Human Authorities-God's Servants — Denny Kenaston

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

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These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Amen. Praise God for His gifts to us. Appreciated the children's lesson this morning and the way this service has unfolded before us already.

I guess just a couple of things, thoughts, reflections about the little send-off here this morning. Brother Seth and Sister Sarah, God bless you too. As I thought over the years, seeing how God has worked in your lives and to bring us to this place this morning where you are going off to the other side of the world, my heart just rejoices.

You've been faithful. You've been faithful. That's why you are going. You have been faithful. Faithful in little things. Faithful in the unseen things. You've been faithful. And I bless God for you too.

And I bless God for all you young people who aspire to those challenges and leave this place from time to time to go and serve. Let's be faithful. Amen. God bless all of you. I know we have lots of send-offs around here.

And we can kind of get used to them if we're not careful. It's a great privilege to send our young people away. And we thank God for that. I was thinking about the verse here. I thought it would be a good admonition to us as we go to prayer before this message.

Trembling at God's Word

To this man or this woman, God says, I will look. To him or her that is poor. To him or her that is of a contrite heart, spirit. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how I'm going to make it. I need God's grace.

Like our brother challenged us this morning. To this man or woman will I look. He or she that trembleth at my word. Well, we're here this morning. And we have his word. We're going to open it up. We're going to look at it.

We will look at God's word this morning. I know we can take it for granted too. We have it all the time. I mean, the food's good around here, amen? We can take it for granted. And God would have us to come.

Somehow He would give us grace this morning. He would help us to come to His word with that trembling heart. This is God's word. We're going to hear God's word this morning. God says, if you'll come with that kind of a heart.

I'm poor. I'm needy. I don't know how to make it. I don't know how to go on. I don't know how to walk through the next week. I need God's direction. I need Him put into my life. I want His word to be real to me.

If we come with that kind of a heart. God says, I will look. I will look your way. So, I want to share with us this morning about some of God's gifts. We learned about them already so beautifully. Some of God's gifts.

And we learned that many times we don't see God's gifts as God's gifts. Sometimes we need eyes and ears that we do not have when God brings His gifts our way. A few weeks ago, I was up in Vermont. Just fulfilling my responsibilities up there.

And there was a need for me to share a message about authority in the congregation up there. And as I shared my heart with that congregation. A message that I preached many, many years ago. And I don't think I preached it even to the congregation.

I preached it to the young people. I mean, let's see. Sixteen years ago. Something like that. I haven't been able to get away from the truth of that which I shared up there in Vermont. And I feel like we should talk a little bit about authority here this morning.

Human Authority as God's Gift

God's gifts to man. Authority. Human authority. God's servants. Human authorities are God's servants. So with that, let's pray for just a moment together. Lord, here we are again. It's us, Lord. Charity Christian Fellowship.

We come, Lord. We bring our hearts to you. We bring our needy hearts to you. We stand in need this morning. We don't know what we're doing. We don't know how to do it. We don't know how to say it. We don't know how to hear it.

Oh, Lord. We cry to you even as we were admonished this morning. Would you come and save us this morning, Lord? Present tense, Father, and save us. Come, look at us this morning, Lord. Have mercy upon us.

By your Spirit. And give us ears to hear. And eyes to see. Yes, Father. Let us see Jesus this morning. Even as we say, Father. That little prayer, Lord. Let us see Jesus this morning. We want to see Jesus.

We want to see Jesus. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Authority is a Bible word. You'll find it in the Bible 36 times. You'll have to look for two different words to find it 36 times. One is the English word, authority.

You will find that one in the Bible. And the other one, sometimes, is the word, power. Which is translated from two different Greek words. Dunamis means power. And exousia also means power. But one means power, meaning might.

And the other one means power, meaning authority. So, with those two words, you'll find the word, authority, 36 times in the Bible. I want to give you the definition of authority. I didn't get this out of Webster's dictionary.

I got it out of Vine's expository dictionary of New Testament words. It's quite a revealing definition of the word, authority. Many people don't like that word, authority. Maybe they've had some bad experiences with that word.

And therefore, they're a bit reserved when they hear that word, authority. But it is a Bible word. And this is what it means. Authority is the power or the right to enforce obedience. The power or right to enforce obedience.

I know, you hear that definition, you think, whoa, wait a minute. And that's exactly why I feel that it's good for us to take a look at this subject. Because that word should not cause reactions inside of our hearts.

But, many times, it does. Some years ago, in fact, 1988 was the time that we did this. The congregation here spent a little time brainstorming on the subject of authority. And we kind of opened the subject up.

I'm not sure if it was a Wednesday night, it's hard for me to remember back to 1988, forgive me. But it was 1988, we took this subject of authority. And we looked at the different levels of authority, the different types of human authority, which God has given to man.

And we opened it up for the congregation to share different ways in which human authorities affect our lives. And I wrote down the list, or I don't think I wrote this list, if I remember right. My daughter Rebecca wrote this, it's her handwriting, back in 1988.

So, she was a lot younger then. But she kept track of these, and we just kind of threw it out. Government authorities, and everybody shared different ways in which the government, the human authorities of government affect our lives.

And we wrote all those down, and I want to share them with you in a few minutes. But first of all, I want to just list these five areas of human authority, which God, in His loving kindness, has given to man.

The first one that I have written here is parental authority. That applies to every one of us in this room. God used, and is using, parental authority in our lives. Secondly, there is marital authority.

Those of us that are married, you wives, you understand what marital authority is. God has placed that in your lives. Thirdly, we have governmental authority. And I think that's self-explanatory. That's why, as we walk through this life, we find ourselves continually face-to-face with governmental authorities.

Fourthly, we have ministerial authority in our lives. Because we have been born again, and washed in the blood of the Lamb, and part of a New Testament church, God has also given us ministerial authority.

And lastly, there is occupational authority. And not everyone in this room has that, but many do. That's your boss. Occupational authority. Before we look over this list that the congregation put together back in 1988, I would like us just to look at a few verses to validate each one of these structures of authority in a Christian's life.

Biblical Foundations for Authority

First of all, parental authority. The Scriptures are very clear there. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment, with promise.

It may go well with thee, while you're on the earth. That's parental authority. We could read other verses, but I don't think we need to. We all know these verses. Second of all, marital authority. The Scripture tells the wives, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands in the Lord, as unto the Lord.

We find this in Ephesians and also in Colossians. And then reading in 1 Peter, we'll turn there because I can't quote that, but let's just look in 1 Peter at governmental authority, chapter 2 and verse 13.

Listen to God's Word, as He admonishes all of us, how we are to relate to the governmental authorities that are around us. God says, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake. Whether it be to the king, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by Him, for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

For so it is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Now we can also read in Romans chapter 13, where it speaks about the powers that be, being ordained of God, and those powers being ministers of God, and whosoever resisteth those powers or that authority, resisteth the ordinance of God.

We could read those verses, but I don't think we will. Also then, turning back to Hebrews 13, just a few pages in your Bible, ministerial authority, we find these verses, Hebrews 13 verse 2,. Remember them, I'm sorry that's not the right verse, verse 7, verse 7 and then 17, the 7 looks like a 2, ok.

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. And then also in verse 17, obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief, for that is unprofitable unto you.

And then lastly, in Colossians, and chapter 3, and verse 22, Servants, or workers, obey them, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong, shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect to persons.

That verse is spoken in the context of our authorities at work. Alright, let me just very quickly go through a few practical ways in which these human authorities affect our lives. First of all, the government authorities.

They have the power, or the right, to enforce obedience upon us. They enforce us to pay taxes. They make us keep traffic laws. We have to get building permits, when we want to build something. They have educational laws that they put on us.

Oh, you mothers know about that, you know, filling out the affidavits, and all the things that you do, in order to have the right to school your children at home. It is the government that puts those laws upon us.

There are work laws that we have to submit to, that the government puts on us. The government has certain moral conduct laws that we are forced to obey. There are burial laws. There are marriage laws.

There are recreational laws. There are littering laws. And there are all kinds of other laws that I didn't even list yet. But they're there. We all recognize them. And somehow, by God's grace, we have all learned to live with them, haven't we?

Sometimes, we may grumble a bit about them. I remember very clearly, when they came out with the new seat belt laws, that I grumbled about that one, and I was not quick to obey that. I have to admit that.

I thought that's an infringement upon my liberty to make me do those things, and put my children in those chairs, and belt them in, and all of those things. But, God, who is faithful, would not allow me to keep that attitude, and He dealt with me until I do, with delight, get into my car, grab my seat belt, and hook it on.

Church Authority and Ministerial Discipline

The government has made me to do that. And God, through the government, has dealt with me until I can do it with a good heart. And I do, but belt my seat belt in with a very willing heart. Number two, church authority.

We threw that subject open, and this is what we got. Ministers have the authority, the power, or the right, to enforce obedience upon the congregation in areas of moral conduct. And we could branch out into many things there, but just a few of them that I wrote down here, looking at scriptural examples, Paul told the Thessalonians, that if some of the men there don't work, don't let them eat.

Interesting that he would have such authority. He changed the communion service in the Corinthian church. He encouraged some of the brothers in Thessalonians and also in Romans to withdraw from those who caused divisions.

He also gave definition to them about who were widows and who were not, and gave them clear direction of what they should do, and who they should give money to, and who they shouldn't give money to. He had that kind of authority.

Paul passes on many directives throughout the New Testament, and even as he's speaking to Timothy, and also to Titus, he says, I want you to do these things, and teach these things, and do it with all authority.

And that wasn't a bad word when Paul used it. It was a good one. So that's in the area of moral conduct. Also, just following along a little bit more, we see the Scriptures give ministers the responsibility of exercising discipline at times, upon its members.

We also see the membership of the congregation. One of the reasons why we feel it's important that people commit themselves to a local fellowship is so that they, from their hearts, can say, I want somebody to watch over my soul.

We see ministers exercising their authority in baptism, also in other church ordinances, like the laying on of hands, ordaining of other ministers, and also the anointing of oil when someone is sick. They also exercise their authority at times when they give counsel to those within the flock.

Parental Authority in Daily Life

Let's move on to number three. Parental authority. Parents are given the responsibility by God to counsel, to direct the schedules of their children. I mean, they tell you what time to get up, and they tell you what time to go to bed.

They can direct your, they can enforce obedience upon you in your habits. They can enforce obedience on the way that you dress. They can affect your manners. Amen, boys? Thank God for mothers who have a bit of concern about boys and their manners.

Amen? They can enforce obedience on your manners, and God stands up for them. They can say, don't talk while you have your mouth full of food at the supper table. They can do that. They can enforce obedience on our possessions.

You can get a new bike, or you can get an old bike, and you just have to live with that. They affect our language. They influence our activities. They determine where we're going to live, the location we live.

They even affect the house we live in. If mom and dad decide that we're going to live in an old run-down shack, and that's all that we can afford, we will be living in an old run-down shack. Parents are called upon by God to punish their children at times.

They choose who your friends are. They can enforce submission upon you in a multitude of different ways. They choose the kind of literature you read, and the music that you listen to. They have authority over your attitudes, and I think that that's enough there.

We got down to O. We could keep on going. That's a long, long list. Alright, let's move on into marital authority. In marital authority, the husband is the head of the wife, the Scripture says. He gives direction, and these again, these just came from the congregation.

They're not coming from me. They're just brothers and sisters, and some of you were sitting in that meeting in 1988. Father, husband, gives direction to his wife on how to raise the children. He gives direction on how to spend the money.

He gives direction to his wife on speaking, when to speak or not to speak. He directs her life on the clothes that she should wear. He gives direction on how the house should be kept. He gives direction on schedules, when people are going to get up or go to bed.

He even can give direction on the kind of food that he would like to have at the table. He gives direction on where we go. He gives direction to the wife on where she's going to live. And that same old rickety run down house, she's going to live in the same way.

He gives direction on what kind of work she might do. He gives direction on the church that she goes to. He even gives direction on the friends that she has. And he gives direction on the activities that she may involve herself in, in her days and in her weeks.

Occupational Authority and Submission at Work

Alright, now let's go to the employer and consider employment. Think about this now. This is your boss. Some of you that have bosses. In fact, how many of you have a boss? Let me see your hand. Put it up there real good.

You have a boss. You work for somebody else. This man tells you what time you're going to go to work. And he tells you what time you're going to work to. He determines your wage. Which affects many, many areas of your life.

I mean, if he says you're going to work for $10 an hour, it's going to affect the way you live your life. In comparison, if he decides to give you $12 an hour. This man has a lot of influence over your life.

He has authority over your attitudes. He has authority over your performance. He can come alongside of you anytime he wants and say, I don't think your attitude is very good today. Is there something wrong?

And you have to bow to that man's word or that woman's word. You have to bow. He tells you how to work. He has the authority to hire you. And he also has the authority to fire you. He has authority over your clothes.

If the boss decides that he wants you to wear a uniform, providing that it isn't against the convictions of the word of God, then you must wear the uniform that he wants you to wear. He has authority over your moral conduct while you're at work.

And if he has a caution about something that you're doing, or something that you're saying, he has the authority to walk up to you and say, I do not feel good about what you're doing right now. Then you have to bow to that.

He has authority over the location of where you work. Sometimes a boss will come in and say, you're being transferred to another place. And people do it all the time. They move all the way across the country because the boss said, we're moving you over here.

He affects your vacation. He tells you if you can have a vacation. And he tells you how long that vacation can be. And you have to go to him and say, could I have a few days off? He has authority over your education.

If he feels like you need to learn something, if he feels like you need to go to a welding class, or some course to further your education in accounting, or whatever it is, you do what he says. He has authority over public relations in your life.

If he feels like there's something not quite right between you and another employee, he has every right to come to you and say, I don't appreciate the way you're getting along or not getting along with someone, and we have to bow to that.

And he also has the authority to delegate authority to someone else. And he can say to that guy over there who started working there two years later than you did, I want you now to be in charge. And he can say to you, you are to be obedient to this man over here.

And guess what? We have to do what he says. That's just a few of the ways that we wrote down back in 1988. But here's the point this morning. Parental authority, marital authority, governmental authority, ministerial authority, and occupational authority.

When you put the five of those together, we have to face the fact that we are surrounded by human authorities. We have to face the fact that we are surrounded by people who do have the power and the right to enforce obedience in our lives.

And we have to face the fact that God is the one who did that. It is God who surrounded us with human authorities.

Amen? And this is good.

Now, sometimes it may come in an old raggedy, dirty old paper bag like was held up here today. And sometimes it comes in a nice, beautiful bag with flowers and beautiful colors on it. But either way, it comes from God.

Five Divine Purposes of Human Authority

As I was meditating this morning, I thought about the many paradoxes in the Word of God. Well, God says to us, and we don't understand it, but it doesn't matter whether we understand it or not, we know that it's true.

God says, the way up is down. Imagine that. God says, if you want to find your life, lose it. God says, if you need, give. These things do not make sense. Well, it may be in your own heart as you sit here this morning that you say also, this doesn't make sense that God has surrounded my life with many different human authorities.

Well, may I just interject to you this morning? It doesn't need to make sense. We do not have to understand. We do not have to see to the depths of it. God's ways are not our ways. God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.

I thought about the song we were singing this morning in light of my message, and I thought, yes, Lord, that's right. Even behind a frowning providence, there is a smiling face. God's ways are not like our ways.

So, if we sit here this morning, and even there's that uneasy feeling going on inside of our heart as we begin to open up this subject, we must remember, we don't have to understand all these things. The fact is, and we all know the fact is, that God has surrounded all of us with human authorities.

All right, let's move on. God wants these authorities to have a profound influence in our lives. God will, God wills or wants to touch your lives through these avenues. You may say this morning, well, God is my authority, and that's all I need.

Well, that may sound very spiritual in the beginning, but if you think it through a bit, you will realize that is not a spiritual statement, but rather a statement of anarchy. God is my authority, and I don't need any others.

Well, then I don't need a father, I don't need a mother, I don't need my husband over me, I don't need my boss over me, I don't need the policeman. There are five divine purposes for authority in all of our lives.

Five, and there may be others, but we will look at these five. Let me list them quickly. Number one, God wants to build character in your life through a human authority. Number two, God wants to give protection over your life through human authorities.

Number three, God wants to give direction to your life through human authorities. Number four, God wants to give encouragement to your life through human authorities. And number five, God wants at times to bring discipline upon your life through human authorities.

The Policeman as an Illustration of Authority

Now let's see how this works in reality. And I'd like for us to just follow this little thought here this morning. I'd like to take you to a small town and relate to the policeman in a small town. Just for the sake of our illustration this morning.

A small town. In this area where we live, most of us do not know the policeman. I mean, how many of you know the policeman in your area? You've got a casual, good relationship with him. See? Very, very few.

Maybe a couple who do rescue squad rungs and things like that. You know the policeman, but otherwise you don't. But in a small town, maybe a town of five or six hundred people, everyone knows the policeman.

And the policeman knows everyone. And by the way, he's not the cop. He's not the cop. I feel that's a disrespectful word to use for the minister of God who watches over our lives. He's a policeman. So let's go to this small town and look these things over a bit.

There he is. The policeman in the small town. There he is, sitting in his police car as you are driving down the road in that little small town. He builds character in your life without even saying one word to you.

Amen? All you have to do is see his car sitting over there and character is built in your life. It's so much that way that I've noticed at certain places where they need some authority, they'll put a police car there, put the lights on flashing and there's not even anybody sitting in it.

And that police car builds character in the lives of the people who drive by and see it. That's just the way it is. In fact, I've seen a couple of places where they have a police car sitting there with the lights on and he's sitting behind the wheel.

That's all he is. But that dummy, because of who he represents, is building character in everybody's life when they drive by. Amen? That's the way it is. You see that policeman and your heart is alerted to do what is right.

He trains you to drive the speed limit. He trains you to stop at the stop signs. And whatever else it may be that you're doing, that policeman provides character and accountability in every one of our lives.

Not long ago, in fact, when we were driving up to Vermont, if you've ever made the trip up to Vermont, you'll find out there are policemen everywhere, more than anywhere else where I've traveled. We must have seen ten police cars in Vermont.

What a joy to be able to drive all the way up to Vermont and not have any of this going on inside of your heart because you're driving the speed limit. All right, let's go to the second point. Protection.

Maybe the policeman is sitting there in this small town and he keeps his eye on the flow of traffic and all these things and finally after some time he realizes, you know, we've already heavily traveled.

I believe we need to put a stop sign in that place right there. And so he goes through the proper channels and maybe an ordinance is passed and a stop sign is placed over there on an intersection that used to be not very busy but now it is getting more busy.

What is he doing? He is protecting your life by putting a stop sign at that intersection. Let's go on to number three. The policeman also gives direction for your life. And many a small town, I'm not sure if it's still that way anymore but I know it used to be and it was good but many a small town has a curfew.

You know? You know what the curfew is for? That's for young people. They have to be in by a certain time and that curfew has an amazing way of giving direction to a young person's life. I mean if the curfew is 11 o 'clock at a quarter to 11 all of a sudden all of the young people that are out wherever they may be at a quarter to 11 they start heading toward home.

And there they are. They pull the car into the driveway or drive their bicycle into the driveway or they walk into their driveway and they are home by 11 o 'clock. The policeman is directing their lives.

Number four. The policeman is there to give encouragement to your life. And again, we miss this one most of the time because we don't have much interaction with police. But in a small town a policeman is definitely an encouragement to do what is right in that little town.

And he will give encouragement to your life. It's not unusual at all for a policeman to walk up to somebody and say I appreciate the way you drive around here. I've been noticing you. I appreciate the way you get home when you're supposed to be or whatever else it may be.

Policemen do that in a small town. And lastly, sometimes policemen bring discipline upon our lives. And all you have to do is go through that stop sign when you're supposed to stop and you will find out that the policeman brings discipline into your life.

And it is discipline. It is a spanking. And if you've ever gotten a ticket, you know it's a spanking. It doesn't matter who you are in this room. It doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter how big you are.

It doesn't matter how smart you are. When those little red lights start flashing behind you when you're driving somewhere and that man pulls you over on the side of the road, you just got a spanking. Amen?

And it doesn't feel good. It's humiliating. It's embarrassing. Five divine purposes for authority, human authority in our lives. Character, protection, direction, encouragement and discipline. All of those.

Authority, Accountability, and Personal Discipline

You see, I chose this morning to use the illustration.

Of the policeman because we all have those lines real clear. I don't think there's anybody in this room. If the policeman pulled you over and walked up to your car door, I don't think there's anybody in this room that would be thinking, Ah, the policeman pulled me over, but that guy, you know, he drinks too much.

I don't need to listen to him. Nobody has any kind of attitudes like that toward the policeman. It doesn't matter who the policeman is. It doesn't matter what kind of life he lives when he's off duty.

It doesn't matter.

How many mistakes he's made. When he walks up to the side of our car door, we roll down the window and say, Yes, sir. And he asks us for our driver's license and we quickly get it and hand it to him. And there's no guff in our hearts.

Amen? We all understand those lines of authority. Five divine purposes. I think about my own experience some years ago, many years ago, 31 years ago. That's a long time ago. But I remember when I used to work at UPS, I got a spanking at UPS.

When I started working there, loading the trucks, working my way through Bible school, when I started working there, I was a lazy man. Being in the army often makes you lazy because there's nothing to do.

And I was lazy. And I went to work at UPS and they put me in this truck loading these boxes and throwing them in there and stacking them up and one day the boss called me into the office and said, Denny, I'm not happy with your work.

You're not working fast enough. Now, that was rather embarrassing for him to say that and humiliating. But I really didn't have any choice. He was the boss. Remember, the lines were clearly drawn. And he said, you're going to have to do better or you're not going to have a job.

Well, I left his office there very humbled and went back to my little trailer and grumbled. You ever do that? Children, you ever do that when you walk out of the room after mom or dad is giving you a little direction?

Well, I went back to my trailer and I grumbled. It was so heavy. I can't keep up here. Man, this is tough. And I kept on working. But I didn't learn my lesson. Two weeks later, I was in that office again and he sat me down again and he said, Denny, this is your last warning.

You are lazy and you are not working hard enough. If you don't straighten up, you don't have a job. Oh, the lines of authority were very clear. I went back to that truck again, very humiliated, but something clicked inside of me and I realized, I'm going to lose my job.

I'm a preacher. What a humiliating thing. What a terrible testimony. How will I put my way through school? How will I feed my family? I better wake up and get busy. And I started to work and I worked and I worked and finally, I mastered that truck and as soon as I mastered that truck, they gave me another truck.

And the first thing I thought was, what? These guys? But remember, the lines of authority were clearly drawn. And I went into that second truck and I started jumping back and forth, loading two of them.

And when I mastered that second truck, guess what they did? They gave me a third truck. That's how lazy I was. When I thought one was... By the time that boss got done with me, I was doing three trucks all night long.

And UPS, they're no dummies. They work part-timers. I work the 10 .30 to 4 .30 in the morning shift. But they work eight hours out of you in six hours. I mean, you work hard. But you know what? God built character in my life through that.

God gave direction in my life. God gave encouragement in my life. After that, the boss brought me into his office again and said, Denny, you're doing a good job. We're going to promote you. We want you out of the truck and working on the dock.

About six months after that, he brought me into the office again and said, Denny, we want you to be a manager at UPS. Now, that would have never happened if that boss wouldn't have thanked me back there when I was doing just one truck.