October 3, 2021 - Serving Authorities

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

· When we read passages like this – and we read of slaves and masters, we should know that these words are used because in the context of the time, there were slaves and masters.

· Now – when we hear the word slavery – I think our minds initially go to the timeframe in America between it’s founding in 1776 and the passage of the 13th amendment in 1865.

· We initially think of Pre-Civil War slavery – and we CONFLATE that form with the biblical form.

What we should know to start – is that the most common biblical form of slavery was more in the form of - Servitude

· Servitude in Ancient Israel – was voluntary

· One would sell HIMSELF into servitude…because he had no other options

· Maybe they had to sell off their land due to famine…and they exhausted their resources…

And they realize – I NEED a place to stay. I’ll WORK for someone.

And so with that said – I think it’s completely appropriate – that we can extrapolate the PRINCIPLES in this passage – and apply them to the varying kinds of HIERARCHIES we see in our world…

· Coaches and players

· Bosses and employees

· Teachers and students

· Governing authorities…

· Police and citizens

· Governors, Presidents and citizens

Now when we COME TO PASSAGES like this in the Bible - we must remember that - the Bible EXPLAINS the Bible...

HOWEVER -

I NEED TO FIRST SAY THIS - I get it...

The first thing we think of when we read passages like this is - OK - well THEN HOW should I handle...

THIS situation?

or THAT situation??!!

Well WHAT IF THIS happens?

What about THAT?

There are literally a MILLION different scenarios that we COULD come face-to-face with…on any given day

And that’s even MORE true in today’s society...

I WILL say - EACH situation is going to be DIFFERENT...

A nuance here...

a nuance there

BUT - I DO think there are enough examples IN THE BIBLE - to help us see a pattern at play...

A pattern that can HELP us as we walk out INTO - THIS UPSIDE-DOWN world

These verses today in Ephesians are not the ONLY verses we SEE in the Bible which speak to this topic…(HOW we respond to Authority in this world)

And so we’ll be bouncing to OTHER texts as well - to help us with this...

But first - back to our text today...

Ephesians 6:5–7 ESV

When we look at this section of our text… There is a VERY important truth that jumps out at us...

That really is FOUNDATIONAL in helping us understand how we LIVE out these truths...

SLIDE: Submission to Authority: The Ultimate Authority of God

Submission to Authority

This truth here is foundational!

Let’s look back at our text…and as we do - notice THE AUTHORITY of GOD laced throughout!!...

AS it talks about us - OBEYING our earthly authorities!

Ephesians 6:5–7 ESV

If we were to highlight all of the phrases found here - that ELEVATE God’s Authority - IN OUR OBEYING...

It really can’t get much more CLEAR...

[HIGHLIGHT PARTS]

Ephesians 6:5–7 ESV

Walk through HIGHLIGHTS

At every turn in this passage - GOD’s AUTHORITY in SHINING thru -

AS we obey those in authority

NOW - I know some of you heard what i JUST said - “as we OBEY those in authority”...

And you SQUIRMED in your chair!

Listen - the OBEDIENCE here in this passage - IS a CERTAIN KIND of obedience...

The Obedience here - IS a GOD-HONORING obedience...

The obedience spoken of here - COMMANDED here - LINES US with - v6 - Doing THE WILL of GOD - from the heart!

This passage is NOT declaring that we OBEY authority - NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY!!

No - the obedience here - falls IN LINE with - THE WILL of GOD!

And that makes sense because - what was our first point for today....

SLIDE

Submission to Authority

The command here - IS NOT to blindly do WHATEVER authority tells you to do!

And Paul makes this even MORE CLEAR in the next couple of verses...

Ephesians 6:7–8 ESV

7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

So WHAT KIND of service is being done here??

a GOOD service!

a SERVICE that is - God-Honoring!

And so the OBEDIENCE called FOR HERE in our passage - is IMPLIED to be - God-Honoring obedience!

NOW - you might be asking - well WHY WOULD Paul have to command us to OBEY Authority when that Authority tells us to DO God-Honoring things???

I think the answer is - WE ALL KNOW people - who HATE being told what to do!

Don’t we??

We know people who - EVEN IF you’re trying to HELP THEM...

They will say - LISTEN - Don’t TELL ME what to do...

No ONE tells me what to do...

I Do WHAT I want - WHEN I WANT!

Paul says here - RESPECT the authority OVER YOU…which is there - in these cases - for YOUR GOOD!

Aren’t we seeing the OPPOSITE play out in our world today??

We think about the military or the POLICE in this country TODAY!

What did society think about Police officers 20 years ago?

They were - by and large - RESPECTED by most EVERYONE...

TODAY?

Today we have a CLIMATE in this country that RESENTS - authority!

I can tell you this!

Can I any military or police men and women / firemen - first responders - among us - to please stand...

Abiding Faith Bible Church:

THANKS you for your service!

We RESPECT the selfless work that you do...

And we are GRATEFUL to you and your families!!!

As we RUN AWAY from the TROUBLE - THEY RUN TOWARD IT!!

We are grateful!

How can we NOT BE grateful??

And YET!!

Many in our nation today - SCOFF at this authority!

NOT WILLING to obey...

What’s the command?

Obey…as OVERSEE us for our GOOD!

NOW - maybe the elephant in the room up to this point...

OK MIKE - makes sense to obey those in authority who LINE up with God’s Goodness and His Will!...

But what about those in authority who DO NOT line up with God’s Will?

How do we handle that?

As I said before, the Bible EXPLAINS the Bible...

SO let’s have the Bible speak to us...

Let’s go to some other passages in the Bible to help us with this...

And maybe clear up some passages that have maybe CONFUSED us before...

Let’s go to Romans 13 and go 1 verse at a time...

Romans 13:1 ESV

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.

Here we see a call - NOT TO OBEY governing authorities, but - BE SUBJECT to them...

In our passage today in Ephesians - Paul used the word - hypakouo (eepakoowo) - OBEY

TO FOLLOW A COMMAND

But here in Romans - speaking about Governing Authorities - WHO AT THIS TIME in ROME - was Nero - the Christian Killer...

Paul uses the word - hypotasso (eepatosso) - Remain Orderly

Romans 13:2 ESV

2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Now - from here - Paul is going to DEFINE a certain TYPE of authority (ruler)

Romans 13:3 ESV

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,

Is this ALWAYS true?

NO - so - God here is defining a certain TYPE of RULER - the kind that APPROVES what is good

We see that in the text...

Romans 13:4–5 ESV

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.

So we see that God here - In a sense - DESCRIBES a ruler that displays the CHARACTER of God...

Approves of what is GOOD...

Disapproves of what is BAD...

So again - we read this and think - OK, we’re to BE SUBJECT to this type of Authority…makes sense...

BUT this isn’t the only OTHER place in the Bible where we see this topic discussed...

1 Peter 2:13–17 ESV

13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Here we see that same word used - BE SUBJECT - for the Lord’s sake - to every human institution...

YET - in v15 we see that the WILL of GOD - is that we would - DO GOOD...

BECAUSE by DOING GOOD - we live as (v16) - - Servants of - GOD!

Honor everyone...

Love the brotherhood… (we should display a UNIQUE, AMAZING love for fellow Christians)

Fear GOD - we don’t fear MAN or man’s laws...

Honor the emperor… God shows throughout scripture that there is a certain honor due certain positions in society...

that certain POSITIONS should be respected / honored

Even Jesus - standing before Pilate, recognized his authority…(though given him from above)

NOW - let’s jump down to the next verses…and look at some passages that might confuse us...

1 Peter 2:18–20 ESV

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

NOW - these verses MIGHT make us cringe…thinking we need to OBEY whatever UNJUST rulers tell us..

BUT - we actually see the exact opposite play out in these verses...

Again - we see this word used here - BE SUBJECT!!

Remain ORDERLY - under not only good and gentle RULERS - but also the UNJUST rulers as well!

NOW - it may sound like this is a call for us to - OBEY THE UNJUST ruler...

That’s not EXACTLY what it means...

The verses actually tell the story...

Servants - BE SUBJECT to your masters…with all RESPECT…EVEN to the UNJUST ruler...

For this is a GRACIOUS thing - when you ENDURE suffering UNJUSTLY - at the hands of the UNJUST ruler!

NOW - sidebar - Question - Why would this person be SUFFERING at the hands of the UNJUST RULER?

v20 tells us!

For what credit is it, if when you SIN and are beaten for sinning, you endure? What’s so great about that? NOTHING! You sinned - you reap what you sow...

BUT - and here it is!

BUT- IF when you - DO GOOD - and suffer for it - you endure? This is pleasing to GOD!!

Do you see what happened in the story here?

This servant here is UNDER an UNJUST ruler!

That UNJUST ruler - commands the servant to - DO SOMETHING - BAD - something that goes AGAINST God’s truth…His command...

That servant - ULTIMATELY under the authority of - WHO? - - GOD...

Does NOT OBEY that UNJUST command...

In OBEDIENCE to GOD - the SERVANT - DISOBEYS the Unjust ruler...

What comes to the servant when THAT happens?

Suffering

The servant - OBEYING God - doing GOOD - disobeys the Unjust ruler - and SUFFERING COMES...

That servant now LIVES OUT - the end of v20...

Do you see it?

But then there’s a question that ARISES!

What then does it MEAN - to BE SUBJECT to that Unjust ruler?

What does it mean to - REMAIN ORDERLY under the Unjust ruler?

SLIDE: Subjection to Authority: Peaceful Acceptance of Consequences for Obeying God

Subjection to Authority

It means - The servant OBEYS God INSTEAD of the Unjust ruler - BUT still submits to the Unjust ruler by accepting the legal consequences of those actions.

And it’s this pattern that we see throughout scripture…

If we look at the story of the fiery furnace…

- We see a LAW come down from king Nebuchadnezzar… what was it?

Daniel 3:4–6 ESV

4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”

OK, - here is the LAW that came down...

It stated that when the MUSIC played, EVERYONE had to bow down to the golden image…

- They had to WORSHIP the golden image.

WELL – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – SERVANTS of God…did what?

- Did they OBEY this UNBIBLICAL command from the Authority that was in place?

- NO

- Why?

- Because GOD was their ultimate authority!

- And then what happens is they LIVE out 1 Peter 2:20

1 Peter 2:20 ESV

20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

- What was the GOOD?

- The GOOD was their OBEDIENCE to – GOD!

- Then came the SUFFERING….

BECAUSE they DISOBEYED the Authority…in order to HONOR God…

What was the result?

- THEY were commanded INTO the fiery furnace…

How did they handle THAT?

Daniel 3:21 ESV

21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

- They accepted the consequences of their actions.

- They would accept the ramifications of disobeying the Authorities…

And so what’s the pattern?

- They DISOBEY any order or command that directly goes against a COMMAND of God…

- AND THEN they accept the legal consequences of those actions!

- At THAT point, they SUBJECT themselves to the authority, in taking the punishment.

- And what ends up happening?

- They get tossed into the furnace and yet – THEY LIVE…

- Listen to King Neb

Daniel 3:26–28 ESV

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

· How awesome is that!!

How about another instance…where we see the same pattern…

Let’s stick with the same book of Daniel…

If we know the story of Daniel and the lion’s den…what happens?

King Darius was King of Persia...

And he sought to PROMOTE Daniel to a high position in the kingdom...

WELL - 2 of the men looking to ATTAIN that high position…PLOTTED against Daniel

They get King Darius to sign an INJUNCTION that would punish anyone for praying to ANYONE of ANY God - other than King Darius...

And so what does Daniel do?

He KEEPS praying to God...

And so he DISOBEYS the INJUNCTION....in order to OBEY - God!

Then what happens? - - He gets thrown into the Lion’s den!

And he COMPLIES!!

He DISOBEYS the UNBIBLICAL Command - and then SUBMITS to the punishment that came as a result of that!

What other Scenario?

How about New Testament...

IN Acts 27 we read of the apostle Paul being - UNJUSTLY imprisoned - and at a point in his imprisonment...

he makes his way before the Procurator of Judea...at the time - Festus

And Festus was hearing Paul's case - as to why his imprisonment was UNJUST...

While Paul's speaking to him - he says this...

Acts 25:10–11 ESV

10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 11 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

Paul's saying - Hey, If i've done anything worthy of the death penalty...then you can - kill me.I will SUBJECT myself to what is DUE ME... But there is NOTHING I have done wrong...NOW... Following this exchange - Paul begins making his way to ROME to go before Caesar...and they transport him BY BOAT... ON the way, they decide to PORT at Sidon...why - because Paul was sick. Listen to how the GUARD in charge treated Paul...

Acts 27:1–3 ESV

1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

So Julius, the AUTHORITY in this matter - let Paul leave and go see friends. Paul - was the PRISONER...

So - here we have - the perfect TIME to escape this INJUSTICE against Paul right?Would Paul had been justified in NOT returning to the boat after he was allowed to seek help?

And yet - Paul - RETURNS...Paul KNOWS he is UNJUSTLY being held prisoner...And yet - he returns...

He - PLAYS their GAME...He - SUBJECTS himself to his UNJUST arrest. NOW - He's speaking out against it, but he REMAINED orderly.

Why speak out against it?

Because in DOING so - He's PROCLAIMING Christ!!

LITERALLY!

And in this moment - we see this pattern play out again!

We see - Paul LIVING - Focused on the proclamation of CHRIST....And WHATEVER comes to him because of that....he complies...

He SUBMITS himself to it - peacefully....WHILE even proclaiming that his punishment is WRONG.

In these moments - we find MEN of GOD - caring more for the LOST SOULS around them, than for their own rights.

And so let's look at the pattern again - to close...

When a command from Authority - collides with the command of God - we OBEY - God.

If that means disobeying earthly authority - then that means we disobey earthly authority...We OBEY God...

But then we - SUBJECT ourselves peacefully to the legal ramifications of that Obedience to God in the face of earthly authority.

This is our call when it comes to these things...and we've seen some examples in Scripture of this being lived out.

We've seen - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego...We've seen - Daniel in the lion's denWe've seen - the apostle Paul

But we also have an ULTIMATE example to look to... Remember - OUR EXAMPLE...

1 Peter 2:19–25 ESV

19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

SUMMARY

Submission to Authority: The Ultimate Authority of God

Submission to Authority

Subjection to Authority: Peaceful Acceptance of Consequences for Obeying God

Submission to Authority

Our battle is not against flesh and blood...but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.