Beware
Ministers Wearing Fancy Garments And Titles!
Jesus
is speaking to His disciples concerning the scribes and Pharisees, and in Matthew
23:5-12, He says, “But all their works they do for to be seen of men:
They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi. But be ye
not called Rabbi: for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your father, which is in
heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even Christ. But
he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever shall exalt
himself shall be abased: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
No
preacher of the gospel should wear any garment that identifies that preacher as
being any different than anyone else in the congregation. The fact that he is
standing in the pulpit is all that he needs. Jesus chastised the scribes and
Pharisees for doing so! What do you see when you look at a Catholic priest,
bishop, cardinal or the Pope? The garments adorned by the clergy within the
Catholic Church don’t get any fancier! And what about fancy titles that put them
on a pedestal: father, your eminence, your holiness? It is contrary to
scripture!
Matthew 23:5-13 “But all their works they do to be seen of men: they
make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and
love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and
greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be ye not
called Rabbi: for one is your master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And
call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your father, which is in
heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even Christ. But
he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt
himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
Phylacteries
were little scrolls of paper or parchment on which were written four paragraphs
of the law of Moses, Exodus 13:2-11, 13:11-16 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9,
11:13-21. These were sewn up in leather and worn upon the foreheads and
left arms of holy men. The Pharisees made broad these phylacteries, so that the
people might believe them to be more holy, strict, and more zealous for the law
than others. This is a good goal to strive for but not to brag about!
In
Numbers 15:38, God appointed the Jews to make borders or fringes upon
their garments to distinguish them from other nations and to be a memorandum to
them of their being a particular people; but the Pharisees were not content to
have their borders like those of other people’s, which might have served God’s
purpose in appointing
them, but they made
theirs larger than ordinary so that they might be taken notice of, as if they
were more religious than others. They deceived others, but in the end, they
will have deceived themselves!
Do
these fancy, fringed and large bordered garments sound like any denomination we
know today? Ever see a Catholic priest? Or the Pope? With their fancy robes and
crowns and palaces? Regarding titles of honor and respect, they loved to have
people tip their hats to them and show them respect when they met them on the
streets. How it pleased them to have the way made for them and to be
complimented with the high and pompous titles of Rabbi, Rabbi! (Or priest,
father, your eminence, or vicar!)
Jesus
cautions His disciples against being like them. Who are we today? We are God’s
disciples! From the self-appointed and “infallible” Pope, to the meekest,
humblest servant sitting in the last row of the church pew, God says we are all
to be called brethren. Not one of us to be exalted above the other one, but to
serve our Lord. We are not to make our wills and opinions as a rule or standard
for other people to be obeyed without question. Those high and
mighty ones who believe
themselves to be in charge now will someday have to answer for that high
mindedness, and in the end, will serve their brethren rather than rule them!
In
Leviticus 26:1, it reads, “Ye shall make no idols nor graven image,
neither rear you up any standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of
stone in your land, to bow down unto it; for I am the Lord your God.”
In
Deuteronomy 4:15-18, we’re told again, “Take ye therefore good heed
unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord
spake unto you in Horeb, out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt
yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the
likeness of male or female, the likeness
of any beast that is on
the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness
of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in
the waters beneath the earth;”
If
the statue of the blessed “virgin” Mary and Saints and the gargoyles that guard
cathedrals don’t fit this description, I’ll eat my Bible! And guess what? They
bow down before these statues and worship them! God knew there would be a
Catholic church, that they would do these things that are contrary to His word,
and He warned the people not to do them!
Crosses
and crucifixes also fall into this category. Many churches today (not just
Catholic) have huge crucifixes hanging above the pulpit. Why? Christ is no
longer on the cross! He was crucified, but he is now the risen Lord and is
reigning in heaven at the right hand of God, the Father. And He isn’t lying in
a manger either! Satan (and churches that pretend He is) would like nothing
better than to have Jesus lying in a manger again, because Satan realizes the
power Christ wields as a result of having been crucified! Let’s keep Jesus out
of the manger, down off of the cross, and let’s keep Him exalted in heaven, as
the King that He is!
