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Voddie Baucham - Politics and Biblical Authority: On Submission Part 2 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Well, if you have your Bibles with you, please open
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  Speaker 1: them again to Romans chapter 13. On last week, we
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  Speaker 1: looked at Romans 13, one through seven, and really just
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  Speaker 1: sort of backed up and took a bird's eye view.
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  Speaker 1: Talked about the way we think concerning these issues, issues
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  Speaker 1: of politics and government. This week, we'll look at the
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  Speaker 1: first two verses there. in Romans chapter 13, and examine
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  Speaker 1: our responsibility as Christian citizens, what it looks like and
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  Speaker 1: what it means for us to be in submission to
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  Speaker 1: those authorities that God has placed over us. And particularly
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  Speaker 1: here in Romans 13, those governmental authorities that God has
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  Speaker 1: placed over us. What I wanted to do is over
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  Speaker 1: the next few weeks, refer us back again and again
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  Speaker 1: to our confession. The London Baptist Confession, 1689. If you
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  Speaker 1: have your hymnals, would you please open those to page 683.
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  Speaker 1: Page 683. We'll be expounding on this more over the
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  Speaker 1: next few weeks as we walk through this text. 683,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 24 of the Civil Magistrate. Paragraph 1. God, the
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  Speaker 1: Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained
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  Speaker 1: civil magistrates to be under Him over the people for
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  Speaker 1: His own glory and the public good.
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  Speaker 2: And to this end hath armed.
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  Speaker 1: Them with the power of the sword for defense and
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  Speaker 1: encouragement of them that do good, and for the punishment
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  Speaker 1: of evildoers.
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  Speaker 3: Paragraph 2.
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  Speaker 1: It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the
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  Speaker 1: office of magistrate when called thereunto, in the management whereof,
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  Speaker 1: as they ought especially to maintain justice and peace, according
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  Speaker 1: to the wholesome law of each kingdom and commonwealth, So
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  Speaker 1: for that end, they may lawfully now, under the New Testament,
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  Speaker 1: wage war upon just and necessary occasions. Paragraph three, civil
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  Speaker 1: magistrates belong, I'm sorry, civil magistrates being set up by
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  Speaker 1: God for the end aforesaid, subjection in all lawful things
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  Speaker 1: commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, not only for wrath, but for conscience sake.
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  Speaker 1: And we ought to make supplications and prayers for kings
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  Speaker 1: and all that are in authority, that under them we
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  Speaker 1: may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
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  Speaker 1: and honesty. Again, a succinct presentation of these overarching truths
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  Speaker 1: that we find in Romans 13 and elsewhere.
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  Speaker 2: Let's read again.
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  Speaker 1: That entire paragraph, Romans 13, verses 1 through 7. Let
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  Speaker 1: every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there
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  Speaker 1: is no authority except from God, and those that exist
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  Speaker 1: have been instituted by God. Therefore, Whoever resists the authorities
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  Speaker 1: resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will
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  Speaker 1: incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct,
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  Speaker 1: but to bad. Would you have no fear of the
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  Speaker 1: one who is in authority? Then do what is good,
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  Speaker 1: and you will receive his approval. For he is God's
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  Speaker 1: servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid.
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  Speaker 1: For he does not bear the sword in vain. For
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  Speaker 1: he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries
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  Speaker 1: out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be
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  Speaker 1: in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath, but also
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  Speaker 1: for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you
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  Speaker 1: also pay taxes. For the authorities are ministers of God,
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  Speaker 1: attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is
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  Speaker 1: owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue
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  Speaker 1: to whom revenue is owed. Respect to whom respect is owed.
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  Speaker 1: Honor to whom honor is owed. And so he ends
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  Speaker 1: the paragraph where he began the paragraph at this place
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  Speaker 1: of honor and respect being given to those to whom
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  Speaker 1: it is indeed due.
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  Speaker 3: It is important.
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  Speaker 2: That we grasp these truths.
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  Speaker 1: It is important that we understand the significance of political
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  Speaker 1: authority and governing authorities. They are very real, present, prevalent
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  Speaker 1: issues in our everyday lives. They are absolutely inescapable and
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  Speaker 1: it is foolish and ungodly to think otherwise. to think
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  Speaker 1: that somehow we as Christians need to avoid speaking on
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  Speaker 1: such topics. Listen to John Calvin and his Institutes. For
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  Speaker 1: although this subject seems from its nature to be unconnected
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  Speaker 1: with the spiritual doctrine of faith, which I have undertaken
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  Speaker 1: to treat, it will appear as we proceed that I
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  Speaker 1: have properly connected them, nay, that I am under the
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  Speaker 1: necessity of doing so, especially while on the one hand,
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  Speaker 1: frantic and barbarous men are furiously endeavoring to overturn the
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  Speaker 1: order established by God. So on the one hand, you've
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  Speaker 1: got people who do not want to honor governing state
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  Speaker 1: authorities and overturn them, having been established by God. And
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, The flatterers of princes extolling their
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  Speaker 1: power without measure hesitate not to oppose it to the
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  Speaker 1: government of God.
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  Speaker 2: There's the second one.
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  Speaker 1: The second one is those people who are so enamored
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  Speaker 1: with public governing authority, state authority, that they put it
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  Speaker 1: in opposition and above the government of God's people in
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  Speaker 1: his church. Unless we meet both extremes, the purity of
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  Speaker 1: the faith will perish. It is important to meet both extremes.
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  Speaker 1: The extreme on the one hand that over emphasizes public
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  Speaker 1: state authority and the extreme on the other hand that
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  Speaker 1: under emphasizes state authority. And how do we put those
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  Speaker 1: extremes to rest? By heeding what God's word teaches us
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  Speaker 1: on the subject. And today in verses one and two, Specifically,
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  Speaker 1: heeding his command to be in submission and subjection to
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  Speaker 1: those proper authorities that have been placed over us. Let's
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  Speaker 1: look again in verses 1 and 2. Listen carefully. Let
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  Speaker 1: every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there
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  Speaker 1: is no authority except from God. And those that exist
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  Speaker 1: have been instituted by God.
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  Speaker 2: Therefore....
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  Speaker 1: Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and
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  Speaker 1: those who resist will incur judgment.
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  Speaker 2: There's the statement on the matter.
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  Speaker 1: We want to hasten to the next part of the
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  Speaker 1: paragraph and talk about what authority is legitimate and what
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  Speaker 1: authority is illegitimate. We want to hasten to the point
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  Speaker 1: where we talk about how we rise up against authority
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  Speaker 1: because we are, in effect, a very rebellious people, a
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  Speaker 1: notoriously rebellious people.
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  Speaker 2: And folks, we are the worst of the worst.
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  Speaker 1: Amen. Amen. We are citizens of a republic, and I'll
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  Speaker 1: say that again. I'll say that again and again and again.
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  Speaker 1: Please stop referring to America as a nation. We are
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  Speaker 1: a republic. And secondly, please stop referring to America as
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  Speaker 1: a democracy. We are not. Democracy is the cruelest form
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  Speaker 1: of government known to man. It is not a biblical concept.
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  Speaker 1: It is not an American concept. It is not a
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  Speaker 1: wise concept. It is a foolish concept. We are a
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  Speaker 1: constitutional representative republic.
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  Speaker 2: Can we say that together?
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  Speaker 1: A constitutional representative republic.
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  Speaker 3: Amen.
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  Speaker 2: Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Okay?
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  Speaker 2: In a democracy, if.
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  Speaker 1: 51% of people say that the other 49% must die,
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  Speaker 1: then what happens? The other 49% must die because of
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  Speaker 1: the will of the people, unrestrained by anything other than
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  Speaker 1: their own whims and wishes. That's what democracy is, folks.
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  Speaker 1: It literally means mob rule. So, We are not a democracy.
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  Speaker 1: We are a constitutional representative republic. Now, here's why we're
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  Speaker 1: the worst of the worst. Because we are a constitutional
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  Speaker 1: representative republic that was born and forged in a rebellion.
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  Speaker 2: And we celebrate that rebellion every year.
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  Speaker 1: On the 4th of July, Independence Day, We rise up
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  Speaker 1: as a people and we say, thank you for raising
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  Speaker 1: the fist to King George.
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  Speaker 3: That's who we are.
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  Speaker 1: So not only are we people who have rights and privileges,
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  Speaker 1: but we are a people whose country was born and
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  Speaker 1: forged out of a rebellion. And then worse than that,
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  Speaker 1: We're not just Americans, we're Southerners. So not only do
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  Speaker 1: we have the heritage of America in general that rose
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  Speaker 1: up against Britain, but we also have the heritage of
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  Speaker 1: the South, of the Confederacy that rose up against the rest.
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  Speaker 3: Of the Union.
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  Speaker 1: That's part of our heritage as Southerners. But we're even
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  Speaker 1: worse than that. We're Texans. We were our own country
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  Speaker 1: and came into this thing voluntarily, understanding.
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  Speaker 3: All the while, if we don't like it, we'll leave.
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  Speaker 1: And so here we are, a bunch of Americans, a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of Southerners, and a bunch of Texans talking about
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  Speaker 1: submission to authority. Our natural tendency will be to run
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  Speaker 1: headlong into the part of the text that has something
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  Speaker 1: to do with what the authorities are responsible for so
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  Speaker 1: that we can figure out when and where that natural
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  Speaker 1: tendency that we all have and love so much can
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  Speaker 1: be justified in its rebellion. To which I say today,
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  Speaker 1: not so fast. Not so fast. Understand the principles being
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  Speaker 1: taught here. First, we have to understand that God is
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  Speaker 1: the source of all human authority. God is the source
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  Speaker 1: of all human authority. Look at that first verse again.
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  Speaker 1: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities for
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  Speaker 1: there is no authority except from God and those that
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  Speaker 1: exist have been instituted by God. There is no authority
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  Speaker 1: except from God. And those that exist have been instituted
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  Speaker 1: by God. Now we want to run headlong and say,
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  Speaker 1: now wait a minute, wouldn't that only be authorities that
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  Speaker 1: meet certain requirements and qualifications?
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  Speaker 3: No.
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  Speaker 2: All authority, all authority.
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  Speaker 3: Comes from God and is established by God.
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  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 17 says, First of all, God is sovereign
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  Speaker 1: over human history and migration. He himself gives to all
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  Speaker 1: mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from
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  Speaker 1: one man every nation of mankind to live on all
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  Speaker 1: the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and
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  Speaker 1: the boundaries of their dwelling places.
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  Speaker 2: What are allotted periods and boundaries? Those are societies.
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  Speaker 3: Governments.
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  Speaker 1: So God in his sovereignty puts people groups in different
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  Speaker 1: places and establishes boundaries that separate them from other people groups. Folks,
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  Speaker 1: God's the one who makes countries. God does this by
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  Speaker 1: his sovereign hand. Secondly, God raises up kings and rulers
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  Speaker 1: for his purposes. All kings and all rulers are raised
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  Speaker 1: up by God and for his purposes. Exodus chapter 9
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  Speaker 1: and verse 16. Because there are those who argue all
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  Speaker 1: authority comes from God.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no. Only the good authorities and right authorities
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  Speaker 2: come from God.
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  Speaker 3: Really?
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  Speaker 1: Because Exodus chapter 9 verse 16. But for this purpose,
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  Speaker 1: I raised him, Pharaoh, up. to show you my power
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  Speaker 1: so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
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  Speaker 1: God says, I made Pharaoh king. Daniel chapter 2 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 21. He changes times and season. He removes kings.
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  Speaker 1: He sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise
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  Speaker 1: and knowledge to those who have understanding. That's in the
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  Speaker 1: context of what? Daniel chapter 2. Nebuchadnezzar says, I had
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  Speaker 1: a dream. Y'all need to interpret it for me. Well,
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  Speaker 1: tell us what it is, king. No, I'm not going
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  Speaker 1: to tell you what it is. You got to tell
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  Speaker 1: me what the dream was and interpret the dream. We
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  Speaker 1: can't do that. Nobody can do that. If you don't
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  Speaker 1: do it, I'm going to kill all y'all and start
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  Speaker 1: all over again. Daniel gets word. Why is everybody so upset?
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  Speaker 1: Because the king's going to kill all of us.
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  Speaker 3: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because he had a dream, and he wants us to
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  Speaker 1: tell him the dream and the interpretation, and nobody can
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  Speaker 1: do that.
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  Speaker 2: Daniel comes to the king.
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  Speaker 1: He pleads with the king for time, for God to
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  Speaker 1: reveal this, and God reveals it. And God reveals Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
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  Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar dreams about this statue made of different metals and elements.
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  Speaker 1: And basically, long story short, Daniel interprets the dream. And
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  Speaker 1: in interpreting the dream, Daniel tells the king what God
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  Speaker 1: is going to do in the geopolitical history of the world.
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  Speaker 1: Not the history, the future of the world. Babylonian empire
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  Speaker 1: is going to give way to the Medo-Persian empire.
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  Speaker 2: Why? Because God says so.
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  Speaker 3: They're going to give way to the Greeks and to
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  Speaker 3: the Romans. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Why are these things going to happen? Because God says so.
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  Speaker 1: Every kingdom, every empire, and every ruler that has ever been,
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  Speaker 1: they've existed because of God. Psalm 75, 6 and 7.
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  Speaker 1: For not from the east or from the west and
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  Speaker 1: not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is
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  Speaker 1: God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
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  Speaker 1: God also uses and directs kings whether they acknowledge him
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  Speaker 1: or oppose him. God uses and directs kings whether they
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge him or oppose him.
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  Speaker 3: Proverbs 21.1, the heart.
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  Speaker 1: The king's heart is a stream of water in the
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  Speaker 1: hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wills.
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  Speaker 1: You mean kings that are yielded to him?
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  Speaker 3: No. Kings that are kings. You know, not the kings
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  Speaker 3: that hate God.
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  Speaker 1: Certainly, certainly God doesn't override the will of kings that
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  Speaker 1: hate him. Really?
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  Speaker 2: Ask Nebuchadnezzar.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel comes to him in Daniel 4 and says, essentially, Nebuchadnezzar,
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  Speaker 1: you know, you've gotten too proud and God's going to
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  Speaker 1: humble you. For seven years, he's going to put you
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  Speaker 1: in a condition that thousands of years from now, men
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  Speaker 1: will call paranoid schizophrenia. That's what we would call it today.
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  Speaker 1: What happened to Nebuchadnezzar at God's hand in order to
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  Speaker 1: bring him to his knees. We would now refer to
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  Speaker 1: as paranoid schizophrenia. And God said beforehand, I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: do that. Not only am I going to do it,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to do it for seven years. That's how
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  Speaker 1: long I'm going to do it. Not only am I
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  Speaker 1: going to do it, and not only do I know
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  Speaker 1: exactly how long I'm going to do it, but it's
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  Speaker 1: going to end at the point when you praise me.
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  Speaker 3: The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and he would never
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  Speaker 3: force himself on it. Really?
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  Speaker 1: Wrong answer. God's not running for God, y'all. Isaiah 44,
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  Speaker 1: 28 through 45, 1. God says of Cyrus.
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  Speaker 3: Cyrus. Cyrus. not one of the wonderful godly kings of Israel.
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  Speaker 2: This is Cyrus.
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  Speaker 1: God says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and he
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  Speaker 1: shall fulfill all my purposes. Saying of Jerusalem, she shall
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  Speaker 1: be built and of the temple your foundation shall be laid.
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  Speaker 1: Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose
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  Speaker 1: right hand I have grasped Cyrus.
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  Speaker 3: Cyrus. Cyrus.
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  Speaker 1: The prophets frequently speak to pagan nations and God calls
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  Speaker 1: them into judgment. So I say again, God is the
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  Speaker 1: source of all human authority. Not all godly human authority,
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  Speaker 1: but all human authority.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to Paul again.
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  Speaker 1: Let everyone, every person be subject to the governing authorities
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  Speaker 1: for there is no authority except from God. And those
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  Speaker 1: that exist have been instituted by God. Secondly, submission to
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  Speaker 1: God is always by proxy. Submission to God is always
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  Speaker 1: by proxy. Okay?
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  Speaker 3: What do I mean by that?
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  Speaker 1: Well, there are those who want to believe that you
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  Speaker 1: can live the Christian life just sort of between you
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  Speaker 1: and the Lord and submit to Him and not to
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  Speaker 1: other human beings. But submission to God is always by proxy.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, one of the ways that God ensures
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  Speaker 1: this is the doctrine of revelation. Think about this for
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  Speaker 1: a moment. The way God has established things and revealed Himself,
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  Speaker 1: He has revealed Himself through in His Word, through individuals
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  Speaker 1: who were prophets or held other positions of authority and
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  Speaker 1: through His apostles. But we don't even have those officers now.
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  Speaker 1: What do we have? We have Christ, the final ultimate
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  Speaker 1: Word of God. And we have the final ultimate revelation
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  Speaker 1: of God in the Bible. We don't have continued revelation
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  Speaker 1: so that people don't sit there waiting for the next
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  Speaker 1: instruction from God in that way. We have God who
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  Speaker 1: has spoken, who has preserved his word.
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  Speaker 2: So how do we then submit to authority? Talked about
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  Speaker 2: this on last week.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, in the home, we submit to God's
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  Speaker 1: authority through our submission to our parents.
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  Speaker 2: By the way, this is all tied up in the
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  Speaker 2: fifth commandment.
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  Speaker 1: In our Sunday morning time and our Sunday school teaching time,
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  Speaker 1: we're not going through the Ten Commandments.
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  Speaker 2: We just started today.
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  Speaker 1: When we get to commandment number five, what we will
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  Speaker 1: realize is this submission to authority through human agency is
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  Speaker 1: really contained and expressed in the fifth commandment. And so
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  Speaker 1: the child's submission to his or her parents is the
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  Speaker 1: child's submission to God. In a church, submission to the
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  Speaker 1: authority of the church is submission to God. And in
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  Speaker 1: this state, Submission to the authority of the state is
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  Speaker 1: submission to God.
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  Speaker 2: We submit to.
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  Speaker 1: God by proxy through the human agencies that he has
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  Speaker 1: established and through those individuals that he has put in
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  Speaker 1: authority over us. That's how we submit to God. If
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  Speaker 1: we are not in submission to those in positions of
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  Speaker 1: authority that God has placed in our life, then we
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  Speaker 1: cannot say legitimately that we are submitting to God. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: failure to submit to human authority is rebellion against God Himself.
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  Speaker 1: Failure to submit to human authority is rebellion against God Himself.
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  Speaker 1: Look at verse 2. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists
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  Speaker 1: what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
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  Speaker 1: If you resist the human authority that God has placed
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  Speaker 1: in your life, you are resisting God.
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  Speaker 2: You are rebelling against God.
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  Speaker 1: Your rebellion against the authority that he has placed in
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  Speaker 1: your life is rebellion against him.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to this.
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  Speaker 3: In the home, children obey your parents. What's the next phrase?
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  Speaker 3: In the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: For this is right.
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  Speaker 3: Children obey your parents.
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  Speaker 1: In the Lord.
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  Speaker 3: In the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: For this is right.
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  Speaker 1: Children, if you are not obeying your parents, you are
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  Speaker 1: rebelling against God. Children, obey your parents in everything. Colossians 3.20.
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  Speaker 1: For this pleases the Lord. So the converse would also
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: be true. For you not to obey your parents would
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: be displeasing to the Lord.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Wives, Ephesians 5, 22 to 24. Wives, submit to your
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: the head of the wife, even as Christ is the
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: submit in everything to their husbands. So the wife who
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: is not submitting to the authority of her husband is
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: rebelling against God.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: Against God.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: In the church, obey your leaders and submit to them.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: For they are keeping watch over your souls as those
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: who will give an account to whom?
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: To God. To God.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Let them do this with joy and not with groaning.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: For that would be of no advantage to you. They're
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: looking over your souls. They're watching over your souls. And
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: in the state, here in Romans chapter 13, verses 1
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: and 2, it becomes clear that rebellion against the authority
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: that God has established is indeed rebellion against God himself.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: And again, we are quick to run and say, yes, but, yes, but, yes, but.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: We'll get to the yes, but, but not so fast.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: We got to get here first. What we want to
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: do is we want to run by this really quickly
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and go, yeah, yeah, I know it's there, but tell
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: me when I don't have to. Kids want that in
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the home. Wives want that in relation to husbands. Church
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: folks want that in relation to church authority. And we
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: all want that in relation to the state. But it's
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: interesting how that is tempered by degrees.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Isn't it? Let's look at it by degrees, shall we?
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: And so let's take the wife who looks at state
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: authority and, you know, just says instantly when she looks
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: at state authority, I want to know when it's no.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Or the husband who looks at state authority and says,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I want to know where the line is.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Because I want to know when I can rebel.
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: No.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Does he have the same level of patience with his
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: wife on her submission to him as he expects from
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: God on his submission to the state? If you can't
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: say amen, you ought to say ouch right here, okay?
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Or how about to his children when it comes to
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: their level of submission? And so if our children want
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: to immediately run to, when can I say no?
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: And wives and church.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Members, if they want to immediately run to when I
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: can say no, we say, no, no, no, no, no.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: You have to understand these principles of submission. But when
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: it comes to the state, our predisposition is Not just
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: start with when I can say no, but assume that
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: that is actually the most godly posture that I can have.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: I hold on to my no until you prove that
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: you're worthy of my yes. That's our attitude toward the state, folks.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: I hold on to my no until you prove you're
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: worthy of my yes. I am in rebellion to you
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Unless and until you show me that you agree with
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: me and therefore I ought to walk with you. That
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: is not the posture of the first two verses here
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: in Romans chapter 13. Our posture is one of submission,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: recognizing that all authority comes from God. And recognizing that
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: our submission to God always happens through human agency. And
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: recognizing that failure to submit to human authority is rebellion
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: against God. There's a beautiful picture of this in Acts
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: chapter 23. Acts chapter 23. This is very, very important.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Back up to Acts chapter 22, beginning at verse 30. Now,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: let's put this in context, shall we? We're reading about
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: the same author, the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul is
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: a Jew. He's a Benjamite, a Pharisee, okay? So, Benjamite, Pharisee, Jew. Now,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: he has come to faith in Christ. and has been
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: radically saved, changed, and transformed. He is a Christian. He's
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: writing here in Romans. We see what he believes about
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Judaism as it is practiced, okay? That's not what he's practicing.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: That's not what he's preaching. Keep that in mind here.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: Acts 22, 30.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: But on the next day, desiring to know the real
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: reason why he was being accused by the Jews. He
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: council to meet. And he brought Paul down and set
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: him before them. And looking intently at the council, Paul said, brothers,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: I have lived my life before God in all good
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: conscience up to this day. And the high priest said,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God is
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: going to strike you, you whitewashed wall, all you sitting
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: to judge me according to the law. And yet, contrary
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: to the law, you order me to be struck. Those
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: who stood by said, would you revile God's high priest?
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: And Paul said, he's not a legitimate authority. I'm not
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: under the authority of the high priest.
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: I'm a Christian.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: He doesn't have the gospel right, let alone the civil
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: law right. He's wrong on the civil law, having me
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: struck like this, and he's wrong on the gospel.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: Who is he?
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Not Paul's response. Verse 5.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: And Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: was the high priest, for it is written, Paul goes
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: to the law. You shall not speak evil of a
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: ruler of your people. Paul's response, I'm sorry.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry. because that is not a respectful posture toward
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: a man.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: In his position.
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: I did not know.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Had I known his position, I would not have spoken
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: that way. That's Paul, folks, before a Jewish high priest.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: That's what ought to characterize us. That's the kind of
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: humility and submission to authority that ought to characterize us.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Not sauntering in with a chest all out, looking eye
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: to eye and speaking like we are equal to authority, saying,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: who do you think you are and what statute do
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: you represent? Prove to me that you have the authority
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: to do this before I... No, that is not the
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Christian response. That's not our attitude toward government.
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: It's humble.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: It's respectful. And it's obedient. That's our attitude toward authority.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: And let me say this especially to men. Hear me,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: heads of households. Do you disdain and despise and disrespect
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: governmental authority and yet expect your wife and your children
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: to submit to yours?
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: You hypocrite.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: You pompous, self-centered hypocrite.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: Hypocrite fall on your face and repent.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Before almighty God and your wife and your children for
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: having that kind of attitude toward the authority that God
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: has placed in your life while expecting all of them
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: to bow down and obey you without a word.
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: Shame on you shame on me.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Because this is our disposition when it comes to the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: state This is our posture when it comes to the state. Four,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: submission is always unconditional but limited. Now we can talk
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: about the but. Now that we've been rebuked almost sufficiently,
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: now we can talk about the but. Because you cannot
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: talk about the but unless you understand our disposition. Because even,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: even if we have to respond to authority in a
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: manner contrary to that which they desire, there is an
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: attitude of submission even in that.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: What do I mean by unconditional?
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Well, we do not wait for authorities to be worthy
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: of our submission.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: It's unconditional.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: We do not wait for authorities to be worthy of
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: our submission. The man who says, or the wife who says,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: or the son who says, or the daughter who says,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: I will submit to that authority when it demonstrates itself
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: to be worthy of my submission has just said I'm
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: never going to submit.
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: Because there is no human authority that's worthy of your submission.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: There never has been and there never will be. The
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: wife who says.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: I'll submit to my husband when he shows me that
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: he's worthy of my submission.
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: She's a liar.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: She's a hypocrite.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Or she is severely, severely wrong in her understanding of
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: the doctrine of man. Not just males, but man in general.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: There's only been one man who's ever walked this earth, wife,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: who's been worthy of your submission. And do you know
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: what the Bible says? Your submission to your husband is
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: your way of acknowledging the fact that he is worthy
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: of your submission. And if you're not submitting to your husband,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: you're not acknowledging the fact that Christ is worthy of
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: your submission. I'll submit to the state and I'll have
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: a posture of submission to the state when they demonstrate
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: that they are doing what the second part of this
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: passage says that they're supposed to do.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: They're
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: not worthy of your submission.
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: Your submission is unconditional. But it's limited. Limited. What do
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: I mean by that?
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: We cannot submit to authorities that require what God forbids
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: or forbid what God requires. We can't do that. We're
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: not allowed to do that. Because all authority comes from God. Ultimately,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: we have to do what God commands. And we have
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: to shun what God forbids. That's where the line is.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: So the question is, if we understand that our obligation
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: and responsibility is to be in submission to authority, but
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: we also understand that that submission, though unconditional, has to
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: be limited. It has to be limited. We understand where
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: and how to draw the line. They can't command what
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: God forbids or forbid what God commands. But how do
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: we respond? once we get there. Listen to this from
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Tom Schreiner. This text is misunderstood if it is taken
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: out of context and used as an absolute word so
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: that Christians uncritically comply with the state no matter what
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: is being demanded. What we have here is a general
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: exhortation that delineates what is usually the case. People should
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: normally obey ruling authorities. The text is not intended as
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: a full-blown treatise on the relationship of believers to the state.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: It is a general exhortation setting forth the typical obligation.
• 40:05
  Speaker 3: That one has to civil authorities. So what do we do?
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: When we reach that line.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: If God's the source of all human authority, and if
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: our submission to God is always by proxy, and if
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: rebellion against authority is rebellion against God, what do I
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: do when I come to a place where that authority
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: is commanding something of me that God forbids? or forbidding
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: of me something that God commands. Here's what we do.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Two categories. There's passive responses and active responses. Number one,
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: passive responses. Passive responses to ungodly exercises of authority. Number one, pray.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Pray for the authority. First Timothy 2, 1 and 2.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: all who are in high positions, that we may lead
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: Pray.
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: That's why we do this when we gather together as
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: a body. We pray.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: We pray. for those whom God has placed in positions
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: of authority.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: We pray. We pray.
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: Why? Because the king's heart is the hand of the Lord.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: Amen? And so we go to God on their behalf.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: And we ask God that by his mercy, their heart
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: would be changed or stopped.
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: We pray. We pray.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: Secondly, we model for authority. The picture of this is
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: seen in 1 Peter 3. Listen to what Paul says
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: to wives. Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands,
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: so that even if some do not obey the word,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: they may be won without a word by the conduct
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: I don't believe it's illegitimate at all for us to
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: extrapolate that to the way that we, as followers of
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ, respond in the presence of authority,
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: the way that we respect authority and honor authority. Not
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: only do we have these passive responses, but there are
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: active responses. And they increase in levels of intensity. The
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: first is to appeal to the authority. Appeal to the authority.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: This is done respectfully and in accordance with the means
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: that have been provided by that authority. respectfully and in
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: accordance with the means that are provided by that authority.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: We see this in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: Moses before Pharaoh, he goes to Pharaoh and he appeals
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: that Pharaoh would let God's people go. This is an
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: appeal to the authority. Daniel before the steward concerning the food.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Daniel doesn't stand up to the steward and say, I
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: ain't eating that. He stands up and he makes an appeal. Please,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: we don't want to defile ourselves. Can we work something
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: else out? Can we try something? It's an appeal to authority.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: The widow and the unjust judge. Jesus gives that one
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: to us in a parable. This woman goes back again
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: and again and again and again, appealing to the judge
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: over and over and over again, making her appeal, making
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: her plea, as it were, Paul before Felix, in Acts
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: chapter 24, he makes his appeal to Felix. We make
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: an appeal. That's where we start, brothers and sisters. We
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: start with appealing to authority. We don't start with just
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: out and out rebellion against authority. We start with appealing
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: to authority. And we use legitimate channels to appeal to authority.
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: By the way, Our founders understood this. That's why it
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: is listed even in the Bill of Rights. We think
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: about the First Amendment and we always talk about one
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: aspect of the First Amendment. And that's the religious freedom
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: clauses in the First Amendment. But also the right to
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: petition our government. Praise God for that.
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: That's biblical. That's biblical. It's biblical.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Appeal to authority. How many times do you and I
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: just run straight to, you know, let's get the guns
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: and set up our cannon with our, you know, come
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: and take it flag over the top of it.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: Without ever making an appeal. Pleading.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: That's where we start. We appeal to authority. Secondly, we
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: confront authority. We confront authority. This has moved to another
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: level here. We confront authority. Sometimes it is required of
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: us that we confront authority. Again, authority who's doing what?
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: Authority who's doing something that.
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: We don't like.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: No, authority who's requiring what God forbids or forbidding what
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: God requires. We confront the authority. Nathan confronts King David.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: You are the man. That was a confrontation. By the way,
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: it was respectful. Even the confrontation was respectful.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: And submissive.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Daniel and Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5, there's handwriting on
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: the wall. Here's what God says, king. This is what
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: God is going to do because of your rebellious heart.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: That was a confrontation of authority. By the way, in Daniel,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: we see all of the different levels, basically. But there's
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: the confrontation of authority. John before Herod in Mark 16,
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: 14 to 20. John confronts Herod directly with the word
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: of God.
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: What you're doing is wrong. It's immoral.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: It's sinful. It's a confrontation of authority. By the way,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: John does this before Herod.
• 47:43
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: Because God has put him in... Nathan.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: Before David, Daniel, before Belshazzar, John, before Herod. What has
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: happened here? Nathan, God has put him in a position
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: that allowed him to confront authority. So he confronted Daniel
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: before Belshazzar. The queen mother remembers Daniel. He's brought in.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: God's handwriting is on the wall. God has given him
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to confront authority so he confronts the authority.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: John before Herod. Herod kind of liked him. It's the
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: favor of God. Gave him an opportunity to confront authority. Paul,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: before his flogging in Acts 22, he appeals to his.
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: Citizenship in Rome.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: And he confronts the man who's about to flog him
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: because the man is about to break the law. And
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: so he confronts the authority. They're There is a time
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: to do that. There is a time to confront authority.
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: The most common response is to appeal to authority. But
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: there are times when you are put in a position to,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: in a very direct way, confront authority. And sometimes these
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: two can be combined. Finally, We may have to defy authority.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: We may have to defy authority. Hey, Hebrew midwife, listen.
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh wants the boy Hebrew babies dead. So when the
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: Hebrew women are giving birth, if it is a boy,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: you kill that boy.
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: If it is a girl, you let her live.
• 49:46
  Speaker 3: No. No.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Sometimes we must defy authority. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah and
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: the golden image. Again, we know them as Shadrach, Meshach,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: and Abednego. I think that's terrible that that's how we
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: know them. Those are the names that were given to
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: defile them. And yet when we talk about them, that's
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: what we call them. Their names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: They answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: have no need to answer you in this matter. If
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: this be so, our God whom we serve is able
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: if not, be it known to you, O king, that
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: we will not serve your gods or worship the golden
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: image that you have set up. We will not. With
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: all due respect. Jesus consistently confronted authority. He's sort of
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: categorically different than us, so we quickly move on to
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: Peter and John in Acts chapter 4. Stop preaching and
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: teaching in this name.
• 51:23
  Speaker 3: You know what?
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: Whether it is right to obey men rather than God,
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: you be the judge. But we cannot stop speaking about
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: what we've seen and what we've heard. Then again, in
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 5, they're preaching publicly. Acts chapter 4, stop
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: preaching in the name of Jesus.
• 51:45
  Speaker 3: No.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 5, they get arrested for preaching in the
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: name of Jesus. An angel gets them out of jail,
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: and they go to the most public place they can
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: find and do what?
• 51:58
  Speaker 3: Preach.
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: There is a time to defy ungodly authority. Another response,
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: sometimes we flee from ungodly authority. How many times in
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: the book of Acts, by the way, everywhere that Paul went,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: there was a revival, a riot, or both, okay?
• 52:32
  Speaker 2: Everywhere that he goes.
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: And oftentimes, how does Paul make the determination to that
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: the Spirit is now saying, I need to go preach
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: in another place. He gets run out of town by
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: the authorities.
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: And he flees.
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: And he flees. Sometimes that's what we're called to do.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: The Apostle Peter, when he writes his epistle, he writes
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: his epistle to the diaspora, to those who have been
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: spread abroad.
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: Because of persecution.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: Now let me hasten to say this as I close.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: If and when we come to this last stage, we
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: still do it in submission to authority, which means we
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: must be ready to receive with gladness and humility whatever consequence.
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: Is required.
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: When Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah confront the king they readily
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: get thrown into the fiery furnace Daniel readily gets thrown
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: into the lion's den the apostles readily receive their beating
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: for preaching the gospel See, we don't have a right
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: view of this. And one of the reasons that we
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: Americans in the South and in Texas always want to
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: run to the point where we shake our fist in
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: the face of authority is because we have the privilege
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: of living in a unique place where we can do
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: that with impunity. But in most of church history and
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: in most of the world, when you do that, it
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: is the last resort and you know that you are
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: going to pay the price.
• 54:49
  Speaker 3: But what price? There's a couple of things.
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: That can happen.
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: One thing that can happen is deliverance. You appeal to
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: authority and God delivers you. You confront authority and God
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: delivers you. You defy authority and God delivers you. That
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: can happen, but not usually. There can be a transformation
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: or change of authority. That can happen.
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: That can happen. Or you can lose your liberty and
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: your property. The Apostle Paul is our example of that.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: He's what you would call a repeat offender. He was
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: terrible for the recidivism rate. in the Roman Empire.
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: He went to jail again and again and again.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: He lost his liberty and he lost his possessions because
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: he appealed to, confronted, and often defied authority. See, we've
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: got an arrogant, pompous attitude toward defying authority because generally
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: this doesn't happen. You go out on the streets and
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: you say something, you put a video up on YouTube
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: and nothing's going to happen. That's not most of our
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: brothers and sisters in the world. Most of them, when
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: they do this, they lose their liberty and they lose
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: their possessions. So don't think lightly about this. And when
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: they lose their liberty and they lose their possessions, they
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: do it with humility and obedience to the authority, trusting
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: that God will judge those who are doing wrong.
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: The other possibility is that you lose your life.
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: You appeal to authority, you confront authority, you defy authority,
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: and they kill you for it. And generally, that's one
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: that we don't think of, but newsflash, That's one that happens.
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: All over the world today.
• 57:19
  Speaker 3: So watch yourself.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: Watch yourself when you have a flippant attitude toward defying
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: authority here in America and think you're being such the big,
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: powerful Christian. Because nothing's going to happen to you. But
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: your brothers and sisters in other parts of the world
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: are being imprisoned and beaten and killed right now, today.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: for going to worship in defiance of authority. In Muslims countries,
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: for converting to Christianity and being baptized.
• 57:55
  Speaker 2: They get beheaded. So it's convenient for us to.
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: Have this sort of flippant attitude toward defying authority because
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: we don't like something. But watch yourself with that attitude.
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: Because your brothers and sisters are losing their lives. Remember
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: when this is written. And remember what happens shortly thereafter.
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: James the Great, the son of Zebedee, elder brother of
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: John and relative of our Lord, was beheaded in AD 44.
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: Philip labored diligently in Upper Asia, suffered martyrdom at Heliopolis
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: and Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: crucified in A.D. 54. Matthew, whose gospel we love, was
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: slain with a halberd in the city of Nadaba in
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: Ethiopia in A.D.
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: 66.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: James the Less, the brother of our Lord, at the
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: age of 94, He was beaten, stoned by the Jews,
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: and finally had his brains bashed out with a fuller's club. Matthias,
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: the replacement for Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: then beheaded. Andrew, the brother of Peter, on his arrival
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: at Edessa said, he was taken and crucified on a cross,
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground,
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: hence the derivation of the term St. Andrew's Cross. Mark
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria. Peter
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: was condemned to death and crucified, his head being down,
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: his feet being upward, himself so requiring because he was,
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: he said, unworthy to be crucified after the same manner
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: as his Lord Jesus. Jude, the brother of James, commonly
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: called Thaddeus, he was crucified at Edessa in AD 72. Bartholomew,
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: he was at length cruelly beaten, then crucified by impatient idolaters. Thomas,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: called Didymus, preached the gospel in Parthia in India, where
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: exciting the rage of pagan priests, he was martyred by
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: being thrust through with a spear. Luke, the traveling companion
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: of Paul, through various countries, supposed to have been hanged
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: on an olive tree by the idolatrous priest of Greece. Simon,
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: the zealot, preached the gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: in Britain. In this latter country, he was crucified. And Paul,
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: who wrote us Romans 13, suffered in the first persecution
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: under Nero, where he gave his neck to the sword.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 3: How dare we be arrogant about defiling human authority when
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 3: this is the tradition in which we stand. when this
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 3: is the legacy that is ours. When you appeal to authority,
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 3: do so with the kind of humility that recognizes this truth.
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 3: When and if you ever have to confront authority, do
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 3: so with the humility that comes from recognizing this truth.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 3: And if you ever have to defy authority, do so
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 3: with the kind of humility and reverence that recognizes.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: That throughout the history of our world and the history
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: of our faith, your brothers and your sisters in Christ
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: have sealed such action.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 2: In their own blood.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: We must not take this lightly. God is the source
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: of all human authority. Our submission to God is always,
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: always given through human authority, by proxy. Rebellion against human authority, therefore,
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: is rebellion against God. Our submission is unconditional yet limited.
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: We can in no wise obey those who command what
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: God forbids and forbid what God commands. But even as
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: we decline to obey, we do so in reverence, humility,
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: and fear. Appealing to authority. Confronting authority in those rare
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: occasions where we have the opportunity and the obligation to
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: do so. Defying authority when these things happen in a
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: moment in time where there is no other alternative. All
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: the while recognizing that we will even have to humble
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: ourselves should it cost us our liberty, our property, or
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: our lives. Because remember, even our Lord, Master, and Savior,
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, the spotless, sinless, perfect Lamb of God, humbled himself.
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: Before authority. Close with this. Open with me, if you will,
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 2: to Philippians. Chapter 2, verse 5.
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who,
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: though he was in the form of God, did not
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: born in the likeness of men, being found in human form,
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death,
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: even death on the cross.
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 3: Here's the good news. It's not the end of the story.
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: the name that is above every name, so that at
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: God the Father. If you ever, ever have to defy
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: authority and suffer because of it, what is your goal?
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: That even in doing so, God might be glorified. Our
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: goal is not that we won't be messed with.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 2: Our goal is that God will be honored.
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 3: Let's pray.