One good thing about it being a little cool is that no one falls asleep. Notice that last night and this morning, everyone was keeping themselves warm. So that’s one good thing.
I would like to turn you to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10. I will read from verse 35.
And there come near unto Him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying unto Him, Teacher, we would that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of Thee.
And He said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?
And they said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand, in Thy glory.
But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
And they said unto Him, We are able.
And Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized.
But to sit on My right hand, or on My left hand, is not Mine to give; but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared.
And when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation concerning James and John.
And Jesus called them to Him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it is not so among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister;
And whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all.
For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Shall we just bow together in a word of prayer?
Lord, we do bow here in Thy presence, and we are very conscious that we need Thee if this matter is somehow to be communicated to us by Thy Spirit. We pray, therefore, that Thou take hold of this little time together in Thy presence, and Thou wilt make it live by Thy working, and through Thy power and grace.
Lord, we thank Thee for that anointing which is ours in the Lord Jesus, and together we stand into it, that whether for speaker or for hearer, we might know that provision which Thou hast made in operation. O Lord, hear us, we pray, as we commit ourselves now to Thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Now, I have been asked to speak to you about leadership in three sessions. I would like to talk this afternoon about authority—true authority. On Wednesday afternoon, the Lord willing, I would like to speak to you about the necessity of anointing. Then, on Thursday afternoon, I would like to speak to you about the character of leadership.
So this afternoon, the matter of authority. We are living in days which have been described as a crisis of authority. This spirit of rebellion, the spirit of anarchy, the spirit of licence, is everywhere apparent.
It is not only in our educational system; it is not only in our national and social life; it has not only reached into family life, but the spirit of it has come into the church. So this matter of authority is all-important.
Now, it would be a happy matter if there was not a tremendous amount of problem and confusion on this very subject amongst believers, and not least amongst those who are most desirous of seeing the Lord recover His testimony and somehow or other build His church.
We see in many, many movements that have some measure of real church truth a confusion on the matter of authority—perhaps not so much in teaching as in practice. But the end result is that empires are built, human systems are created, and a kind of Christian spiritual police state is somehow produced. A system of bondage is imposed upon the people of God.
This matter, therefore, of authority is vital. It goes to the very heart of everything. Now, we are talking about leadership. There can be no leadership without authority.
And I am not just talking about apostolic work, or the work of an elder, or the work of some responsible brother who is leading, or with others leading, an assembly of God’s people. I am talking about those of you who are responsible for children’s work, responsible for youth work, or responsible for some practical aspect of the life of God’s people.
Leadership goes right through the whole church of God. If you have a responsibility, however small, in some measure it is a matter of leadership. However small the responsibility delegated to you, it is to be seen in terms of leadership. So what I have to say has a very wide scope and bearing. It is not just for those who occupy the platform, as it were, those who are forever in evidence as leading meetings or whatever else. It goes into every aspect of our life as the people of God.
Now, the first thing I would like to underline is the nature of true authority. All true authority is derived from God. It is not self-made. It is not self-appointed. It cannot be.
This is apparent in the fact that the apostle Paul again and again opens his letters by saying, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” In the Galatian letter, he says, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father.”
All true authority must have as its source the appointment of God. Now, this is true even of the world. What does the Bible teach us about, for instance, your president, whether you like him or not; about our prime minister in England; or other world leaders?
It is quite clear. If you like, turn to Romans 13:1:
Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.
Therefore he that resisteth the power withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment.
Or again, in 1 Peter 2:13-17:
Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme;
Or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
As free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
Now, if even authority in a fallen world is appointed by God, how much more must authority in the work of God and in the church of God be appointed by the Lord? All spiritual authority is derived from the Lord. Let me underline it again and again.
Look, for instance, at Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying:
All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
“All authority hath been given unto Me. Go ye therefore.” Our authority in the work of God is derived from His authority.
This matter is very, very important, because it is not merely a matter of title, status, position, dress, training, academic qualification, or election to office. These things may be right; they may be wrong.
You can make a reverend, and he may not be reverend. You can give a theological degree to somebody who has not got the faintest understanding of spiritual things and does not know what it is to live in a spiritual dimension.
Such authority is the authority of this world. It is dependent upon dress, title, status, and some kind of academic qualification. Now, this is not to run down academic qualifications or training. It is not even to take away title. After all, the apostle Paul called himself the apostle Paul. He was not afraid to talk about elders and deacons in the situation in the early church.
But if we think that it is merely a question that you can elderise a man, deaconise a man, preacherise a man, or somehow apostolise a man—if we think you can produce people to be things—we are very, very wrong.
All those matters are secondary. The ordination, in its first place, to any responsibility in the work of God, must be the Lord.
Now, this does not mean that the church may not sometimes come to you and ask you to do a job, because behind the burden of the church, and behind the burden of those responsible brethren, may in fact be the voice and appointment of God.
But the point I am trying to make is simply this: all real authority comes from the Lord, and we must be appointed by God. Otherwise, we shall forever have a kind of nagging suspicion that we are in the wrong place. We have not got that kind of divine support, that divine backing, that divine covering, that divine provision.
Now I would like to take this matter a step further. I would like you to note the words of the centurion to the Lord Jesus, as recorded in Luke 7:6-8:
And Jesus went with them. And when He was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying unto Him, Lord, trouble not Thyself; for I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof:
Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee: but say the word, and my servant shall be healed.
For I also am a man set 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.
Now, I want you just to note these words of the centurion to the Lord Jesus: “I also am under authority.” The Lord Jesus was also under authority.
Consider very carefully what the Lord Jesus said in John 5. In hearing the words of the Lord Jesus, we come through to this matter more clearly. I want just to lay a foundation first of all before I talk about the character of authority.
Listen to these words in John 5:19:
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.
What mysterious words: “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing.” The Father in Him is doing the work. The Father in Him is the authority. You get it?
Turn over in the same chapter. It is worth reading the whole chapter, but we have not time. John 5:26-27:
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 a son of man.
That is Messiah. Then verse 30:
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.
Now here you have the nature of true authority: “I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” So true authority is, first of all, God Himself. He is the only authority, and all other authority is derived. We are servants. We are not out to do our own will; we are only out to administer His will.
Maybe this all seems to you very kindergarten, very obvious in some ways, but in fact it goes to the root of all our problems. We have thousands of brethren throwing their weight around in the house of God, lording it over the flock. Somehow or other, it becomes a platform for ambition, a platform for self-expression, a platform for self-assertion. It becomes a little petty empire in which small men can become big dictators.
This is not authority. It is a travesty of authority. Real authority is when you have a man or a woman who can do nothing from themselves. That does not mean they are continually self-conscious and tied up. No, no, no—they are the freest of all people.
But they cannot judge of themselves, they cannot exercise authority of themselves, and they cannot rule of themselves. It has to be the Lord in them. Do you understand what I am trying to say? It is so important.
No servant of the Lord can ever experience these words of the Lord Jesus in his or her experience until he knows brokenness—until he has gone through that process whereby God, in His infinite grace and mercy, breaks us of the strength of our own will and the strength of our own concepts.
When God has broken a man or a woman, then they can become a vehicle of authority. It is the principle of the cross and the Spirit. A man must learn to die. A woman must learn to die. They must know what it is, in a cold-blooded way, to lay down their lives for the sake of the Lord, for the sake of His church, of His body, and for the sake of the world. Then the Spirit of God comes upon them, and then the authority of God is manifested.
Maybe you feel I am setting such a standard that everyone will say, “We had better all resign from the various responsibilities we have. This is dreadful.” I mean, does he really mean to say that my little Sunday school job, my looking after the kids, has got to be derived authority? But in actual fact, yes.
Because, you see, if those children are to become the recipients of the Word of God, if some impression is to be made upon their little hearts and minds in their earliest years, you have got to be got out of the way so that the Lord can come through you—not apart from you.
You see, there is an idea of sanctification that God ties us up in a knot, smashes us over the head with a ten-pound hammer, kicks us out, and then stands there Himself. But this is not sanctification.
God takes up Paul with a brain that was one of the greatest brains in the world. Then He breaks the man, not once but again and again, and then He comes through the brain. Do not think that God does not use intelligence. He does use intelligence. He sometimes uses dimness. This is no commendation. Balaam’s ass once prophesied, and there have been many ever since.
Temperament is temperament. God knows exactly what He is doing, because He says in one place, “When thou wast in thy mother’s womb, I formed thee.” In other words, your genetic history is under the government of God.
If you have a strong will, then I can tell you that if you are going to be called by God and appointed by God to some sphere of leadership, you have a very real period of anguish to pass through. Because God has got to break you first, so that His work will not be scarred or marred by the wrong kind of authority.
True authority. Dear people of God, I said the apostle Paul was a man with an incredible brain. Some have called him a man with a brain as great as any in the history of the world. Maybe this is true; maybe it is overstating the case. Certainly, I think we all must say one thing about the apostle Paul: he had above-average intelligence and an above-average brain.
God broke that man in that vision that came to him, that blinded him for three days. Like a little child, the great Paul had to be led to some unknown man—we would not even know his name if it were not for Paul—called Ananias, who laid hands on the great man and prayed for him.
We do not really know what happened to Paul when he was in the desert for three years, but we do know this: after revelation upon revelation had been given to him, and responsibility for the churches of God and for the work of God over a very wide area, he said that God gave him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan, that he might not be exalted overmuch.
Now, we must thank God if we do not have such a thorn in the flesh. But the principle remains true relatively of all servants of the Lord: the more revelation that is given to them, the deeper the experience, and the larger their vision of God, the more God takes measures to keep them small and broken.
This matter of true authority, therefore, is no easy matter. If we aspire to leadership, if we want to be at least responsible in the work of God in these days—and let me say here and now that I think the matter of leadership is one of the most important and essential matters in the whole work of God—we need to understand this.
Let me just say something, then, about the character of true authority. It is seen in a number of places, but I want to dwell on two in particular in the Gospel according to Mark. We expect to find it in this Gospel, because this is the Gospel that is all to do with service, and Jesus as the Servant of the Lord.
In Mark 9:33-37, we read:
And they came to Capernaum: and when He was in the house He asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way?
But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest.
And He sat down, and called the twelve; and He saith unto them, If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.
And He took a little child, and set him in the midst of them: and taking him in His arms, He said unto them,
Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever receiveth Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me.
Now, what really was the Lord saying, or meaning, in this statement—well, in this act? It is very interesting. Was He saying that whoever would be first, whoever would be greatest, must become like a little child? What did He mean when He said, “Whoever receives him receives Him that sent Him”?
In other words, the Lord Jesus may have been talking about His servants. These twelve were His twelve disciples. What He was really saying was this: “You have got to become like a little child—dependent on God, pure in heart—if you would really know the authority of God and this greatness of God, if you would be first.”
That is one way of looking at it. I think it is a legitimate way. But another way to look at it, of course, is this: the servant of the Lord who becomes big will often overlook little people. And very often, it has pleased God to say something through little people.
It is not always where we expect to hear God speak that we hear Him speak. The nature of true authority—you see, the two things come together. Unless we are small in our own heart and estimation, unless in some way we are dependent upon God, unless we are pure in heart, I do not know whether we would ever be ready to listen to God speaking through some nonentity.
What can a child do in the house of God? What great work can they do? What great sign can they work? What great wonder can they perform? What great prophecy can they make? What great mystery can they explain? What great faith can they exercise?
Yet sometimes God takes the humblest person in an assembly and reveals to them a key to a whole problem confronting that work. But leaders sometimes get so big, and leadership can be so locked into itself, that it cannot hear what God is trying to say through the body.
Turn over the page to Mark 10:42-45. I read it at the beginning of this time, but I want just to read these words again:
Ye know that they who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it is not so among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister;
And whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all.
For verily the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Whoever shall be great among you shall be servant. That is the lower level. The servant was a hired servant, not quite the same as a bondslave. A bondslave was at the beck and call of the household twenty-four hours. The hired servant not only had hours of service, but he also had wages. The bondslave had no wages; he was kept. Even his wife and children belonged to the master.
Now, what does the Lord Jesus say? Listen again. “You know amongst the Gentiles how their great ones like to lord it over them. But it shall not be so amongst you. Whosoever shall be great shall be like a hired servant. But whoever would be first shall be bondslave of all.”
Would to God we all had that kind of character. If all authority exercised in the work of God and in the church of God was of this character, of this type, what a tremendous difference it would make in the work of the Lord.
Have we given sufficient value to the words of our Lord Jesus? Because He went on to say this in Mark 10:45: “For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The character of true authority. Do you not think that the enemy has done his most cunning and most deceitful work in this matter of leadership, in somehow causing the very atmosphere of our assemblies, our fellowships, churches, and Christian work amongst the people of God to be permeated by this idea that is in the world?
The man who is the leader is the big man. He has a Cadillac. He lounges back. He is driven here or driven there. He has the big office. You come in and stand there: “Yes, sir. No, sir. Please, sir.”
We get this idea. We get this idea of kingship. The idea of kingship is of someone sitting, as it were, on a magnificent gold throne, with a wonderful crown and all the regalia of office—something that makes your mouth drop open when you see it. “Oh, how wonderful.”
Do you know, the idea that the kingship of Jesus falls into this category? We often think of Him just sitting on the throne to be admired, as if the Lord Jesus wants to be admired, as if the Lord Jesus saved us merely so that somehow or other He might sit there and everyone be in awe.
This is not kingship. God’s idea of kingship is service. It is to be the bondslave of all. It is to be at the beck and call of all. We see it in Jesus. If we do not see it in one another, if you do not see it in me, it is not very easy, this matter.
The Lord Jesus was truly the bondslave of all. He fed them. He loved them. He healed them from early morning to late at night, and then would not send them away.
What a picture of authority we see in the Lord Jesus: the One who could quell a storm, the One who could cast out a legion of demons, the One who could raise the dead, the One who could heal the sick, who could give the mentally ill a sound mind.
This Jesus never threw His weight around. He was the bondslave of all. He thought about feeding them. He thought about caring for them. He worried about their condition. He knew what was happening when some dear old, little, shrivelled-up lady in her old age touched the hem of His garment. He knew it. “Virtue went out of Me,” He said.
Even when He faced the greatest trial of His life, He took a towel and girded Himself with it, took a basin of water, and washed the feet of His disciples. He knelt in front of them—the very men who were going to deny Him within hours, and Judas, who was going out to sell Him and betray Him. He knelt before him and washed his feet.
This is a picture of authority which is entirely foreign to us. Our idea of authority is like a pyramid structure. It is often drawn as a pyramid: you have the apostles at the top, then under those you have the prophets, then the elders, then the deacons, and then the mass of the church. The apostle, having the greatest authority, sits, as it were, on the top.
Now, there is nothing wrong about this idea. If you look at the Word, it often says, “First apostles, then prophets.” Shall we get this idea? Well, of course: apostles, then prophets, then pastors, teachers, evangelists; then we go down through the serried ranks until finally you come to poor little you and me, squashed at the bottom.
In one sense, there is nothing wrong with it. But I always say it is best to invert the pyramid, because it is the concept that does the damage. It is not the truth; it is the concept. You see, concepts govern behaviour.
When you have this idea of the apostle at the top and all the poor folks who are redeemed underneath, then you have “the big boy.” It is a concept. Therefore, anyone who aspires to leadership is thinking of going up the ladder. We are going up. We are going to be something. We are going to be able to exercise authority.
We must invert the pyramid. As it says in Ephesians 2:20:
Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone.
In other words, the whole pyramid, as it were, is inverted, and the whole weight comes down upon those with the greatest authority. Everything is focused in burden, in anguish, in suffering, and in travail.
Is it not so when we read the New Testament? This will help us at least to understand this matter a little more. In 1 Peter 5:2-3, Peter speaks to elders:
Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
This is how the New American Standard Bible puts it: “Not under compulsion, but according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”
Now, sordid gain does not just mean money. Sordid gain can be ambition. It can be self-fulfilment. It can be self-expression. It can be, as it were, a satisfaction of one’s own ego. Sordid gain.
But with eagerness. So we are not to be those sort of people who say, “Oh, no, no, no, no. I cannot do anything.” We have got to be driven into it. No—not under compulsion, but with eagerness. You see the paradox?
Eager to lead the people of God. Well, of course, what does it mean? If I am right, it means you are eager for suffering. You are eager for burden. You are eager for anguish. You are eager for criticism. You are eager for all the many things that will come your way, including, in some cases, a messenger of Satan.
Do not be compelled out of duty to take responsibility in the work of God, but do it eagerly because you want to follow your Lord and you want to come to the throne of God by His grace. Not as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples—examples.
I shall say a little bit more of this at another time in connection with leadership. But what are examples if they are not pioneers? We are not to lord it over the people of God, but we are to lead them. We are to pioneer the way.
First, always in prayer. I do not mean in opening our mouth, but always, if there is a time of prayer, we are there. Where are our leaders often when there is a time of prayer? Not there. There is a night of prayer; they are not there. They are too busy.
We cannot expect everybody else to give up a night if we do not give up a night. We cannot expect others to sacrifice unless we sacrifice ourselves. We cannot expect people to give their time, money, and energy unless we do. We must be first in this matter. We must be pioneers in this matter.
Not directing things from behind the lines, far back in the safety of the capital, but out in the front, in the war, leading the people. Not lording it over the flock allotted to you, but being ensamples.
Now, may I just, in the last few moments, say something about the exercise of authority—this most ticklish of all matters. The exercise of authority.
I would like you to turn to 2 Timothy 4:9-13. These are the words of the apostle Paul:
Give diligence to come shortly unto me:
For Demas forsook me, having loved this present world, and went to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is useful to me for ministering:
But Tychicus I sent to Ephesus.
Now, I am interested there: he sent Tychicus to Ephesus. The rest departed. There is no word of condemnation for Titus, nor question. Demas, it says expressly, forsook Paul, having loved this present world.
What an interesting window into the whole matter of authority. One would have thought that the apostle Paul would have been bullheaded in authority. He would have said to Crescens, “You cannot go. I need you here. The testimony of the Lord needs you here. I have to face one of the biggest shows of satanic strength that I have ever faced. You must stay with me.”
But no, he did not. If Crescens wanted to go, he could go. If Titus wanted to go, he let him go. Luke stayed with him. Tychicus he sent to Ephesus. How interesting.
It is not that it was wrong for Titus to go to Dalmatia. Maybe it was right. But the way the apostle Paul writes it, it seems that it was without his fellowship. How do we exercise authority?
Look at verse 20:
Erastus remained at Corinth: but Trophimus I left at Miletus sick.
Give diligence to come before winter.
We have to put this little window into the exercise of authority in the ministry and life of the apostle Paul over against those other things when he speaks, for instance, in Corinthians about coming and using the authority which he has.
Even there we have a very interesting thing. If you look at 2 Corinthians 10:8-10, he says:
For though I should glory somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down, I shall not be put to shame:
That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.
For, His letters, they say, are weighty and strong; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.
Well now, that is a very interesting window upon the exercise of authority. Evidently, when the apostle Paul wrote letters, it was tremendous. But when he was there, he did not give the impression of being a tremendous authority. He spoke about the signs which he worked and the wonders which he performed. He said it is not in word, but in deed.
Let me say two things about this matter of exercising authority. Firstly, there are times when your exercising of authority is the way of the cross—when sometimes you have to stand up and withstand somebody, or rebuke somebody.
Sometimes it is the way of the cross. It would be easier to say nothing, easier for peace to be quiet. But if God has appointed you and given you responsibility, and it touches your responsibility, you may have to speak or you will come into collision with your Lord.
That authority which He has given you is not yours; it is His. If anyone wants to rebel against it or contradict it, the Lord will take them on. For some of us, it is the hardest thing, when we have been dealt with by God and gone through something of His mill, to speak up, to say something, to rebuke, to correct.
There are other times when the way of the cross is to let go. When someone charges you with something, accuses you of something personally, or points out all your failings and mistakes, there is a time just to let go and die.
It is the distinguishing of these two things that is vital in the work of God: when to stand up, when to say something, when to rebuke, and when to die.
The other thing I would like to say is this: for all of you who are leaders, or who have any responsibility for other lives, never master those allotted to your care.
What do I mean? All of life is the mastering of people. Business is built on it. You have got to master them. You have got to possess them. You have got to get on top of them. That is the way the world rules. You have got to somehow inhibit them. You have got to put fear into them. You have got to put a mystique around yourself in order to regulate them, to govern.
This is not the way of spiritual authority. We do great damage to one another when we master one another. It is very easy, when you have authority in the work of God, to say to someone, “You shall do this. You shall not do that. You shall go. You shall not go,” and so on.
But there is a place where we must say what we have to say, but we must never master people. I have felt myself, and I may be wrong, that the way God would have authority exercised is when we are all, in some way, under authority.
In other words, I do not think any child of God can exercise authority until they have been under authority and have been in a very rigid school of discipline.
Now, I well remember when I was much younger than I am now, and when I came right up against this thing. I finally felt that the Lord would have me go to Mr. Sparks. I was not in that assembly. I lived quite apart, where we had our own work which had been indigenous altogether apart from that work at Honor Oak, as it was called.
But I thought I had to go and say to him, “I want to submit myself.” There were people who came and warned me. They said, “Do not do it. Do not do it. He will destroy you. He will ruin you.”
Now, Mr. Sparks, for those of you who knew him, was a man of supreme authority. He only had to look at you and you could quiver. A man of few words.
I thought I had to do it, and I went. The first thing he said to me was this: “You shall baptize nobody.” Now, that was particularly hard because we were going to baptize some people the next week.
“You shall marry nobody.” That was another blow. Then all thoughts came up to me: “How right is this? This is another assembly. What right has another assembly to have anything—?” But then I remembered what God had said to me.
Oh, it is a long story. But in the end, everything came back to us. I am so thankful for it. I learned more by submitting to him than I have ever learned from anybody else.
I was not unaware of our dear beloved brother’s failings or weaknesses. He never interrogated me. He never came and said, “Why are you doing this, or this, or this is wrong?” But I went to him, and I would say to him, “Is there anything you see that is wrong?” And he would say, “Yes.”
He did not master me. Now, I do not want in any way to destroy, ruin, or mar the reputation of that great servant of the Lord, through whom we have learned so much. But there were those who were marred by Mr. Sparks because their attitude to his authority was wrong. They were mastered by it.
When you open up yourself in a right way spiritually to another brother, you do not have any bitterness in your heart. If you go to a brother and say, “Look, tell me, is there anything you see in my spirit or my behaviour that is wrong? Just tell me,” when that brother says, “Well, there is this and this,” you do not feel bitter, because you have yourself opened up.
Now, I hope you are getting what I am saying. There is an awful lot of talk about authority and submission, and I fear that in some cases it is like a police state. Yet there is such a thing as authority, and there is such a thing as submission. But it is the spiritual nature of it that is so important.
Now, may God help us in all these things. I am very conscious of taking a matter like this, of such tremendous importance, and just outlining a few things. We must leave other things—many things—unsaid.
But if I can leave you with anything, it must be this: if you are going to lead, you yourself must be led. And you must be led first and foremost by the Lord.
If you are going to be responsible for other human lives and care for them, you must know what it is to be under the care of somebody else for a while. You must learn what that discipline is—not harshly imposed upon you like a police state, but something which you willingly open yourself up to.
May God preserve us from the dangers, and may God lead us into the reality. There could be no more wonderful thing than for the authority of our Lord to be manifested in the house of God throughout the United States and Canada, and indeed to the nations of the world in these days. May He help us.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we pray that Thou wilt deliver this time this afternoon from misinterpretation or misunderstanding, from the taking of anything that has been said to an extreme. Lord, help us in these things.
But, Lord, bring home to us the reality of this matter in a way that perhaps we have never seen it before. Burn it into our hearts, Lord, and do a work in us that means that we can become those who, with authority, really care for the work of God.
We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.