To Obey or Not?

SERMON: 2010-10-02--ac1052--to-obey-or-not-part-1 SOURCE DURATION: 00:37:23.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.98 APPROVED: false REASON: The sermon content concludes with the prayer/benediction in candidate [15] ('Amen.'). Candidate [16] marks a clear transition into musical or hymn material (worship song), indicating the end of the spoken sermon. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:34:32.480-00:37:22.360 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- The relationship between a Christian believer and authority figures is very often, I think, a tricky business. I say that because on the one hand, of course, the Scriptures are filled with admonitions for believers to submit to authority figures. Make of the fifth commandment, honor your father and your mother; the admonition, wives, submit to your husbands, always produces great conversation; the admonition to Christian believers to submit to your leaders in the Lord and obey them; the admonition to citizens of a country, submit yourselves to the governing authorities, slaves be obedient to your masters and on and on it goes. So on the one hand, you have that strong emphasis on obedience and submission, but on the other hand, you have some very clear-cut examples in Scripture of what we would call civil disobedience. And of course, one of the classic examples of that is found in this passage that we've just read together, Acts chapter 4, particularly verse 19, where in the context of having been commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, John and Peter respond with these words, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Raises all kinds of questions then, doesn't it? When do you obey? When do you not obey? And while for many of us this is a fairly academic question because we live in a society where there is so much freedom, where we pretty much do what we want to do anyway, that's not true in every culture. And it certainly is not true in any culture if you have a believer who is seriously intent on living according to Scripture. And so let me begin this morning by giving you two very practical, real-life illustrations of how complex this issue might be. And both of these illustrations come from my recent trip to China. The picture that you see here is of a young woman whose name is Annabel. She was translator for me in the city of Wenzhou. She translated all day Saturday when I did a seminar together with Wiba for 60 or 70 Sunday school teachers in this particular church. Now Annabel is 28 years old. Her father is a pastor. And her father quite understandably in that culture is concerned that she's not married. In fact, he really wants her to get married because he wants to have a grandchild to carry on the family name. And he is putting a lot of pressure on her to get married. In fact, he's got a young man all picked out for her. Now the problem is she not only doesn't like the young man, but she's not particularly interested in getting married. Because you see, her sight is set on going what they call abroad to California to a Christian institution where she wants to receive training in order to go back home and become a professor in a theological seminary. And so there is huge conflict between her and her father about which way is her life going to go. She's still living at home. She has already deferred her studies for a year in the hopes of winning her father over. He is not willing to yield. And he is encouraged by the pressure that comes out of his congregation saying how come your daughter is not married yet. So at the end of our seminar on Saturday, she comes to me with this story. And she says, what should I do? And I go, duh. Let me take a little vote here. How many of you think that she should just defy her father, perhaps irreparably damage her relationship, and do what she thinks she ought to be doing? Give me a show of hands. Oh, you are western in your thinking. How many of you think that she should submit to her father's authority and trust that the Lord will take care of her career? You're much more culturally based than you are biblically based, I think. But I'll talk more about that a little bit later. So that's one example. Very practical issue that I was confronted with. Second example. This couple, his name is Simon. Her name is Ashley. Our wonderful young couple, if I remember correctly, met them in the inland city of Wuhan. Simon has studied law. But Simon's heart is not in being a lawyer. Simon wants to be a pastor. In fact, he did an internship in a church, thoroughly enjoyed it, really feels God's call on his life. Problem is Simon also still lives at home and Simon's parents are strongly opposed to his chosen course of action. And one of the reasons for that is that his father is not a believer. In fact, is anti-faith. And the reason for that is that his father, who then would be Simon's grandfather during the Cultural Revolution, was really, really hurt by the goings on in that country. And so his son growing up saw all of that and rejected faith. And he wants his son to get a career that can get him someplace in Chinese culture, not just being a pastoral worker. Now initially Simon's mother supported his efforts to pastor, because she is a believer and she was strongly in his camp. But the father has made life so miserable that she's bowed to his demands. And now both of them are saying, we do not want you to pursue that course of action. We want you to pursue your education, get a career, and make a living for yourself, for your wife, and hopefully eventually for us. So again, how many of you think he should just defy his parental authority? Remember, before you vote, remember he is financially still dependent on his parents. So that makes a difference. How many of you think he should just defy his parents and do what he wants to do? Show of hands. And again, how many of you think that he should honor his parents in this regard and trust the Lord that if the Lord wants him to be a pastor, God will make it happen? Show of hands. About the same as last time, at least you're consistent in your voting today. In the time that remains, let me give you four spiritual principles that we need to be keenly aware of to apply to these kind of situations, because it's very easy to come at it with a view of our own culture. It's very easy to come at this with a view of our own experience and our own histories, and it's very easy to try to be very black and white. But you can never write enough rules to cover all the contingencies, and Scripture teaches us we must understand what the principles are so that the principles can be applied in any given situation, and we can learn how to live in a way that truly honors God and eventually leads to healthy life and to healthy relationships. So first of all then, principle number one, let me try to walk you through these as quickly as I can. All authority derives from God. Psalm 47 verse 8, "God reigns over the nations. God is seated on His holy throne." Psalm 96 verse 10, "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established. It cannot be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.'" And as you fully know, the biblical teaching of reality is very simple. God is the creator of all. He is at the center of the universe. You've seen this many times. He is self-existent. Everything that exists comes from God. God wants us to honor Him, and God wants us to obey Him. Over here in the world, we don't trust God to look after us. We believe the lie that we can only look after ourselves, and so self stands at the center, and we do what we want to do when we want to do it. The result is chaos in the world, and the message of Scripture from one end to the other is that God in Christ moves us from here to here. And when the curtain falls in history, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. And you don't just become a Christian, because you say, "Well, I'm a poor sinner, and I hope one day I'm going to go to heaven." No. Repentance is admitting I was wrong when I was living in the world over there. I was wrong in living in defiance of authority, and I am now submitting myself to God's authority, because God's authority is good. Don't ever believe the lie that grace nullifies obedience, because Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, and Christ in you the hope of glory. All authority derives from God, and before history ends, or when history ends, God's eternal kingdom will be God's eternal kingdom, because everybody will be living God's way. See, God has this thing. He says, "I made you. I own you. Not only that, I redeemed you. I know you better than you know yourself. And so I have the right to tell you how to live." And if that strikes an offensive chord in you, then you've got to wrestle that out with God, because it means there's a place in your heart that says, "God, I don't believe that you're good. I don't trust your authority. I believe the lie that I can be better off doing things my own way." That's what Adam and Eve did, and that's where all this mess came from to begin with. So all authority derives from God, but the second principle is that God delegates authority. And if you're familiar with Scripture, then you will know that the classic passage on that is Romans chapter 13, verse 1 says, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established, and the authorities that exist have been established by God." Now if you read that in the context, it deals with governmental authority. But governmental authority is but one of the authorities that God establishes in the world. There are many authorities that God places us under, and so children are under the authority of their parents. Students are under the authority of their teachers. You would never believe that in this day and age in some classrooms, but that's the way it's supposed to be. Wives, according to Scripture, are under the authority of their husbands. Believers are under the spiritual authority of those who are over them in the Lord. And of course, all of us are under the authority of government officials. And their job is to represent God in this field of authority, to not only guide, lead, and direct us, but to punish wrong and to reward good, so that sin does not get carried away, chaos doesn't reign, but societal order is maintained. And this is true even if authority figures are not necessarily Christian. For listen how Paul goes on in Romans chapter 13 in the second verse of that chapter. "Consequently, in light of what I've just said," he says, "he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Think about that next time you cuss under your breath at the policeman who pulls you over. Think about that next time when you have an issue with your boss, or when you are railing away at some elected government official, or let me just add, when you're having roast preacher for dinner. Remember that whoever is over you in the Lord is God's agent to exercise God's sense of justice. Not to make your life miserable, which is the way we tend to think of governmental authority, but in order to guide us along the way. The next verse, verse 4, emphasizes the same thing again. "He is God's servant to do you good, but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath, to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." And that's again in the context of governmental authority, and that's always sort of the negative view of authority that we have, which is why it is so natural to rebel against it, and we can think of all kinds of reasons why we don't have to listen to somebody, and we'll talk a little bit about that later on. But let's cast authority in the positive light in which Scripture places it. Why do you think the Lord places children under the authority of their parents? Well, I can tell you it's a very simple answer. Parents have lived longer. Parents know right from wrong better. They know danger from safety better. And if this child had to figure out by trial and error what worked and what did not work, that child would be dead long before they reached the age of three. If my child or grandchild had to learn by trial and error that roads are dangerous, cars run over you, they kill you, they could be seriously injured or destroyed long before they had the sensitivity and the sensibility to figure out where the danger lies. Why do so many parents have hassles with their teenagers? Because the teenagers think sometimes they know everything better than their parents. It's like there's never been a generation that has been as wise as our present generation. They forget their parents had a life too. As one of the fathers around here told me just the other day, he's been trying to teach his kids not to make the same kind of mistakes that he made, and one of his kids turns around and says to him, "Dad, I want to make my own mistakes. Thank you very much." And that may sound like wisdom, but if you don't fence that in carefully, we all know, don't we, it's a lot easier to mess up your life than it is to find your way back out of trouble. To extend the analogy even further, when you're new on a job, who shows you around, who teaches you the ropes? Well, it's somebody that's been there longer. And they tell you, "Do this. Don't do that. This is your responsibility. This is not your responsibility." Not because somehow they're superior to you, not because they have some kind of power over you, but because they're there first. And it's because they're there first. It is their obligation to use their superior knowledge and insight not to feel good so they can wash you around, but to be your servant. And all through Scripture, that is the view of authority. If I have to draw on my authority to make you do what I want you to do, I've already lost the battle. Because you cannot demand obedience in those places. It has to be freely given, and it has to be freely given because we recognize here are people who love us. Here are people who have experience in a place where I don't have any experience yet. And rather than me having to learn simply by trial and error in dangerous places, I will take their word for it. That's how God views authority in Scripture. When God says to Adam and Eve, "Don't eat from this tree because it's going to kill you," it's not because God is trying to take something from them which is always the devil's implication, has God said, "You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden," as in God is a meanie and He doesn't want you to have a good life. No, no. God says, "I happen to plant this garden. I know what it's like. That tree is going to kill you. Don't touch it." And part of the grace that we need in our lives as God transforms us through faith in Jesus is that our understanding of authority has to change. It's not something that is trying to rob from me, even as we'll see in a moment when it's not perfect, but it's God's provision so that I can grow up in safety and in health. And you've heard me say this before, if you ever doubt how important this is, you look at any of the nations around the world where law and order goes out the window. You saw the video clip earlier from Bosnia. You remember that war. You remember the chaos in the Middle East and in other places all around the world. That's what happens when authority breaks down and lawlessness begins to reign. You show me any household where father and mother are not firmly in control, where the kids run the show, and I'll show you a household I don't want to be a part of. Because the strong will take advantage of the weak. The loud will take advantage of the quiet. The rich will take advantage of the poor. And the one with the biggest gun ends up winning at the end of the day. Do you understand what I'm saying? This is no minor matter, and if you've never hassled this out before God, you will find how rebellious the human heart is outside of the grace of God in Christ when it comes to the particulars of submitting to authority. So, all authority derives from God. Number two, God delegates authority, and that of course brings us to the obvious lesson according to Scripture, we are to submit to delegated authority. Romans 13 goes on to say in verse 5, "Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience." I love the way Paul phrases that. He says you don't do what your parents don't want you to do, you're going to get a walloping on your bottom. So that ought to be enough motivation to make you do what they want you to do. But he says more than that, your relationship with God is going to suffer because in demonstrating this attitude of rebellion against your parents, against your boss, against your government, against Lord knows whoever else, you're sinning against God because you're buying into the principle of rebellion which is straight from hell and you're violating God's scriptural norms. And so throughout Scripture, there is this incredible emphasis on submission and on obedience to authority figures. Let me just read you a couple of those passages very quickly. And again, those are issues we need to struggle with if we're going to be kingdom people, people who trust in God and who obey Him. 1 Peter chapter 2, 13 and 14, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men, whether to the king as the supreme authority or to governors who were sent by Him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." The Apostle Paul Colossians 3 verse 20, "Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord." And then Hebrews 13, 17, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." And again, here's the logic. All authority derives from God. God delegates authority, and God says to you and to me, wherever there is legitimate authority that God has established, you need to have an attitude of submission, and if possible, an attitude of obedience. Here's how the Heidelberg Catechism puts it in Lord's Day 39. The question is, what is God's will for me in the fifth commandment? And the fifth commandment is honor your father and your mother. Now listen to the answer. Maybe we can just read this out loud together. Would you join me in this? That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me. That I obey and submit to them as is proper. And they correct and punish me. And also that I be patient with their failings, for through them God chooses to rule us. Allow me to quickly point out two things there that are of significance. And the first is that there is a difference between obeying and submitting. Notice that line that I obey and submit to them. Now to obey is to do what you're told. If I tell my child, make your bed, do your homework, that's a command that needs to be obeyed. I agree to do what I am told. Submission is an inner attitude that says, you have the right to tell me what to do and how to do it. Because you're my parents, I live under your roof, you're putting bread on the table, you love me, and so I acknowledge your authority over my life. Now please understand this. I may submit without being able to obey. And I may obey without actually submitting. You get the difference? If you tell me what to do and you're powerful enough to make me do it, I may have no choice but to obey you. But as the little kid said, who was standing up in the high chair when his parents were trying to make him sit down, eventually he sat down, but he said, "Inside I'm still standing up." How many people do you know who grudgingly will do what they've been told to do, but inside they're still standing up? But then on the other hand, there are those who cannot obey, and we'll talk about that in a moment, but who inside still have an attitude of submission. That is to say, "Yes, you have the right to tell me what to do, but because of a conflict of loyalties," and we'll talk about that in a minute, "I cannot do what you're asking me to do." Christians, even when they cannot obey, must always have an attitude of submission. And let that sink deeply into our souls, because I'll tell you something. I know my own heart well enough, and I've been around the church long enough to know that it's not until the will of God crosses your will or my will that we discover what is the stuff that we're made of on the inside. And don't you ever think that you know what submission looks like in a healthy, biblical fashion unless the grace of Jesus has cut you to the core and you understand that God is bigger than everybody and you can be safe in the knowledge of His care. Amen? That's how it works. So that's one thing I want you to notice in that particular passage. Obedience and submission are two sides of one coin, but very closely related to that is that authority figures need to be obeyed and submitted to even when they're not perfect. And also that I be patient with their failings. There is no doubt in my mind that none of us would have an issue with authority, at least not that we would ever admit to, if we thought authority figures were perfect. If a teenage daughter knew that her parents never made any mistake that their wisdom was vastly superior to their wisdom, she would have no problem saying, "Dad and mom, I agree with your wisdom. The boy that I'm dating is a loser. I will not go with him." Amen? How many of you have teenage daughters who think you're that wise? And there's no doubt in my mind if a wife knew that her husband loved her with the devotion of Christ and wanted nothing but the best for her, that he was always right, and I mean you'd wash the guy's feet, wouldn't you? I mean, where do you find a guy like that? And on and on we could go that way. But you know just as well as I do that the big issue in this area for all of us is that we're all too keenly aware of the flaws of those who are in authority over us. We know the mistakes and the problems of the police. We know the flaws of our parents. We know the flaws of our teachers. We know the flaws of our husbands. We may even know the flaws of our pastors and elders and oh Lord forbid. And so what happens in your mind and in my mind? We write it all off and we justify our rebellion. Isn't that true? We set ourselves up as judges and we say, "Well, I can do what I want to do when I want to do it." And it's a very dangerous path to tread because it's a hop, skip and a jump from being able to say, "I can't do this because this is what God is calling me to do," to giving in to full rebellion that says at the end of the day, "I won't trust anybody. I don't think anybody has my best interests at heart. I don't think anybody knows better than what I do. I am as William Ernest Henley said many years ago in the poem Invictus, "I am the captain of my own soul and the master of my own destiny." And the scriptures say we are to submit and to obey those who God places over us in the Lord. And if that is too hard and too difficult as surely it will be, then we better cry out to God and we better cry out to Jesus and we better say, "Jesus, you work in me and make the transformation inside me that has to take place." And as some of you are saying, "Well, what about when they're wrong? What about when I feel badly treated? What about Annabelle? What about Simon?" Well, let's pick that up next week and see what the biblical answer is to those kind of situations. In the meantime, give your own heart a check and ask yourself, "What's my attitude to those who are over me in the Lord?" First of all, have I ever bent my knees before God's authority? Because I'll tell you something, if you haven't bent your knees before God's authority, there is no way on earth that you will ever truly bend your knee before a human authority. You will always keep a reservation behind that says, "I'll agree with you as long as I agree with you, but I reserve the right to run my own life whenever it pleases me." Isn't that true? Ask yourself the question, "Have you ever truly bent the knee before Jesus?" I'm not asking, "Do you go to church?" I'm not asking, "Do you believe in Jesus?" No, no. I'm asking, "Have you bent the knee? Have you hassled this out?" And when you read Scripture and you find in Scripture things you don't like, do you have all kinds of mental gymnastics that are taking place to say, "Well, this doesn't apply to me?" Do you only read the parts in Scripture that you like or that make you feel good? What about those places that make you feel miserable? When you come to church, is it a good sermon because it reinforces something you already believe and makes you feel good? Or is it a good sermon even if it cuts you to the quick and it lays bare the rebellion in your own heart? That's the real test. And then take it another step. Look at all the authority figures that are in your life. What's your reaction when you see a policeman? What's your reaction when he pulls you over? What's your attitude towards the government? When the mayor is mired in a potential scandal because of what you read about in the papers a while ago, how do you respond? Do you like to find glee in that? Take it a step further. When somebody files a lawsuit against the church, regardless of what all the issues are or not, what does that do to you on the inside? And when, as last week, we announced that it was lifted, what does that do to you on the inside? Give your heart a check and say, "Lord, help me live in this way, in this area, in a way that honors you." Because when all has been said and done, people, every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess that Jesus is Lord. And when the kingdom comes, it is Jesus who sits on the throne and he will entrust his authority eternally to those whom he has chosen to rule over his new creation. And I pray that by God's grace and power and majesty, you and I may be privileged to be a part of that. Amen. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:34:32.480; remove through 00:37:23.000] It has always been you. You have always been. Kingdoms rise and fall. Yours will never end. It has always been you. Before the world began, you chose us as your own. And before you, now we stand. We honor you, esteem you. We place you at the center. In all of life, we honor you. It has always been you. It has always been you. And it's you here and now we adore. We honor you, esteem you. We place you at the center. In all of life, we defy you. We honor you, esteem you. It has always been you. It has always been you. And it's you here and now we adore. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:37:23.000; resume after this marked segment]