Obedience (Part 3) Fundamentals of the Faith Lesson # 12

Obedience, Authority, and Submission to Christ

So, this will be, what is it, the third installment of lesson number 12 on the subject of obedience. We left off in section six, so that would be areas of obedience. Number six. Does that sound right to you?

Sounds right to me. So, we ended off last time talking about authority. We were talking about different types of authority. There is a civil authority. Of course, God is the authority. He's the greatest authority, but he's kind of delegated other lords or other areas of authority.

There's a civil authority. There's authority in the home. There's authority in the workplace. There's authority in the church. We live in a very anti-authority time, don't we? That's for sure. But what does authority have to do with obedience?

Well, I looked up the term obedience. This is what I found. Obedience is compliance with an order or a request or submission to another's authority. So authority and obedience really go hand in hand. So who do we want to obey?

We want to obey Christ. But Christ tells us to obey other authorities, doesn't he? He tells us to submit to other authorities. So when we rebel against other authorities, and we might think we have a good reason to rebel against other authorities, we're actually rebelling against Christ who told us to submit to these other authorities.

And we talked about how there can be abuses of power. There can be people who, well, there's unlawful authorities, I suppose, and abusive authorities. But what was one thing we talked about? We turned into a whole thing last time, right?

The wives submit to your husband, that kind of turned into a thing. And we said, well, you wouldn't obey though if the husband said, I don't want you going to church anymore. You wouldn't obey that.

Why?

Because you want to obey Christ over the authority in the home, or when the government shut down the churches for a year and a half, or actually I heard the emergency orders were just lifted this past week.

The federal mandates or whatever, the emergency order, they were just lifted like a few days ago or last week. And yeah, the church would have been shut down for a long, long time. But we said, well, normally we do submit to the governing authorities.

I do believe in that, but we're not shutting down the church for a year or two or three. So there are times where we do not submit. But the principle there is we obey God over government. We obey God over our employer.

We obey God over even authorities within the church, right? There can be abusive authorities within churches. Pastors can be abusive in their authority. And when they teach things or demand things that are not in line with the scripture, you have the right to disregard or even work to get that guy out of a position of authority.

So we kind of covered all of that. So let's just go over section six quickly. A, what are all Christians to be taught concerning Christ's commands? Matthew 28, verse 20, to observe all he commanded us.

B, read each verse below. Fill in who is to be obedient to whom and why. Who children, children are to obey parents. Why this is pleasing to the Lord. That's Colossians 3 .20. Ephesians 5, 22 through 24, wives submit to their own husbands.

Why?

Because the husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church. Ephesians 6, 5 through 8, slaves obey your earthly masters. Or today the context we would be familiar with as you submit to what your supervisor tells you to do or what your boss tells you to do.

Why?

Knowing that whatever good thing you do, you will receive back from the Lord. So that's Ephesians 6, Hebrews 13, 17, Christians submit to their leaders.

Why?

Because they watch over your souls as someday and someday we'll give an account for them. And then Romans 13, verse one, everyone's favorite verse. Every person is to submit to whom? The governing authorities.

Why?

Because God established governments and gave them authority. Well, except if you don't like them, then you can say, you know, not my president and I don't have to submit. Of course that happens with one side and then the other side gets elected and then people are saying it there.

And then of course, if that happened, you would have a total breakdown in society. Here's what Jesus didn't say. He didn't say, well, yeah, obey the governing authorities as long as they're very godly and righteous people.

Well, he didn't say that, did he? Because well, nevermind, but you get the point. Just because you don't like something doesn't give you the right to just do, do whatever you want and rebel against all the different authorities that God ordained.

And that's really the point. God ordained human government. God ordained these different authority. Now when they're telling you to do something that God forbids or when they demand that you do something or they forbid you from doing something that God commands, then we get to disobey because we obey God first.

Are there any questions on any of that?

Marcus, do you know of any countries on earth today that have godly government?

I'm not familiar and I know what I've heard, but I don't know enough personally. I mean, I hear that the government in Hungary is very pro-Christian and seeking to uphold Christian values. I don't really know how accurate that is.

That's all I've heard. But really, have there been godly governments throughout history? It's a scale, but yeah, I mean, there have been some. I would say that America, although we had flaws, we had things that we failed in, obviously we all know about that.

But I think the establishment of this country, we based it on Christian principles. But yeah, as far as today, is there this shining example of a godly government? I don't know about that. Anyone else before we move on?

So should we learn Hungarian language or Chinese?

No.

Yeah, I don't know. I don't really pay that much attention anymore. I try to focus on, I want to know what's going on in the world, but I don't want to be led about by that stuff because that's the danger that you start to form your thinking based on what this guy says, what this party says, what this movement is.

I want to make sure that I don't do that. So if there's no other comments or questions on this section, we'll move on. All right. See what should a wife do if her husband is an unbeliever? I think this is where we ended first Peter chapter three, verse one, because back in Ephesians you get that statement, wives submit to your own husbands.

Well, what if he's an unbeliever and first Peter three, one says, wives be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be one without a word by the behavior of their wives.

So the response would be, you live a godly life. You be a good testimony to the Christian faith. And when the unbelieving spouse sees that, that's going to have an effect hopefully. And hopefully he will see that and be saved himself or it could work in reverse.

And in the sermon later on, it's on Matthew chapter five where Jesus telling his disciples, he says, you are the salt of the earth. We're going to stress the importance of having a good testimony. You know, it's one thing to preach to somebody and to tell them what's right and what they should believe and what they should do.

And, you know, people aren't going to respond to that unless God is working in their heart. But instead of witnessing of telling people, which we should do that too, but we should be a witness. So our lives need to show, hey, I really believe this because I'm living it out.

OK, yes, I heard. I can't remember where I heard it, but someone said, preach the word always and if necessary, use words.

Yeah, yeah.

That's what you're talking about, being an example.

I've heard that, too. I don't know who came up with it. I think it's been St. Francis. OK, yeah, yeah. And there's a lot of truth to that. Yeah, because if you're saying something, hey, you need to believe in Jesus and you should obey the Bible.

And then they're like, wait a minute. Last week you were doing this and like they're not going to view your your words as having any credibility.

OK.

And that's the same way how we are to show our love for God is through obeying.

Right. Yeah, that's what we're talking about. Obedience. I mean, if you're not obeying, you know, it's like the parable that Jesus gave of the two sons and the father said, go out and work in the vineyard.

And one said, yeah, OK, I'll go work in the vineyard. And then he didn't go. And then there's the other son who said, no, I will not go. But then he thought better of it afterwards. And he went and Jesus said, which one of these sons did the will of the father, the one who said the right thing and then didn't do it, or the one who initially said the wrong thing and then did do it, who did the will of the father, the one who obeyed.

So this is one problem, potential problem within Bible believing churches, evangelical churches where we preach and stress so much faith alone, grace alone, faith alone, not by works. The people get the idea, well, I don't need to do anything.

I don't need to obey wrong. You're not listening. But that's that's a common thing.

Yes, it's like the verse of James that says, be doers of the word and not hearers only. So I guess you could substitute, say, be doers of the word and not just a bunch of talk.

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, because if you are a hearer only and you do not do, you are what, deceiving yourself, James says. OK, so D, what if a servant or employee has an impossible employer?

Does that sound familiar to anybody? Probably at least one or two people. What if a servant or employee has an impossible employer? What should that servant or employee do? Well, that gives them the right to slough off and not not get anything done.

Just take advantage of it. Right. You're justified in doing that, aren't you? No. First Peter 2, in your mind, you might be able to rationalize that and say, but no. First Peter 2, 18 and 19 servants be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.

For this finds favor, for if the sake of the conscience towards God, a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. OK, so you're working. Ultimately, you're working for who? Yeah, you're working for your employer, but your work is unto the Lord.

You know, if things are that bad, then just quit and find a better job.

It's easier said than done.

Yeah, yeah, it is. And of course, if you were a slave, you really didn't have that option. So, OK, number seven, our attitude toward obedience. We must remember that all our good works, apart from faith, are like a filthy garment.

Isaiah 64, verse six, obedience without genuine faith avails nothing. Our obedience must grow out of a heart of sincere faith toward God. OK, do you agree with that statement?

Yes.

All right.

Now, it's often I've run into this through the years. I think I brought this up before that when people preach or emphasize obedience, so you have to obey what? Well, there are commandments or some people call them rules, but we are obeying commands, instructions, right?

Jesus tells us to do certain things. The New Testament tells us to do or not do certain things. So when we're being obedient, I mean, like it or not, you are being obedient to commandments or to rules.

But when people preach that, that invites the charge of what? People say, well, that's isn't that legalistic where you're just expecting people to obey.

Rules?

Well, here's the thing. People can obey rules and sort of do it begrudgingly. Right, people can obey rules just to not get in trouble or just to look good. So it is possible to obey commands or rules and not really do it out of a sense of love for God.

Right. So maybe in that sense, there could be a little of that going on. If you remove God and love for God is the motivation. If you remove that from the equation. But if we're doing this, if we're being obedient and it's being taught, that's not legalism.

Has anyone ever heard that or run into that? Because the thing you hear most in the past 40 years or so, evangelicals have emphasized this the most. It's not about rules. It's about relationship. It's not about rules.

You just need a relationship with Jesus. Right. And you probably have a relationship with your spouse. And how would it go if you cheated on your spouse and stole from your spouse and lied to your spouse?

And that wouldn't go too well. You probably wouldn't have a relationship after a little while. So the idea that you can sort of divorce obedience from relationship or obeying God from the personal, the two go together.

So I never really understood that statement. It's not about rules. It's about relationship. Now, actually, it's the two go hand in hand. Where do you want to challenge that? Am I wrong? Because that's what's been preached in evangelical churches now for a generation or two.

And I think it's misguided at best.

It's not about the rules. It's a relationship. If you have a relationship, you want to do the rules.

Right.

Yeah. That's what the guy that coined the phrase meant. Yeah. People have just kind of used it as a catchphrase to get away with stuff.

Right. Yeah. And I don't know who came up with it, but I don't doubt that for a moment. Just like Paul preached, faith not works. Well, he's not saying that. Well, just say you have faith and live however you want.

Like, that would be a misunderstanding or a distortion. That's what we do in our mind. We sort of all the information kind of goes through a filter and we hear what we want to hear sometimes.

Right. Okay.

Our attitude. This is number seven, our attitude toward obedience. We must remember that all our good works, apart from faith, are like a filthy garment. I already read that. What was the basis of all Abraham's obedience?

Hebrews 11, verse eight. What was the basis? Yeah. Abraham obeyed, was called the friend of God, and he was doing it because he had faith. So faith and works, you know, saved by faith, not works, but faith, true, saving faith results in works because Abraham had faith.

He did what God told him to do. B, read the parable of the two sons. This is what I referenced a moment ago. I think Matthew 21, 28 through 32, which son had the better attitude and why the one who obeyed.

Right. And then C, using Peter as our example, how should we respond when God's word seems contrary to our own judgment? Does that ever happen? Say, well, I know the Bible says this, but in my mind, I think it should be like this.

The Bible tells me to do this, but I want to do that. I think it would work out better if I did that. Does that ever happen? Anyone want to share a time where that's happened and you've done what you thought was better and then it totally blew up in your face?

Nobody wants to share that. That's probably going to happen.

It's happened to me, but I can't bring up an example. I don't know. You learn from it.

Yeah. So using Peter as the example, how should we respond when God's word seems contrary to our own judgment? We should do what God says. See, this is why having a Bible, we are so fortunate where everyone in the 21st century, we can all own a Bible.

We can all read a Bible. You know, there are times where Christians were, well, when the average person was illiterate way back when or when Bibles were not accessible, we have it so good that we have the scripture.

We can read it and we don't have to wonder. We can see what God actually said.

So, Jen, when we know what God's word says and it doesn't make sense, it just makes me think of walk by faith, like you got to walk through it and it doesn't make sense, but you know it's right. And that's when faith makes sense.

Yeah, I think of all the things that God told Moses to do, and it's like, this makes no sense at all. Let's fashion a serpent made out of brass and put it on a pole and have people look at.

It. What?

It doesn't. But do what God says. God knows better. Walk by faith. Why can't understand it? Doesn't make sense to me. So walk by faith.

Yes.

Well, God's word tells us what is his best, what he wants is best for us. And probably one of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking, well, I know it's not God's best, but maybe it's his second best or maybe it would be OK anyways, even if it's not his best.

But I think his best is the only thing that we should be striving for.

Yeah. Yeah.

And we might have time. It looks like we might have time to get into lesson 13 about knowing God's will and.

Guidance.

So we're kind of headed in that direction, but let's just finish this section up. Read Ephesians 6, 6. How should we view ourselves in relation to Christ? Well, what's the answer? So if you read that, I guess it would depend on your translation.

It's going to probably use one of two words and they begin with S. OK, so slave or some translations, I'm assuming would say servant, but we are his.

Bond servant.

OK, that would be the third word begins with a B. Same idea. How should we view ourselves in relation to Christ? So I don't view myself as a slave. I view myself as a son. I view myself as a child of God.

Well, OK, but still the father gets to tell the children what to do, and it's not that type of relationship, really, because that's the other side where you get into those misunderstandings. It's not that God is a hard task master who's just telling you what to do and you just need to do it or else.

That's not the way God is a loving, compassionate, heavenly father. So there's that part and he is long suffering and patient and he wants the best for us and he's done more for us than we'll ever do for him.

But at the same time, we still have to look at it as yes, yes, Lord, whatever you say. Yes, that's that's how we should look at it. We are his servants.

Marcus, I think a sign of a really good servant is someone that sees what they're master or their Lord wants and just does it. There's another verse in Ephesians that says trying to learn what is pleasing to him.

And earlier on, when who's who's supposed to be submissive to who and said why one of them was because it pleases the Lord. Butler is or a waiter or a waitress, a really good waitress. They keep looking at your your coffee cup, your your water glass.

They keep trying to time things so that it's, you know, and that's what a really good servant is. And that's what that's what we should be doing, trying to figure out what would please the Lord. Because imagine that us just creatures like ants or worms or whatever, we have the ability to affect almighty God, the creator of the universe's emotions.

It amazes me.

In what way do we affect his? Give me an example.

Well, our faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please him.

So when things are going all wrong and so we can please God, you're saying that's one thing we can do. We can please God.

Yeah. Yeah.

Good. By trusting him, even though things aren't looking right. We can just claim reversal and we know that all things work together for good. You say this doesn't seem very good to me. But they work.

If that's his promise, you say, OK, I'm going to believe it.

Yep. I see another hand.

You said that, you know, he is not a harsh taskmaster master towards us. And if you had an opportunity to listen to John MacArthur's sermon, he told his disciples after he had risen from the dead, he said, I want you to go to this mountain and I'll meet you there.

And but what did they do? Peter said, I'm going fishing. And so when they were out all night fishing and didn't catch anything, you know, Jesus on shore cooking breakfast, he said, hey, boys, did you catch anything?

And they said, no. And they said, well, cast it down on the other side. And when they got this massive haul of fish, John said, it's the Lord. And when they got to shore, like the pastor said, he didn't he wasn't there with a whip.

He was there with breakfast and he was there to serve them as his unbelieving disciples, his disobedient disciples. He served them breakfast. Yeah. And so that's how he loves us. And even when we're wrong, it's not that we want to stay in the wrong.

We want to hurry up and get back to him, get back to that relationship.

Right. Good.

Good. So what should our attitude in doing the will of God be or what should it what should be our attitude when we do the will of God? We are to do it from the heart. Okay. Do you ever feel like you're just kind of you're not feeling it some days and you're just doing it because I know I just need to do it.

I'm just not feeling it from the heart. Well, you know, you can look at any of this and say, well, at times I've been disobedient. Of course, that's true with everybody. Or, you know, when I was a kid, I didn't always obey my parents or as a wife.

I don't have that submissive attitude that I should towards my husband or a husband isn't loving his wife the way he should. Or at work, you're not really submitting to your body. You don't have that right attitude at work.

And so I'm just, you know, I'm I'm failing here. I failed there. I don't have the right attitude all the time. You know, that's that's probably true across the board. Again, it's a scale, some little bit, some more than others.

You see why I haven't done the right thing or I could do better, right? Well, that's why we have a class like that. That's why we go through the scripture as a reminder to do better. You know, we're all at a different level of obedience.

You know, let's assuming everyone is is saved in the room. Some are obeying this much. Some are obeying this much. Some are here in the Christian faith. Some are here. But this is why we need to go over this and get the the sound teaching from the word that we want to grow.

We want to do better. We want to love God more. We want to obey him more. And the more we obey and love him, that's where the blessings really come in.

Mary.

Well, I'm smiling because I used to work a long day and then go teach a lot of the children, Christian children's Bible study and going in. I was so tired and I'm like, oh, OK, and and you get in there and you're so blessed.

It's like, how could I not want to come?

Yeah. Yeah.

And I wouldn't make too big a thing of how you feel at any given moment. You know, sometimes you're tired and you don't you don't feel there's been those days you really haven't felt like coming to church.

Let's face it as the pastor. I had one day like that. I remember I'm serious. I did have that one time, but, you know, we do it anyways because I believe in God. I love God. I want to do the right thing.

So doing it from the heart isn't I don't think it's really just how you feel at any given moment. It's how you think about it. Why am I doing it? Because there are some people that do it and they know they're doing it for the wrong reasons.

I don't really care. I'm doing it for this purpose. And they have some ulterior motive. So long as you know why you're doing it, you're doing it for the right reason. Don't don't make too big a thing of how you feel.

Feelings kind of come and go and they're all over the place sometimes.

Yes.

Well, when you're not feeling it, right? I remember as a teenager trying to establish a daily reading of the word. And I remember one morning I came up and really didn't want to wake up and read the Bible.

I was 15.

And the moment of confessing to God that I didn't want to do this, I didn't feel like it. And it was probably one of the more blessed times in the scriptures as a child, at least, because I didn't want to when I admitted it.

Yep.

And so I think while your feelings, especially mine, lie to you all the time, if you push through and do the right thing anyway, I think that's times that God really can blow you. It's like a desert.

Right, right.

And I don't really see feelings being emphasized in scripture that Jesus tells us, you know, it's really all about your feelings. And I don't I don't know. Where's that? But times where I felt the lowest, I think about in my life, the times where I've been at the lowest point, that's where God has worked the most.

And maybe it takes a while to see it afterwards. But and and yeah, Marcus.

Yeah, that's a good three point message right there. Fact, faith and feeling. But that wasn't what I was when Larry was talking about the disciples and it came to mind how many times the Lord would say to him, oh, you have a little faith.

And of course, that's true. And of course, I can look back on my life going through periods of time where I didn't didn't really trust him. But how wonderful it is that he is faithful every time, every time.

And, you know, I don't know how many times he has to show himself faithful that we finally can believe he doesn't change. He's always going to be faithful. If we confess our sins, he is faithful. He will do it every time.

He will. We don't deserve it. We never deserved it, but he will do it every time.

Abraham, when he was told to sacrifice Isaac, he probably wasn't really feeling it, you know, when he went up on the mountain. I don't know. That's just a guess.

Linda.

You want to expand that? I feel like that's a really important point.

Well, the whole thing, the church thing, I don't feel like going to church. You know that Savior.

Right. Yeah.

And I don't know. I don't.

Some people, I think, and maybe I've, I don't look at it this way necessarily, but people go to church for the feeling. They want to have a religious experience. That's why when you go into some churches, they have like the real soft music playing or.

Um, that really, I'm not dismissing that because we are creatures who have emotions and we, we should engage with God, with our emotions. But it's really not about, well, I just didn't get that feeling today.

Feelings are important. They're there, but they shouldn't be like the thing.

Larry.

Jeremiah nailed it with the feelings. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

Yeah.

Who can know it?

Yep.

I remember I went into a Catholic church once I had, I've attended one Catholic service in my life and, you know, they probably had the best singing that I've ever heard in a church. I mean, just the choir, I don't know how big it was, but just professional, like amazing, amazing singing.

Like they might've, they might've put in a CD or something and played it. It sounded so good. And they had all the incense and you know, not that I'm necessarily into all this, but the, the gold and just, it's the building is just immaculate.

Right.

And you know, that all can give people a feeling or religious feel statues. And I know it's like, okay, that's a graven image. And I don't think it's right. That people should bow and pray to it. But those types of things are what give people that feeling or other people might be other things.

You know, the rock, the rock and roll with the smoke machine and some churches will give people a feeling, but it's not really, yeah, I think I've made my point on the feeling thing. So another hand, are we moving on?

Okay.

Let's move on. Luke 17 verse 10. So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded, you say we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that, which we ought to have done.

Okay.

So what do you make of this?

So you too, when you do all the things which you are commanded, you say we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that, which we ought to have done. Well, let's turn there. Let's turn to Luke 17. What is the book getting at here?

Luke chapter 17, verse 10, Luke 17, 10.

All right.

So this is a earnest service is our duty. I'll pick up in verse seven. And which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat, but he will not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I've eaten and drunk.

And afterward, you will eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise, you, when you have done all those things, which you are commanded, say we are unprofitable servants.

We have done what was our duty to do. What's the point Jesus is making here? No one wants to answer that.

Well, sometimes we look for rewards for the things that we do, even though it's our job, even though it's our. Motor saparanda. In life, we sometimes look for a reward.

Yeah, so I don't think you can stand before God. I would say, Lord, look at all the things I've done. I go to church every week. I read my Bible every day. I pray. You know, I'm nice to people. I don't lie.

I've never killed anybody. Lord, look at me. Look at me. You should give me all these rewards. Look at what a fantastic Christian I am. What are you going to give me all these extra rewards for? Well, it's like, well, that's that's like the basics.

This is what you should have been doing all along. Now, God does give rewards, but I think the point is, like, this is just basic level obedience. What people have in their mind of what it means to be a super Christian, that's just like entry level stuff.

That's just basic. This is just what you're expected to do. Like, you know, when you put it this way, when you go into work and you just put in your eight hours and you're doing all the stuff that you're supposed to do, you don't expect your boss to throw a party at the end of the day.

For you, he's not.

Well, why? Because this is this is this is your job. It's our job to obey. Now, God will reward us and he is pleased. But you get the point. I think I think that's what's being said here. So we get into the application.

Romans 12 verse one. What does it mean to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God? What does that mean? Of course, Paul says this is your what it's your reasonable service to give your life to God is your reasonable service.