“He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” (Psalm 111:9)
It is sad to see how the churches have built up a hierarchical system after the pattern of Rome. Rome has a pope, the other churches have a bishop. The bishops and lords of the Catholic church are high class men, who go to Rome to study for many years. Some of them are then called cardinals, who choose the next pope and say that it is God’s choice. The other churches are not any different, they are actually the same. Everyone who joins the church, everyone who has a bishop over him, everyone who has a pastor, everyone who has a deacon, is a part of the hierarchical system; a system which is contrary to the system of God. It says in Ephesians 4 that God has set in His church the five-fold ministry: the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the shepherd, and the teacher. He has not set in any pastors! There is no such word in the Bible, except that man has changed the translation and put pastor where shepherd originally was.
If I ask you what a shepherd is, you will be able to give me many, many scriptural references: I am a good shepherd; a good shepherd gives his life for his sheep; my sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; my sheep shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand; shepherd goes before his sheep. There is an abundance of shepherd verses! These are only a few examples. If I, however, ask you about a pastor, you would not be able to give me any scriptural answer for there is no such thing in the Bible.
Therefore, there is no pastor in the five-fold ministry. The church as a whole has rejected the five-fold ministry. They can only accept the pastors. They even go as far as calling them clergy and the rest of the people laity. Clergy and laity. How does it sound to you? The Bible speaks of Nicolaitans. What it actually is saying in Greek is the following: nico = ruler, laos = people. When you put these two together, you get “ruler over the people.” The clergy is a different class of a Christian, a higher class. He must pick up all the tithes; you must give him the best car to drive; he must have everything that is out there in the world because he is the clergy.
I always tell people: Please, do not call anyone reverend. The Bible says that this is one of the names of blasphemy. The harlot church, the whore riding the beast, which is the world, was filled with all manner of fornication and filthiness and the names of blasphemy were written on her forehead. Every time the Bible talks about the forehead it means within the soul and within the mind. If you want to know whether a man has a revelation of Jesus Christ, ask him what his title is. If he tells you that he is reverend, then you know he does not have any revelation from God, but his revelation comes from Rome. Do you know why? Let me give you my personal experience.
After some brethren got me to believing that I needed to submit myself to somebody, I joined the church of God, so that we might have the fellowship. They made me take their examination. After I passed it, I received a certificate which said: Reverend Cecil J. duCille. So, I got some business cards printed. I came home with them, praying and meditating with the Lord, when suddenly the Lord asked me, “What is that?” Has the Lord ever asked you, “What is that?” like He asked Adam in the garden, “Where are you?” I replied, “Well, Lord, I am Reverend now.” He asked me one more question, “Have you ever looked it up in the Scriptures?” I said, “No, Lord.” He didn’t tell me anything else but that. So, I went to the concordance and found in Psalm 111:9, “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” It is God’s name – holy and reverend. I decided to look at what word in Hebrew was translated as reverend. It is a word “YARE,” which means: “to fear, to revere, to frighten, dread(-ful), terrible.” When, therefore, a man wants you to call him a reverend, don’t let him deceive you. You are actually calling him God.
When I found out, I was frightened. I went to a certain minister and asked him, “Reverend, tell me, what is the meaning of reverend in the Scriptures?” He said it means “terrible, mighty, powerful, awesome.” They know what they want people to call them. Brethren, do not be deceived. There are many names of blasphemy used in the churches these days and all of them are mentioned in the Bible. Let us do better than that and submit to the order that was set in the church by God.
