and Aaron. She was the one, when yet in her girlish-years, who stood on the bank of the Nile, and watched the daughter of Pharaoh take the infant-Moses into her custody (Exodus 2: 4).

Later on, in her very advanced years, Miriam was called a prophetess; and yet was never known to have carried a message from God to His people. Of course, Miriam is recorded to have claimed that God spoke by and or through her. But was she right in her claim? There is no evidence to the veracity of her claim.

What need was there for God to have another prophet in a woman such as Miriam, when His super-prophet Moses was in-charge of His business? Maybe, because Miriam was older than both Moses and Aaron, she had come to assume a mother-figure (or was it rather a father-personality?) over these octogenarians, which gave her the courage to lay claim to any capacity to prophesy. [—this article is continued in Part Four].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

In the search for the position of the Bible, on the leadership status of men, vis-à-vis their female counterparts, it is very revealing when we look critically at the Ten Commandments of God found in Exodus 20: 1-17. All of them are directed at man: for his personal obedience and also aimed at him ensuring compliance by his family members.

However, let us look at only two of these commandments in some detail. These are the fourth and the tenth. What do they say? Let us quote these commandments in their entirety, from the King James Version of the Bible.

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shat thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed I”. (Exodus 20: 8-11, KJV, emphasis mine).

It is very clear to whom this commandment is addressed. It is only to the man and for him to ensure compliance by all in his house. No mention is made of any married woman.

Let us look at the tenth commandment. It is also clearly addressed to the man – the God-ordained head of the home. Let us quote it here:

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s” (Exodus 20: 17, KJV).

Looking closely at this verse, we can see the wisdom and mind of God in crafting it. By His design, this verse can be obeyed by men only. It is only men, within the context of this verse, who possess houses, wives, manservants, maidservants, oxen or asses. The commandments of this verse do not speak to women.

This verse is silent on women. In the way the commandments stand, they seem to give the impression that, all of man’s neighbours are his fellow-men. Women do not seem to even exist in the mind God, so far as the commandments in this verse are concerned.

It seems to me that anytime God wanted a woman, He went looking for her inside of the personality (body and will) of man. The ideal woman is one who abides in the will of her father or husband, at all times. It therefore does not seem that any woman can obey or disobey this tenth of the Ten Commandments of God.

Any person who seeks to compel women to obey this verse, or to be faulted by it, and therefore amends it to read “… thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife (or husband) …” will be seeking an amendment to God’s commandments without His mandate. I have known some teachers (of the Bible?), who find nothing wrong with adding and stressing the words in parenthesis above, during their catechism or Sunday school classes, for the information of their young pupils.

I am scared about this, since God has warned of dire consequences for any people who will add to or subtract from His Word (without His mandate). This warning we find in Revelation 22: 18-19. We must therefore be very careful in this.

On a lighter note, let me draw your attention, my dear reader, to one of God’s favourite words – thou. You may try counting the number of times this word has been used in the King James Version of the Bible, to agree with me that it is one of God’s favourite words; and more so, when He speaks English at His Conservative best.

This word, from even the very few times that God has used it in the Ten Commandments, is strongly suggestive of it being a male-gendered word. It does not seem to have any feminine-gender connotation or trait.

By simply confining ourselves to the use of this word (thou) in the Ten Commandments, we see that, any time God uses this word, He is seen to be addressing a man or men. And so we can safely go beyond the Ten Commandments to understand that both Judaism and Christianity, as instituted by God for His worship, are male-led.

In the Book of Numbers, the chapter thirty, we find a very inspiring revelation about the God-ordained leadership status of man over the woman. My dear reader, please, read this interesting and very revealing chapter, from the King James Version of the Bible, before continuing with the reading of this article.

In this chapter of the Book of Numbers, God has established a statute rendering the man as the perpetual leader of the woman. In whatever relationship that exists between a man and a woman, the man is always the leader. That is how God has ordained things to be, and so they must remain in that manner, forever.

In this chapter, we receive the revelation of God that the father is the leader of the daughter. The husband is also the leader of his woman (wife). The divorced wife is still under obligation to any vow(s) she uttered with the consent of her man (husband) when she was yet married to him! And so is the widowed woman under obligation to make good any vow(s) she made with the knowledge of her man (husband) before his demise.

If you were a woman in Israel, you were to accept and obey this statute to your great gain or ignore it to your doom. And this is what God has taught His people to accept and obey – forever. Whether the man (father or husband) of the woman is alive or dead, the leadership of the man over her remains the Will of God. This reveals God-ordained leadership to be eternal, undying, and therefore spiritual.

If any woman violates this statute of God, she brings upon herself, iniquities, according to the fifteenth verse of the chapter. The man is established by God as the domestic priest of the woman, forever. May, I humbly advice women to read this chapter of Numbers carefully, so they may be blessed by it.

Talking about priests, we see God ordained a men-only priesthood for the spiritual leadership and well-being of the woman. Everywhere in the Bible, this is what God has ordained. In both the Old and New Testaments, God always called men only to be His priests. He uses them to give instruction of His Will and direction in His worship, to people who were considered His own.

The word ‘priestess’ has never been used by God to describe any woman with any role in His service. Priestesses have always been seen in heathen countries in description of their women’s roles as leaders in idol worship.

The Old Testament Aaronite priesthood involved only the sons of Levi. No daughters of the house of Levi ever entered the priesthood of the Old Testament. No woman from the houses of Aaron, Gershom, Kohath and Merari (families that comprised the house of Levi), ever entered the service of God as Levites even though females were, of course, born to men from these houses. [—this article is continued in Part Three].

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Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Many adherents to the Christian faith believe that, soon and very soon, this current world order and its system of things will come to an end. In this, they have believed rightly. And indeed, as the end of the world approaches, mankind must begin to act in readiness to stand before the judgment seat of God. No doubt, mankind will bNoNo doubt, mankind will be judged

No doubt, mankind will be judged at an opportune time. God has told us this in His Word–the Bible. Mankind will one day stand before God and His Christ, to give an account of his stewardship of how he took care of or mismanaged God’s Creation.

Since Creation, mankind has been living on earth and ruling (or misruling?), with or without God, for many millennia. It shall soon be time for God to judge man’s ways and stewardship. Since Creation, mankind has been living on earth and ruling (or misruling?), with or without God, for many millennia. It shall soon be time for God to judge man’s ways and stewardship.

Today, by the Grace of God, many people are awaking from mankind’s long and deep spiritual slumber, to re-examine most of the doctrines and practices of the Christian faith. A wind of change is blowing across the world, albeit very slowly, seeking to restore Christianity to its First Century character: in purity of doctrine and practice.

You may call those involved in this work, The Restoration Movement, as some are known to be called. You may even call them whatever name you choose. But the fact is that, God is inspiring men to re-teach today’s so-called Christian doctrines, so as to bring them back to the high level of purity and sanctity we find them to be in the Bible.

It is sad that, many of the teachings of Jesus Christ and of his apostles of the First Century are not being taught to our world today. Whenever they are taught, they do not have the potency, inspiration, flavour and fervency of that past.

One of the many corrections, which must be made to today’s doctrines and practices of Christianity, is the leadership role that women have come to assume in the Church. Do women have any God-ordained part or lot, in the leadership of the Church? Do women have a leading role to play in the fulfillment of the Great Commission of Jesus Christ?

Do women have the mandate of God to be pastors, bishops, prophetesses, etc, with the mission to send his message of salvation to mankind? Has God ordained women to be deaconesses and elders in the Church? Why is it that anywhere we have a group of people calling itself church, there are women involved in carrying out leadership roles for and on behalf of men?

The Word of God has answers to these questions; we must therefore, seek them out of the Bible. It is very important we do this, because, if we do find the correct answers, it will help us in the effort to restore today’s Christianity, to its First Century character. It is only when we have made a complete restoration of today’s Christianity to its First Century character that, mankind can then find the true salvation of God for his weary soul.

We all, men and women alike, must know and accept the fact that, since Creation, God has ruled His people through men only. There is yet to come to our world one woman, who was sent by God, with a message to God’s people. A search through the list of messengers God has sent to inform, warn, correct, admonish and direct mankind, will not reveal the name of even one woman on that list.

Please mark my words very well. I said there is yet to come to our world from God, one woman-messenger, to bring information and direction to God’s people. And I mean God’s people. God has not done so yet; and I know he will never do it. This truth I do know, since God gives to all who are genuinely in Christ Jesus, access to His mind (First Corinthians 2: 16).

That is not to say there are no women-leaders to the people who dwell on the earth. Of course, there have been many, and many others are yet to come. Women-leaders have been found throughout all generations of man’s existence on earth.

They have come as people in academia, industry, commerce, politics, and from many other disciplines of human endeavour. But there is yet to come to earth, one woman-leader sent from God to accomplish a spiritual mission for humanity. This God has not yet done, and will never do.

Let us go to the Book of Genesis to see how God in His wisdom and love for mankind, set-up leadership, to direct the affairs of His Creation. Right at Creation, God established the leadership role of the man over the woman. Remember that, Eve came out of the bones and flesh of Adam.

Before she came, God had given His instructions for mankind’s peaceful and joyful life on earth to Adam. When Eve came as the wife of Adam, it was then the responsibility of the man–Adam, to instruct her in what God had earlier-on told him.

If we read Genesis 2: 16-17 and 3: 2-3 critically from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, we will see the obvious God-given leadership skill and teaching prowess of the man–Adam. In his zeal, commitment and dedication to make Eve obey the instruction of God, Adam went beyond what God had told him about the forbidden fruit.

He told Eve that, not only were they not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but they were also not to even touch the tree at all. It was like the father teaching his child. And indeed, a father-child relationship was what had been established by God Himself, to exist forever between Adam and Eve.

Did God not bring forth Eve out of the body of Adam? Yes indeed he did. (cf. Genesis 2: 21-22 and First Timothy 2: 13-14, KJV). Therefore, Eve was forever expected of God to listen to and obey the one who begat her, all the days of her life on earth.

She was never to drift into the absurdities of women usurping the authority of man over them, as we find in our world today–a situation akin to that where the chicken, or even the egg, is able to find a rare kind of wisdom and audacity to teach the hen that brought it into being.

Moving from the Book of Genesis, let us look at other parts of the Bible for evidence of the God-ordained leadership role of men over women in spiritual matters. Of course, we will return to the Book of Genesis, because it is the book of new beginnings, and therefore clearly lays the foundation of the God-ordained men-only leadership, in spiritual issues.

Many of the problems of our earth, which we have been grappling with, have their roots in men allowing themselves to be led (or misled?), into certain crucial decisions. This weakness of men, in allowing themselves to be misled by women, with disastrous consequences, can be traced to the times of Genesis, and we shall in this article be highlighting some of them, to bring elucidation to the main thesis of this short treatise.

Let us first look at the Ten Commandments of God, and indeed all the commandments of the Law of Moses. Every student of the Torah (the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses), which God gave to the nation of Israel, will see that it was meant for men only.

All its statutes from God were always meant for men’s obedience, for and on behalf of their women (wives) and children. Even in those portions of the Law that touched directly on women, it was their men (husbands) who had the responsibility of ensuring their perfect obedience and or compliance. [—this article is continued in Part Two].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

In the mind and wisdom of God, there is no ‘reverend’, archbishop, ladder-climbing pastor, deaconess, et cetera, in His work. Anywhere title-bearing people are found in groupings of salvation-seekers which call themselves “church”, then it is either such title bearers do not have God’s mandate to contribute to the spiritual wellbeing of these groupings, or that, these groupings are not of the Body of Christ.

As I mentioned earlier on, there are no title bearers in the True Body of Christ – the Church of Jesus Christ. Paul, an apostle of the Body of Christ, was never referred to as “Apostle Paul”. This was because he functioned as an apostle in the Body of Christ and not as a title-bearer.

He was always referred to as “Paul, an apostle” of Jesus Christ, defining his functional role in the Church (Second Corinthians 1: 1, Galatians 1: 1, Ephesians 1: 1, Colossians 1: 1, First Timothy 1: 1, Second Timothy 1: 1).

If his functional role in the Body of Christ as an apostle was meant to be a title, in which case Paul could be addressed “Apostle Paul”, (which no saint ever did), then he could also be addressed as “Prisoner Paul” as a title of honour to him.

This is because he was not only described as “Paul, an apostle” but also as “Paul, a prisoner” of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:1, Philemon 1).

Or would one do well to give Paul the title “Servant”, and seek to honour him by insisting that all people address him as “Servant Paul” because he was described as “Paul, a servant” of God? (cf. Titus 1: 1).

The word ‘apostle’ is not a title: it is a functional description of a man’s work in the Body of Christ. And that is also the case for such words as ‘prophet’, ‘pastor’, ‘evangelist’ and ‘teacher’. None of these words are titles. They are all descriptive of roles or functions played by people in the Church of Jesus Christ.

One of my dear role models is Philip: not the one with apostolic calling, but the one who first served in the pantry and set tables for widows of the Church at Jerusalem. In his later years, while evangelizing for the Kingdom of God, he was never addressed as “Evangelist Philip”, as one must do today, for anybody claiming to be playing Philip’s kind of role in the Body of Christ.

This loyal and dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ was simply referred to as “Philip, the evangelist” (Acts 21: 8) in definition of his functional role in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So why do we have in “church” today, Apostle Aaron, Evangelist Evans, Prophet Philemon, and all manner of weird titles for people who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ and doing the work of the Kingdom of God?

Why are today’s so-called men of God so much preoccupied with awarding themselves titles, even when these titles belong to God? Are they seeking equality with God? Are they not disciples of Jesus Christ?

If they are indeed genuine disciples, can they not obey the caution of the Master not to take to themselves titles they do not deserve? Does the warning of the Master that anyone, who exalts himself, would be brought low, not scare these so-called men of God?

When the apostles of Jesus Christ, who walked and talked with him for four good years before his death, burial and resurrection, were in charge of the teaching ministry of the Church after his ascension, they had with them, elders, deacons and bishops in all local congregations.

All congregations were autonomous in the cities the Holy Spirit of God led the apostles to establish the Church of Jesus Christ. The congregations were all however, united as one in the doctrines of Jesus Christ, as were taught by the apostles.

Every local congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ had sets of bishops, (not just one bishop, as we are told that, in the one local congregation of Philippi, there were many bishops – Book of Philippians 1: 1), elders, pastors, deacons, etc, involved in the teaching of the flock.

During the days of the apostles, no bishop had a domain or so-called dominion beyond the local congregation in which he functioned. Of course, all bishops, elders, deacons, prophets, teachers, and other Church functionaries, were men filled with the knowledge, wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit of God, and elected for these functions by Jesus Christ himself, could visit and minister the Word of God to other congregations beyond their places of regular worship and or residence.

Today’s so-called bishop who is seen to have a spatial jurisdiction and dominion over a group of “churches” has come as a latter-century personality, who obviously lives beyond the pure Christian traditions of the apostolic era of the First Century. This certainly is a corruption of and deviation from the apostolic faith, teaching, tradition and practice.

The coming of the celibate-bishop into the Church is a further deviation brought by the pagan-Christian faith of Second Century Rome, from the faith of those who physically walked and talked with the Master, Jesus Christ the Lord.

My dear men (of God?), you who want to rub shoulders with God, be careful in your pursuit of titles meant for Him. You cannot call yourselves reverend, The Reverend (SKA?), right reverend, very reverend, most reverend, his grace, my lord or his holiness and get away with it.

Remember God says He is a jealous God who will never share His Glory with any man. So be sure that you will attract to yourselves reprisals from God in due time, if you do not repent of your penchant for titles and drop them forthwith. I believe I have carried God’s warning to you in love.

In recent times, I have grown to fall in love with some words of Sir Winston Churchill: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen”. Well, in this, I have done my bit for humanity and for the Kingdom of God. I pray to God that you, my dear reader, will do your bit. Please do yours, so we can both get to live on “Humility Avenue” in Heaven, to spend Eternity with The Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

My dear “man of God”, I love you; for the love of God in my heart compels me to love you forever without any inhibitions. This is so, since he who is begotten of Love (God) cannot, but be a love-slave to everybody. This is why I speak to you in love, as I have done in this short article.

Shalom.
Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ and is the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DODCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His e-mail address is: [email protected].

Those who allow themselves to be called laymen, in the service of God’s kingdom-work, are ignorant of the God-given roles of all Christians as priests in His service. To these simple-minded people, a privileged few are regarded as priests while an underprivileged majority are tagged and called laity or laymen.

My dear reader, do you know that there are no titles in the Christian faith? The Kingdom of God does not confer or award titles to its workers. No genuine workers of God’s Kingdom, who have been revealed to mankind in the Word of God, ever bore titles. I shall soon lead you more into this thought.

Where then do titles such as: associate pastor, resident pastor, senior pastor, general overseer, senior bishop, presiding bishop, archbishop, cardinal, general superintendant, deaconess, reverend, right reverend, very reverend, most reverend, the reverend, his grace, my lord, his holiness, etc, comfortably conferred on and borne by mortal-men, come from?

Since they do not come from God, where do they come from? Does anyone know their origin and originator? Of course, they have come as a means of setting up an elaborate organization, with class groupings of its members, an organization mankind has been deceived to call–Church. Class distinctions of God’s children! How sad.

The originators of these lofty man-made titles have without the mandate of God, intentionally fragmented the Body of Christ claiming to have made it easier and effective to minister or rule. The question is “Does God need the wisdom of men in the running of His Church?”

Absolutely not! And so, by and by, those who confer titles on people and those who receive these titles will be seen to be acting not for God, but against Him; and will be judged as such.

Since those in love with such titles are without the humility and simplicity of Jesus Christ, they could not be sent from God. And if God did not send them, who did? Your guess in this is as good as mine. Could it possibly be that they are in league with the one who seeks to exalt himself above God and His Christ?

Though this is actually so, many of these title-lovers do not know they work for this cunning and ruthless power – Satan. He allows these ignorant so-called men of God to hold on to these titles on his behalf, so as to take them back from these men whenever he wills.

Let us consider the title, reverend. This great and powerful title is used only once in the entire Bible and in honour and recognition of God alone. In the King James Version of the Bible, you can find the word ‘reverend’ only in Psalm 111: 9. Let us quote this verse here to aid the smooth flow of this discourse.

“He sent redemption unto his people: he has commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” (Psalm 111: 9, KJV).

My dear “man of God”, do you see the seriousness of your error? You are neither worthy to bring redemption to sinful-mankind nor do you have the capacity to do so. Only God can and has brought redemption through Jesus Christ to mankind.

Dear “man of God”, do you have a covenant which you are able to keep or are keeping with mankind? If you claim you do, are you able to bring limitless blessings to mankind? If yes, then tell the whole world about it so mankind can rush to you for this blessing, and have the world rid of all its horrible suffering and poverty.

Only then would you qualify and deserve to be the co-equal to God and therefore worthy to be called by the title, reverend. Otherwise, be careful in not being accused of blasphemy, judged guilty and sentenced by the Judge of all Flesh.

For delivering to mankind, redemption from the power and dominion of sin, Satan’s power, and the consequences of sin, in and by the work of Jesus Christ, God the Almighty commands all men to revere and reverence His Name.

So-called men of God do not know or understand this? And so they pitch themselves against the Will of God by seeking to usurp His titles? I fear for these so-called men of God in antagonizing themselves against the Might of God, in view of the condemnation of God which awaits them.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, has taught his genuine disciples a great lesson in humility in Matthew 19: 16-17, Mark 10: 17-18 and Luke 18: 18-19. When in these verses a questioner addressed him as “Good Master,” he quickly corrected him of his error. Jesus Christ told his questioner not to call him “Good”, since only God is Good.

Maybe, this questioner should have addressed the Messiah as “reverend Master” instead, so we could get to know if he would have accepted or rejected the appellation of “reverend” as belonging to God his Father alone. Can so-called men of God (disciples of the Master?) not emulate the humility of Jesus Christ in this? How sad.

Let me give you a secret of the Devil. He is preparing to begat and outdoor his counterfeit of God’s Holy and Anointed Messiah, Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World. When he has begotten him, he will be called the anti-Christ. Many people seem to know this open secret. However many are ignorant of the lineage of this soon-to-be-revealed anti-Christ.

Surely, the anti-Christ will descend from the lineage of people who love to take the titles of God. At the time the anti-Christ becomes manifest for the end-time show-down battle between Good and evil, he will be the same as the mortal man who will be holding the highest counterfeited title of God. And then he will crown himself God and demand worship from mankind.

For now, the devil is progressing according to his set-plan: from ‘reverend’ to ‘right reverend’, then to ‘very reverend’, then to ‘most reverend’, then to ‘his holiness’, then to ‘his grace’ and then to what next, I know not. I do not have the mind of the devil. I have God’s, by virtue of my New Birth into Jesus Christ and my faith in First Corinthians 2: 16.

But I do know, from God’s Word, that when the anti-Christ manifests, he will land in a counterfeit church which belongs to one of the numerous and notorious denominational groupings of the world. That counterfeit church will look very much like the genuine Church of God.

Its members will be tares, the devil’s counterfeit wheat. Remember, the look-alikes of wheat are tares. Also remember that wheat and tares are only genuinely distinguishable from one another, at Harvest Time, by which time their destinies would have been sealed, and the destruction of tares in hell-fire, due.

The hierarchical structure of this counterfeit church of the devil is what will give it away as false and of the anti-Christ. By the time peoples’ eyes become opened to the true identity of this anti-Christ in their midst, he would have finished marking almost all of them as his own, ready to carry them into Hell for a life of eternal suffering with him.

Let me give you some revelation about the man-made title, “archbishop”. This title has been in vogue for a long time – over centuries, in fact. It was created and delivered to simple-minded mankind, by the pagan-Christianity of Rome of the immediate post-apostolic era, when her politicians were flirting ingloriously with the Church.

The power brokers of the erstwhile Roman Empire sought to extend their domain and dominion to include the Church of Jesus Christ. When they managed to do these, they then brought into the Church, titles, to show their pomp, power and distinct statuses.

Even though the word “archbishop” seems to have been derived from two bible-words–“archangel” and “bishop”–it does not make it a holy word. The word “archbishop” is alien to the whole bible-revelation and therefore of no relevance to either the Body of Christ or the Work of the Kingdom of God. Not because there is an archangel must we have an archbishop when God’s Word does not give us any revelation on this strange word.

How could we so easily swallow the deception of the devil to tag so-called men of God with this title? I am very sad that so-called men of God are not content with the God-given functional descriptions such as pastor, evangelist, prophet and teacher, established by Him to bring perfection to the knowledge of His Will to His saints. [—the concluding part of this article is in Part Four: soon to be published].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ and is the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His e-mail address is: [email protected].