Will you please turn to the book of Romans? Romans Chapter 13. We will read the first five verses.
Romans 13:1-5
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, withstandeth the ordinance of God;
And they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil.
And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
For he is a minister of God to thee for good.
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain:
For he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
The Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 8, Verse 9.
Matthew 8:9
For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers:
And I say to this one, Go, and he goeth;
And to another, Come, and he cometh;
And to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
The Gospel according to John, Chapter 5.
John 5:19-20, 26-27, 30
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing:
For what things soever He doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner.
For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth;
And greater works than these will He show Him, that ye may marvel.For as the Father hath life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself:
And He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man.I can of Myself do nothing:
As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous;
Because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.
The same Gospel, Chapter 8, Verses 28 and 29.
John 8:28-29
Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father taught Me, I speak these things.
And He that sent Me is with Me; He hath not left Me alone; for I do always the things that are pleasing to Him.
And finally, Ephesians Chapter 5, just one verse—Verse 21.
Ephesians 5:21
Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
Lord, we have just remembered Thee at Thy table. Our hearts are constrained by Thy love, knowing that Thou who hast died for us—we all died—and now we live for Thee who died and lives for us.
Lord, we are Thine; we are not our own. We regret how often we hinder Thee instead of serving Thee. Lord, forgive us for our ignorance. Forgive us for our stubbornness. We do not know authority; we do not know obedience. These things are foreign to us.
We do pray that Thou wilt open our eyes, open the understanding of our hearts, that we may see what authority really is. Teach us the lesson of obedience, and show us how to be in authority as well as under authority, that Thy work may be done and Thy will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We just commit this time into Thy hands, confessing that we know nothing. We ask that Thou wilt open Thy Word, shine Thy light upon us, deliver us, and lead us into Thy truth, that Thou mayest truly have us for Thyself. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We mentioned yesterday morning that there is a fundamental truth that we must always remember. That truth is: there is no authority except from God.
Or, to put it another way, in this universe, in the creation, God is the only and one authority. Whatever is not God, is not of God, is a counterfeit. Only that which is God Himself, and only that which is given by God, is true authority.
We shared together on the very nature of authority—how different God’s authority, or true authority, is from the authority that we usually understand and accept.
Authority is God’s right. It is something that comes out of Himself. Therefore, it carries with it, in His authority, His very character.
God’s authority is spiritual; it is not positional. God’s authority is life; it is not something that you assume. God’s authority is giving, not getting. God’s authority is serving in its nature, not to be served. And God’s authority is love. These are the nature of authority.
The purpose of authority is not for overthrowing, even though this is our impression. It is because we are a rebellious people. God’s authority is primarily for building up.
It is through God’s authority that there can be any building, whether it is individual—the building up of our spiritual life—or the building of the church. It takes God’s authority to do that. If you reject God’s authority in your life, you will find that you will never be built up. You will remain as you are, even if you are saved, believing in Christ.
It is the authority of God that builds up the church. Otherwise, the church would never be built. How precious is authority. It is something not to be rejected, but something that we should look forward to and welcome.
Our response to authority is to obey.
We mentioned at the very last that there are certain signs that show who really knows what authority is. I am sorry to say I have to make a confession: my memory failed me yesterday on the last point. I substituted something other than what Brother Nee said, so I ask your forgiveness.
Brother Nee said that the last sign of people who know authority is that they are sensitive to every lawlessness.
This morning, we would like to continue with a further look into delegated authority. Now, brothers and sisters, we say God is authority. I do not believe that anyone here will challenge this statement.
Probably we think that it is easy for us to obey God as authority. In other words, we have no problem with God as authority. Now, if you have any problem with that, you are in very serious trouble. But I think we have no trouble accepting that God is the authority.
We have no trouble, at least mentally, accepting that we should obey God’s direct authority, because after all, He is God, and we are His created beings.
But even though we do accept it mentally, when it comes to our actual living, we find how often we challenge God’s authority.
Take, for instance, the Apostle Peter. You find that in his life, more than once, he challenged God’s authority.
You know, on the night of the betrayal of our Lord Jesus, the Lord knew that He came from the Father. He knew that He was going back to His Father. He knew that He was their Lord and their Master. But He loved them, and He loved them to the uttermost.
On that night, He washed His disciples’ feet to show His love to them. He is the authority, and that authority is expressed in love—in loving service, in humble service.
But when He came to Peter, you remember, Peter said, “Lord, what are You doing here? You should never do that. I will not allow You to do that.”
Now, who is Lord: the Lord Jesus or Peter?
Did he really learn the lesson that evening? Hardly. Because even after our Lord died, resurrected, ascended, and the Holy Spirit came—and Peter was greatly used by God—he still challenged God’s authority.
One day, while he was on the rooftop in Joppa, he was a little hungry because it was noon time and people were cooking food. So, while he was on the rooftop praying, probably he was still thinking of eating. But anyway, God used that opportunity to give him a vision.
He saw a great white sheet coming down from heaven. It came down right in front of him. He looked into it, and there were all these unclean animals. The voice said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
Now, how strong was Peter’s tradition? Tradition has a very strong hold on a person. Even though Peter was hungry, tradition was so strong that he said, “Lord, not so. This cannot be done, because I have never eaten anything unclean.”
And the voice said, “What God hath cleansed, let no man call common.” It happened three times, and Peter did not do it until the white sheet went up to heaven.
Now, brothers and sisters, do we laugh at Peter? Let us laugh at ourselves. How often we say, “Lord, Lord, not so.”
So, brothers and sisters, even though mentally we do accept the direct authority of God, and think there is no problem with that, we still have problems. How we need to see Him as God, that He has absolute authority over us.
Into His authority there should be no questioning, no argument, but instant, absolute submission and absolute obedience.
This morning we would like to share on this matter of delegated authority, and that is where all the problems are.
God is authority. He uses His authority to create all things. He uses His authority to maintain all things. He uses His authority to govern all things, that the whole universe will be in harmony and in order.
Now, if God should keep His authority all to Himself, how simple it would be. But unfortunately—and thank God for that unfortunate thing—it is His good pleasure to delegate authority.
Do not ask me why, but it is His good pleasure. God is God; that is His right. If He wants to delegate authority, that is what He can do. No one can question Him.
It seems that this is God’s pleasure. Maybe there is a reason behind it. Of course, today we seem to catch a little bit of what the reason is, but still you find it is beyond our understanding why God should delegate authority and not keep every authority just to Himself, so that everything would be direct authority and nothing else.
How simple it would be. There would not be all these problems. But it pleases God to delegate authority.
Even in the first world, He delegated His authority to angelic beings. You remember that Scripture tells us there are angels and archangels, seraphim and cherubim, principalities and authorities.
In other words, after He created the universe, He delegated His authority to angelic beings—some with greater authority, some with less authority. All these delegated authorities are God’s servants.
Angels are God’s servants. In other words, they serve God under God’s authority. Under God’s authority, and with the authority that God has given to them, they govern this universe for the glory of God.
Everything was beautiful. Everything expressed the glory of God. Everything served the purpose of God. All these angelic beings were under God’s authority when they exercised the authority given to them.
We say again: authority is not something assumed; authority is something given. These angelic beings were given authority. As long as they exercised the authority given by God, under God, everything worked perfectly.
But, as our brother already mentioned, unfortunately, in that prehistoric time, one archangel—beautiful, talented, highly positioned, gifted—was given great authority and dominion by God.
But somehow an evil thought entered into his mind. In other words, he began to be conscious of himself.
In the beginning, no one was conscious of himself. The only consciousness in this universe was God. All these angelic beings were not conscious of themselves, their positions, or their gifts. They were only conscious of the God whom they served. Everything was received from God, and everything returned to God.
The beginning of rebellion is self-consciousness.
One archangel began to be conscious of himself—conscious of his beauty, conscious of his power, conscious of his position, conscious of his skill, conscious of the authority given to him.
When he began to be conscious of himself, he wanted to use all the authority, power, gifts, and beauty that God had given him. Instead of using them to serve God, he wanted to use them to serve himself.
A rebellious spirit came upon him. Instead of being under the authority of God, he wanted to set up his own authority. Instead of serving God’s kingdom, he wanted to establish his own kingdom—his own dominion.
For this reason, he was cast out of the garden of God above. He turned himself into Satan, the adversary of God.
Evidently, our solar system at that time was under his control. Oh, how he affected not only the earth that was under his control, but even other angels. He was able to instill that poison, that rebellious spirit, into one-third of the angelic host and lead them into rebellion.
He was able to turn this earth that God had created into ruin and darkness.
Now, brothers and sisters, it is true that all these things happened because God’s authority was challenged. God would not allow it. God’s discipline came, and God’s judgment. That is true.
But in another sense, brothers and sisters, that was the result of the rebellious spirit. Wherever there is a rebellious spirit, it brings in darkness. It brings in ruin. It brings in emptiness that is purposeless.
Because Lucifer became self-conscious and wanted to make himself equal with God—an authority in himself instead of being under authority and functioning with the authority God had given him—he was cast out, and his dominion turned into ruin and darkness.
But God did not give up the idea of delegated authority. Now, if it were you or me, after such a thing happened, we would say, “Well, it is better not to delegate authority. I will just hold it all by myself.” But no, God is different from us.
Even though Satan seemed to set up his own kingdom, the kingdom of darkness; even though Satan rebelled against God’s authority and was under God’s judgment, we know one thing: he was still under God’s authority.
He tried to pull himself out of God’s authority and set up his own, but he was still under God’s authority. He could not do anything he wanted to do.
Even when he tries to tempt us, he has to get permission from God. He is still under God’s authority. No matter how you want to get out of God’s authority, you cannot get out, because He is the authority of the universe. There is no way out.
You only bring judgment upon yourself, trouble upon yourself. But thank God, He did not give up the idea of delegating authority. There must be a reason behind it, a very glorious reason behind it.
We do not know how long it was, but we know from the Word of God that the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the deep, like a hen broods over her chicks, and used His warmth and His love to repair this ruin.
On the sixth day, God did something most marvelous. It was something that He had never done even in the first creation. He decided to create man in His own image, after His likeness.
God had never done that before. He created angelic beings, beautiful and glorious, but He did not create them in His own image.
But now He decided, even after the catastrophe that happened, not to go backward. He took a step forward. He created man—man lower than the angels, and yet created in His own image.
When He created man, He gave man the capacity to receive Him into man. He knew that the only safe way to safeguard delegated authority was His own life.
So He created man with the capacity to receive His own life. Then He gave dominion to man over the fowls of the air, over the animals of the field, and over the fishes of the sea.
God put the tree of life in the middle of the garden. Our brother has already mentioned that. In other words, God was saying, “I still delegate My authority, but remember: the secret to being My delegated authority is to receive My life. That is the safeguard.”
Now again, man sinned. Instead of receiving the life of God into them, so that when they exercised the authority God had given them they would be under God’s life—and that would be safe—they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In other words, they developed self-consciousness. They wanted to make themselves God over everything. Brothers and sisters, when that happened, a curse came upon this earth.
The ground would grow thistles and thorns. You know what thorns are? Thorns are aborted fruit. God’s purpose is to bear fruit, but here, instead of fruit, it is aborted. It does not arrive at its end. It becomes thorns. That is the curse.
Whenever God’s authority is rejected, there will be a curse. The greatest curse is that you never arrive at God’s end.
Now we would say, “Surely, God has tried twice, and surely that would teach Him a lesson.” But God did not learn that lesson, I say—and thank God for that. God still did not give up. His desire to delegate authority is still there. He never changes.
In the Scripture we read at the beginning, Romans Chapter 13 says, “There is no authority except from God, and those that exist are set up by God.”
God still sets up authorities on this earth. We find that in the nations there are kings, rulers, and governments. You read the Book of Daniel, and in Daniel 2:21 it says that it is God who changes times and seasons, who removes kings and sets up kings.
In the song of Mary, in Luke Chapter 1, you find Mary saying, “He hath put down princes from their thrones, and hath exalted them of low degree.”
In other words, God still delegates authority in this world. He sets up kings and rulers, and these are God’s ministers. They are set up by God to serve God’s purpose. They are to serve God for good, not for evil. That is the reason why, if you do not want to be afraid of authorities, do good.
Not only in government and in the nations does He set up authorities, but in our homes He sets up authorities—our parents, father and mother. They are authorities set up by God in our homes.
Even in the church, you find that God sets up authority—delegated authority—being elders, those whom God has chosen to represent His authority in the church.
So here you find that God still delegates authority. He loves to do that.
Now, what is delegated authority? When the authority of God is delegated, what does it mean?
It means that those who are delegated authority are to represent God. So you find that it is a tremendous responsibility. So far as God is concerned, for Him to delegate authority is a great risk.
But so far as we are concerned, to be delegated authority is a great and serious responsibility, because we are to represent God.
You know, the sin of misrepresentation is a very serious thing.
Moses served God with all faithfulness. But toward the end, his spirit was provoked. He said something and did something that he should never have done. He struck the rock twice and said, “Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?”
He misrepresented God’s authority. He misused God’s authority. He misrepresented God, because the children of Israel would say, “Well, so this is what God is like.” No, God is not like that.
For this reason, he was not allowed to enter into the promised land.
Brothers and sisters, if we know what delegated authority is, we will not desire to be so delegated. Anyone who desires to be God’s delegated authority is disqualified to be God’s delegated authority. Remember this.
There are two things we would like to consider before the Lord this morning on this matter of delegated authority. One is those who are delegated authority—in other words, those who are in authority for God. The second is those who are under God’s delegated authority.
When God gives authority to a person, we have already said that he is to represent God. In whatever he does, whenever that authority is exercised, it has to express God.
It is not to express himself, but to express God. Whenever he does not express God but expresses himself, it is a misrepresentation, and this is a serious thing in the sight of God.
There is one Man who shows us what delegated authority really is, and that Man, of course, is our Lord Jesus.
Of course, He, being God, is the very principle of direct authority. He is God. But when our Lord Jesus emptied Himself and became a man, you find that when He was on earth, He was the perfect expression of what delegated authority is.
When He came to this earth, He had no position whatsoever. Even though He is the Son of David, He was not born in Jerusalem. He was not born in a palace. He was born in Bethlehem, a tiny city, in a manger.
He had no position on this earth. He had never been to a rabbinical school to learn the Torah. He had no status whatsoever.
So, if you look at our Lord Jesus, you find that there was nothing outwardly that gave Him authority. But yet, while He was on earth, He was a Man of authority.
We are all familiar with the Sermon on the Mount. When our Lord Jesus delivered that Sermon on the Mount, when He finished, all those who heard Him said, “He is different from our scribes, because He teaches with authority.”
Even today, when we read Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7, we come to the same conclusion. We hear something. We hear words coming from a Man with authority.
Not only were His words full of authority, but with a word sickness was healed. That centurion understood authority. When his servant was sick, he asked that the Lord would come and heal him.
But he said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come to my humble house. You say a word; that is enough, because You are a Man of authority. I know what authority is. I am under authority.”
As a centurion, he was under the authority of Caesar. When he was under Caesar’s authority, he had authority over his hundred men. When he said, “You go,” they went; “You come,” they came; “You do this,” they did it. It could not be challenged. That is authority.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord is a Man of authority. He says a word, and it is done. Now remember, this authority is not His authority as God.
As God, He says, “Let there be light,” and there is light. But here you find that as Man, He has delegated authority. He says a word, and the fever stops. He says a word, and the demon is cast out. He says a word, and the sea is calm.
He has authority over the sea, over everything. Yet He had no position. While He was exercising His authority, He had no position. It is spiritual. It is love. It is giving. It is serving.
But there you find that He is a Man with authority.
You know how His authority was challenged. In the beginning of His ministry, He entered into the temple. He looked around, and He saw all this trading going on, all the noise.
Our Lord Jesus made a whip, drove out all the cattle, overturned the tables of the money changers, and said, “You have made My Father’s house a house of merchandise, a bazaar. You disgrace My Father’s house.”
The Jews said, “Show us a sign.” What does that mean? It means, “By what authority are You doing this? Who are You? Show us a sign.”
You know what sign our Lord gave? The Lord said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” That is a sign.
What is the sign of the authority of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth? Giving His life for the world. Laying down His life and taking it up again. That is authority. That is the sign.
Then, at the end of His ministry, it happened again. It is recorded that at His last entry into Jerusalem, after three and a half years of labor, He discovered that the temple was not getting better but getting worse.
So again, He cleansed the temple. But after He did that, the Pharisees and the officials came and challenged Him: “By what authority do You do this? Who gave You the authority to do that?”
They knew that it took authority to do these things, but who gave Him the authority? On whose authority was He doing that?
As our brother already mentioned, the Lord did not answer that question, but questioned them: “The baptism of John, was it from God or from man?” In other words, it was clear. It was evident. The Lord did not need to defend His authority.
The Pharisees and the officials of the temple had position. Now, in the beginning, perhaps it was because of their godliness. God chose high priests, and those priests were supposed to be set apart to serve God. The Pharisees were supposed to study the Word, the law, and keep it.
Maybe in the beginning there was some sincerity, some piety there, and because of this they got into a position. But now there was no authority there. It was counterfeit authority—based on position, based on tradition, not based on life.
So here you find these two authorities clashing: man-made authority, positional and traditional, clashing with real authority—spiritual life.
False authority only destroys; it never builds. And if it builds, it builds a tower of Babel. But anyway, it shows you that our Lord, while He was on earth as a Man, had authority.
That authority was not God’s direct authority in the first place. His authority was delegated authority. How do we know? You read the Gospel according to John.
In the Gospel of John, our Lord Jesus says again and again, “I can do nothing of Myself. I see My Father doing it, so I do it. I cannot say anything on My own. I say it because I heard My Father say it.”
“It is He who is doing it within Me. It is He who is speaking within Me. I always do the things that please the Father, and He is always with Me.”
“If I judge, God has given Me authority to judge. I judge not on My own, but I judge according to Him.”
So, brothers and sisters, you find that throughout His life, when He emptied Himself to become a Man, He left His authority as God behind. He came as a Man under authority.
How He put Himself completely under the authority of God His Father—to such an extent that He would never do anything, say anything, or go anywhere apart from the Father. Even His timing was in God’s hands.
You remember how His brothers in the flesh said, “Well, this is feast time. Everybody goes to Jerusalem, and if You want to show Yourself, go to Jerusalem where the people are and show them who You are.”
Our Lord said, “Your time is always convenient, but My hour has not yet come.” In other words, you find that He lived His whole life under God’s authority.
His obedience to God’s authority was so absolute and perfect. Therefore, God gave Him delegated authority—perfect and complete.
His authority while He was on earth was delegated authority. It was because He put Himself under God’s authority that He was given authority.
Brothers and sisters, how He used that authority! He never used His authority for Himself. He always used that authority for His Father.
He never used authority to deliver Himself from the cross. He could have done that. When He was mocked and told, “Come down from the cross, and we will believe You,” He could very well have done that. But He did not.
He exercised authority to remain on the cross. Brothers and sisters, that is delegated authority.
Now, how about us? If God should delegate His authority to us, is that not a great risk?
If God should honor us by delegating His authority to us, remember, it is a tremendous responsibility.
To whom will God delegate His authority? To what degree will He delegate His authority to us? The principle is according to the degree of His life in each one of us.
Authority is in life—in God’s life. Brothers and sisters, thank God, our forefather Adam lost the authority, the dominion, that God had given him.
But today, God again gives authority to those who are His, in whom He has put His own life. Brothers and sisters, with that life comes delegated authority.
So every one of us has been delegated authority. Now, do you know that? Do you know that every child of God has a measure of delegated authority?
It is a tremendous responsibility. He wants you to use that delegated authority to serve God’s purpose, to represent God, and to do His work.
I believe this is the reason why He wants to delegate authority. God loves us so much, and He wants to honor us so much, that He wants us to have a part in His great work.
The work of building that holy city, that New Jerusalem, the bride of His beloved Son—You need authority for that. He wants you and me to have a part. Therefore, He is willing to take this risk with you and me.
Whatever life God has given you, there is that measure of authority there. The Lord says, “Use it under My authority. Exercise it under My authority.” When you are doing that, you find that God’s work is done. There will be building.
But remember one thing: in order to do that, we need to deny ourselves.
If our Lord Jesus, who is a perfect Man, had to deny Himself every time, in the smallest thing as well as the biggest thing, then how much more do we, who have this sinful nature in us, need the working of the cross in our lives?
If we do not deny ourselves, there is always a danger that we will misuse the authority God has given us. We will use authority God has given us to misrepresent Him.
We will use it for our own purpose. We will use it to build our own kingdom. But remember, it is the kingdom of darkness that we are building.
Never for a moment think that because you are given authority, therefore you become authority. You are not.
No matter how much authority God has given you on the basis of His life in you, whenever you are out of touch with God’s life, whenever you are not living in the Spirit of God, you have no authority whatsoever. You are no authority.
You know, our trouble today is that authority blinds our eyes. Authority deceives us into thinking that now we are authority, so we can say anything we like, do anything we want, and tell people what to do—and they must do it, otherwise we punish them.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is not authority of God. This is abuse of God’s authority.
We are never authority. Whatever little authority we may have, it is Christ within us. He is the authority.
So, put it very simply: what is delegated authority? Delegated authority is Christ—God’s life in you. That is delegated authority, and there is the measure of authority you have.
Whether you are prophesying according to the proportion of faith, or whether you are serving according to the measure God has given to you, do not be out of bounds. Do not be careless, thinking that now you are authority. You never are.
Brother Nee told us there are three requirements to be delegated authority.
Whatever authority you still claim to have is a counterfeit.
All right, we have to move to the second one. I have eight more minutes.
Now we come to this matter of being under authority. Brothers and sisters, it is equally difficult to be in authority and to be under authority. Do not think being in authority is easy; it is very difficult. Probably it is more difficult than being under authority.
There is no problem being under the direct authority of God. Our problem is being under delegated authority. That is our problem.
Because we say, “Now, who are you? You are not God. Why should I submit to you?”
Well, it is because we do not understand what authority is. Brothers and sisters, if you understand what authority is, there is no problem, because whether it is direct or delegated, it is God.
When you are submitting to the authorities that God has set above you, you are not submitting to man or woman. You are submitting to God.
If only you can see this, where is the problem? Your problem is with God; it is not with man. So if you have that problem, you had better go to God and deal with it. Do not try to deal with man, because you will not be able to solve it. You have to go to God to solve that problem.
As a matter of fact, I love that verse: “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.” Oh, I love that verse.
Paul was going to tell us about the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between parents and children, and the relationship between masters and slaves.
In other words, he was going to tell us that in this world there is an order. There are those who will be put in authority, and there will be those who will be under authority. That is the way God has arranged this world, whether nationally, in a home, or in the church.
Before he mentioned that, he laid down a principle. He said, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.”
Brothers and sisters, our first thought should not be, “Whom will I have authority over?” Our first thought should be, “Whom should I submit to?”
Here you find that submission should be our attitude. We should seek for submission, not seek for authority.
Submit to one another in the fear of Christ. In other words, as members of the body of Christ, every member has a measure of Christ. To that measure of Christ, we must submit.
It is for the fear of Christ. The fear there is not the fear of punishment; the fear there is the fear of not pleasing the Lord. We want to please the Lord.
Because we want to please Him so much, whenever we see that measure, that expression, that manifestation of Christ coming out from any brother or sister, submit.
Sometimes a great member has to submit to a small member. Submit yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
Now, if this is our attitude, what will happen? When we submit ourselves one to another, then the divine order will appear.
The divine order appears through our submission. When we begin to submit to one another, the Spirit of God will show us whom He has set up as authorities over us, whom we should obey, and whom we should learn to submit to. That will come out very naturally.
The reason why in the church today there is so much horror over this matter of leadership, or who is to be in authority, is because everybody wants to be in authority and nobody wants to submit.
Everybody wants others to submit to them and not to submit to others. That is the problem. When you are doing that, remember: the divine order will never come forth.
But whenever brothers and sisters really see this and have an attitude of submitting to one another in the fear of Christ, do not look at your brothers and sisters at the Adam and Eve in them. Look at your brothers and sisters at the Christ in them. Try to find Christ in them and submit to the Christ in them.
When we are all doing that, then God will decide who should be in authority, because nobody wants to be in authority. It is a tremendous responsibility.
To be in authority is to serve as the bondslave of all. Now, who wants to do that? Unless God apprehends you, who wants to do that?
But when God apprehends you, how dare you not do it? It is for God, not for yourself. It is to desire a good work—the work of God to be done.
Brothers and sisters, I believe with my whole heart that the order will be manifested naturally, supernaturally manifested. So there should be no problem.
Our whole attitude needs to be changed. Oh, there is much more we can share, but our time is up.
I do trust the Holy Spirit of God to really show us what authority is. If you really know what authority is, submission and obedience should be no problem.
But again, I say, naturally we know neither authority nor obedience. It is not in us. Whether it is authority, it is Christ. Whether it is obedience, it is Christ.
He is the very principle of authority. He is the very principle of obedience. It is He in us who enables us to have delegated authority. It is He in us who enables us to submit to the authorities that God has set above us.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we have to acknowledge that we know neither authority nor obedience. But we do praise and thank Thee for saving us, for giving Thy beloved Son to us.
In Him we find authority; in Him we find obedience. We pray that whether it is authority or obedience, they will become very life to us, that through authority and obedience we may serve Thy purpose, and all glory be unto Thee.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.