IS IT RIGHT TO CALL MEN/WOMEN REVEREND?

Psalm 111:9; "He has sent redemption to His people; and He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and reverend is His Name.”

In my business, social and church life, people are continually greeting me by saying, “How are you, Reverend?”

Why? Because I am a minister, and an Apostle in the Fellowship; and these good people want to show respect for my word and for me. It will not come as a shock to some of my friends as they hear me say that I do not want to be called “Reverend.”

I do not make this request because I think that I am too good for the title, nor do I make this request because I want to be different from all the other ministers or preachers, but after many hours of studying the Scriptures for myself, I have come to the conclusion that it is wrong for people to continue to use that title, and it is also wrong for me to let people use it by my acceptance of it. Do you know where the word “Reverend” is found in the Scriptures?

Do you know how many times it is found?

Do you know the definition of the word?

Perhaps you have never given this much thought, but I believe that you will agree with me that it would be interesting, as well as desirable, to know the answers to these questions.

1. The word “reverend” is found only once in the pages of the Scriptures, and in the King James Version of the Bible, we read the following words found in our opening Scripture: Psalms 111:9; “He sent redemption unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant forever; Holy and reverent in His name.”

Now if you will read the entire chapter of the 111th Psalms, you will find that the subject under consideration at this point is the holiness, purity, fear, terribleness, and reverence in which we are to hold the Name of YAHWEH; and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David teaches, “Holy and reverend is His name.”

Would you want to take an attribute of YAHWEH, which is applied exclusively to Him, and apply it to yourselves?

NO! I AM NOT, NOR WILL I EVER BE, GREAT ENOUGH TO WEAR “REVEREND” AS A TITLE!!!!

1. Yeshua vigorously condemned the use of religious titles; listen to what He says:

• Matthew 23:8-10; “But you do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is you Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in Heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is you Teacher, the Christ.”

Can we be mistaken concerning the message He has for us?

I don't believe so because this is a wonderful teaching; “You are all brethren” Christ had made us equal!

The divisions of “clergy” and “laity” are foreign to the teachings of Yeshua Hamshiach (Messiah/Christ).

Yeshua also taught against any marks of distinction among His people because the religious leaders of Yeshua's day were filled with pride and desired to be set apart from all others.

1. Hear Yeshua again as He speaks: Mark 12:38-39; "Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, and who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive the greater condemnation.”

When men take to themselves religious titles and special clothing, Yeshua says to “beware” of them!!!

Perhaps you are asking by now, “Well, how should we greet you, what should we call you?”

This question is certainly in order and if you are a Believer in Yeshua Hamshiach (Messiah/Christ), our LORD and Savior, why not call me brother, but if you prefer, you can call me Brother Abrams.

1. Peter, one of the great Apostles of Yeshua wrote: 1 Peter 4:11; "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the Oracles of GOD, and if anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which GOD supplies, that in all things GOD may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The word “oracles” means, “utterances” and in not calling a “brother” who is in the position of “ministering” to the People of YAHWEH “reverend;” we are obeying this command from the LORD.

And because the church we read about in the Scriptures was organized in a very simple way and the general pattern was to have 2 or more qualified men overseeing each local congregation or fellowship.

1. These men could be referred to as the “eldership,” and each man must meet several “high qualifications” which the Scriptures list in two passages: Titus 1:7-9; "For a bishop must be blameless, as a Steward of GOD, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict."

• 1 Timothy 3:1-7; "This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of GOD?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."

Elders (Pastors) are the spiritual leaders of a congregation and they also watch out for the souls of the members like a shepherd; but Christ is the head of every local church, and there is no human head of the church and the Scriptures are the only written creed for each church rather than a man-made written creed. Paul tells us in Titus 2:1, “speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.”

This means that we must use Scripture terms to describe Scripture things, but many denominations use terms that are not found in the Scriptures; unscriptural man-made terms, many of which are titles only YAHWEH Himself would wear!!!

1. In fact, most of these terms are outright blasphemous for a man to wear:

• Pope

• His All Holiness

• Universal Bishop

• His Eminence

• Ecumenical Patriarch

• Patriarch

• His Beatitude

• His Grace

• Metropolitan or Archbishop

• Archbishop

• Archpriest

• Cardinal

• Reverend

• Very Reverend

• Right Reverend

• Reverend Father

• Father

• Protopresbyter

1. Each of the four sets of terms refers to the same Greek words that are used by some of the denominations today:

• Overseer: Bishop, Episcopate, Bishopric and Diocese

• Elder: Presbyter and Presbyterate

• Shepherd: Pastor

• Servant: Deacon and Diaconate

1. According to Titus 2:1, here are some terms that are misused by some denominations:

• Applying “Pastor” as a synonym for the pulpit preacher because all Pastors are pulpit preachers, but not all preachers are Pastors.

• Applying "Elder” or “Bishop” to any women because women are forbidden to be such according to Scripture (1 Timothy 2:12).

• Applying “Pastor” to any young man, any single man, or a married man who has no children, or a married man whose children are not faithful in Christ.

• Applying “Evangelist” exclusively to pulpit preachers who preach in the same church every Sunday, while not calling one who preaches and teaches in different churches an “evangelist” because he's not in the same church every Sunday. The terms, evangelist, preacher and minister are interchangeable terms and Scripture makes no distinction as to whether the minister or moving around from week to week.

1. Here is the list of qualifications for Pastors: 1st Timothy 3:1-7; "This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of GOD?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."

• Titus 1:6-9; "If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a Steward of GOD, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

These qualifications are what all Believer's should strive to meet, but most churches today set human standards that ignore Scriptural directives.

1. There are some qualifications that many modern-day Pastors don't meet:

• Pastors must be married.

• Pastors must have children who are old enough to be Born-Again.

• Pastors must have PROVEN that they can keep their children under control WITHOUT REBELLION. The big test is with teenagers.

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• Pastors must have enough Scriptural knowledge to be able to refute false doctrine.

The Scriptural pattern for a Pastor is absolutely foreign to most denominations as they rely heavily upon human creeds to set their standards.

1. The Baptist church, for example, admits in their official creed book (The Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual), that new offices not found in Scripture have been added long after the Bible was written:

• CHURCH OFFICERS: In the New Testament we find that in apostolic times, and for many years after, pastors and deacons only were known as permanent church officers, but others have been added at later times, for a variety of reasons.” (The Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual)

• THE WIDER FELLOWSHIP OF BAPTISTS: Because the Body of Christ is the only Faith-Based organizations provided for in the New Testament, it may be said that they are the only ones really essential to the accomplishment of the purposes of Christ. Experience, however, has demonstrated that churches in fellowship with one another are able to fulfill the work of the Gospel more effectively than churches alone.” (The Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual)

1. What we observe in these two quotes from the Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual, is the following: First, they admit that new offices were added to the church many years after the Scriptures were completed.

• Second, they admit that local churches with no organizational tie between them, was the Scriptural pattern, but because of human wisdom, an organization was invented to tie local churches together on a global basis. The Scriptures give clear qualifications for the office which most churches ignore, so in conclusion; I feel that most people are honest and want to do what is right. In order to accomplish our task, let us return to the Scriptures for all our beliefs and practices because this is right and good.

Here at S.W.A.T. International Academy, we are diligently seeking to do this, and we invite you to attend worship services with us, as we use the Scriptures as our only rule of faith and practice, that together we may restore the Word of YAHWEH to its rightful place!!

I WOULD RATHER BE UNCOMFORTABLE IN YESHUA...THEN COMFORTABLE WITH SATAN!!

"IF YOU'RE NOT WINNING SOULS FOR YESHUA...YOU DON'T WORK FOR YAHWEH...YOU'RE SELF-EMPLOYED!!"