Living Under Authority
Intro:
1. To have order & discipline in any society you must have recognized authority & responsibility.
2. Christians are commanded to respect authority. Heb 13:7 - Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
3. It’s God’s design for everyone to be in subjection to somebody.
a. I Pet 2:13-14 - Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
b. Jam 4:7 - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
4. Here are some examples of God given authority for us to obey.
Ephesians 6:1-9
I. v1-4 - In Family Relationships
A. How are children to relate to their parents?
1. v1 - Obey (ὑπακούω) = to listen or attend to, so to obey. Col 3:20 - Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
a. Parents have lived longer, experienced more, have more education & have more wisdom.
b. Besides that, they love you!
2. v2-3 - Honor (τιμάω) = to fix value, set a price, never cause pain, so respect.
a. The 5th Commandment is to honor your father & your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. - Ex 20:12
b. The Law of Moses stipulated that if children disrespected their parents they could be exe- cuted. This is heavy stuff with God!
B. How are parents to relate to their children?
1. They are to exercise authority over their children. I Tim 3:4 - He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
2. ILL: A note from a mother to a school teacher said, “Please excuse Mark from being late. This morn- ing he was demoted from chief to Indian. The ceremony took a bit longer than we anticipated.”
3. v4 - How is authority demonstrated?
a. They are not to Exasperate (παροργίζω) = provoke to anger. This is a word picture = to stand close to your child, “get in his face” & express your anger (yell).
b. They are to Bring them up (ἐκτρέφω) = nourish to maturity, provide food for, in the training & instruction of the Lord.
4. There are 3 ways you can do injustice to your children.
a. Forget that culture changes from generation to generation. ILL: Like worship style.
b. Don’t trust them increasingly as they get older.
c. Don’t encourage them when you honestly can.
II. v5-9 - In Employment Relationships
A. Employers are to have authority over employees.
1. Fairness dictates that an owner ought to have control over what he owns.
2. A common axiom of an organized society is to allow enough authority to carry out a responsibility.
B. v5-8 - How are employees to relate to their employer?
1. The Basic Christian Principle of Honest Labor.
a. v5 - Obey your employer as you would Christ by presenting your labor as a living sacrifice. Rom 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual a act of worship.
b. v6 - Do a quality job even if the boss isn’t looking. This breeds trust!
c. v7 - Serve wholeheartedly. Your job is your service to God & your contribution to the society God placed you in.
2. v8 - God will reward honesty & integrity even if your earthly boss might not!
C. v9 - How are employers to relate to their employees?
1. Superiors & subordinates are for this life only. They are not important to God.
2. Do not threaten.
3. Do not show favoritism. If God doesn’t, you better not either.
4. Provide periods of rest. The Law of Moses provided the Sabbath, 1 day in 7. Ex 20:10 - . . . the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
5. Pay wages promptly.
a. The Law of Moses said, Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. - Lev 19:13
b. Jer 22:13 - Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.
c. Mal 3:5 - So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.
d. The Lord said, the worker is worth his keep. - Matt 10:10
6. The employer must always remember that he has a Lord too!
God is displeased with pride & rebellion.
Being humble & submissive to proper authority
is God’s design for you!
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