The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life. 

Hidden in Christ Jesus are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and it is only by His grace that we have access to these precious commodities. It is His Grace, which takes a natural man, an enemy of God, incapable of understanding the things of the Spirit of God, and adopts him as a son who learns to hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverted mouth.

The last couple of weeks we have seen two examples of how pride and perverted speech play out in the life of Christians.

On one hand we have Kanye West. For at least a decade, Mr. West had been a peddler of vile, profane, wicked garbage. A rapper who enjoyed pushing the envelope of people's sensibilities and challenging their comfortable existence. He was a textbook case of a rebel at war with God. Then, over the course of the last couple of weeks and months, we find out that Kanye has been born again, that he has given his life to Christ, and though he obviously needs much discipleship, testimony from others around him, and some very early signs of fruit, suggest that his conversion story may be true. Where the pride comes in, is how many in Christendom have clicked away on their keyboards in an endless stream of speculation about whether Kanye is a legit Christian, or a fraud. How much pride does it take for someone who says they have indeed been saved by grace, to then so quickly, demand some type of extra-biblical proof of a man’s conversion? Imagine Philip demanding of the eunuch “I hear your profession, recognize your desire to be baptized, but gosh, you have to pass my litmus test first. Only then can I call you brother.”

Now, I’m not suggesting some lackadaisical approach as to what constitutes a genuine conversion, or some “walk an aisle” or “pray a little prayer” type of profession as being all that discerning Pastors and Elders must look for in a person's conversion. What I am saying is that 99.9999% of the people commenting online and in the media about Kanye’s conversion with skepticism, do not know the man. They have not spoken with him, his Pastor, his family, or his friends. They just know that while God’s grace was powerful enough to cover their sins, Kanye West is a bridge too far. It’s prideful, leads to perverted speech, such as gossip, and all of us are capable of it. We see a man claim Christ, and pride leads to potential slander and twisting of the truth, all in a mad rush to be the one who gets to say “Told you so” should Kanye turn out to not be a brother. Let us be charitable, and use discernment, all the while working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, rather than being a bunch of busybody fruit inspectors. Just as you and I must, Kanye must persevere to the end. Other immature, baby Christians you know must persevere to the end. Rather than hurling darts, which is the devils work, why not instead pray. Pray for a heart full of compassion for these men and women. Pray that they will be protected from the schemes of Satan.

Secondly, we have Beth Moore. A decades long perverter of God’s Word. She tramples the headship of her husband, ignores God’s Word in regards to male headship, all the while playing the role of Pastor/Preacher and Teacher of men, while denying that she does it. She does this while batting her eyes saying “Well I declare, you men are soooo mean. I feel this is my calling. Jesus talks to me and says ‘You go girl’”. Much of the evangelical world doesn’t even bat an eye, they just go along with the charade. With feminism running rampant in the Church, it’s no surprise. She is idolized by millions of women for her strength, her intellect, and her ability to lead her home. Rather than encouraging Mrs. Moore to go home, submit to her husband, love her children, and teach the younger women, many Christians say “Come on in”. The men who sit under her teaching are just as pathetic, as they are led along like oxen to the slaughter. I mention her, because as Christians, we love to store up our teachers. We like the persons style. We like their voice. We like the bible translation they use. They have the most epic beard and coordinate their flannel just right. We like how they lie to us and flatter us. We find a teacher that tickles our ears just right, and this opens up the door for us to compromise. A little feminism here, a little critical race theory there, and down the rabbit hole we go, content all the way down.

Both of these examples exist because Christians have chosen to love the world, which is enmity with God, rather than to hate evil.  Christians in their pride have taken to call evil good and good evil. In this nice little cushy world where everyone is scrambling to out love Jesus, we as Christians are called to hate. Hate evil. Hate pride. Hate arrogance. Hate the evil way. Hate perverted mouths.

James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says ‘God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble’.”

Psalm 97:10 says “Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His Godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked”.

Psalm 119:104 “From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way”.

Psalm 119:163 “I hate and despise falsehood, but I love Your Law”.

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. Where has pride led you? Have the smooth words of perverted mouths led you into bondage? Has hardness of heart led you to look skeptically upon immature Christians, rather than praying for and coming alongside them?

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:13-17 NASB)
 
If you are able, let us kneel and pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Son, our Redeemer, and for His Spirit, our Helper, for we are weak, frail, and forgetful. We cannot save ourselves, cannot sustain ourselves, and cannot seem to remember that we are all in desperate need of your grace, yet as mere worms, we manage to become prideful. Many of us have been led onto paths of righteousness for Your Namesake, yet because of indwelt sin, still find the evil way to be enchanting at times. Please be merciful towards us sinners. Your Word tells us that the sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd, and know His voice. Because we do not believe that Christ can supply all our needs, we find ourselves with itching ears, longing to be tickled by deceivers, and liking it. Please lead us into all truth Father. Guard our hearts and minds from the schemes of Satan. Father, please show us Grace that we might hate evil, wherever we find it. Whether within our hearts, our homes, or in the world. Please forgive us of our sins against You. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe:

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
(From the 10-27-19 liturgy of Sovereign King Church. Written by Aaron Sabie.)

(Here at Sovereign King Church we are committed to the unity of the church even while disagreeing on the timing and mode of baptism.   This commitment to charity in the midst of disagreement has allowed for sweet fellowship in this church.   With this charity still in mind, I wanted to share something from the pen of Cotton Mather.  He was a New England Puritan and one of the most prolific American writers.   In this excerpt from his work entitled "A Family Well-ordered", Mather speaks to parents of baptized children.  He impressed upon them the duty of evangelizing their children, which he calls improving their baptism.  His words here are an encouragement to those who have baptized their children and yet should also encourage those who do not hold to infant baptism to be about training their children in the fear of the Lord.)

Cotton Matthers on Improving our children's baptisms:

Consider the Condition of your Children; and the Loud Cry of their Condition unto you, to Endeavour their Salvation! Know you not, That your Children have precious and Immortal Souls within them? They are not all Flesh. You that are the Parents of their Flesh, must know, That your Children have Spirits also, whereof you are told, in Heb. 12.9. God is the Father of them; and in Eccles. 12.7. God is the Giver of them. The Souls of your Children, must survive their Bodies, and are transcendentally Better and Higher & Nobler Things than their Bodies. Are you solicitous that their Bodies may be Fed? You should be more solicitous that their Souls may not be Starved, or go without the Bread of Life. Are you solicitous that their Bodies may be Clothed: You should be more solicitous, that their Souls may not be Naked, or go without the Garments of Righteousness. Are you Loathe to have their Bodies Laboring under Infirmities, or Deformities? You should be much more Loathe to have their Souls pining away in their Iniquities. Man, Are thy Children, but the Children of Swine? If thou art Regardless of their Souls, truly thou dost call them so! One of the Ancients, namely Cyprian, hath a pungent comparison for this matter;

"Pray, Consider, He that minds his Child's Body more than his Soul, is like one, that if his Child and his Dog were like to be drowned, should be solicitous to save his Dog, but let the Child perish in the water."

How deaf art thou, that thou dost not hear a loud cry from the Souls of thy Children in thine Ears, O my Father, my Mother, Look after me!
 
But more than so; Don't you know, That your Children, are the Children of Death, and the Children of Hell, and the Children of Wrath, by Nature: And that from you, this Nature is derived and conveyed unto them! You must know, Parents, that your Children are by your means Born under the dreadful Wrath of God: And if they are not New-Born before they Die, it had been Good for them, that they never had been Born at all. The law of equity was, in Exod. 21.19. If one man wound another, he shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. Your Children are born with deadly wounds of Sin upon their Souls; and they may Thank you for those wounds: Unjust men, will you now do nothing for their Healing? Man, thy Children are dying of an horrid poison, in their Bowels; and it was thou that poisoned 'em. What! wilt thou do nothing for their Succor! Thy Children are thrown into a Devouring Fire; and it is from thee that the Fiery Vengeance of God ha's taken Hold of them. What! wilt thou do nothing to Help them out! There is a Corrupt Nature in thy Children, which is a Fountain of all Wickedness and Confusion.

What shall I Say? I may say, The Time would fail me to mention a thousandth part of what might be said. But, in short: Is it not a sad Thing to be The Father of a Fool? Alas, man, till thy Children become Regenerate, Thou art the Father of a Fool; Thy Children are but the Wild Asses Colt! I add; would it not Break thy Heart, if thy Children, were in Slavery to Turks, or Moors, or Indians? Devils are worse than Indians, and Infidels: Till thy Children are brought home to God, they are the slaves of Devils. In a word; Can thy Heart Endure, that thy Children, should be Banished from the Lord Jesus Christ, and Languishing under the Torments of Sin among Devils, in outer Darkness throughout Eternal Ages? Don't call thy self a Parent; Thou art an Ostrich!


Improve the Baptism of your Children, as an Obligation, and an Encouragement unto you, Parents, to Endeavour the Salvation of your Baptised Little Ones. Of your Children, you may say, with Jacob, in Gen. 33.5. These are the Children, that God hath graciously given to me. Now, Will not you Heartily give back those Children to God again: Their Baptism is to be the Sign and Seal of your doing so. You generally bring your Infant Children unto the Baptism of the Lord: I suppose, 'tis because you are satisfied, That the Children of Believers were in Covenant with God, in the Days of the Old Testament; and, That the Children of Believers then had a Right unto the Seal of the Covenant; and, That in the days of the New Testament, they have not Lost this privilege. Well, But when you bring your Children to the Sacred Baptism, what is it for? Oh, Let it not be done, as an Empty Formality; as if the Baptism of your Children, were for nothing, but only a Formal and a Pompous putting of a Name upon them. No, but let the serious Language of your Souls, in this Action, be that of Hannah, in 1 Sam 1.28. I have given this Child unto the Lord, as long as he Lives he shall be given unto the Lord.

When you have done thus, for your Children, you have a singular Advantage to plead for the Fulfilment of that word upon them, in Isa. 44.3. I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed, and my Blessing upon thy Offspring. You may go before the Lord, and plead, Lord, Was not the Baptismal Water poured by thy Command upon my Children! Oh, Do thou now pour upon them the Heavenly Grace, which that Baptismal Water Signified. And now, no sooner let those Children become able to understand it, than you shall make them understand, what the Design of their Baptism was. Parents, I am to tell you, That if you Let your Children grow up, without ever telling them, That, and, Why, they were Baptized into the Name of the Lord, you are fearfully Guilty of Taking the Name of the Lord in vain.

Let them know, That in Baptism, they were Dedicated unto Him. Show them, That when they were Baptized, they were Listed among the Servants and Soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that if they Live in Rebellion against Him, Wo unto them! Show them, from, Mat. 28.19, 20. That since they are Baptized, into the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they must observe all Things, whatsoever the Lord Jesus Christ has Commanded them. Show them, from Rom. 6.4. That since they are Baptized, they are Buried with Christ in Baptism, and must Live no longer in Sin, but be Dead unto all the Vanities of the World. Show them from Gal. 3.27. That since they are Baptized, they have put on Christ, and must follow His Example, and be as He was in the World. Show them from 1 Pet. 3 21. That being Baptized, they must now make the Answer of a Good Conscience, to all the proposals of the New-Covenant: and God propounding to them, Shall my Christ be thine, and wilt thou be His? they must conscientiously answer, Lord, with all my Heart! Put this very solemnly unto your Children; My Child, Shall God the Father, be thy Father? Shall God the Son, be thy Saviour! Shall God the Spirit, be thy Sanctifier; And art thou willing to be the Servant of that one God, who is, Father, Son, and Spirit? Leave them not, until their little Hearts are conquered unto That for which they have been Baptized. It has been the Judgment of some Judicious men; That if Infant Baptism were more Improved, it would be less Disputed.

 The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

Any discussion of wisdom must begin with the source of said wisdom. As Christians, we know that in Christ Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), and that any real wisdom, apart from God, is a myth, as the natural man does not accept or understand the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).

In today’s Proverb: prudence, noble things, right things, truth, and righteousness are noted as being those things which true wisdom teaches, and which are better than jewels or fine gold.
This sentiment is echoed in Philippians 4:8, where we are told “ Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
So this morning, I would like to impart to you wisdom which may speak to your current circumstances, with the encouragement that where you have fallen short, repent and look to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 The Word of God commands us “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). Brothers and sisters, your heavenly Father has ordained all things which come to pass according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11).  Jesus asks in Luke 12:25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to the span of his life?” We know that nothing, NOTHING, can separate us from the love of GOD.

 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).

Scripture teaches us that ALL THINGS work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). All things. Things like where you lay your head at night, where you live, the physical location in which you reside. We can lay our heads anywhere, knowing that our Lord Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us, and that this place is temporary, passing away. All things may come in the form of family members who have turned their backs on you. Scorn from coworkers. Anxiety over how we see our faith being assaulted on every side by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Fear not brothers and sisters: it has been granted for you to not only believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but to suffer for His sake (Philippians 1:29). Students will become like their teachers, so as you experience hardship, count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials (James 1:2). Does a baby on the way make you anxious? Perhaps you worry and fret about being an adequate father or mother. Remember the truth that we speak so often to abortive mothers and fathers:
 
Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate (Psalm 127:3-5).

Do you believe that your heavenly Father would bless you with a child, only to turn around and abandon you? Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Our faithful Father will equip you for every good work, and this is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, diligent study of God’s Words, and obeying His commands. Be anxious for nothing.
 
If you are able, let us kneel and confess how we have fallen short of God’s glory.
MY DEAR LORD
I depend wholly upon thee,
    wean me from all other dependences.
Thou art my all, thou dost overrule all
    and delight in me.
Thou art the foundation of goodness,
  how can I distrust thee?
  how be anxious about what happens to me?
In the light of thy preciousness
  the world and all its enjoyments are
    infinitely poor:
I value the favour of men no more than pebbles.
Amid the blessings I receive from thee
    may I never lose the heart of a stranger.
May I love thee, my Benefactor, in all my benefits,
  not forgetting that my greatest danger
    arises from my advantages.
Produce in me self-despair that will
  make Jesus precious to me,
    delightful in all his offices,
    pleasurable in all his ways,
  and may I love his commands
    as well as his promises.
Help me to discern between true and false love,
  the one consisting of supreme love to thee,
    the other not,
  the former uniting thy glory and man’s happiness
    that they may become one common interest,
  the latter disjointing and separating them both,
    seeking the latter with neglect of the former.
Teach me that genuine love is different in kind
  from that wrought by rational arguments
    or the motive of self-interest,
  that such love is a pleasing passion affording
    joy to the mind where it is.
Grant me grace to distinguish
    between the genuine and the false,
      and to rest in thee who art all love. (Valley of Vision, “Love rest in God”, P. 181)
In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
 
Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe: 

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(From the 10/20/2019 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)

The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

A team of oxen yoked together can accomplish much when hooked up to a plow and coaxed along by the farmer. If you were to hook up two oxen to a plow, and set them off across a field, without yoke, and without a farmer coaxing, you would quickly see that while one of the oxen wanted to stop and chew the cud, the other would be attempting to plod ahead. While one wanted to go right, the other would be attempting to lie down and rest. It is the yoke, coupled with the determined goading and coaxing of the farmer, which enables the oxen to produce the desired work the farmer seeks to accomplish. If there were no farmer, only two oxen yoked together, the weaker of the two oxen will find himself to be at the mercy and whim, of the stronger. This is the condition of one who has forsaken the Word of the LORD, the reality in which one who has rejected God’s Word finds themselves. When we trade the Word of God for the imaginations of our heart, our feelings, the wind of culture, the sugar coated doctrines of false teachers, or our traditions, we quickly fall into bondage: unequally yoked, chained to our sin. When we abandon the clear teaching of scripture, rejecting the commandments of our father, forsaking the teachings of our mother, we will find ourselves tied to sin with a yoke of iron. Whereas Christ says “Come”, for “His yoke is easy and His burden is light”, the yoke of sin, and autonomy, at the root of rejecting God’s Word: is heavy, burdensome, and will ultimately crush us. Christ says to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, while the world, your flesh, and Satan cry “Did God really say?”.
Today’s passage is directed towards you sons. Whose voice will you obey? Who will you listen to? The answer to this question will determine the course of your life. Psalm 23 tells us that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, leads us onto paths of righteousness for His namesake. Obeying the lusts of your flesh, the lust of your eyes, and the pride of life, on the other hand, will lead you stumbling blindly into the dark, unable to discern right from wrong, true from false. Do you love your sin more than God? Would you pursue your passions and lusts rather than the Word of God? God will permit it. He will give you the desires of your heart, and in doing so, you will find your feet set in slippery places, and your soul pursued by the angel of the LORD. Adultery, which our passage speaks of specifically today, the idea that you can take a woman not belonging to you, with your eyes, thoughts, or deeds, and commit sexual immorality with her. This sin has enticed many, many, young, old, and in between men stumble blindly in the dark, believing they can bring fire to their bosom and not get burned. They have forgotten that the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is a light. Their foolish heart becomes darkened. Young men, sins desire is for you. Do not think that you can be unequally yoked with sin, or unbelievers, and master these things. Do not think you can substitute God’s Word for your own, or God’s Word for the appetite of your stomach, and that you, the 1 human in 6,000,000,000, can safely navigate and master this sin from which God commands us to flee.
My son Samuel asked me a question the other day during family worship that was a really good question. To paraphrase, he asked “How can we hear God’s voice? How can we know that it isn’t just our own thoughts or voice in our heads?” I would answer that this morning by pointing you to our confession.
The Westminster Confession, Chapter 1 part 7, Of the Holy scriptures, says this:
All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor
alike clear unto all: yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain
unto a sufficient understanding of them.
 
We can know that God is speaking to us, when we accept in faith the clear teaching of scripture. On an issue such as adultery, God is very clear: Thou Shall not. We can know for certain that the voice we hear speaking to us is Christ’s, when we are trusting in Him, as revealed through His Word, rather than trusting in the winds of culture or our own subjective, ever changing feelings. Young men, when God commands you to flee sexual immorality, He does so, not to keep some good thing from you, but for your good. Your Heavenly Father knows what is best for you, His desire is to give you good gifts. “A good wife, who can find her?”asks the scriptures. The answer is, a young man who hides God’s Word in his heart, one who hears the voice of God from His Word, and obeys. A good wife is truly a blessing from the LORD that the sin of adultery will trod underfoot.
 
Perhaps you have stumbled in this. You find yourself lusting for the young woman on the screen. Lust of the flesh has ensnared you, and now the images you have filled your mind with are not enough, and incidentally, they never will be. Maybe you are an older man, and your sin has come full bloom, and you have graduated from images to the real thing. Lest you repent, you will likewise perish.
Let us kneel, and come boldly to the throne of Grace, and cry out to our Heavenly Father to guard our hearts, our eyes, our minds, and our homes from this scourge. Let us plead with Him for deliverance from this great evil.
THOU RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY SOVEREIGN,

In whose hand is my life and whose are all
    my ways,
Keep me from fluttering about religion;
  fix me firm in it,
  for I am irresolute;
  my decisions are smoke and vapour,
  and I do not glorify thee,
  or behave according to thy will;
Cut me not off before my thoughts grow
      to responses,
    and the budding of my soul into full flower,
    for thou art forbearing and good,
    patient and kind.
Save me from myself,
  from the artifices and deceits of sin,
  from the treachery of my perverse nature,
  from denying thy charge against my offences,
  from a life of continual rebellion against thee,
  from wrong principles, views, and ends;
  for I know that all my thoughts, affections,
    desires and pursuits are alienated from thee.
I have acted as if I hated thee, although thou art
    love itself;
  have contrived to tempt thee to the uttermost,
  to wear out thy patience;
  have lived evilly in word and action.
Had I been a prince
  I would long ago have crushed such a rebel;
Had I been a father
  I would long since have rejected my child.
O, thou Father of my spirit,
  thou King of my life,
    cast me not into destruction,
    drive me not from thy presence,
    but wound my heart that it may be healed;
    break it that thine own hand
      may make it whole. (Valley of Vision p.38)
In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
 
 
 
 Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe: 

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

Why would the Apostle Paul tell Titus to remind the churches to submit to authorities?  Why is this an important task for pastors? There are a couple reasons that come to mind:

1.  In our sinful nature apart from Christ, we hate authority and we hate submission.  The only authority we mind is our own. The first sin in the garden was the sin of over throwing authority.  God created man to rule over the animals.  He created Adam to lead his wife.   In the garden, that was flipped upside down.  The animal, the serpent, comes to Eve and begins to lead her.  Rather than looking to the authority of her husband through him to the authority of God, she submits  to the authority of talking snake who deceives her into thinking she is her own authority.  She gives the fruit to Adam and he listens to his wife.  She was deceived and Adam shirked his responsibility.  He rebelled against the authority of God.   Ever since that day, we have all by nature lived by what is wise in our own eyes.  We despise the authority of God and therefore we despise submission to the authorities he established.  Therefore, we need to be reminded to submit to authority.  

Secondly, for those of us who have been redeemed from lawlessness there is a special temptation.  We read that in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, Slave nor Free, Female nor Male and we think that means that Christ has obliterated all distinctions on earth.  We think that since Christ has freed us from bondage of sin, has made us priests and kings and has given us the  inheritance of sons that we are now free from submission to those who have not been freed.  We forget that the same God who sent his Son to redeem us is the same God who establishes all authority on earth and places us  by his sovereign will in our stations of life.  We are tempted to use the gospel of grace for our own license to throw off all restraint.

Paul just got finished writing to Titus that Christ gave himself to redeem us from lawlessness and to purify for himself a people zealous for good deeds.   We are tempted to think that if we are these people, then surely we have no need to submit to civil governments run by those who have not been redeemed.  We don’t have to honor ungodly fathers or obey husbands who disobey the gospel. 

But the gospel is not preached to make us into anarchists and rebels.  It didn’t come to destroy earthly authority but rather to redeem it.   Jesus, your King, has commanded you in his word to be obedient to authorities  and rulers.  This is because God the Father has given his name to all fatherhood on earth.  God is the source of authority. 

Romans 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.  

God has established authorities.  He has established fatherhood.   To rebel against fathers in the church, state or home  is not merely to rebel against humas but is to rebel against God.   When we rebel against our mother and father for example, we don’t just rebel against them.  We rebel against God.   Young people who roll your eyes at your parents when they aren’t looking, or you sulk and pout,  its not just against your parents.  Your rolling your eyes at God.  Young people when your father tells you not to do something and you go do it anyways because you think he really won’t mind, its not your father whose wisdom and guidance you disregarded. 

This also goes for rebellion against pastors and elders.  When the pastor preaches from the word of God, and you don't obey that preaching, you are not merely throwing off the words of men but rather rebelling against the word of God. 

Deuteronomy 17:12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.

Remember when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the apostles.  It wasn’t just the Apostles they were lying to.  It was the Holy Spirit. 

The text here in Titus is specifically referring to civil government.  We have a duty to obey the civil government even when it is not ran by the most godly of people.  Do you remember how many times that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes?  It was clear that they were wicked people.  Yet listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 23:2-3 The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.   We have a duty to obey the civil magistrates even when they aren't believers.

The gospel came to redeem us from lawlessness.  Titus 2 says it is revealed to all types of people.  That includes kings.  There are many passages proclaiming that the gospel will be advance so far and wide that yes even kings and rulers will worship him.  The gospel has the tendency to undo wicked authority.  It has the power to bring political freedom and often does as a nation repents.  But the gospel doesn’t make us rebels or revolutionaries seeking to overthrow all authorities.  The grace of God doesn’t cause us to take up arms against every unbelieving government official.  We are not revolutionaries. 

Proverbs 24:21 says My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change

Don’t even meddle with those always trying to overthrow society.  Don’t get involved with those who reject authority and work to undermine it.  Stay away from marxists, socialists, social justice warriors, anarchists, and antifa.

The gospel is not revolutionary it is reforming.  The gospel reforms the world.  It is restores creation.  It brings about social renewal.

Doug Wilson says, “The godly pattern of social renewal is never bloodthirsty. The radical insists on immediate action, through coercive, bloody, and political means. In contrast, the work of the gospel is done as silently as yeast working through the loaf, and the end result is liberation from sin, love for God, and love for one’s neighbor.”  

This is not to say that Christians are not involved in the political process.  On the contrary, Christians must take the gospel into every arena of life.  They will be involved in calling civil magistrates to obey God and enforce his laws.  They will support civil magistrates who do these things.  Christians will preach boldly and strongly against sins in the public realm.  The Church will proclaim the truths of God everywhere that those truths are applicable.  The word of God is eternally true and applicable for every area of life.

But Christians reform, we don’t overturn. 

E. Michael Jones says “Revolution is the fulfillment of the biblical promise of deliverance from bondage for people who have given up on waiting for the Messiah.”   When you don’t trust and have faith in Christ you start trying to take matters into your own hands.  The early church was often accused of being revolutionary.   They were accused of turning the world upside down.   It was their accusers, the Jews who rejected Jesus, who were the supporters of anti-Christian revolutionary movements.   E. Michael Jones again is helpful:

“When they rejected Christ, the Jews rejected Logos, and when the Jews rejected Logos, which included both the social, moral and political order of any human society, which God intended for the world, they became revolutionaries. That is what they have been ever since the crucifixion of Christ...Jews became revolutionaries at the foot of the cross, but the full implication of their decision didn't become apparent until thirty years later, when the Jews rebelled against Rome, and Rome retaliated by destroying the Temple. At this point, the Jews had no temple, no priesthood and no sacrifice... Those Jews who rejected Christ and became revolutionaries, continued to seek a messiah who sets out to set the world aright but always fails, whether it's the new economics of Karl Marx or the new science of psychiatry as propagated by Sigmund Freud or the counter-culture of sex, drugs and rock and roll. None of these things or people have saved the world. There is only one savior — Jesus Christ.”

Revolutionaries never have faith in Christ and they always end up denying his word.  2 Peter 2:10 says  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Christians reform, they do not destroy.  They have a Messiah and a King who is transforming the world.  They therefore can pray For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

We are to be subject to authorities.  Wives submit to your husbands.  Children obey your parents.  Obey the civil magistrates.   

Now, we have driven this point home and I have reminded you of this.  Let me also remind you also that it is God alone who has all authority.  He is the one to whom we owe unfettered allegiance. We do not owe obedience to unjust, unlawful, and ungodly commands.  Whenever an authority commands an unjust, unlawful, and ungodly command, it is they are who are revolutionaries, turning upside down the created order.  It is they who are rebels.  Not only may we not obey an ungodly command, we must not obey an ungodly command.  

I think you all know and get that point, therefor I won't write much more on it today.  We can spend so much time talking about when to not to obey that we make disobedience to civil magistrates or fathers the rule rather than the exception.   As you have read this, what area have you found that you need to repent in?  Are you a father who has authority but abusing it? Repent.   Are you a father who refuses to submit to church fathers? Repent.  Are you a wife who uses the sins of your husband as an excuse for your own rebellion? Repent. Are you a son refusing to honor your father and mother?  Repent.   Are you someone always complaining about civil magistrates while never praying for them? Repent.    May we all bow the knee to the Father above.