Under Authority
Being under authority means being submitted to. We are to come under the authority
of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13) says “Who has delivered us from the power of
darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son”. Jesus is the head
of the church, the church is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23) says “and has put all things
under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church. Which is
His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all”.
Jesus says in John 15:4-7 “abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am
the vine, you are the branches, he that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings
forth much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is
cast forth as a branch, and is withered and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall
ask what you will, and it shall be done to you”.
Jesus also said “why call you Me, Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?
Whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you to
whom he is like. He is like a man which built a house and dig deep and laid the
foundation on a rock and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that
house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that hears, and
does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth, against
which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that
house was great”.
A good way to examine yourself is to read the red and do what it says, most Bibles
have the words that Jesus spoke in red.
Lets look back through the Bible to see some examples of both those who kept
themselves under authority and those who didn’t.
Adam – God made Adam and gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every thing that creeks upon the earth. Then God
commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you
eat thereof you shall surely die. But as Eve was tempted of the serpent, and did eat
of the tree, and did give also to Adam, and he did eat. Adam lost his authority when
he got out of authority, he relinquished his dominion to the devil by obeying him over
what God had said. This is a warning for us, because Jesus gave us authority in Luke
10:19 “behold I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”. Then in Roman 6:16
Paul warns “know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to
righteousness”? You see Adam obeyed the serpent over God, and we are tried every
day to see if we will do the same.
Korah – Korah and a company of 250 men, with Dathan and Abiram rose up against
Moses and Aaron, they refused to be under their authority, but Moses said to Korah,
hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi. Seems it but a small thing to you, that the God of
Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself
to do the service of the tabernacle, and all you brethren the sons of Levi with you,
and seek you the priesthood also? Moses then told them “this do, take you censers
Korah, and all his company. And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the
Lord Yahweh tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord Yahweh does
choose, he shall be holy; you take too much upon you, you sons of Levi. And Moses
said, Hereby you shall know that the Lord Yahweh has sent me to do all these works,
for I have not done them of my own mind”. The results was that the ground split apart
and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained to Korah
and all their goods; they went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them,
and they perished” (Numbers 16).
Samson – was supposed to be Israel’s deliver, but he fell into much sin, he was not to
drink any wine from his birth, but he drank, and was involved with harlots, to the extent
that he didn’t know that the Lord Yahweh had departed from him (Judges 16:20). And
after the Philistines put out his eyes and made him a slave, when they were making
sport of him. Even though Samson lost his authority through his continual sins, he
came to himself and repented. Samson prayed and asked the Lord Yahweh to
strengthen him only once more, and his strength returned and he was able to kill
more of the Philistines at his death then when he lived. This is a good example for us,
it tells us that even if we get off on the wrong track, we can repent and turn around
and God is able to use us again.
King Saul and David – King Saul’s kingship was taken away from him because he
refused to obey God, he made excuses and blamed the people for his disobedience;
he lost his authority but then refused to relinquish it and tried to kill David which
replaced him. David on the other hand had opportunities to kill King Saul and would
not take them, because he recognized that King Saul was God’s anointed even
though he was trying to kill him; he waited for God and King Saul was killed. David
after he was made king made mistakes and even killed Uriah when he couldn’t cover
up his adultery affair with Bathsheba, but when he was confronted, he repented and
God was able to use him in a mighty way.
Going on to the New Testament – The Centurion understood being under authority
and for that Jesus commended him for his great faith. In Matthew 8:5-13 the
centurion came to Jesus beseeching Him and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home
sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. When Jesus said “I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under
my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man
under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this man, go, and he goes, and
to another, come, and he comes; and to my servant do this and he does it. Jesus
marveled and said to them that followed. Verily I say to you I have not found so great
faith no not in Israel. Jesus said to the centurion, go your way and as you have
believed, so be it done to you, and his servant was healed in the selfsame hour”.
Paul – understood being under authority (Galatians 2:20) says “I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for
me”. Paul referred to himself and a servant of Jesus Christ, and a bond servant for
Christ.
The church has a lot of splits when people don’t agree with the authority and try to
bring it down, instead of as the Bible says praying for them (I Timothy 2:1-4) “I exhort
therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks,
be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is god and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the
knowledge of the truth”. It is God that takes down one and puts up another.
Jesus said I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”
(Matthew 16:18) which makes the church sound, Hebrews 12:28-29 says “wherefore
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming
fire”. Jesus also said “a house divided against itself can not stand” (Mark 3:25). This
is the devil’s greatest trick to get the church to break down their own house.
Let us learn to understand that being under authority, submitting ourselves to God is
a good thing (James 4:7) says “submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil,
and he will flee from you”. The book of Hebrews tells is “while it is said, today, if you
will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation” (Hebrews 3:15).
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: December 12, 2008
Being under authority means being submitted to. We are to come under the authority
of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13) says “Who has delivered us from the power of
darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son”. Jesus is the head
of the church, the church is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23) says “and has put all things
under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church. Which is
His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all”.
Jesus says in John 15:4-7 “abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am
the vine, you are the branches, he that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings
forth much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is
cast forth as a branch, and is withered and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall
ask what you will, and it shall be done to you”.
Jesus also said “why call you Me, Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?
Whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you to
whom he is like. He is like a man which built a house and dig deep and laid the
foundation on a rock and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that
house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that hears, and
does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth, against
which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that
house was great”.
A good way to examine yourself is to read the red and do what it says, most Bibles
have the words that Jesus spoke in red.
Lets look back through the Bible to see some examples of both those who kept
themselves under authority and those who didn’t.
Adam – God made Adam and gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every thing that creeks upon the earth. Then God
commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you
eat thereof you shall surely die. But as Eve was tempted of the serpent, and did eat
of the tree, and did give also to Adam, and he did eat. Adam lost his authority when
he got out of authority, he relinquished his dominion to the devil by obeying him over
what God had said. This is a warning for us, because Jesus gave us authority in Luke
10:19 “behold I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”. Then in Roman 6:16
Paul warns “know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to
righteousness”? You see Adam obeyed the serpent over God, and we are tried every
day to see if we will do the same.
Korah – Korah and a company of 250 men, with Dathan and Abiram rose up against
Moses and Aaron, they refused to be under their authority, but Moses said to Korah,
hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi. Seems it but a small thing to you, that the God of
Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself
to do the service of the tabernacle, and all you brethren the sons of Levi with you,
and seek you the priesthood also? Moses then told them “this do, take you censers
Korah, and all his company. And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the
Lord Yahweh tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord Yahweh does
choose, he shall be holy; you take too much upon you, you sons of Levi. And Moses
said, Hereby you shall know that the Lord Yahweh has sent me to do all these works,
for I have not done them of my own mind”. The results was that the ground split apart
and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained to Korah
and all their goods; they went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them,
and they perished” (Numbers 16).
Samson – was supposed to be Israel’s deliver, but he fell into much sin, he was not to
drink any wine from his birth, but he drank, and was involved with harlots, to the extent
that he didn’t know that the Lord Yahweh had departed from him (Judges 16:20). And
after the Philistines put out his eyes and made him a slave, when they were making
sport of him. Even though Samson lost his authority through his continual sins, he
came to himself and repented. Samson prayed and asked the Lord Yahweh to
strengthen him only once more, and his strength returned and he was able to kill
more of the Philistines at his death then when he lived. This is a good example for us,
it tells us that even if we get off on the wrong track, we can repent and turn around
and God is able to use us again.
King Saul and David – King Saul’s kingship was taken away from him because he
refused to obey God, he made excuses and blamed the people for his disobedience;
he lost his authority but then refused to relinquish it and tried to kill David which
replaced him. David on the other hand had opportunities to kill King Saul and would
not take them, because he recognized that King Saul was God’s anointed even
though he was trying to kill him; he waited for God and King Saul was killed. David
after he was made king made mistakes and even killed Uriah when he couldn’t cover
up his adultery affair with Bathsheba, but when he was confronted, he repented and
God was able to use him in a mighty way.
Going on to the New Testament – The Centurion understood being under authority
and for that Jesus commended him for his great faith. In Matthew 8:5-13 the
centurion came to Jesus beseeching Him and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home
sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. When Jesus said “I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under
my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man
under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this man, go, and he goes, and
to another, come, and he comes; and to my servant do this and he does it. Jesus
marveled and said to them that followed. Verily I say to you I have not found so great
faith no not in Israel. Jesus said to the centurion, go your way and as you have
believed, so be it done to you, and his servant was healed in the selfsame hour”.
Paul – understood being under authority (Galatians 2:20) says “I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for
me”. Paul referred to himself and a servant of Jesus Christ, and a bond servant for
Christ.
The church has a lot of splits when people don’t agree with the authority and try to
bring it down, instead of as the Bible says praying for them (I Timothy 2:1-4) “I exhort
therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks,
be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is god and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the
knowledge of the truth”. It is God that takes down one and puts up another.
Jesus said I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”
(Matthew 16:18) which makes the church sound, Hebrews 12:28-29 says “wherefore
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming
fire”. Jesus also said “a house divided against itself can not stand” (Mark 3:25). This
is the devil’s greatest trick to get the church to break down their own house.
Let us learn to understand that being under authority, submitting ourselves to God is
a good thing (James 4:7) says “submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil,
and he will flee from you”. The book of Hebrews tells is “while it is said, today, if you
will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation” (Hebrews 3:15).
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: December 12, 2008
