I'm thankful this morning for all of you!
It's so good to see each one of you today..
Today, we're continuing the message series "Understanding The Authority Of God"
Shall we pray first?
Heavenly Father,
You spoke the world and all it's creation into existence.
You speak new life into the lives of your children, to give us the light of the knowledge of Your glory in Christ. Give us the grace and understanding this morning, to receive your Word and rejoice in it! Convict us of our sins and remind us of Christ’s sufficiency so that those who are in sin would be converted, the weak will be strengthened, the hopeless will find new Hope in You and the body Christ built up, all for Your glory!
In Jesus' precious name
We ask and pray
Amen
"But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Galatians 3:22-29
What an interesting picture we have here, is it not?
The law was our tutor...
Tutor:
a person charged with the instruction and guidance of another
Middle English tutour, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin tutor, from tueri
paedagogus - Greek: Παιδαγωγός, "Pedagogue" is the second in the great trilogy of Clement of Alexandria.
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Church, let me just say..
WE WILL NEVER REST UNTIL WE LEARN!
And you can not learn fully about this New Testament Jesus without studying HIS Old Testament truths!
But my fellow pastors, we know this! Don't we?
For we do not pray in repletion but we learn by repetition.
(Repletion is a condition of being completely full of something)
Let’s go way back to the beginning, shall we?
"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
Genesis 3:1-6
Now Pay Attention to This!
"For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."
Romans 5:17-19
Do you see the weight of consequences attached to the concept of obedience and disobedience?
DISOBEDIENCE is what put mankind into this mess from the beginning!
God said don't eat the fruit!
It WASN'T about the fruit...
God was placing Adam under His AUTHORITY!
I find it interesting that Adam was in authority over all the Garden of Eden. "take dominion"
But God placed him under his authority!
BECAUSE ONLY THOSE UNDER CAN BE OVER!
He created Adam first and then Eve… WHY IS THAT?
Because she was placed under his authority.
And then they reigned together.
Pay Close Attention Here...
Mankind fell due to their disobedience to God’s pattern of authority!
EVE stepped OUT OF LINE by taking the fruit, therefore she rebelled against Adam, thereby against God also.
ADAM then directly disobeyed his authority also.
"Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
THAT IS THE WAY FELLOWSHIP WAS CREATED TO WORK!
But some are to careless in choosing their fellowship.
Church, Be Advised Whoever you are hanging around will effect you!
I've had many ask, "If it was Eve who started this whole mess, then why does Scripture say "ONE MAN'S DISOBEDIENCE?"
Let me just make it plain for anyone who has that question in their mind today...
BECAUSE ADAM WAS THE AUTHORITY OF THE GARDEN!
It was Adam, who was accountable to God!
Eve ate without checking on who she was disobeying...
But Adam's action however, was simply SELF WILL!
The more we mature in Christ, our actions should decrease while our obedience increases!
This was the point John the Baptist was making when he said:
"He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all."
John 3:30-31
Before our conversion, we are all long on activity but short on obedience.
And may I add, that SOME NEVER OUTGROW THE SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY OF DOING WHATEVER THEY LIKE!
Isn't that true?
Let me put it this way:
Before the fall - ADAM & EVE only knew right as it pertained to God!
What God told them!
After the fall… “the knowledge of good AND evil”
This all came from a source other than Almighty God!
OUR REDEMPTION is an issue of renewing our position with God.
It's a matter of finding our right & wrong in God alone!
ALL AUTHORITY STARTS WITH AND FLOWS FROM GOD!
If you touch upon His authority, you touch Him.
Amen?
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."
Hebrews 1:1-3
So what is THAT?
Church, THAT is HIS AUTHORITY!
His authority is what holds EVERYTHING together!
Without it, everything falls apart!
Can I get a witness?
"Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"
Matthew 8:5-10
JESUS ACKNOWLEDGED THE MAN'S REVELATION OF HOW THE KINGDOM OF GOD WORKS!
Church, in Our Day...
EVERYONE thinks He or She is the AUTHORITY of what's right or wrong!
Our culture has become so opinionated, so self righteous and so self willed about what is right or what is OK in their OWN eyes. They now believe THEY ARE the AUTHORITY!
Wrong..
Wrong!
WRONG!!!
Let me just share a little something with you today:
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
And prudent in their own sight!
Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!"
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!"
IT IS VERY VERY DANGEROUS TO HAVE NOTHING HIGHER IN YOUR LIFE THEN YOUR OWN SELF RIGHTEOUS OPINION!
WHY?
BECAUSE SATAN DOESN’T BLIND OUR EYES – HE BLINDS OUR MINDS!!
"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them"
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
THE HARD TRUTH IS: EVEN IN THE CHURCH OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS SUBJECT IS TO FAR TO SHALLOW!
There is an issue of DISOBEDIENCE in our culture today!
Disobedience to parents, husband/wives (her needs, not authority), wives/husband (his authority), teachers/students, employee/employer
And I know some of you men and women, may not like that idea, take it up with God!
I didn't write this or make this stuff up, I'm just teaching what Scripture says!
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."
Colossians 3:18
"Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them."
Colossians 3:19
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord."
Ephesians 5:22
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her"
Ephesians 5:25
"Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged."
Colossians 3:20-21
The fact is:
UNTIL THIS ISSUE of AUTHORITY IS RESOLVED IN OUR LIVES – EVERYTHING ELSE will stay in disarray!
And most problems within the church today stem from REBELLION!
And this issue has not yet been worked out!
Our culture has developed the attitude of I AM MY OWN MAN!
Our culture has developed the habit of trying to be in charge!
Without knowing obedience, even to ourselves!
"though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
Spiritual Immaturity
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe"
Hebrews 5:8-13
THIS ISSUE OF OBEDIENCE AND AUTHORITY!
Look, this is not grade school stuff, this is FOUNDATIONAL!
I know there are some of you who do not like to submit..
Sooner or later, we will ALL have to face this issue of authority and submission in our lives!
Whether you LIKE the idea or not!
AND IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT IS BLESSING YOU OR NOT!
Last time I posed the question:
WHO ARE YOU SUBMITTED TO?
The culture tends to make fun of someone who just follows orders!
Our military tends to teach people this concept!
We don’t just follow blindly… we learn to trust those whom we are submitted to.
In closing ......
In the New Testament
We are not given the option of not having a pastor… only the option of choosing one to follow!
"And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves."
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
"But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
2 Timothy 3:10-15
This is the way we stay balanced!
IF WE COULD JUST GET A REVELATION OF THIS CONCEPT IT WOULD EMANCIPATE US!
CHURCH WE MUST…
1. Have a spirit of obedience
2. PRACTICE obedience
Stop living like the heathen that can never simply obey
3. Learn to Exercise under delegated authorities. (more about this later)
SOME LEARN HOW TO OBEY AUTHORITY BUT NEVER HOW TO BECOME AN AUTHORITY
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
Such as an indecisive leader a husband that will not rule his house before God...
IT IS NEEDFUL TO LEARN BOTH HOW TO BE UNDER and IN AUTHORITY TO BE BALANCED!
This completes our spiritual maturity cycle!
Our CHURCHES, our HOMES, EVEN OUR NATION are all suffering from those that do not know how to obey as well as those who do not know how to lead!
And now for the blessing..
And now may the the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019 All Rights Reserved
Brian Monzon Ministries
Such as an indecisive leader a husband that will not rule his house before God...
IT IS NEEDFUL TO LEARN BOTH HOW TO BE UNDER and IN AUTHORITY TO BE BALANCED!
This completes our spiritual maturity cycle!
Our CHURCHES, our HOMES, EVEN OUR NATION are all suffering from those that do not know how to obey as well as those who do not know how to lead!
And now for the blessing..
And now may the the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries