Does God's Government Work Through Only One Man?

Matthew 15, verse 7. He said, Have you ever considered the people who Jesus Christ was talking to? They were people who observed the Sabbath. They kept the holy days. They lived by the Ten Commandments. They strived to be obedient to what God teaches.

They tithed faithfully. They didn't believe in the Trinity. They didn't keep Christmas. They didn't keep Easter. Yet, He says it's possible to do all of these things and yet worship God in an empty and useless way that doesn't gain God's favor.

How does one do that? Jesus tells us here that one does this by elevating a man-made myth to biblical doctrine.

If you take something that is not from God and you say, This is important, God says, the Bible says, and you imply to people that somehow they must believe in this either to be saved or to have God's favor or to be loved by God or respected by God.

Jesus says, if you imply this man-made doctrine of men, you worship Me in an empty and worthless way, even if you do all the other things right.

Why does He say that? He says that because we're accountable for everything that we claim when we say, The Bible says, or God commands.

Remember, one of the Ten Commandments is that you shall not use the Lord's name in vain. The Lord will not hold Him guiltless, who uses His name in vain.

So for someone, particularly a preacher or religious authority, to say, God commands, God says, The Bible teaches, and it's not true. Jesus says, You worship God in vain.

There's a doctrine that's circulating among the churches of God occasionally, like a bad tooth. It's not a doctrine taught from scriptures, but it is a doctrine of men.

And before I explain what that doctrine is, I think I owe you the history of how that doctrine began.

By the end of the second century AD, Pope Victor I reigned from 189 to 199 AD.

Pope Victor was the first to imply that he, as the Bishop of Rome, was superior to all the other bishops in the Roman world.

And of course, since he was in Rome, and Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire, he reasoned that Rome was the religious headquarters of the one true church.

By the middle of the next century, Pope Stephen I, who reigned from 254 to 257 AD, he was the first to say that the traditions and teachings of the Church of Rome were the expected standard for all other churches, and everyone else, no matter where they were in the world, must adopt the teachings and doctrines and practices of the Roman Church, or they were in rebellion against God.

By the time we come to 440 to 461, a gentleman who is known in history as Pope Leo the Great, actually I think they left out a word after Great, but we'll save that for another time, Pope Leo I, otherwise known as Pope Leo the Great, proclaimed this doctrine with new forcefulness. His claim was that there was only one true church.

In his case, the Catholic Church, he claimed that God only works through one man, surprise himself.

He stated that all others must be in submission to him around the world, or they were in rebellion against God. He opined that headquarters was where he lived, which happened to be, of course, Rome.

He proclaimed that God worked through a rigid hierarchy. It was God, Jesus Christ, and what a shock! Him!

The church, he said, was God's government on earth. Since everyone was expected to give him preeminence for all religious and theological matters, he became the vicar of Christ, or in the course the word means, one who is in place of Christ while Christ is gone.

He became the vicar of Christ on earth regarding spiritual judgment. That's the history, the origin of a doctrine that has become known in some of the Sabbatarian churches as God's government or the government of God.

Since I was taught this doctrine by its founder at Ambassador College, and I sat in college forums in 1978 and heard this directly from the founder of the worldwide Church of God at Ambassador College and was no further from him than I am from Mr. Weitzel right now, I believe I might be qualified to explain a little bit of what this teaching was.

And I have to explain it because the term government of God is a man-made term. You find it nowhere in the Bible. It's like Easter, Christmas, Holy Trinity, Church heiress. It's a man-made term that you find nowhere in scriptures.

So please bear with me for a moment as I explain exactly what I was taught. Then we are going to go through the scriptures and do a survey of the Bible today, Old Testament and New Testament. And we're going to see not what literature tells us, not what men tell us. We're going to see what the Bible tells us about the so-called government of God.

The teaching that I was taught firsthand stressed that God only works through one man. It was based on a strict hierarchical principle that authority begins with God the Father, then goes down through Jesus Christ, and down through the one man that God was working through. This man was ordained into a special position by God, and to act contrary to his teachings, was considered rebellion against God. As a matter of fact, 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 23 will often be quoted as Samuel told Saul, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Those of you who have been around a long time will remember that.

The teaching stated that God was in charge of the universe, and therefore, if the authority sins, no matter how bad or what he did, no matter how wrong he was, the right thing to do was to wait for God to change the situation. Because if God was in charge of the universe, to rebel against this appointed individual was a lack of faith in God, and rebellion against God himself. That's what the teaching was. If there were problems, no matter what they were or sins, one was simply to wait for God to change the situation.

We were taught to stay in the church, respect the authority, and patiently wait for God to correct the problem, again, to rebel against this man that God put in charge with tantamount to rebelling against God himself. And oftentimes, we would turn to 1 Samuel 24. You may remember the example. David had already been anointed as king of Israel, but Saul was trying to kill him. He was fleeing for his life, and he was fleeing from this location to this location, and he was running around trying to avoid being caught by Saul, who would have killed him. And eventually, Saul needed, in the cave of Ngedi, to take care of some personal needs.

And you may remember the story. David's men came to him, and, David, Saul's got to do number two. This is your big chance to kill him.

Saul took off his robe, obviously, and set it aside, and he sat down to meditate for a few minutes. And David could have killed him.

But David went, and he snipped off a corner of his robe. And then afterward, David felt guilty. He said, you know, this man's king, I shouldn't have cut off a corner of his robe.

And after Saul put his robe back on and went out, and David said, from a safe distance, I could have killed you right now. He said, I could have, and here's a corner of your robe to prove how close I was to you. But since you were God's anointed king, I am not going to rebel against you.

And that example from 1 Samuel 24 was shown that no matter how bad an individual was, that you were to believe that God is in charge and patiently wait for God to change the situation.

This doctrine was centered on the belief that the organization that was known as the Worldwide Church of God was the one true church of God. That the church wasn't necessarily a spiritual body, it was a corporation. And those who worshipped correctly within the corporation were true believers, and that it was the one true church.

Now, certainly, it allowed for the fact that there were very few who were Christians.

One example was the Church of God Seventh Day that was deridingly referred to as Sardis.

It was acknowledged that there were a few people in that corporate organization who were faithful believers.

But, except for the rarest exceptions, the Worldwide Church of God considered itself to be the one and only true church, and God was only working through one man.

Many who teach the government of God today have conveniently dropped out a lot of the details that I gave you about how the government of God was taught, because it doesn't fit in with their theories or their personal agenda.

This is how the government of God was taught. And finally, when there came a time for an aged religious leader to choose someone to replace him near his death, he did. He anointed that individual, and the same principles held true for his successor as held true for him. The same amount of respect, deference, waiting for God to change things if that leader sinned or went astray.

The same principles were to held true, because the belief was that one man ordained another, who upon his death, ordained another, ordained another, and that that series continued, and that God worked through one man to complete his work.

Does God only work through one man? Was the government of God ever restored to the church?

Today, I'd like to leave all preconceived ideas aside and see what the Scriptures tell us about who God works with.

I once taught in my early ministry the government of God, so I think I know a little bit about how its beliefs were structured.

And by wiping away the ignorance and preconception that I had in the limited Scriptures that were in my head, I've been able to see what God truly teaches about who he works with.

Doctrine has to come from teachings. They have to come from the examples of Scripture, not from men, not from literature, and not from tradition.

So I'd like to begin today by looking only at the Scriptures and the entire Bible.

We're going to start with the Old Testament and New Testament, and we're going to survey Scriptures. There are going to be a lot of Scriptures today.

I apologize for that, but I want to make sure that I cover any possible loose ends with this topic.

Let's begin by going to Isaiah 9 and verses 6 and 7.

This is the only Scripture in the entire Bible where even the words government and God are located in the same verse.

The term government of God or God's government isn't found anywhere, but there is one Scripture that gives us an idea that ties together the word government and God even in the same verse.

And it's Isaiah 9 and verse 6.

It's a prophecy, and here's what Isaiah wrote about Jesus Christ in this prophecy. That's obviously millennial.

Again, this is a prophecy in the only place in the Bible where the words God and government are used in the same verse, and it's talking about the future kingdom of God when Christ will rule upon the throne of David.

In this prophecy, perfect judgment, perfect justice prevail in the world.

This is the government Christ will establish at his second coming.

It's perfect because there aren't any human beings in this government.

Everyone who manages and leads in this government are immortal, spiritual children of God.

Any time you have human beings involved in any form of government, you have error, you have problems, you have dissension. That is absolute guarantee.

Let's survey the Scriptures now. Let's begin in Deuteronomy chapter 34, beginning in verse 8.

And let's slowly go through the Old Testament and New Testament and shed some light on whether it's really true that God only works through one man.

Deuteronomy chapter 34, verse 8. Moses was inspired to write in this book, and the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days, or obviously right after he had died.

This was written by someone who added this.

So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.

Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom.

For Moses had laid his hands on him, so the children of Israel heeded him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

But since then there is not a risen in Israel prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt before Pharaoh, before his servants, and in all his land.

All that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of Israel.

There's a couple of things we need to understand here, because some use this example of Moses ordaining Joshua as leader, as a proof that God ever only works through one individual.

So why did God work through Moses and Joshua?

First of all, he chose to in this case. There were only a very few individuals in ancient times who even had access to God's Holy Spirit.

God's Spirit wasn't offered to the physical nation of Israel. God's Spirit wasn't given even to many of the leaders.

Throughout the Old Testament, God gave his spirit to those leaders he chose in spite of their imperfections.

He gave his spirit to certain judges. And if you've ever read the book of Judges, you know some of them were quite flawed.

He gave his spirit to some kings. And many of the kings, even some he gave his spirit to, like Solomon, like David, were men who committed great sins.

He gave his spirit to some priests, and unfortunately some of the priests were corrupt.

But no one is arguing the fact that God has the right when he chooses to work through one man.

No one argues that the question is, is it biblically sound to say that God only works or God primarily works only through one man throughout history?

That, my friends, my brethren, is the question.

The second thing I'd like you to ponder is the fact that for anyone to compare themselves with Moses is shameful.

Moses is an Old Testament type of Jesus Christ. First of all, he performed many miracles.

I personally haven't known any religious leaders who performed miracles.

He was a deliverer. He took a physical nation and brought them to the very edge of the Promised Land. That's a type of Jesus Christ.

He was a lawgiver. That's a type of Jesus Christ. He was a complete judge. He didn't just have spiritual authority. He had civil authority.

That is a type of Jesus Christ. He was an intercessor between man and God. That is a type of Jesus Christ.

He saw God face-to-face. That is a type of Jesus Christ.

So Moses was a unique character. We just read about that here in Deuteronomy chapter 34.

He did signs and wonders. It talks about all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

So it's not a healthy thing, biblically, for any human being to compare themselves with Moses.

The fact that God passed down authority from one man to another in this situation is not proof that God only works through one man.

This is simply an example of how God can and sometimes does work through individuals. But we're going to see a lot more examples today.

Let's now go to Exodus chapter 3 and verse 1.

Even within an understanding that God works through one man, you find anomalies that should make us scratch our heads and ponder the greatness of God.

Let's take a look at one of them, Exodus chapter 3 and verse 1.

It says, Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. That's a religious title. Who made him priest? Where did he get that authority?

I don't know, but I do know that Moses married his daughter, and I do know that working for this man for many, many, many, many years taking care of his sheep, that somehow he was prepared to meet God in a burning bush.

I can't fill in the blanks because I don't know, but I can tell you there's something unique about this individual. Let's now go to chapter 18 and verse 6 and run into his example again.

What we see outlined here is a typical visit by a father-in-law.

He eats your food, he tells you that you're wrong, and then he leaves.

Remember, I am a father-in-law.

Exodus chapter 18 and verse 6.

Jethro shows up after Moses, a little background. Moses has brought Israel out of Egypt.

He left his wife and children with his father-in-law for safety, of course, and now Jethro brings them to where Israel's gathered.

Picking it up here in verse 6, now he said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, I'm coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down and kissed him, and they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent.

Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come on them along the way, and how the Lord delivered them.

Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

Jethro said, blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, he was above them.

Verse 12, then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and offered sacrifices to offer to God.

Who gave him this authority?

Who does this guy think he is? What does it mean to be a priest of Midian?

Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.

Even Aaron shows tremendous respect for this Jethro.

So it was on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, What is this thing that you're doing for the people? Why do you alone sit? And all the people stand before you from morning until evening. And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another.

And I make known the statutes of God and His laws. So Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice, and I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. Who does he think he is? He tells Moses that if you do what I say, God will be with you. Now, is God allowed to work with anyone whom He calls?

Is God allowed to choose and decide for Himself who He is going to work with? Continuing, stand before God for the people, that you may bring the difficulties to God, And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, And show them the way in which they must walk, and the work they must do.

Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, And place them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens, And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, But every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

If you do this thing, and God so commands you, who does this guy think he is, talking to Moses? Then you will be able to endure, and all the people will also go to their place in peace. So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he set. And then in verse 27, then Moses' father-in-law, then Moses let his father-in-law depart.

And he went his way into his own land. So let's review what we read here. Jethro shows up, and he offers sacrifices as a priest. He boldly does that. He tells his son-in-law that he's a control freak. He says, Moses, what are you doing? You're a control freak. It's not all about you, son. There are a great number of talented, gifted men that God has worked with.

Appoint people to hear the smaller matters, and you should be like the highest court level. Only the more weighty things should come to you. Quit trying to do it yourself. That's basically what he tells his son-in-law. And then he leaves. Jethro obviously doesn't acknowledge Moses or Aaron's authority over him. He says, if you do what I say, then God will bless you. Here, I'm going to sacrifice something because I'm a priest of Midian.

You're wrong. I'm right. So long. A unique character that we find here in Scriptures. Do you think God was working through this independent man? I think he absolutely was. Let's go to Numbers 11, verse 21. Numbers 11, verse 21. Moses is frustrated because the people are crying out for meat. Moses said, Lord, here are 600,000 people standing around me, and you say I will give them enough meaty for a month.

If we killed all the flocks and herds, that would not be enough. If we caught all the fish in the sea, that would not be enough. But the Lord said to Moses, do you think I'm weak? Now you will see if I can do what I say. So Moses went out to the people and told them what the Lord had said.

He gathered 70 of the older leaders together and had them stand around a tent. This is even a change from what his father-in-law had suggested. Then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses.

The Lord took some of the spirit Moses had, and he gave it to the 70 leaders. With the spirit in them, they prophesied, but just that one time. Now take a look at verse 26.

Two men named El-Dad and Medad were also listed as leaders, but they did not go to the tent. Everyone else went to the tent. Moses said, come to the tent, but they didn't go to the tent. They stayed in the camp, but the spirit was also given to them, and they prophesied in the camp. They didn't prophesy in the tent like everyone else. They prophesied in the camp. Verse 28, Joshua, the son of Nun said, Moses, my master, stop them! They're not like we are.

They're not working directly through you, Moses. They're not doing everything that you said they should do. Stop them! Have them stricken dead! And what does he say? And of course, this was Joshua. Ever since he was a young boy, Joshua had been Moses' servant. But Moses answered, are you jealous for me? I wish all the Lord's people could prophesy.

I wish the Lord would give his spirit to all of them. Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp. You know, there's a good lesson here. The two men were not doing everything exactly the way everyone expected. They weren't doing it exactly what Moses had told them to do.

Even young Joshua criticized them, but it was God who gave them his spirit in the camp. You know, we as people, we like to look at things and make everything black and white. You want to put God in a box, and you can't put the great eternal being of the universe in a box. Because that's why he gets to be God. He can do anything he wants to do.

He can make the rules, change the rules, bend the rules, ignore the rules. That's why he has that title, and we are mere human beings. Let's now go to Judges 2 and verse 7. Judges 2 and verse 7. The death of Joshua says, So the people serve the LORD all the days of Joshua, And all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. Now, why is that Scripture important? Because Joshua didn't name a successor. When Joshua died, the elders took over the rulership. Now, if God only worked through one man, did God just on vacation that day?

I don't think so. I believe that God can work through anyone he chooses to work through. And in this case, after providing two dynamic leaders, it was time to see if the culture had embedded God's way of life. So the elders took over, and the Scriptures say, let's continue here, it says, So as long as that generation lived, that generation of elders, after Joshua died, everything was fine.

They were witnesses to the events that had occurred. They were excited and zealous about God's way of life. And even though Joshua did not name a successor, God was not working through one man. Everything was fine until that generation died out. And sadly, after they did, things changed terribly.

So tell me, which one man did God work through in this situation after Joshua died? The answer is that God works with anyone he wants to. Let's go to 1 Kings 6, verse 1. Now, you have to be a student of the Bible for me to explain years in genealogy. And I'm going to encapsulate it because what I'm about to say about the time of the Judges, an entire sermon could be given. But I can't do that. But in 1 Kings 6, verse 1, it says, And it came to pass in the four hundred and eighty-eighth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.

In the fourth year of Solomon's reign in Israel, the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. So the temple was built in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon, which was four hundred and eighty years after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt. Here's the problem. Anyone who studies the Bible knows that the Exodus was forty years. Joshua and the elders was a term of forty-seven years. These are clearly documented. The total length of the Judges was two hundred and ninety-nine years. The periods of foreign oppression were one hundred and eleven years.

After the Judges, the time of the Judges, and before Solomon was eighty years. And then it says it's in Solomon's fourth reign. That's four years. That's a total of five hundred and eighty-one years, or a hundred and one years longer than the Scripture says. Now, does the Scripture lie? I don't believe the Scripture lies. I believe the Scripture is telling the truth. And as any good Bible student understands, and I'll quote from the survey of the Old Testament introduction by Gleason Archer, We must conclude, therefore, that many of the careers of the Judges overlapped or were even contemporaneous.

The only way that you can fit that timeframe in the four hundred and eighty years is to accept the fact that there were Judges ruling in different parts of Israel at the same time. Because it tells us how long each Judge reigned. And if you add them all up with the other chronology, this Scripture would appear to be in error. And it's not. The error is that when anyone says that each king reigned separately during a different period of time, and there were none that were contemporaneous with one another. I'm sorry.

I wish I had more time to go into that, but I don't today. Let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning in verse 1. One of the difficulties about the teaching of the doctrine of the government of God is that oftentimes examples would be brought through the kings of Israel to support the teaching that it was representative of God's government, that somehow King David was representative of the government that God will have on earth.

Or any other king was somehow representative of that. Is that really true for Samuel chapter 8 in verse 1? Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of the first born was Joel, and the second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.

But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, Look, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like the nations. Samuel, we want to be like the Gentiles. We want to be like those who don't know God. We want to have a hierarchical kingship just like they do.

I want you to remember that because Jesus talks about Gentile authority. And we'll get into that in a little bit when we get to the New Testament. But they say, make us a king so that we're like the other nations. Verse 6, But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the Lord and the Lord said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people and all that they say to you. For they have not rejected you. They have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. One of the perversities of human nature, even very religious people, is they have this dysfunction of always wanting to create somebody between them and God.

Be it a king or a religious leader they put on a pedestal or whatever. They always seem to be inclined to put someone on a pedestal between themselves and their relationship with God. And, brethren, I don't know how to put it more simply. That if you put someone on a pedestal, if you put someone's religious authority between you and Jesus Christ, whether that person is dead or alive, that is idolatry.

I don't know how much more plain that I can say that today. Now let's go to 1 Kings 11, verse 28. You may remember of time as we go to 1 Kings 11, verse 28, when Israel was one nation. But because of problems that Solomon had, God is going to tear the nation apart. But he loves David, and he made a promise to David that someone will stay on your throne. So Rehoboam is going to continue to be the king of Judah.

But a man named Jeroboam is going to be ordained to be the king of the other tribes, what's going to eventually be known as the nation of Israel. All at the same time, one nation is going to be ripped apart and be two nations. So let's go to 1 Kings 11, verse 28.

Now let's go to chapter 11, verse 37. God says, I want you to notice that God is offering the kingship, the Jeroboam, at the same exact time a descendant of David is ruling or will rule in the kingdom of Judah. Which one man was God going to work through in this situation? The answer is, if they're obedient, both of them. Or one of them, if one is obedient, or none of them, if they're both disobedient. The point is that God can work through anyone he chooses to work through. He has the right to work with one, two, twelve, seventy, or any number of people he desires. It's a lesson sometimes that's hard for individuals, particularly those with exaggerated egos, to accept. Let's look at an example in 1 Kings chapter 19, beginning in verse 11. You may remember this story. Elijah, he's terrified. He thinks he's going to die. He's been persecuted. Frankly, he's worn out. He's been through a lot of sore trials. As a prophet, he thinks he's certainly going to be dead. For the sake of time, let's pick it up here in verse 14. 1 Kings chapter 19 and verse 14. He said, I've been very zealous for the Lord, God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, tore down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life. Then the Lord said to him, Go on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, anoint Heziel, the king of Syria, and anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshih, the king over Israel, and Elijah, the son of Saphrat, of Abel, and Mihillah, you shall appoint as prophet in your place. And it shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Heziel, Jehu will kill, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Verse 18, Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. Brother Elijah, who had been greatly persecuted, thought that he was unique. It's just me and you, God. I'm the only one left. I'm special. I'm unique. We have an incredible connection that no one else on earth has. He was feeling sorry for himself. He was developing a martyr complex. And God tells him, no, there are seven thousand others unknown to you, who are faithful to me and have not bowed and worshipped Baal. Remember, God is allowed to work with anyone and anywhere He chooses to.

Mere men don't decide who God is allowed to work with. He does. Let's go to Micah 1 and verse 1.

This is a scenario similar to the book of the Judges. And again, I don't have time to turn to the Scriptures to show you how the prophets were contemporary.

In history, one prophet didn't rise. Prophesy died, and another one rose up to replace him. There were times when two to three prophets were all prophesying in ancient Israel at the same exact time.

But let's take a look at Micah 1 and verse 1. What I'm telling you here isn't revolutionary. It's understood by anyone who looks at the chronologies and reads the prophets. Micah said, the word of the Lord came to Micah, a more west-seth than the days of Jatham Ahaz and Hezekiah, that's three kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Well, there were other prophets who spoke to the same kings at the same time, as it says in Holman's Bible dictionary on the article in the book of Micah. And I will quote, He worked in the reigns of Jatham, 750 to 732, Ahaz, 735 to 715, and Hezekiah, 715 to 686, who were kings of Judah. He was a contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea, and possibly Amos. So, since he was a contemporary of these other prophets, which one man was God working through? Again, He was working through all of them, because God gets to work through any one that He chooses. That's the end of our survey of the Old Testament.

Now, let's go to the New Testament. This is extremely important, because maybe Christ changed everything. He was the messenger of the New Covenant. So, in reality, everything that we looked at so far could be irrelevant, because maybe Jesus instituted what's come to be known as the government of God.

As the messenger of the New Covenant, maybe the New Covenant has a totally different governance system than what we've been reading about. Let's find out. John 1 and verse 29. John 1 and verse 29. John the Baptist is going to baptize Jesus Christ the next day. John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is He whom I said, After Me comes a man who is preferred before Me, for he was before Me. I did not know Him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water, and John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained on Him. So, in John 1st chapter, he baptized Jesus. Have you ever wondered what happened to John the Baptist after this event? Did he join Jesus to become a disciple? That's what the government of God would teach. Did he maybe go into retirement and collect the profit's union pension fund? Draw off of that for a while. Well, John chapter 3, let's go back a couple of chapters now, John chapter 3 and verse 22. It says, After this, Jesus and His followers went into the area of Judea, I'm reading from the New Century version, where He stayed with His followers and baptized people. I'll give everyone a chance to catch up. Again, after this, Jesus and His followers went into the area of Judea, where He stayed with His followers and baptized people. Verse 23, John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Selim, because there was plenty of water there. People were going there to be baptized. This was before John was put in prison. Some of John's followers had an argument with a Jew about religious washing. So they came to John and said, Teacher, remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you spoke about so much? In other words, remember this Jesus character that you baptized and you met over there? He is baptized, and everyone is going to Him.

John answered, a man can only get what God gives him. What does he mean by that answer? He says, I'm not in competition with Jesus. He's doing what God called Him to do. I'm doing what God called me to do. We are not competitors. We are not trying to steal each other's sheep, steal flocks from one another.

Verse 28, You yourselves heard me say, I am not the Christ, but I am the one sent to prepare the way for Him. The bride belongs only to the bridegroom, but the friend who helps the bridegroom stands by and listens to Him. He is thrilled that he gets to hear the bridegroom's voice in the same way I am really happy. He must become greater, and I must become less important.

What an attitude! It's one of collegiality. It's not an attitude that, well, God only works through me. And if those people aren't with me, then there's something wrong with them. Then they're somehow deficient. Do you notice that Jesus doesn't have a problem with this arrangement? Jesus Himself, the Son of God, doesn't have a problem with this.

So who is God working through? God is working through both of them. Even though Jesus is increasing and becoming more prominent, and sadly, shortly, John would be martyred and he would be killed, he would lose his head, and he would die. But what did John do after he baptized Jesus? He continued his ministry. Jesus didn't feel threatened by John's ministry, and John was happy that the message that Jesus was proclaiming was so well received. God continued to work through both of them, although most individuals were now going to Jesus for baptism. Please remember, brethren, God is allowed to work with anyone He chooses. Luke 9, verse 49. Remember the disciples, their example? How many times they got in an argument over who was going to be greatest in the kingdom of God? John 9, verse 49.

So watch the message of Jesus. He's saying, you know what, John? Do your job. Stop judging. Stop being so self-righteous and mind your own business. Why? Brethren, because God can work through anyone He chooses to. This was a direct lesson for the disciples, and that's why it's been recorded for us to this very day. The statement and attitude that John had, unfortunately, was from the same group of men who constantly fought over who would be greatest in the kingdom of God. Matthew, chapter 20, verse 24. Mama Zebedee. She comes before Jesus, and she says, Jesus, please, I'm just a little Jewish mother. Please grant me one teeny, weeny, weeny little request. Jesus says, well, what is it? Oh, please, would you just appoint my two sons to rule over the greatest kingdom in history for all eternity? One at your right side and the other at your left side? And Jesus says, you're clueless, ma'am. Your sons are clueless. You don't know what you have to go through to be able to fulfill that responsibility. Now we'll pick it up here in verse 24. And when the ten heard it, you know, the other disciples, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to himself and he said, you know that the rulers of Gentiles lorded over them and those who are great exercise authority over them. That's what the Gentiles do, Jesus said. That's very similar to what Israel wanted Samuel to do. They wanted to be like the other nations and eventually they all became like other nations and they all became like this person is the big cheese and he controls the person under him and he controls the person under him and he controls the person under him. And it's all about control freakism. It's all about manipulating people from the top down. Jesus said that is a Gentile form of governance, not a Christian form of governance. Verse 26. Yet it shall not be so among you for whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant and whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave.

Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for ransom for many. So unlike Gentile government, the apostles were not to look downward in dominance to everyone. They were to look upward and outward in an attitude of service. That is what makes the government that Jesus Christ will eventually bring to this earth different than what you and I have experienced in our cultures and our societies our entire lives. You see, the kingdom of God turns everything upside down. In the Gentile world, authority is a pyramid. Jesus said if you turn that pyramid upside down, the greatest look up and say, who can I serve? How often can I serve? Where can I serve? Not, I want to be served. That's the difference. And that's the message that he was trying to get across to the disciples.

Let's go to John chapter 10 and verse 14. John chapter 10 and verse 14. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and am known by my own, as the Father knows me, even so I know the Father and lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. What? I thought I was the only one.

Jesus said, you're clueless. You don't know who I'm working through. I have another fold, another group of sheep that aren't part of you. Why? Because he's God. Because he gets to do what he wants to do. And we shouldn't be sitting around in judgment and condemnation of people who are not exactly like us. Let's leave judging to judgment day, when the righteous judge, the one who knows all and can read the hearts and minds of men, make a judgment, my friends.

Again, God works in ways and with individuals we don't even know about. He doesn't need to ask for our permission to work with someone else. John, Chapter 18, verse 33, Jesus is on trial for his life. Then Pilate entered the petroleum again and Jesus said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew, your own nation, and the chief priest has delivered you to me?

What have you done? And Jesus answered, My kingdom. Now, does a kingdom have government? I think, I mean, granted, I went to the Cleveland school systems, but I think kingdoms have government. I think that's part of establishing a kingdom. My kingdom is not of this world. Now, notice he doesn't say, My kingdom has been put on the mantle of Peter.

No, that wouldn't be true, because the government of God is one that is perfect. Carnality and human nature have been removed from it, because the managers and leaders have a full measure of God's Spirit. They've been changed from mortal to immortal. They no longer struggle with their own prejudices and misunderstandings and mistakes. Therefore, because they are perfect within the kingdom of God, the government of God can be perfect. Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I might not be delivered to the Jews.

But now, My kingdom is not from here. I think it's pretty powerful what he says. How about you? We could go to Acts 1 and verse 22. For the sake of time, we can't go there. But it shows the Old Testament model of drawing lots to choose a replacement for Judas, and the lot fell on Matthew. And you know what? It worked. Why? Because God can work through anyone that He wants to. So they chose lots. They did a good job. The decision was right. Acts 6. We will go there. Acts 6 and verse 1.

The number of followers was growing. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers had an argument with the other Jewish followers. The Greek-speaking widows were not getting their share of the food that was given out each day. So who's going to solve this problem? Peter? James, maybe? It says the twelve apostles called the whole group of followers together and said, it is not right for us to stop our work of teaching God's Word in order to serve tables.

So brothers and sisters, choose seven of your own name who are good and full in the Spirit. And verse 6, they put these men before the apostles, plural, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

I want you to notice the dynamics of this event. First of all, a serious problem occurs in the church. Wow! What a shock! I want you to think about this, my friends. If there's a dissension, if there's conflict among men who three and a half years walked elbow to elbow with Jesus Christ, and in spite of that received God's Holy Spirit and still had problems at times, what makes us think that two thousand years later that still couldn't occur?

God works through carnal human beings, and when He gives His Holy Spirit to them, they are now carnal human beings with God's Holy Spirit. And we're all flawed, and we all have weaknesses. Here were the original disciples, and they dropped the ball, and the widows, the Greek widows, are being neglected.

Wake up! One could say. Why, I thought you had God's Holy Spirit! They were human, and they made mistakes. Brethren, I dedicated the last ten years of my life and leadership development, and let me tell you one thing that I've learned, how to create conflict. Put two individuals in a room, and eventually you will have conflict. Or one individual and a mirror. And eventually you will have conflict, because we're human, and we have different approaches in philosophies and different backgrounds, and we see things differently, and there are going to be difficulties.

The same reason why there were difficulties that led to the conference in Acts 15 over circumcision. The same reason right after that, Paul and Barnabas got into a shouting match about John Mark and separated from each other and went their own ways. Did these men have God's Holy Spirit? Absolutely! Were they carnal human beings who struggled with their own humanity? Absolutely there were. And the same is true for us today.

Let's now go to Acts 15, since I just mentioned that. Human beings have differences and they have conflict. Acts 15, since certain men came down from Judea and talked to brethren, unless you were circumcised according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved. Sounds like a doctrine of man to me. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas sucked on tea and cookies with them, no, it says, had no small dissension and dispute with them. I mean, this Scripture says that veins were popping out in foreheads.

I mean, this was quite animated. They determined they should go to Jerusalem to who? To Peter! To find out if this is true. To James! To find out if this is true. No, they should go to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders for this question. So being sent underway by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles.

So a serious problem arose that could split the church in 49 A.D. Notice the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to discuss the situation, not with Peter, not with James, but with the apostles and elders. It says this was to be a doctrinal decision that needed the input of everyone who had been ordained with God's Holy Spirit, no matter what their so-called title was. Verse 6, it says, now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.

Verse 7, and after there had been much dispute, you mean these people who hobnobbed with Jesus for three and a half years, argued with each other, sometimes got offended with each other, sometimes rose their voice at each other? You betcha! They sure did. And sometimes so do we.

Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us. This is Peter speaking, but by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe. In verse 7, Peter gets to the lectern, he speaks. Verse 12, Barnabas speaks, then Paul speaks in the proceedings. James, the half-brother of Jesus, is presiding over the conference because Jerusalem, he's the pastor of the Jerusalem congregation, that's only natural. Testimonies come from men like Simon Peter and Paul and Barnabas and James himself.

And verse 13, and after they had become silent, why did they become silent? Because everyone had a chance to say what he believed in the state of his opinion. There was no, oh, you're rebellious. You think differently than I do. You're bad. You're rebelling against God because you're not thinking exactly like I think.

No, that's control-freeism. That has nothing to do with Christianity. They became silent because everyone openly had an opportunity to say his peace. And the deciding factor was a remarkable individual. That individual happened to be James. James was the most conservative of the apostles there. If anyone was going to say that you have to be circumcised to be saved, it would have been, everyone would have expected, James. He was the half-brother of Jesus. And when he got up and said, you know, what Peter says, what Paul says, it all makes sense.

We can't put this burden on people. All the conversation ended. Because the most conservative individual that everybody, every conservative looked through in the conference just got up and said, hey, let's be reasonable. But they're saying it makes sense. These people have obviously received God's Spirit. You know, they're speaking in foreign languages. Their lives are changed. The churches are growing. They haven't been circumcised. In spite of that, they haven't been circumcised. What difference does it make? Maybe it's your heart that should be circumcised and not, you know, that.

So when he said that, that ended the discussion. In verse 23, they wrote a letter from the apostles, the elders, and the brethren. So it was the whole church that was endorsing this decision. Now, drop down to verse 39. Paul and Barnabas had such a serious argument about this that they separated and went their different ways.

Wow! You mean sometimes these people disagree? Quite violently, actually. At times. But they both went and they both served in different directions. And what Paul did was productive and what Barnabas did was productive. And later on, we know, through the writings of Paul, that the very person they argued over, which was a young John Mark, became very helpful to an aged Paul many years later when he was in prison.

Paul was wrong. Or like the Fonzie would say, Paul was in error. He misjudged this young minister named John Mark, and he made a big deal out of something that should not have been made out of. Now, let's go to Galatians 2, verse 6. At the very same time that I attended Ambassador College, and this would have been around 1978, when the teaching of the government of God was taught, no truth was revealed.

For many, many years, the Radio Church of God and the Worldwide Church of God taught that James was the head of the New Testament Church. After all, if you're going to believe in the government of God, you've always got to have a head. And you've got to have a head quarters. That's where the head resides. Up until that time, James, and all the literature and everything spelled out that James was the head, and a lot of reasons why James was the head.

Well, it was changed. The founder of Ambassador College in a WWCG, and I remember that exact day at the Ambassador Auditorium, where I was attending services. He said, this is new truth. Peter was the head of the New Testament Church. But, brethren, is that really true? Let's go to Galatians 2, verse 6. Paul is talking about a visit that he made to Jerusalem, to make sure that what he was teaching wasn't a problem with the other disciples.

And you can try to sweet-talk these verses any way that you want to. I don't care what translations you look from. I will tell you that Paul was underwhelmed with the other disciples that he met in Jerusalem. He says, from those who seemed to be something. Now, I'd like to sugarcoat that and say that was some type of Hebraic expression. But, no, that's sarcastic. That's the way Paul was. This was the same man that said, in Galatians, that people who are all obsessed about circumcision would just go and cut the whole thing off.

That's the way Paul was sometimes. But from those who seemed to be something, whoever they were, it makes no difference to me. God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. I'm sorry, I can't sugarcoat that. Paul is saying that I went to Jerusalem and there are a nice bunch of former fishermen, but they had nothing to add to what I was doing.

They were nice guys. Now, let me step back a second. From Paul's defense, he was trained to be a rabbi from his youth, taught at the feet of Gamaliel. He spoke many foreign languages. He was not born in Judea. He was born in a Greek city, highly educated, sophisticated, gifted man. When he went to Jerusalem and met the fishermen that God had called, he was not highly impressed. The point I'm trying to bring across here is, by this scripture, he does not recognize any of the apostles in Jerusalem as superior to him.

He just doesn't do it. He says that I am the apostle of the Gentiles. God called me to do that, Peter is the apostle of the circumcised. So who's God working through? God's working through both of them. He's working through all of them. He can work through anyone that he wants to. Galatians 2 and verse 13, was Peter the head of the New Testament Church? Well, tell me that if Peter was your boss and you were a minister or a manager in a factory or in any situation and Peter were your boss, if you would say this to him. The story of Peter coming to Antioch and before the Jews showed up, Peter would hobnob and he would eat great bread and fellowship with the Gentiles.

But as soon as some of his Jewish friends showed up, he withdrew and stopped doing that because the Jews said that you shouldn't touch or have anything to do with Gentiles. So Paul's commenting on this beginning in verse 13, and the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him. Does that seem strong to you?

Ever called your boss a hypocrite to his face? I mean, when you used to be employed? So that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter, before them all. He just can't take Peter aside quietly. I mean, that's what some of us would do. Peter, Peter, no, no. I think you're setting a real bad example of everybody. No, he doesn't do that. He makes sure that he does it in front of everybody. He says, if you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

He says, you're a hybrid, Peter. Stop pretending like you're a Jew. You don't keep half the stuff that you should to be a good Jew. So stop pretending. That's basically what he says publicly in front of everybody. He corrects Peter in front of the entire church. So tell me, is this the way someone treats the head of the church?

It obviously is not because Paul did not recognize Peter as his superior. God chose Paul to be an apostle without consulting the original apostles, and he didn't let them know in advance. Why? Because God gets to work with anyone that he wants to. Let's now go to 1 Corinthians 12, verse 27. This scripture and 1 and Ephesians 4 are often distorted by individuals who want to make everything a rigid hierarchy. They even want to create offices in the church, even though I've read this scripture many times, and I don't see designations about preaching elders and local elders or local church elders.

But 1 Corinthians 12, verse 27, here's what Paul says. And the context is not hierarchy, not authority, not who is in charge. He tells us that it's who God gives gifts to for the benefit of the church of God. He says, now you are the body of Christ and members individually, and God has appointed these in the church. First apostles, that's a gift. We were given the gift of those. Second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Brother, these are not offices of authority. They're gifts. I never saw anyone ordained for miracle worker.

I've seen a lot of ordinations in my life, but I never saw anyone made miracle worker or healer. And I ordained you into the healing ministry. I just haven't seen that. These are not hierarchal, some hierarchy built into some office. It's the gifts that God has blessed his church with. He says, but earnestly desire the best gifts. That's verse 3. Yet I will show you a more excellent way. And he talks about love. We don't have time to go there today.

It's similar in Ephesians 4. Some folks want to look at that and think that it's some type of authoritative hierarchy. It's frankly a list of gifts that have been given to serve the church. Paul says himself in verse 7 that it's the measure of Christ's gift. That all of those positions are the measure of Christ's gift. Now, how did I come to understand what I believe today is the Scripture? I'll let you decide whether the Scriptures were there today that I just read, or whether I made some of them up.

I'll let you decide that. I'm going to be honest with you, and I'm going to tell you how I came to understand these things. When the United Church of God was formed in 1995, it was faced with a dilemma. It was the belief, the doctrine of man, of God only working through one man that caused the problem in 1995.

The founder of the worldwide Church of God ordained someone who went astray. I struggled because I was taught the government of God. As a minister, I taught the government of God. I should keep my mouth shut. I should go to church every week. I should even go there if they change it to Sunday.

I should believe that God is in charge of the universe. And rebellion against this man is rebellion against God. And I had to cross that threshold in my mind. And the threshold that I crossed and came to understand, particularly by looking at the New Testament, is that it is a doctrine of men and a myth.

God works through anyone that He chooses to. I had to put aside my assumptions. I had to look into the Bible and the Word of God for the governance that was taught in the early church. And the United Church of God had to do the same thing. When all else fails, go back to the Bible. And what model of governance do you find in Acts 15 when a serious issue arose? We looked at those scriptures. The apostles and the elders gathered together, and they decided on a matter. The United Church of God, looking at the New Testament in particular, said, the best thing to do is the model of governance that we see in the early New Testament church.

And that's what we did. Is it perfect? No. I've never found anything that men are involved in that's perfect. Is there sometimes disagreement and dissension? Well, just like in Acts 15, yeah, there's dissension. Just like sometimes we see examples of Paul confronting Peter and Antioch, there's dissension. Sometimes, like when Paul had a shouting match with Barnabas and they separated, sometimes there's dissension.

But we have chosen to have a governance process that is no longer smoke and mirrors. Our difficulties are going to be at least semi-public. When we have disagreements, you're going to get a sense that there's something going on, because we believe in open and transparent communication.

No longer will things be done and said behind closed doors. We've decided that if we're going to be a church, we need to model the example of Acts 15. It's recorded how open and honest they were with themselves in spite of problems and difficulties. And that's the form of governance that we've chosen.

We fully accept and understand that God has the right to work with one person and at times he has. But he also has the right to work with two, seven, twelve, seventy, or anyone that he wants to. In conclusion, I'd like to just make a few comments about the so-called government of God. I'd like to remind you that it's not a biblical term.

It's a doctrine of men. And many of the scriptures I read to you today you will not find in their literature. The second thing I hope you will remember is that God gives his spirit the flawed men and women afterward. They are flawed men and women with God's Holy Spirit. Expecting more out of people than they really are only makes you discouraged.

If you put people on a pedestal or you allow a teaching of men to put individuals on pedestals, I can guarantee you you will become discouraged. The next thing I would like to mention, final comments, is that the true government of God, yes, someday, will be established on the earth. When Jesus Christ comes to earth, he's going to establish a perfect government because its leaders will be perfect. The leaders will be immortal. Until that time, the best way to prepare to serve in the government of God is to learn how to govern the distance between your two ears.

That's the work we can all start. The last thing I would like to say is that I owe the Church of God an apology. I repented of teaching that particular doctrine many years ago, and I don't believe one should beat themselves up over their errors, but I do apologize to everyone who I ever taught that false doctrine of men to. It's unbiblical, and I'm sorry for misleading you, and I repented of it, and I apologize of it.

Brethren, I beg you, don't let anyone deceive you with what Paul would have called in Galatians another gospel. There's only one gospel, and that gospel is the fact that Jesus Christ established His Church. His Church is struggling with human beings to do His work, and that gospel is that someday, and we believe it soon, Jesus Christ will return to this earth and at that time establish the government of God on the earth. Thy kingdom come. Have a wonderful Sabbath day.