John 10:5, Mar Mari Emmanuel, and the Syriac Church

 John 10:5 reads:

John 10:5 (ESV)

5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Now, who is a stranger?  In John 10, Jesus talks about how he is the door of the sheep (v. 7), and the shepherd Himself (v. 11).  Thus, a stranger is someone who is not Christ, but rather a thief and a robber (v. 1), that is, a false teacher who will steal the sheep (the believers) from the Truth, and thus, from salvation.

The sheep do not recognize the voice of anyone except Christ, so they flee from the stranger.

So, why am I talking about this?  Well, on my YouTube feed, I came across this gentleman named Mar Mari Emmanuel, he has a white beard, dresses in black, has a black and gold-ish head covering, and has a gold-ish cross hanging from his neck.  In my opinion, he looks like he belongs to an Eastern Orthodox church.  In his videos, he preaches from a pulpit with a backdrop with lettering in Arabic.  He is a part of what's called "Syriac Christianity".  I looked it up.  They also do sacraments, four of which are said to be essential to salvation, which are Baptism, Confirmation, Repentance, and Eucharist. (source: Syriac Orthodox Resources).

Syriac Orthodox Resources also says:

"The Syriac Orthodox Church conforms to the teachings of the Three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381), and Ephesus (A.D. 431).  It rejects the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451)"

This here fails the sniff test immediately, for Jeremiah 17:5 says:

Jeremiah 17:5 (KJV)

5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

Oh, some more stuff:

The Syriac church has its adherents pray seven times a day, because they say Psalm 119:64 says so:

Psalms 119:164 (KJV)

164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

One problem:  Just because David praised God seven times a day, doesn't mean that is the minimum number of times a Christian must do so.  Now, nothing wrong with praying in this frequency, for we are told to "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17).  

But that's all that is said about prayer frequency, NOTHING ELSE! (Proverbs 30:6)

And going on with the Syriac Orthodox Resources, you find a bunch of stuff that obviously fits the following:

Matthew 15:9 (KJV)

9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Based on all this, Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Syriac Church, at the very least, does not pass the sniff test.  For such people and churches John 10:5 applies, and if you doubt that such a person or church fits into that category, Jeremiah 17:5 applies too.