0:07 You probably heard me say before that many Christians don't know [clears throat] the first sin that was committed by a human being. And 0:25 many people think it is not is taking part of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that I believe that was not the first sin. So if you turn with me to 0:44 Genesis and chapter 2, you read the scripture carefully. We read that the Lord made Adam alone first. And when Adam opened his eyes, 1:01 he didn't see Eve. He saw God. And then in Genesis 2:21, he put him to sleep. Now, the purpose of that, the purpose why God didn't make, he could have made two images of clay and breathe into both of 1:20 them, but he didn't do that. And there's a reason and that is he wanted Adam to know him before he knew his wife. If he had made both of them together, 1:38 then they would have known the Lord together. But no, Adam was to know God first personally and then later on, you know, God brought the woman to him. But so 1:56 turn to Genesis 2 and verse 21, God put Adam to sleep. And then then the Lord made the woman separately. And when the woman opened her eyes again, the first person she saw was not 2:14 Adam. It was God and then later on Adam. So that's a principle that should apply in all marriages that the first person in your life must not be your husband or wife. 2:33 It must be God. And that's the secret of a happy marriage. And that's sort of hidden here. Many people don't think of that. You know, if you read the Bible without meditating on it, you won't see this. But if you had meditated on this just 2:48 chapter 2, you wouldn't be surprised by what I said. You say, you would have said, you'd say, "Oh, brother Zach, I already knew that." How would you have known it? Because you meditated on it. It's not written there that Adam saw God first. 3:04 So you see what a lot you miss by just reading and not meditating because there's a principle here and the principle here is that in a marriage you must see God first and likewise for the woman husband is not first God is first and then he it 3:23 says in Genesis 2:22 he brought her to the man. And why was Adam made first? because he was to be the head of the home. And that's why he didn't make them together because they could have had a dispute as who's the head. We were both made together. 3:42 Who's first? But there was absolutely no question there as to who was first. And in many homes, Christian homes today, there is a dispute about who's first. But there was no question about that in Genesis chapter 2. But Adam was had to remember 4:02 that it was from his side and I believe from the left side near his heart that the rib was taken. Uh it says he in verse 21 and 22 of Genesis 2 the rib was taken from his side. 4:22 And so the woman must remember that the bone was not taken out of Adam's head to signify that she does not rule over Adam. And Adam must remember that the bone was not taken out of his feet so that he 4:40 doesn't sort of stamp on his wife and make her his slave. The bone was taken from his side near his heart so that he would always keep her near his heart. The symbolism 4:57 in all these things that God does and the fact that Adam was made first and he the Lord brought her to the woman to the man signified that the man must be the head of the woman. 5:17 And Adam said, Adam was the one who gave her a name. She shall be called, verse 23, woman because she was taken out of the man. So right there in the beginning, the Lord was made clear to Eve that Adam 5:33 was our head and to be her authority throughout her life. And there's something else we see here in Genesis 2. which is the very first commandment 5:50 that God gave to man before he told them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There's a commandment written down in Genesis chapter 2 for all married couples, all married men. 6:11 Verse 24, Genesis 2:24, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Now, Adam didn't have a father and mother. So, why in the world is that verse come out there? 6:30 Because it was a principle that the Lord was establishing right there that the way God made woman taken out from Adam's side showed that a wife is supposed to be like Adam said verse 23 6:49 bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Therefore, that is the reason this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. And then he talks about the sexual 7:07 union. They shall become one flesh. So the reason why God tells them that is mentioned out here is because 7:24 the intimacy between Adam and Eve was so intimate because she came out of his side and your father cannot become one flesh with you. Your mother can't become one flesh with 7:43 you. Here it says the man and woman they shall become one flesh. Verse 24. The intimacy of sexual union between a man and a woman is so close that you cannot have it with your father or mother. And there's a symbolism 8:02 there. That symbolism is that now you see this is all in the same verse. The man and the woman shall become one flesh and therefore a man shall leave his father and mother because God started a union there in 8:22 marriage which is the closest union of any two human beings on earth more than father and son, more mother and mother and daughter, more than parents and children. And that is right there in Genesis chapter 2. 8:41 And you can be pretty sure that anything that the Lord has commanded or set set out as a rule, you can be pretty sure the devil's going to attack it and violate it as soon as possible. And there you see 8:59 the cause of all the fighting and quarreling there is in the millions of homes around the world today and even in Christian homes. Numerous wives are more attached to their parents than to their husband. Numerous husbands 9:19 are would listen to their daddy and mommy more than to their wives. And they're not the head of their home. It says here in verse 24 that a man must leave his father and mother and then become one flesh with his wife. That in 9:36 other words, when a person gets married, he's not supposed to have sex with his wife if he has not left his father and mother. That's what I would ask every married person. When you were united with your wife in a physical relationship, had you already 9:52 left your father and mother? No. You have no right to have a physical relationship with your wife. Then a man shall leave his father and mother and then be joined to his wife and become one flesh. That's the order. You don't put the cart before the horse. 10:10 Which comes first? And this is the cause of so much of unhappiness in so many homes because the very first commandment in the Bible a lot of married couples do not obey. Well, when you don't obey God's commandments, then you reap the 10:28 consequences of it. And the same thing is now a woman may think, "Oh, well that's only for man. He's got to leave his father and mother and be joined to me." No, hang on. the you read Psalm 45 and you'll see something 10:47 different there. In Psalm 45 is this is the bridal psalm referring to Christ and his bride and the principle applies to all married couples also. He's talking about the king whose 11:04 bride is mentioned in where king will desire your beauty in verse 11 because he's your lord bow down to him and the bride you know the king is st in verse 9 and 11:23 the right at his right hand psalm 459 is the queen this is a picture of a marriage and then at the marriage there's a command given to the wife to the bride listen oh daughter you're getting married now you're a queen in 11:40 God's kingdom and your husband is a king in God's kingdom and you're being united but listen give attention and incl your year before you get united to your wife to your husband rather forget your people and your father's house 11:57 and then come to the king and is your lord bowed unto him. So that is a command given to both husband and wife to be to break away their devotion to their parent. You can love your parents 12:15 and care for them but your primary attachment is to your marriage partner. I'm just showing you how there are simple commands like this which are written in the Bible right from the beginning and yet vast majority of Christians don't even 12:32 seem to read it that's in the Bible. So many of you are married or listening to me and it's a good before we go any further, it's good for all of you husbands and wives are listening to me to ask yourself a very simple question. 12:51 Are you more attached to your parents than to your marriage partner? Well, then you're disobeying scripture. Then don't go to God and ask him to bless you. How can he bless disobedience? God honors those who honor him. 13:09 And if you don't honor God by obeying his word, don't go to him and ask him for anything. Okay? So God there we see very clearly that God made Adam an authority over 13:26 woman by making him first and taking her out of his side and bringing her to him and she was subject to him and the man gave her the name because he was the authority. Genesis 2:23, 13:45 she shall be called woman because she was taken out of me. So the authority of the man was established right there. And now we go to Genesis chapter 3 and we see the devil coming through a serpent 14:03 and tempting the woman. Now it seems to be pretty clear that she was the weaker of the two. of man and woman. Right from the beginning, man was strong and was the leader and the woman was she would have been strong if she had subjected to her 14:20 husband. If you don't subject your husband, you're weak. So that's what we see here. When the serpent came and said to the woman, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? You go back to Genesis and chapter 2 14:38 earlier on the Lord told him the Lord commanded the man verse 16 from any tree in Genesis 21:16. We must read the scripture carefully and meditate on it. The Lord commanded the man, this is before Eve was even created. 14:57 The Lord commanded the man, "From any tree of the garden, verse Genesis 2:16, you can eat freely, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat from it, you will surely definitely surely die." 15:16 Then after giving that commandment to the man, Eve was not around by the way. Note that Eve was not there. And the Lord said to said, "It's not good for man to be alone and I'll make him a helper." And it's very interesting to 15:31 see what happens after that. He he wants to make a helper suitable for him. And the next sentence is God brings all the beasts and the birds. And it's almost as though he's asking Adam, would you like to marry any of these? 15:44 Would you like to marry this cat or this dog or this cow or this goat or this lioness perhaps? Oh, this elephant. No, he says, I'm not interested in any of them. Verse 20, last part. There was not found a helper suitable for him. 16:03 Read it continuously. The Lord brought all the creatures to the man in verse 19 and verse 20. None of them were suitable for him. What does that mean? It was as if God was asking Adam, are you, do you want any of these? and he 16:20 said, "No, they're not my nature." I wish every born again believer would say that whenever he meets when he's considering marriage and meets a girl who's not born again. It's like God allowing some person who's 16:39 not born again. The animals of the field are like that. They were not part of Adam's nature. Adam's nature was completely different. Even the beautiful animals, there were some beautiful animals. And Adam said, "No, you don't want this beautiful animal." 16:53 No. Why? Because it's not my nature. There in that verse, you can learn u how how every man should say no if he considers marrying a woman who's 17:09 not of the same nature, born again. And then when Adam said no to all those pretty animals, you see they're not my nature. Then God gave him a wife. And I want to say to you young men who are not married yet, God may test you or 17:26 you young women to bring up bring to you someone who's not of the same nature, not born again, as different from you as these animals were from Adam. Do you see it like that? I see it like that they're completely if they're not born again it's a completely 17:45 different nature exactly like these animals the Lord brought the animals to see if there was a helper verse 20 suitable for him and they were not and the Lord will allow certain people who are not having your nature not having 18:00 born again nature to come by you and she make the blunder that Adam said no no no no no to every one of them I don't know how many times he had to say And finally when he said no to the last one, God said okay I'll make you one of 18:16 your own nature and gave her gave him a woman of the same nature. Okay. The next thing I want to say is now remember what I told you that God had only told Adam about not eating of the tree and when the serpent asked the woman has 18:35 God said you shall not eat. The woman said, "We are permitted to eat all the trees in the garden of Eden, but God has said about the tree in the middle of the garden, which is a knowledge, one of knowledge. You shall not eat from it or 18:50 touch it, lest you die." That's how it is in the King James version. You You don't touch it lest you die. So it's not you shall surely die. 19:09 H you if you don't don't eat of it because it's almost as though you may die if you there was no certainty about it. That's how I read in the King James version. I think that's right and that's the way Eve expressed it. Now I'm sure 19:25 Adam his mind was perfect at that time. Remember his memory is perfect. Imagine a man who could keep on giving names to hundreds of animals and and and not and remember that he didn't give that name earlier to another. It's an amazing 19:39 thing that he did there. And that's such a perfect mind. He gave the I'm sure he gave the command accurately to his wife. God has told us you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of Gund you'll surely die. And here you find the first instance 19:57 of man of a human being adding and subtracting to the word of God. You know, one of the last commands in the Bible in Revelation chapter 22 is don't add to the word of God and don't subtract from the word of God. There's a 20:15 punishment for that. Let's turn to that for a moment if before we continue in Revelation and chapter 22 and verse 18. 20:33 Revelation 22:18. So the last book of the Bible, the last page, Revelation 20-18. If I testify, if anyone hears the words of this prophecy book or reads it and adds something to it which is not written here and there are a lot of 20:52 people doing that, adding things which are not written in scripture, teaching in the Bible, teaching in their churches things which are not written in scripture, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And then it says in Genesis 22:19, 21:06 [clears throat] sorry, Revelation 22:19, sorry, Revelation 22:19, and if someone takes away something from the words of this book, that means compromises it, God will take away from him the part from the tree of life which 21:21 is in the holy city. Now, we won't take away the big commandments like thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not bear false witness. But small commands like in 1 Corinthians 11 says, "A woman when she prays must 21:41 have her head covered." Oh, we say that's a small thing. That's not so important. Okay, do what you like. You come under the category of Genesis 22:E 19. You may not know it, but you'll discover it one day when you stand before the 21:58 Lord that you'll be accused by whichever angel is recording the things in that day. You took away something from God's word. Okay? I don't want to be one of those who's added or subtracted from God's 22:16 word in that day. Please bear that in mind. Now, I don't do that. I don't avoid that just because it's there's a threat of punishment. I obey God's word because I fear God and I reverence him and I believe God's word 22:33 is perfect and I can't improve on it by subtracting or adding to it. But when people don't have that type of respect for God, they think they know more than God's. There are many many Christians even preachers who say, "Oh, it doesn't 22:47 matter if a woman prays without covering her head in the meetings of the church." Okay? I'm not here to judge anyone. All my duty is not to judge people. My duty is to proclaim God's word as a ser as his servant. And so, Adam would have 23:02 told her very clearly, you must not eat from the tree, the knowledge of the tree of good. And now, let's turn back to Genesis 3 and verse three. What exactly? How exactly does Adam Eve say that? Now I told you that Adam's mind was so 23:19 perfect that he could give names to millions of animals. That itself requires a brilliant brain. And Eve came out of Adam and she must have had an equally brilliant brain to remember exactly word for word what Adam said. 23:33 But she modified it. She modified it by adding to what Adam said and subtracting from what Adam said. What did Adam say? You shall not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or you will definitely die. 23:52 And again, I want to turn back to the King James version which makes it more clear in Genesis 3:3. She see how Eve adds to it. God said you shall not eat it or touch it. Now God 24:11 had told Adam to and Adam conveyed it very clearly to Eve, you must not eat of the tree of knowledge, good and evil. You will definitely die. And the King James version says in Genesis 3:3, Eve says to the serpent, what God has said 24:26 is you shall not eat it or touch it. adding to God's word and lest you die that means there may there's a possibility you may die not certain so we see right there in the beginning of creation when Adam and Eve were made 24:40 there was adding and subtracting to God's word right in the beginning of the Bible and I read that to you from Gen Revelation 22 at the end of the Bible the same warning is given to those who add and subtract to God's word 24:58 So the next thing I want to say is that when the devil came to Eve through the serpent, what Eve should have said is, "Hang on, God's given me an authority over me. 25:16 Let me consult him, then I'll tell you." And Adam was sitting standing just next to her. You read that in Genesis 3:6. The last part, the husband was with her just next. They were standing together. Picture this. The tree is there in 25:31 front. Adam and Eve standing together. And the serpent comes and he knows whom to contact. He knows the wife is the weaker one. So he asks her and she could have just said, "Hey, Adam, look at this. What What do you think I should 25:43 do? You're my head." That's what she should have done. She didn't bother to submit to the authority God had placed over her. And Adam was also made the mistake or I would say a sin that he did 26:02 not assert his authority as a husband and say, "Eve, darling, don't listen to this serpent. Listen to me. We'll do what God has said." What a different story it would have been if submission to authority that God had appointed had been understood right 26:20 there at the beginning. You see, Satan himself became Satan because he did not submit to authority. That's why I want to bring out the point here. In Isaiah chapter 14, we read about how 26:38 this highest of the angels became the devil. God never created the devil. God created all the angels and the highest of the angels was someone we don't know his name. People call him Lucifer, which is only a 26:56 Latin for morning star. Because it says in Isaiah 14:12, "Oh star of the morning and how you have fallen 27:14 because verse 12, you said in your heart, I will raise my I'll go to heaven and raise my throne above the stars of God." And okay, getting going above the stars is one thing. But then verse 14, I will make myself like almighty God. 27:32 That was the origin of sin when one who had been appointed as the head of the angels and I believe there were two of them. Let's call him Lucifer for the time being. We don't know his name. God has not given us his name. 27:44 Lucifer and the other was Michael. We know in Revelation there's an archangel called Michael and he was the other archangel. So there were two of them, Lucifer and Michael. I believe they were equal. But Lucifer wanted to rule over Michael. 28:04 I found sometimes in when there are two elders in a church, sometimes one wants to rule over the other. That's possible. that can happen in a you know when somebody thinks I'm not inferior to this person I can rule over him 28:24 so that that's what happened here also Eve must have thought I'm not no not Eve Lucifer must have thought I'm not inferior to Michael why should I be equal to him let me rule over him and not only rule over him but rule over 28:40 all the stars even be above the throne of God himself. What stupidity? Isaiah 14, I will make myself like the most high. That means I want to be equal with God. He was not willing to submit to the 29:00 authority of God. And that was the first sin in the universe. That's what I wanted to emphasize today. The first sin in the universe was a lack of submission to authority. And the first sin that was committed in the Garden of 29:18 Eden, as we just saw, was a lack of submission to authority. Okay? God then gave ten commandments to Moses when he made Israel. And among those ten commandments, there were ten commandments. But one of those 29:37 commandments had a promise attached to it. Do you know which one it was? You read that in Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6. Please turn with me there. 29:54 And we read there in Ephesians and chapter 6 and verse one. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. And then he says, honor your father and mother is the very first commandment 30:13 which has a promise attached to it. Honor your father and mother is the fifth commandment. You know, there were two tablets of stone that Moses had. One had four commandments, man's relationship to God, and the other had six commandments about 30:31 man's relationship with each other, men with men and women with each other. And there in that tablet, the number one commandment was honor your father and mother, which is the fifth commandment. And then it says this is a this 30:48 commandment has got a promise. The promise is if you children obey your parents, it'll go well with you in your life and you live long on the earth. Live long means you will complete the length of time that God planned for 31:03 you to live. The Bible says in Psalm 139 that the length of our life was determined by God when we were in our mother's womb. I don't know whether you know that. Read Psalm 139 sometime. Don't have time to turn there right now. 31:18 But it says there the length of your life was determined by God in your mother's womb. But that can be shortened if if you don't respect your parents. And there are many many people whose lives are shortened because they don't respect their 31:37 parents. So if you as a parent wanted to go well with your children, teach them one thing. You send them to school, you spend so much money, but if you haven't taught them obedience, you haven't taught them the most important 31:51 thing in life. The thing you need to teach your children more than anything else is obedience to God's commandment. Now, you know, when Jesus was on earth, he spoke once about 32:11 obeying. Turn with me to Mark's gospel chapter 7. He he took up this particular commandment. Turn with me to Mark's gospel and chapter 7. And I want you to remember this was a time when the law was still 32:30 prevailing. The law was abolished only on the day of Pentecost. Please remember this. The law of Moses was valid when Jesus was on earth. That's why when some lepers were cleansed, Jesus said, "Go and show yourself to the priests." He 32:46 wouldn't say that in the new covenant. The old covenant was still valid. And many of the things Jesus told people to do was according to the commandment, show yourself to the priest and things like that. Obey the old command, old old 33:01 covenant. And here in this time when the old covenant was still prevailing, the Lord says to these people in verse 6, they honor me with their lips. Verse Mark 7:6, but their heart is far away from me. And he gives one example, 33:18 verse 9, he says, you are experts at setting aside the commandment of God. And what example does he take? Moses said, honor your father and mother. And now listen to this. I don't know whether you meditated on this. 33:36 This is the only time in Jesus' entire life when he said a human being could be put to death. He did not allow it. And the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8. You remember the woman caught in adultery and he forgave her. Even though there 33:55 was a commandment in the law of Moses which said if a woman come and adultery she and the one she committed adultery with should be put to death but Jesus in his position as God who gave that law and because he saw the woman was 34:13 repentant said okay you don't let me put it in and he also said at that time that the man who is without sin throw the first stone and he was there without sin. He disobeyed that also. Amazing. How do you notice in John chapter 8 that 34:31 Jesus disobeyed two commandments of God? One was the law of Moses. It said that a woman should be put to death who commit adultery. And the other is what he himself said. Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. What does that 34:43 teach us? What it says in James 2:13, mercy triumphs over judgment. If you don't understand that, you will even find fault with Jesus. Why did he go against what he himself said? Because in God's economy, mercy always triumphs 35:01 over judgment. In our human economy, we don't have that mercy. Where most of us are merciless people? Does mercy triumph over judgment? Brother, when your wife does something wrong, when your d wife does something seriously wrong that caused you some 35:21 enormous loss of money, maybe she made a stupid mistake as a result of which you lost a lot of money or something terrible. What do you do? Yell at her? Does James chapter 2:13 work at that time in your life? Mercy, 35:39 triumphing over judgment. Imagine if God were to treat you the way you treated your wife at that time. Where would you be today? Let me recommend to all of you James chapter 2:13. Let mercy triumph over judgment. 35:57 Don't quote scripture to your wife. Let mercy triumph over judgment. And don't quote scripture to your husband either. Let mercy triumph over judgment. God will be tremendously merciful to those who are merciful to others. 36:13 But when it came to disobeying father and mother, there was no mercy. That's what I wanted to point out. Mark 7:10, if you dishonor your father and mother or speak or speak evil of your father and mother, that I mean this is just 36:31 speaking evil of your father and mother, he must be put to death. And that's Jesus saying it. It's the only time in Jesus' entire life on earth that I see him saying somebody can be put to death. I don't know whether you see how 36:51 seriously it is. What is this? What is the sin here? Disobedience to authority. God has put authority in the home. Why is that serious? Because that is the first sin in the universe. Lucifer did not submit to authority, 37:09 became the devil. Eve did not submit to Adam's authority. Got thrown out of Eden. So children, if you don't submit to authority, the Lord said at least until the day of Pentecost that was valid, he shall be put to death. 37:28 So if up to the day of Pentecost when the entire time Jesus was on earth, if some child was brought to Jesus who did not repent, the woman who was caught in adultery repented. But if a rebellious child was brought to Jesus who disobeyed his father and 37:44 mother and was asked, Lord, what should we do with them? Jesus would have quoted this verse. He who speaks evil of father and mother is to be put to death. We don't realize how seriously Jesus took submission to authority. The woman 37:59 caught in adultery, okay, adultery is a terrible sin. But it's not as serious as not submitting to authority. Do you realize that? That woman was spared. But a child who did not submit to authority was to be put to death. Jesus own words. 38:16 I'm just trying to emphasize how important in scripture it is to submit to authority. That is why I tell all wives to submit to their husbands. I tell all children obey your parents. That's why I tell parents teach your 38:32 children obedience. Teach your children. Here it's not talking about obedience only. It's talking about honoring respecting your father and mother not even to speak evil of them. Imagine that. Look at the crimes in the world today of children who speak evil 38:50 of their parents and don't submit and respect their parents. Now I want to say one more thing. Everywhere God has placed authority. I want you to turn to Romans chapter 13. Romans 13 and verse one. 39:10 Every person must be subject to the governing authorities. Romans 13 and verse1. And when Jesus said that, remember this is Paul's letter to the Romans. And when the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this, 39:30 who was the ruler in Rome? Who was the governing authority in Rome? To whom Paul was writing to the Roman Christians, be subject to the governing authorities. Shall I tell you who it was? It was an evil Roman emperor called 39:44 Nero. who hated Christians, who burnt the city and blamed the Christians for it, who was an evil man, but he was the authority. Just like today, there are so many people in authority in many countries who are probably evil, all 40:01 unconverted, evil people who pass so many laws which are unrighteous and all types of things. What are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to rebel against them? Every Christian verse chapter 13 Romans 13:1 must be 40:18 subject to the governing authorities. And that is why we told we are to teach children to submit to authority. And you know the fear of punishment is what makes many of us submit to authority. For example, why would you 40:35 stop your car when a police car comes behind you and blinks his light? Why don't you run drive away the fear of punishment. It's a sad thing when fear of punishment makes you obey authority 40:53 and it's a sad thing if children obey the parents only out of fear of punishment. Best that's second best way the best way is to do it out of love for God. Why do you obey your boss in your office? Even though you don't have much respect 41:08 for him, you must obey him because you lose your job. You lose your salary. But children take that lightly. But parents are strict in enforcing. Why do you pay your taxes? Because you can be caught and the fine will be very 41:27 great submitting to authority. But I'll tell you one place where most Christians do not respect or submit to authority and that is in a church. In a local church, God has appointed elders 41:45 as an authority. In all our CFC churches, we have God-fearing elders who are in authority. And the Bible says in Hebrews in chapter 13, Hebrews 13 42:04 and verse 17, obey your elders. Hebrews 13 and verse 17. Obey your leaders, that is your elders, 42:22 and submit to them. He's talking to people in the church because they keep watch over your souls. This is not talking to your boss in the office. He doesn't keep watch over your soul. He's talking to those who are the leaders in 42:36 the church who keep watch over your souls because they have to give an account to God one day as to whether you obeyed them or not. Do you know that one day your elders of a church and I hope all of you belong to some church. I hope some of you 42:52 listening to me, I hope you're not some of these independent type of people who don't belong to any church, just roam around independently. Oh, brother, sister, I feel sorry for you if you're in that condition. You feel no church is good enough for you. 43:06 Aha, you're such a holy person, is it? That there's no church in your locality good enough for you. God have mercy on you. Find some church where you can submit to the authorities. and obey your leaders and submit to them 43:25 because and this is a good elder will keep watch over your soul as one who has to give an account to God one day. I believe that God has given me responsibility over different elders in churches and God has put elders who have 43:41 got authority over all the people in their church and I take this word very seriously that one day God will ask me God will ask you if you're an elder how did this brother behave towards you how did this sister behave towards you 44:00 what was her attitude or his attitude towards You not just the elders don't don't go around giving commandments like a boss in an office and they don't flash their light at you like police cars. No. But do you respect the elders in your 44:16 church? Do you obey them? Because it says here they are going to give an account to you. That means one day when the Lord comes he'll call your elder of your church and say hey tell me how did this brother behave towards you? How did this 44:31 sister behave? You think that's not going to happen? Every word in scripture is going to happen. I believe it with all my heart that God will ask me, I'm absolutely sure of that, that everyone who is God has committed to be under my authority, 44:50 how did this person behave towards you? How did this person did he do what you told him to do? And it says he has some elders will have to give an account with grief. Lord, I'm sorry to say some elder may have to say about you. 45:08 I'm sorry to say that brother had no respect for me. He wouldn't do anything what I said. He had no fear of what I told him. God have mercy on you in that day. I don't want to be in your position in that day. 45:25 And if it's a elder who loves you, he'll have to do it with grief. It'll not be, "Oh Lord, he was like that." No, not like that. Oh Lord, I'm sorry to say this guy wouldn't listen to me. There'll be grief in his heart because 45:42 he's a true elder. And if that happens in that day, it says in verse 17, Hebrews 13:17, it'll be extremely unprofitable for you. I don't know what that means, but I fear God and I take it seriously. 46:01 So, what I'm trying to say is submission to authority is a fundamental principle in God's economy, in the way he runs this universe. And sin originated in the in the world through Lucifer not obeying authority. And I think there was another reason he 46:19 didn't want to work with Michael. Just like two elders sometimes don't work together. They were supposed to submit to each other. They wouldn't submit to each other. That's how Lucifer that's how sin comes when you can't work 46:31 towards along with the coworker. That's another way of sin originated. Submission to authority is so important. And how Eve did not submit to authority and that was a problem there. And how the Lord said that the person doesn't submit to authority. 46:49 Children should be stoned to death. You know that that's the commandment how it was given to the person as the book of Deuteronomy that law Jesus quoted was if your children uh let me turn to that 47:08 verse again. We saw that in Mark 7. Mark 7 and verse 10. And there was a commandment in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy. That's what he's what he's quoting there. You turn to 47:27 Deuteronomy in chapter 5. The commandment is to honor your father and mother. And later on in Deuteronomy, he says, "If you don't obey your father, the father and mother must bring that person out in the presence of the elders 47:40 and stone him to death." That's an amazing the father stoning his children to death. boy. And yet that's what the Lord come, if you turn with me, just show you that reference quickly. Deuteronomy chapter 47:59 21. Deuteronomy 21. It's good to see this verse and see how strict God was in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 21 and verse 18. Deuteronomy 21:18. Listen to this. Picture yourself as this father. 48:18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, Old Testament law who will not obey his father or his mother when they punish him and he will not even listen to them, then the father and the mother. Now picture yourself there as a father 48:33 and mother with a disobedient child shall seize him bring him to the elders of the city and they shall say to the elders in verse 20 this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He's a glutton and a drunkard. 48:52 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death. And who is bringing the child to be stoned to death? The parents. Can you believe that? If you were under the law, would you do 49:12 that if your son was disobedient? I'm just trying to show you how important in God's eyes submission to authority was that he said the father and mother should themselves bring that child to be stoned to death. We haven't taken these scriptures 49:30 seriously. The fear of God has completely departed in our generation. That's why there's such a rebellious spirit, rebellion against authority in society. Look at all the strikes and people going on the marching on the streets rebelling against authority 49:48 everywhere. It is there. And it's a sad thing when it is found in the church. It's sad thing for when it is found in a Christian home. It's a sad thing in a church when people rebel against the elders of a church. Now, in conclusion, I want you to turn 50:05 with me to Luke's Gospel, Gospel of Luke and chapter 2. It's talking about Jesus. Gospel of Luke. This is when Jesus was 50:25 12 years old. He had gone to the temple and after coming back from the temple, Luke 2:51, this is the baby Jes not baby, he was a young man of 12 years old, he went down 50:42 with Joseph and Mary, Luke 2:51 to Nazareth. And he continued in subjection to them up to the age of 30. Joseph died earlier but subjection to Mary. And thus because he was subject to 51:01 Joseph and Mary. Verse 52. Therefore I could say Jesus kept on increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Teach your children to obey like Jesus obeyed and they will also grow in favor with God. So there are many things written in 51:21 scripture which are I hope you got some revelation on it today. Maybe all have some respect for authority especially in the church I'm concerned about. And don't speak evil. If you've got some complaint against an elder go straight 51:37 to him. Don't speak about him behind his back. Don't destroy yourself so that one day when you stand before the Lord, you're to hang your head in shame and you miss out on something God wanted you to have. Let's bow our heads in prayer. 51:56 So, while our heads are bowed in prayer, [clears throat] I want you to think about what you heard today. I'm not asking you whether you obey. Elders don't give commands. In your church, in our CFC church, elders don't go around giving commands. Forget the 52:14 commands. What I'm asking is, do you respect the elders in the church? They don't give you commands. If they told you to go and clean the toilet or something, I'm sure you do it. That's not my question. Do you respect that 52:32 like a child is to respect the parents? I don't know. You better answer that to God. Heavenly Father, I pray that you will help us to see the importance of submission to all the authorities you have placed in society, in the 52:51 government, in the police, our bosses in the office, in the home, with the parents, the husband over the wife and in the church, the elders. Help us to show show by our life that we respect your word by 53:09 submitting to these authorities. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you brothers and sisters for listening patiently. I hope you learned something today which will be profitable for you throughout your life. Amen. [music]
