In our church March bears the name “My pastor. My leader”, and today I would like to speak on the topic: “God of order and responsibility”.
Exodus 39:42-43: The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.
This Scripture reveals amazingly well the fact that God is the God of order and control! God knows the nature of humans and realizes that no work can be done without a system of control. Every idea and plan comes from the Lord, and Chapter 39 of Exodus reveals how God passed His plan to Moses. In turn Moses entrusted this work to the sons of Israel.
The importance of order and control was revealed to Moses. “Moses inspected the work.” We can see that he examined how people were carrying out his assignment. By simply setting a rigid system of control, Moses was able to take responsibility for God’s purpose and fulfill it. “…they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them” (verse 43). As we can see the system of control allows us to reach the ideal result and, after all, receive the blessing. In his letter to the Corinthians Apostle Paul tells us that God is the God of order, but often we neglect the truth that God’s perfect order is not possible unless there is a system of control in place. I personally had not deemed it necessary to control people and their work, and for that I paid a high price. Remember the situation with Kings Capital? – I trusted everyone, because I thought that if people were believers, then it would be insulting to them if I checked and controlled their work. But if there is trust, there must be control; it’s not without reason that the Russian proverb says “Trust, but verify”.
In the 2nd book of Chronicles chapter 34 we read the story of the restoration of the walls of God’s temple: “The workers labored faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah…” (Verse 12). Notice that people were able to do their work faithfully, the right way, because there was someone to direct them. When we do not control people, we expose them to temptation, unfaithfulness and cheating. However, when people know that their work is being checked, then they work with all responsibility, faithfulness, in a right way, and honestly. They “had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job” (verse 13). God gave them watchers, who directed and controlled any work assigned by the Lord.
It is not by accident, my friends, that God created the five-fold ministry. According to Ephesians 4:11-12 He made some apostles, others prophets, some evangelists, pastors, others teachers, and some – leaders. God created leadership in church to carry out control and direct His assignments on earth and spread His Kingdom. Let us treat our pastors with understanding, with due respect and reverence! Pastors, leaders – are those people who must give account to God for the fulfillment of God’s orders, but this is impossible without a system of control. We have to learn this quality. I was building the Embassy of God on a different principle: the main thing was to teach people, to inspire them to do something, and then let everyone do want they want and believe. But in fact, there was a measure of irresponsibility in that. It is not enough to open people the truth and encourage them to do something – it is very important to check how they are moved to the point of execution of what they heard. Due to lack of control the devil was able to strongly attack the Embassy of God during all the crises, especially financially. I taught about finances all without selection, because I thought that everybody wants to glorify God in this area of their lives. In fact, it turned out that that was not the case, there were people who thought more of their own, not of God’s. After that, I repented of such levity and simplicity. I have made some conclusions, made an important decision not only to teach people, but to give them the motivation and inspiration to do God’s work. I have developed a system to help people not to lose the Word they heard, but to be responsible for its execution. That’s why we started to give homework and tests after the leader’s schools for people to give an account of what they heard, and to enable them to examine themselves on how they execute what they heard.
A pastor should always receive feedback from his congregation, because it is what God requires. Romans 13:1: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Here, the Bible tells us that all authority is established by God, therefore, if we are not submitted to the authorities, the leader, the pastor, we oppose God’s plans and intentions. Submission, humility, accountability, and obedience should be implemented in the church in fullness. Juniors must be obedient to seniors, and seniors should require from juniors execution of what they heard in church. If we teach people how to be good husbands, wives and true believers, we cannot be indifferent regarding how they behave themselves outside the church. Pastors and leaders should require from people that they live according to the doctrine which is preached in the church. If a person does not want to be humble under the mighty hand of God, then it is better to let him go.
That is why now in the “Embassy of God” church I have decided to work personally with people who take responsibility for each of my teachings for each school. By their assignments I can analyze their spiritual growth and how much they live in accordance with the teachings that we give. The system of feedback and control in the church helps us to practically demonstrate Christian principles.
Thanks to this revelation, Pastor Sunday’s system of home groups was created, as well as home groups of other pastors of the church, which closely follow the implementation of tests, private devotions to God, and other tasks. To remain in the pastor’s home group, you should not be a forgetful hearer but a responsible doer.
An important factor in becoming a true Christian is obedience. Surprising as it may be, Jesus himself “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ” (Hebrews 5:8). Even Jesus, in order to become what He became, it was necessary for Him to develop the skill of obedience. Acquiring a skill is often a difficult process. Painful, unpleasant, but necessary. God will not be able to carry out His will with the help of a man who has no humility or obedience.
Joshua 11:15: As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.
We can see here 3 Levels of a control system.
- God gave the task to Moses, who would account for its execution.
- Moses, in turn gave this task to Joshua, and then controlled his disciple.
- And Joshua worked with people and directed what they were doing. Only through such a system of control and order can one get a predictable result. Life is predictable when a control system is in place.
I am teaching you about the control system in the month of “My pastor. My leader” for us to learn to respond properly to the demands of our leaders and pastors, and to declare our obedience by taking the relevant actions. After all, pastors will give an account before God for the people entrusted to them. (see Hebrews 13:17) If church leaders do not control their flocks, then firstly, there will be no blessings, and secondly, God will judge them for their irresponsible attitude to the entrusted task.
We already know what it means to pay a heavy price for lack of control. That is why I want to support pastors and church leaders in their intent to provide oversight over the execution of the church teachings. I also want to encourage church members to meet pastor’s requirements: systematically provide reports on tasks, to execute tasks with pleasure, etc., realizing that it is the direct responsibility of leadership to check, to correct, to give right direction and to help to reach the heavenly Jerusalem.
In this month of “My pastor. My leader” we need to understand that obedience to the pastor, to the system of order and control is a Christian system of governance. I pray for us to be obedient not only to the higher authority, but to become the people with the help of whom God can realize His will on Earth. God will trust only to meek, the humble, those who are under control, and those who are able to control the execution of works entrusted to them by the Lord.
(theses of the anointing service for March)
Translated by Eugenia Pustova
Edited by Kizito Leacock
