Submission over Rebellion
Rocky Soil: Seven Attitudes Which Smother Spiritual Fruit • Sermon • Submitted
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Series Review
Rocky Soil: Seven Attitudes Which Smother Spiritual Fruit.
First thing we need to know is that God is at work all around us drawing people to redemption. God wants you to join Him. We work with God when we bear awesome spiritual fruit for His glory.
Spiritual Fruit: Showing love, speaking truth, leading another person into the kingdom as a joyful soul winner.
But there are parts of us which get in the way- this series looks at our sinful attitudes.
They are like stones in a farmers field which prevent an abundant crop.
In the born again believers, God is working to remove these attitudes from our lives. We have the choice as to whether we will partner with Him in this or resist Him in this work.
Attitude of Rebellion
Today, I want to talk about the attitude of rebellion.
We have a fascination with rebellion
We have a fascination with rebellion
James Dean/Star Wars
Being a renegade- Biker, tattoos, piercing, hairdos, bumper stickers. We think that “bad boy” image is pretty cool.
Being a renegade- Biker, tattoos, piercing, hairdos
Convention
Two types of rebellion:
Two types of rebellion
Legitimate Rebellion: When immediate authority over us commands us to do things God has called evil. In these cases, we rebel in order to be obedient to God.
Peter disobeying the Sanhedrin and continuing to preach Jesus.
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
The Bad Kind of Rebellion- When we proudly reject any authority over ourselves because of our pride. We do what we want to do when we want to do it.
2. The Bad Kind of Rebellion- When we proudly reject any authority over ourselves.
“I do what we want to do when I want to do it.”
“I do what we want to do when I want to do it.”
“I’m going get my nosed pierced even though my parents told me not to.”
“I’m going to come in 5 minutes late just to show my boss he doesn’t own me.”
“That speed limit sign doesn’t apply to me!”
“I’m going to park in the guest parking at church even though I’m a member.” Oooh! too close?
This bad kind of rebellion doesn’t have to be active. It can be passive.
Mom asks you to take out the trash and you simply don’t do it because you want to make a statement .
The problem with rebellion is that it goes against the authorities God has placed in your life.
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13
Let’s break this down:
Vs. 1
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
1. God has established authorities on earth.
God has established authorities on earth.
This means God gives authority to governments, parents, teachers, husbands, church elders, and employers.
2. This means that God is the source for all authority.
Authority means rule. For authority to be authority, it means there is the power to enforce one’s rule. No one is more powerful than God, therefore, He is the authority over every authority.
Hence, the Bible reference to God as Almightly.
3. This verse also teaches us that God is orderly and has included authority in His design.
In creation, in society, in the workplace, in His church, in schools, and in the family, God has designed authority.
Revise: [In creation, in society, in the workplace, in His church, in schools, and in the family, He has placed an authority structure. Bottom line, we see this order in that all of us have someone above us and most of us have someone below us]
Why does God do this?
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
Romans
God placed authority into society in order to bring peace and stability.
God placed authority into society in order to bring peace and stability.
in order to bring peace and stability. It is an expression of His grace.
It is an expression of His grace.
Ravi Zaccarias example “Do you lock your door at night?”
Ravi Zaccarias example “Do you lock your door at night?”
Authorities establish laws and rules which allow sinful selfish human beings to live together in peace. In good societies, these laws and rules allow people to thrive despite their sins.
How?
By punishing criminals and rewarding law-abiding citizens, authorities protect people.
This means God has given public servants, your boss, your parents, your husbands, your teachers, and your pastors, authority for your good, so you will thrive, and so you will be protected.
We should be grateful for this grace.
Yet it is our attitude of rebellion which rejects the well-meaning authorities in our lives.
In your pride, You might think that it would be pretty cool to answer to no one but yourself.
Anarchist- Don’t want to be under the authority of the law
But the thing is, there will always be someone bigger, more powerful than you, who will put you in subjection.
But this isn’t reality
Even if you managed to be the world’s top dog, and you had authority over everyone else, you’d still be in subjection…to God. This is true even if you deny it (atheists)
Because we all will have to answer to God and will experience the force of His authority.
Further, this idea of answering to no one but yourself is an illusion, because we all will have to answer to God and will experience the force of His authority.
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In light of this,
You might think that it would be pretty cool to answer to no one but yourself. No, that would be anarchy. It would never work. Eventually, someone bigger, smarter, or tougher than you will rule you.
In light of this,
Paul explains that when we rebel against the authorities God has placed over us, we are really rebelling against Him.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
The instruction Paul gives to us is this:
4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
This says that if we rebel like a wrongdoer, we might feel judgment here on earth through practical consequences, like fines or going to jail.
The instruction Paul gives to us is this:
Humble yourself and submit to the authorities God has placed in your life, because God gave them for your good.
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Romans
5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
I know that in many of our hearts, we cringe at the idea of putting ourselves in subjection to another person or to a governor or to an employer, husband ), etc.
I’m not talking about when you submit to a person who wants you to do wicked things. I’m just talking about general, run-of-the-mill, well meaning authorities in your life.
I’m not talking about when you submit to a person who wants you to do wicked things. I’m just talking about general, run-of-the-mill social obedience.
This resistance we have is a proud attitude in the field of our hearts which we need God to remove.
You’ll find that there is joy in knowing your place in the world and respecting it. When we do this, we accept God’s way of things and there is blessing in such trust. There is rest in putting away the constant fight against authority.
Who are people who have authority over you in your life? Do you resist them?
Louis L’amour quotes
Can you submit to your parents who are working for your good?
Your teachers who want you to make good grades and graduate?
This leads me to my next point
The police who want you to stay out of jail?
Most of what I’ve said applies to the social context. Now I want to talk about your relationship with God.
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Direct Rebellion Against God
Sometimes our attitude of rebellion is even more severe than disobeying the social authorities God has placed in our lives.
Sometimes we rebel against God directly. This is definition of sin. God is the almighty authority and we brush Him off because we are so proud. You can understand that this offense rises above even the specific nature of the sin.
Sin is sin and all of us are rebels.
The very idea of this should cause pause and concern.
Sometimes our attitude of rebellion is even more severe than disobeying the authorities God has placed in our lives. Sometimes we rebel against God directly. The very idea of this should cause fear in our hearts.
This leads me to my next point
Each of us rebels directly against God! (Say this slowly)
This leads me to my next point
Most of the time, it seems we do this because we ignore His commands.
Not obeying the Bible is rebellion against God.
God is the highest authority, and He’s given us His commands.
The Bible is God’s Word.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
God’s Word comes from God and carries His most-high authority.
Scripture calls us the servants of God.
As God’s servants, we are to obey the Lord’s Word.
How does it look when the master says, “Do this.” Yet, the servants don’t do?
How does it look when the Master says, “Do this.” Yet, the servants don’t do?
Even as Christians, we fall into the trap of believing we are a high enough authority to veto God’s commands.
Then why don’t we obey? We have the gall to rebel against the highest authority! We really think that highly of ourselves!
I could understand this while we were yet sinners. The Bible describes every person who is still in his sin to be an enemy of God. Rebellion fits this type of person.
So we say to ourselves, “I know God commands me to do this, but I think I’ll just do what I want instead. Even worse, some of us come to think, “It’s okay, Christ’s grace covers my willful disobedience.”
But if you have confess your sins to God, have believed in Jesus Christ and that He suffered and died of the cross to atone for your sins. He has given you eternal life and brought you into the family of God. He has equipped you with the Holy Spirit so that you might have power to complete obedience. Yet, you read the commands of Christ and don’t do them.
Maybe it’s fear
This is particularly true about evangelism, that is, being a joyful soul-winner. We simply don’t do it. We come up with all sorts of “holy” and creative substitutes to justify us not doing it.
This is particularly true about evangelism, that is, being a joyful soul-winner. We simply don’t do it. We come up with all sorts of “holy” and creative substitutes to justify us not doing it.
So we say to ourselves, “I know God commands me to do this, but I think I’ll just do what I want instead. Even worse, some of us come to think, “It’s okay, Christ’s grace covers my willful disobedience.”
This is particularly true about evangelism, that is, being a joyful soul-winner. We simply don’t do it. We come up with all sorts of “holy” and creative substitutes to justify us not doing it.
Some of us see the commands and actively rebel like Jonah. We go the other way.
So I guess God is all cool with us not obeying Him and not yielding to His authority?
For most of us, we probably don’t practice active rebellion against the word of God.
So I guess God is all cool with us not obeying Him and not yielding to His authority?
We have the gall to rebel against God! We really think that highly of ourselves!
Most of us see the commands and relate to them passively.
This I don’t understand how we could do this. We carry an attitude of rebellion I guess. Perhaps we are afraid to try for fear that we will fail.
We have the gall to rebel against God! We really think that highly of ourselves!
For most of us, we probably don’t practice active rebellion against the word of God.
Friends, let’s get as far away from this attitude of rebellion as we possibly can. This line of thinking is right from the mouth of the devil who wants nothing more than for God’s servants to rebel against His commands. When we rebel against God we act like Satan, who was the first to rebel. His name means “Adversary”.
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
I just know that some day we will have to answer for how we have responded to God’s word. Yes, every failure will be covered by the grace Christ won for us on the cross, but still, don’t you want to be able to stand before Him and say, “Lord, I gave it my all to obey you!”
Maybe it’s fear
Friends, let’s get as far away from this attitude of rebellion as we possibly can. This line of thinking is right from the mouth of the devil who wants nothing more than for God’s servants to rebel against His commands. When we rebel against God we act like Satan, who was the first to rebel. His name means “Adversary”.
Rebellion is rebellion and it is unbecoming for the person who has received the benefit of Christ’s death on the cross.
Maybe we can learn from Christ. Philippians explains that Jesus perfectly obeyed
Yet, we learn from Scripture that He was perfected in obedience.
We learn from Scripture thatFrom the beginning of His life, He was on the path of growing to
Jesus
Instead, let’s be like Jesus, who perfectly obeyed God.
Instead, let’s be like Jesus, who perfectly obeyed God.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
1. Jesus didn’t rebel against God. He never sinned
Hebrews From the beginning of His life, He was on the path of growing to
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
2. Yet, we learn from Scripture that He learned to be obedient
Jesus came to know the Word of God and the meaning of obedience.
8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Jesus’ obedience went from potential obedience to completed obedience.
Jesus did what the Father commanded.
Jesus’ went from potential obedience to fulfilled obedience.
What should we notice in these verses? Jesus came to know the Word of God and the meaning of obedience in His life. Jesus came to do what the Father commanded by His strength.
For example, when Jesus was a baby in a manger, had He been obedient to the Father yet? Of course not, though he certainly would later.
First, Jesus came to know the Word of God and the meaning of obedience in God’s redemption plan.
Jesus came to know the Word of God and the meaning of obedience.
He came to understand what Paul says in
Second, He grew in action.
Second, He grew in action.
He came to understand what Paul says in
He came to understand what Paul says in
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
This is an important lesson for us. Remember, As Jesus goes, so do we.
This is an important lesson for us. Remember, As Jesus goes, so do we.
First, we must humble ourselves and repent of our attitude of rebellion.
First, we must repent of our attitude of rebellion.
Like Jesus, we must not rebel.
We must surrender the pride which yearns for us to be our own authorities, even over God.
We need to understand being subject to God’s authority is for our good and protection.
We must stop rebelling against God and disobeying His commands.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
We need to understand being subject to God’s authority is for our good and protection.
Tell yourself, “I will soon be a joyful soul-winner.” “I will love others.”
Second, we must realize we have the power to obey.
You can be like Jesus and move from potential obedience to complete obedience. You can go from being a not yet soul winner to a veteran soul winner
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Third, we must learn what God commands.
Third, we must learn what God commands.
Then, we follow Christ by doing what God has commanded us to do.
Like Jesus, we must search God’s word in order to know the Commands.
Interesting to note in Scritpure, Jesus learned obedience.
Rebel against the greatest authority in your life, the Word of God
God is not pleased when we rebel against the authorities He’s placed in our lives.
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
How?
God is a God of order. In creation, there is an order of authority. This is an expression of God’s grace.
We must get into it and grow in our understanding. God’s commands need to become our convictions.
In addition to self study, you need to get into a Growth Group. These are groups of people who study the Word of God together. These groups spur on another on in the spirit of
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
These groups will help you learn what God has commanded.
Visit the Welcome Table immediately after the service and we’ll help you find the group right for you.
Even better, join a men’s or women’s Discipleship Groups. This is a group of 2-3 who have as their focus obedience. Our next go round will start with an orientation meeting on June 25 5:30 PM
You need to study on your own, but the problem with this is you have no accountability.
These groups will encourage you to denounce a spirit of rebellion in your life and to learn obedience in the Lord.
Fourth, we must do what God has commanded us to do.
Fourth, we must do what God has commanded us to do.
If we don’t do this, then our faith and convictions don’t mean much.
In the church, Growth Groups and Discipleship Groups point you to ministry teams and outreach teams, through which you can do obedience.
Prayer Meeting
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
These groups will help you learn what God has commanded.
Visit the Welcome Table immediately after the service and we’ll help you find the group right for you.
Even better, join a men’s or women’s Discipleship Groups. This is a group of 2-3 who have as their focus obedience. June 25 5:30 PM
These groups will encourage you to denounce a spirit of rebellion in your life and to do obedience in the Lord.
In the church, these groups point you to ministry teams and outreach teams, through which you can do obedience.
To the unsaved
Remember, this message is for Christians, that they may become servants who bear much fruit.
Remember, this message is for Christians, that they may become servants who bear much fruit.
There might be some here today who are not yet Christians. This means you have yet to surrender your life to Lord in faith.
If this is you, I want to make sure you are not confused.
You might start to think that you get into heaven by learning what God commands and doing it. This is not what I am saying. God only cares about works after we saved.
Going to heaven is not a result of good works. It’s a matter of getting the stench of sin off of you. You could spend morning to evening doing good deeds and you would still be condemned to hell, because you’ve not done anything to address your sin.
This authority holds things together (society, families, church). If we do not yield to authority, then everyone does what is right in his own eyes and all-wickedness breaks out. You might think it’s cool to answer to no one, but it would never stay that way. When you have anarchy, someone bigger, smarter or tougher will eventually assert himself or herself over you.
Truly, there is never the true absence of authority, because there is always God.
Most often the rebellion we do is of this second kind. Our pride leads us to rebel against the leaders God has put in our lives to respect and obey. In arrogance, people rebel against, parents, husbands, bosses, teachers, pastors, government. To cap it off, our pride leads all of us to rebel against God.
I know, we rationalize our rebellion by citing some offense that has been made toward us, but let’s get real, most of the time we rebel because we do what we want to do when we want to do it.
We need to realize that this proud rebellion prevents us from being the servants God wants us to be. In fact, rebellion smother spiritual fruit. It disrupts the work of the kingdom.
When we rebel because of our pride,
Spiritual fruit comes from submitting to God’s order of things. Rebellion from a proud heart.
God’s kingdom is very orderly.
God endows His authority throughout his kingdom to keep things orderly.
He does this to maximize kingdom fruit
He does this so the servants will work together smoothly to create spiritual fruit.
Just like the military must insist on a chain of command and absolute obedience in order to succeed in the mission, so too, the parts of the body of Christ must yield.
Spiritual fruit comes from submitting to God’s order of things. Rebellion from a proud heart.
All authority comes from God.
The Godhead.
Government
Employment
Family
Those in authority will ultimately answer to God regarding how they use it.
When we respect authority, we glorify the Lord. In this we make a statement with our lives that affirms our God is a God of order.
The exception to submitting to immediate authority is if it is clearly evil. In such cases, Christians may freely yield to God’s authority. (e.g. Daniel).
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
How do you address your sin? Through faith alone. The Bible, God’s Word, explains that God wants you to believe in Him. He wants you to see that your sins make you unfit for His presence. You cannot expect to be in the presence of a holy God if your wreak of sin. But He still loves you, so He made a way. He sent His Son Jesus to die without any sins of His own. In this Jesus pays the price for your sins. God says that if you believe some things, like Jesus is His Son and that Jesus died for your sins, and that Jesus was raised from the grave, and that you need to surrender your life to Him, then you will be saved.
Then Godly works start to matter, because you become a servant who pleases His Master.
Then Godly works start to matter, because you become a servant who pleases His Master.