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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Amen. All right. Very good to have you all with us once again on a Sunday evening at stronghold Baptist Church. At I'm gonna go through our announcements if you know the bulletin slip your hand up real high We'll make sure we get one out to you If you open up to the first page You will see our service times there Sunday morning at 1030 Sunday evening and at 5 p.m. Wednesday night 7 is our Bible study We've got the soul-winning opportunities listed there as well as the Salvations and the baptisms for the month of April as well as for the year Let's go ahead and count up the Salvations for today. I heard it was a really good day out soul-winning today. So that's pretty awesome I know there's four and then another four over there. Is there anything else to report for today? Very good. All right. Yeah, that neighborhood seems great it's a little bit of a drive to get out there and I think we're still waiting on some people to get back also, but It seems to be very fruitful. So Appreciate everybody going out there and knocking doors. Obviously. We got a little bit of a lighter attendance tonight I think the camp really took a lot out of people. So there's a lot of people out sick and Not everyone's making it back for the for the evening service and I totally understand that but I think we'll be back Hopefully the full strength next week We've got the offering totals listed down there at the bottom of the page for the month of April Pray requests continue to pray for mrs. Rogers like the Rogers family. I know they had the sickness in their house and She's her estimated due dates, you know coming up here real soon. She's so she's really close to giving birth and Just pray that she doesn't I haven't heard from him I'm afraid she doesn't get this sickness because obviously I could be kind of dangerous with how far along she is in her pregnancy with Just getting like really dehydrated and stuff that this the sickness could cause so Please pray that she goes well and for mrs. Johnson who is also sick and she's pregnant as well So we just found out today that she's not feeling well and they're there. She's home sick So just pray that she recovers really quickly and that it doesn't cause any problems for her for her little baby that's growing inside of her and then Of course pray for everyone else that's on our list here and On the next page, of course, there's a picture of the inside of the building where we were having the preaching or camping trip There's actually not 11 salvations because then there was Two more that were added I added them over here, but basically the total 13 then for that camping trip and For baptism, so it's really exciting great trip. Lots of great preaching a lot of fun Already looking forward to next year. We got it reserved. We got it booked of course We're gonna learn from the challenges this year and probably make some Little modifications here and there and and then hopefully just have things Even better organized and here's the thing, you know, those of you behind the scenes. You're probably thinking like it's it seemed like chaos I know it did to me but for everyone else It went off great. I've heard just good things from from our guests and So that's very good. Thank you for for helping out and sometimes it's a struggle and we're kind of running around a bit, but Everything did did go off really well, so Thanks again everyone who helped and look really looking forward to two things next year and man I'm gonna I'm not vowing but I'm making a mental note a Solid mental note to get the the livestream stuff in order I really want to be able to do that By next year and and have all the equipment that we need to be able to do that stuff. So That's Kind of one of the things that I'm looking at doing better next year, but we do have everything reserved It's gonna be a week of the 13th in May. So try to pencil that in right now and Make sure you get the time off for that. You don't want to miss that camp. It's a lot of fun May challenges the baptism challenge. So the goal is to try to get at least one person, you know to encourage people to get baptized See if you can you know when you're out soul winning, especially or just in You know daily life come across someone who's saved and not baptized or you lead them to Christ, you know encourage them to Get baptized and let them know here, you know, we're ready to go at a moment's notice. Anyone needs to get baptized. We will Pull out the tub fill it up with some warm water We've got change of clothing. We're ready to go So all we got to do is wait long enough for the tub to fill up with some water and we do baptisms right away So anyone that needs to be baptized we are good to go at a moment's notice Bible memory passage Hebrews chapter 7 verses 15 through 28 is what we are focused on memorizing as a church So we got a few weeks left to get this done if you're working on that and to be able to earn the prize for that upcoming birthdays and anniversaries are listed there as well as the Upcoming events. So I mentioned this morning. The men's preaching class is going to be on May 27th and I will be running that that's Memorial Day weekend Saturday morning 10 a.m. Right here. Love to see you all here for that and well, not you all I guess any of the men who are interested in coming. It's not open to general public. This is a men's preaching class I Kind of went over a few things this morning, but I'm just gonna say a couple more the with the You know, I mentioned not recording but also I like keeping the the audience down That's why I don't invite everyone else because it is a training ground So I want I want the guys that are that are coming to learn to be able to feel just feel comfortable It's already can be kind of nerve-wracking especially if you're if you're trying to preach for the very first time if you've never if you've never been behind the pulpit before and And in your learning and doing things like that, you know, we try to put it as a less The least amount of pressure as possible So to make it easier to get behind the pulpit and it's you know, it's not some huge group We're not recording you. You don't have to worry about things. It's going livestream. You're like, oh man, I said something stupid, you know Whatever. It's like you don't have to worry about those things. So Just come on out men if you want to just learn at all I mean even a little bit you don't you don't have to you don't even have to preach just come and check it out It's always good to have more Ways for God to use you That was a way that I viewed it when when I was starting to learn before I ever even thought for a second that I would ever pastor a church I Just wanted to be used as a Christian. However, God wanted to Work with me. Well, I'll yield myself to do that. So I encourage young men that you Give God the opportunity if that's his will for your life don't impede that Right yield yourself up and say okay. Well, I'm here Lord I'll if you want that if you want to use me to preach your word then here I am Let let him lead the way and see if you're fit for that instead of you saying I'm not fit for that Mini sermon, okay. There's remember Moses, right? God chose Moses to be the mouthpiece and what did Moses say? No, you know, I don't speak really well God don't be angry. It's like Moses. Look I'm choosing you. I made your tongue. I Know I know you can speak you could do this. I'm gonna tell you what to say. Don't worry and he still was apprehensive Right, and then he and then he's like God finally allows him to let Aaron do the speaking But then what do we see in the Bible Aaron still isn't really the mouthpiece? It's still Moses ends up doing it He finally realizes, okay. Yeah, that's once he gets over that the Lord uses him and I'll encourage you to Just check it out and see you know, see what you think see how God can use you to preach so Take advantage of this opportunity. All right enough that that's my advertisement for the for the men's preaching class We've got our church anniversary come up a five-year anniversary For the church really happy about that. It's been a great five years. We'll be celebrating on June 25th We've got pastor Bruce Mihia is Gonna be preaching for us that day Really excited to have him come out here. Hopefully he's not gonna return the favor and get our church blown up, you know I'm always I'm always concerned about that. We'll see How things go but either way it's gonna be exciting so Looking forward to him being out here and then pastor Anderson will be preaching for us on July 5th and That is about it for announcements Man, we there's not a very big crowd here I was gonna say I was gonna make a note that we have the calendar out in the main area here If you wanted to volunteer to help clean Just in general. It's it's out. I moved it out of my office if you're looking for it. It's in this room now But that's about it for my now it's with oh and then anyone who did painting I don't know if there's anyone here that doesn't look like there is If you didn't do painting and you're here you go ahead and get your painting From the church camp and bring that home with you and then that hat still there I don't know. We got a lot of people out sick pray for it. Pray for our church Pray for the people that are that are not here with us because there there's a lot and pray that this this Disease will just run its course really quickly and that everyone will get well really quickly and get back to normal. So That's it for the announcements. Brother Peter. Will you please lead us in our next song? Song 56 we all get to heaven We all get to heaven We all get to heaven We all get to heaven We all This time we collect our evening offering Right church and while the offering plates being passed around you can open up your bibles to the book of romans chapter 10 13 excuse me It's a book of romans chapter 13 As we do customary here in strongman baptist church, we'll read the entire chapter That is romans chapter 13 romans chapter 13 Let every soul be subject on to the higher powers for there is no power but of god the powers that be are ordained of god Whosoever therefore resisted the power resisted the ordinance of god and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil Would thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good and thou shall have praise of the same for he is the minister of god to thee for good But if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he bareth not the sword in vain For he is the minister of god a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil Wherefore he must need meet needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscious sake For for this cause pay he tribute also for they are god's ministers attending continually Upon this very thing render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custom To whom custom fear to whom fear honor to whom honor? Oh no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another have fulfilled the law for this Thou shall not commit adultery thou shall not kill thou shall not steal thou shall not bear false witness Thou shall not covet and if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now Is our salvation nearer than when we believed the night is far spent the day is at hand Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness Not in strife and envying but put ye on the lord Jesus christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the luster of Brother josh, can you open us up a prayer? Father All right, i'm going to try to get through this content as quickly as possible there's a lot of content, but um, I want to deal with a doctrine that I think overall is very simple Should be very easy to understand but there's quite a bit of scripture on it and and as we get into this, maybe i'll i'll see how we want to uh, how I want to proceed but The subject matter is we're looking at really a roman chapter 13 verse number one It's like my third sermon is subject under the higher powers being subject on the higher powers and One of the things that we see in scripture is the authority structure that god lays out just in general There's different realms of authority that god has ordained in various aspects of life For example, god is ordained that there should be human government on this earth Okay, it's not god's will that there is anarchy and no rulers whatsoever God has established his law He would that we would implement his laws that's what god would want if there was a righteous society today that Feared god that chose the lord as their god They would implement the laws of god where god would be viewed as supreme. He's the high king He would be the ruler And then we would set up judges of the law and other governors and people that would that would be at the lower levels of the administration of being able to handle human government, but he has given authority to Mankind to be able to execute judgment and the reason why he has to give that power is because nobody inherently has The right to just like for example, take another person's life God didn't give you that power to just be able to go around and just kill whoever you want Right, we don't have that right But however, god did institute death penalty on certain crimes So if people are guilty of particular crimes that god has chosen to be capital crimes Punishment needs to be given well in order for a death penalty to be given Somebody is going to have to take that person's life Which you're not allowed to do unless god has already given you that power and authority to do that Right, so things have to be done in order and that's why when we look at romans 13 the bible says there in verse number one Let every soul Be subject unto the higher Powers and this is a higher powers plural because the powers here for there are there is no power but of god The powers that be are ordained of god now there are people who will usurp power. There are people who will Just try to take power on their own But the real powers are of god He's the one who grants the power because he's all powerful, right? You can't get power from from a lower authority You have to get it from a higher authority God is the one who gives the powers is the powers that be are ordained of god But that statement the powers that be are ordained of god It doesn't mean perceived powers are ordained of god because they're like I said there's people who will usurp authority and just kind of take power on their own or want to uh act as if they have more power than they should And especially with human governments, this is pretty obvious you see throughout history Uh dictatorships Where they cross the line or the bounds of what god is giving them authority to do You know when they carry out mass executions and things like that. They're operating outside of the bounds of their god-given authority And I would say this when they just start going after every little thing that you do They're operating outside of the bounds of the god-given power and authority that he's given because the bible tells us here What it was instituted for to begin with and what authority they have Let's keep reading verse number two whosoever therefore resisted the power resisted the ordinance of god and they that resist shall receive themselves damnation and and you know, this is kind of a I want to say it's a deep subject, but it is nuanced and and I want to try to cover that nuance as best as possible because On the one hand side And we're going to look at both sides here on one hand side We see here. God is very Strict in the sense of saying look i've ordained these powers you better obey these powers You don't resist these powers because if you resist these powers you're resisting god Which is exactly what he's saying there in verse number two, and when god has set down authority He expects that authority to be respected and for people to come into compliance with that authority. He says, okay I've given authority for governments to govern the land i've given authority for churches to run In the house of god the way that he dictated dictates it ought to be and he's also given authority within family units There's a structure within the family of authority that god gives and all of those powers Must be recognized. Hey god is giving this power Why is that important because so that people don't just think that they can do whatever they want because who are you Right, the wife can't go to the husband. Well, I don't care what you say because who are you? Well, god gave your husband authority Any random person within within, you know underneath the the authority of a government can't just say well i'm gonna do whatever I want I could go steal I could do and who are you you're just another person. I don't care what you think I don't care what you do. No, you do have to respect that authority because god has given authority to you God put them into place And the same thing within a church You can't just walk up and be like, you know what? I'm, just gonna get up behind the pulpit right now and just get out of my way You know, I push the pastor aside and just get you on and say i'm gonna start talking now, right? You don't have that authority It doesn't grant because god is designed and given us the bounds And the realms in these different areas of authority and is given an authority structure So he's saying here look don't resist that power Because if you resist the power Then you're you're gonna bring damnation to yourself God's serious about this. He wants Rule, he wants order. He wants everything being done decently and in order Just as much in the church as he would in the home and within a government All of those things ought to be ordered and done decently and properly the way that god outlines And we're going to look also at The extent of that because there's a lot of broad language that's used But look at verse number three because we already start to see a limitation here in the wording of The the the governmental power look at verse number three for rulers are not A terror to good works but to the evil But to the evil So we just look at that one sentence there in verse three Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Is that just true about every ruler who's ever existed? That they haven't been a terror to good works No, of course not there's been plenty of rulers who have been terrors to good works But this is stating what god has ordained them to have the power to do that no ruler operating under the authority of god Using their authority that god gave them is going to be a terror to good works Because if they're the minister of god, they're going to allow for the good works to happen to occur They're not going to outlaw, you know preaching the gospel If they do that they are no longer within the authority that god has given them That is not of god They can choose to do that and try to usurp authority But they are out of bounds. They are no longer. They don't have that authority Just as much as I don't have the authority to to start telling mrs. Ricardo what to do Like hey mrs. Ricardo go over to my house and do the dishes and vacuum the house like I could do with my wife She's not under my authority as as a wife that's your wife, right? I have my own wife. She has to listen to me No one no other woman has to listen to me in the sense of having that right. I mean, it's pretty simple Very simple yet. There's people out there that are going to tell you different and we'll get into that in a little bit and and but Let's just keep going here because i'm i'm really holding back from getting too far ahead of myself for Rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil willth thou then not be afraid of the power Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same for he is the 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 the minister of god a revenger To execute wrath upon him that doeth evil So we have this, you know, all this language given about being subject to the higher powers and you better obey these rulers. But why? Because they're there to bring forth judgment and justice upon evildoers. That's why. They're the minister of God for good. They're the minister to be the revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. That's their purpose. That's the job, is to be able to keep law and order and to be able to hand out sentences. Because you can't, God didn't want mob rule. He wants things done a certain way. There should be a court, there should be a hearing, there should be testimony, there should be evidence, there should be facts that are all considered. And then an arbiter, a judge, someone that's going to dictate and have the authority and the power to say, no, this is right, this is the judgment, this is what needs to be done. And that power has to come from God because, like I said, otherwise everyone can just go around saying, well, no, I disagree with you and I think it should be this. You know, there needs to be order, which is why this is being established. However, that doesn't mean that everybody properly follows that order. And because of that, that also means that you don't always have to follow what someone says who is operating outside of their realm of authority. Now, this makes perfect sense. It's been established already, even in human government, going back to, if you know anything about World War II and the Nuremberg Trials, okay, people that wanted to give a defense of saying, well, I just followed orders, when it came to carrying out extermination of people, that's not a valid defense because you have to be able to say, well, wait a minute, the guy telling you to do that doesn't really have that authority to tell you to just start mass extinct, you know, executing people like that. There was no basis for this. There's no foundation. So that's not a defense. You know what? God's not going to take that defense either of saying, well, I mean, someone told me to. It's a, you tell this to your kids all the time. It's like, well, if someone told you to jump off a cliff, would you just jump off a cliff? And we want to be careful that we don't get too extreme in our beliefs because there are people out there that will tell you, and we'll look at the verbiage in just a second. For example, with a husband and a wife, if the husband says to do something that the wife just needs to just blindly do everything that the husband says. And I'm sorry, but that's simply not true. Now, if you've been coming here for any length of time, you know how much I teach on women subject, you know, being in subjection to their husbands, that the wife is to be in subjection to her husband, as the Bible says in all things. But when it's saying they're in all things, there has to be exception because that is when it's within the bounds of God's authority. For example, if I were to tell my wife to, hey, you see that little boy over there? Go kidnap him, bring him here, and strangle him before me. Now, obviously, that's extreme, but do I just, well, she's my wife, so she just better obey and go and do that. That's stupidity. That's stupidity. Now, I'm pretty sure even those who disagree with me on this topic would also agree that that is stupidity. But the problem comes in is that they understand the extreme example, but then when it gets less extreme, they fail to see the same reasoning or the logic involved, okay, and it boils down to if you are doing something contrary to what God has already stated for us, something that would be sinful, you don't have the authority, then, to do that, and no one has the obligation that is under subjection to do something that would be considered sinful against God. And the reason why is because the Bible says let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. There are multiple levels of obedience and powers that are in place. A child, for example, probably is at one of the lowest levels. They don't have authority over anybody, and just about everybody is over them in authority, right? So within the family, they have mom and dad as authorities because they have the law of their mother that they have to follow and obey. It's not just dad they have to obey. They have to obey mom and dad. Now, the authority structure has mom below dad, but guess what? Mom's above all the children. And then dad has Christ, and then above Christ is the father. So you have the higher powers, the higher authority, and the person at the bottom is subject to all of them. But if there is any discrepancy, anything in conflict, anything in contradiction, you resort to the higher power as having the final say-so in any matter, in every matter. Now, there are many areas where God gives leeway, where he doesn't make statements of this is sinful or not sinful, where you can do either one, and it doesn't matter to God, right? There are areas, plenty of areas where we have liberty to make decisions, to make choices, to live our life in ways that, you know, whether you wear a green shirt or a blue shirt, for example, God doesn't care, right? Now, maybe if they're mixed fabrics, but the color, he's not going to care. There's so many different aspects where you can look at it and say, well, God's not going to care about that. He didn't say anything about that. So, hence, now we have that discernment ability to be able to say, okay, well, God didn't prohibit it, so this should be okay. But then a lower authority might say, for example, a husband, say to wife, well, I want you to wear this certain color. Well, you're not asking or telling, commanding to do anything that's in contradiction to anything that the higher authority has said. Well, now you have nowhere, as a wife, you'd have nowhere to appeal to, because the higher power is going to say, oh, I didn't say anything about that. So, you still are under the authority of that level, right? I mean, this is pretty simple, and it makes sense. Let's turn, if you would, to, turn if you would to Ephesians Chapter 5, Ephesians Chapter 5. I'll read for you from 1 Corinthians 11, because this is also where, this is where we get that authority structure that I already mentioned, but the biblical evidence for that is in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. So, there we also still have the same thought, that be a follower of me, but not just in everything, it's not like just Jim Jones and just drink the Kool-Aid. Hey, here, you poison yourselves, let's all commit suicide. No, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. So, as much as the Apostle Paul is following Christ, you should follow the Apostle Paul. There are people that say, oh, I'm not a follower of man. Well, you know what, you should be a follower of man, if that man's following Christ. Nothing wrong with that, that's great, but as soon as that man starts to stray from following Christ, stop following that man, then you don't need to anymore, because they're outside of that realm, that's no longer, look, Christ is the higher authority. So, we're going with him. Then he says this, now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. He's given ordinances, he's given them laws, he's given them rules, say you need to follow this, but he still follow me as I follow Christ. The ordinances I've given you, they need to be in line with God's rules, God's laws. And he says in verse 3, but I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ. Every man on this earth has the answer to Christ, that's his boss, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. That, so I already made that statement, well, this is where that comes from, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 3. Ephesians chapter 5, though, I want you to look at this, because I teach on this, I believe this wholeheartedly, but we need to look at the wording very carefully, because this is where some people just lose their mind. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Amen. Amen. This is teaching a general statement here, general rule, right? Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. So as much as you would be in obedience unto the Lord, wives ought to be to their own husbands. For the husband is the head of the wife, like I just read from 1 Corinthians 11, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. So there, that statement there, in everything, I would say, amen to that too. That's what the Bible says. It's true. This is the level of submission and subjection a wife should be into her husband. It's the rule, but it doesn't mean there's no exceptions, because if the husband, as I already mentioned, if the husband were to say something like, well, listen, if I were to tell my wife, Leslie, I want you to, you know, come home tonight, and I want you to get drunk, and I want you to drink all this booze, and I want you to get drunk. Well, drunkenness is a sin. No doubt about that in the scripture. If I were to say, well, you need to be in subjection to be in everything, I'm out of bounds, because I'm contradicting my head, because I have an authority. Even though I have authority over my wife and my children in all things, it still falls under my realm, because if I start telling her to do something contrary to what my boss says, I got a problem. But here's what some people will say. Well, yeah, that's your problem, but that's not her. She still just needs to follow you. Uh-uh. No. No. Here's why. Every individual has their own walk with the Lord, no matter who they are. Children, women, wives, husbands, you know, we all have a personal walk in this life, and there are powers, yes, there's rules, there's laws telling us who's supposed to be in subjection to who and everything else, but everybody has the choice at the end of the day of what they're going to do. And you and you alone are held, well, not necessarily you alone, let me say this again, rephrase that, you are responsible for what you do. Now, other people may also be held responsible in addition to you for leading you down the wrong path. So, if I were to lead my wife astray, I would be, I'm responsible for her, but she's also responsible for her, right? You can have more than one person guilty, but the person doing the wrong will always be found guilty. You have to have within your own understanding, your own, you know, the ability to say, okay, yeah, that's sinful, that's wrong. Here's where people freak out about it though, especially those that don't like what I'm saying right now. Well, but then you'll have wives that they're just going to be disobedient to the husbands because they're just going to think, well, I mean, I think this is not a sin, or I think this is a sin to do this, and you, you know, but that doesn't happen. First of all, if you're a good husband, that doesn't happen. Anyways, it's the same argument that people make. I say, well, if you tell people that, you know, they could never lose their salvation, then they're just going to go and party and do all kinds of sin and just do whatever they want because they're going to heaven anyways, right? I mean, how many people have heard that argument before? Of course, right? People that say that, and they don't even know what they're talking about because they hear about people that say they're Christians and live these wicked lifestyles, and most of those people aren't even saved anyways. They just hear this stuff, and they don't like what they hear because there's still an element of pride of thinking, well, I'm better than them, so they shouldn't go to heaven, but I should. But making that argument doesn't make it any, you know, well, I've had people tell me, you shouldn't, you know, you may be right about that, but you shouldn't go telling people that. No, but it's the truth. When should I cover the truth? Look, if this is true, then I'm going to teach it, and I'm going to preach it, and I'm going to let the whole world know this is the truth. If it's true that you can't lose your salvation, which it is, I'm going to let everybody know it's eternal, it's forever. Yes, even if you commit the worst sin tomorrow, you're still saved because Christ has saved you. He's given you eternal life. It's not based on how well you keep His commandments. And anyone with a brain and a sincere heart will understand, okay, just because that's true doesn't mean I'm just going to go off and sin now. I always tell people that want to bring that objection, come to our church and tell me how many of us are just off living in sin now. We all believe what I'm saying. We all believe that to be true. You show me the person that's just off living this rampant sinful lifestyle. We don't. We all believe that's true, and nobody's doing that. It's this stupid situation that, you know, doesn't even exist or is so seldom, why are you even worried about it? It's the same thing if I'm going to say, well, wife or children, hey, if your mom and dad or if your husband tells you to do something that's overtly sinful, that's in direct contradiction to the Word of God, you don't have to obey. Well, then they're going to be just claiming everything. Look, no, they won't. No, they won't. If they care enough about the Bible anyways, they're not going to be doing that. And if they are going to be doing that for everything, me saying that isn't going to be the cause for them just doing that for everything. I'll tell you that right now because you got some big problems at home if your wife is just going to be saying, oh, yeah, well, pass the burden, said I can just disobey you. No. It makes no sense. So just because the Bible says here, so let the wives be their own husbands, everything. Yes, and everything, but it's everything under your scope of authority, everything that's in compliance that is not contradictory to what God has already told us. Now, if it's not in conflict, you obey your head, you obey your boss. If there's no conflict there, absolutely. Even if you don't agree with it, even if you don't understand it, and I'll give you some examples here. So even if it's a false doctrine, so let's take head coverings as an example. Let's say you have a husband that says, if I tell my wife, let's say the Bible says it's a shame for you to pray with your head uncovered. So you're going to start wearing a bonnet every time we go to church and when you pray. And when we eat at dinner, you're going to put the bonnet on because we're praying to God. Okay. I would be completely wrong. I would have a total misunderstanding of scripture. I, you know, I shouldn't be telling her to do that. But if she were to be wearing a bonnet and praying, is she in sin against God? No. I'm wrong. She could be right in saying, but that's not what it means. You know, look, it says it's talking about your hair. You know, it doesn't matter. She's, you know, I'm still in the authority and I'm not telling her to do something that is causing her to sin. So she ought to obey. So when the Bible says, obey your husbands and everything, that would be an example of that. No conflict. Or if I say, even if I want to be the micromanager, which I'm not, I'm saying, you know what? I don't like you doing laundry on Tuesdays, I want you doing it on Wednesdays. And here's going to be your schedule. And I want you to, you know, she should obey. There's nothing in scripture that says it's sinful to do things that way. Hey, that's the authority that God has given the husbands, which is why it says in everything. Okay? Now, I don't think that's the best way to lead. I don't think being the micromanager and detailing every single aspect of how you do things at home or whatever is appropriate. I think there's way better ways. But when we're looking at the, just the authority, the power aspect of it, God has granted that authority. Same thing with children. Colossians chapter 3, verse 20 says, children, obey your parents in all things. And it says parents, not just mom or not just dad, both, mom and dad. Obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Father, is provoked not your children anger, lest it be discouraged. But then look at verse 22, servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. And that also says in all things. So, a servant and a master is like an employee and a boss. Don't you think there's some limit to that? I mean, if we're just going to use some common sense, see, when God gave us the Bible, he also had the understanding that he already, he knows he gave us brains. Right? And when I say this, you know, I hesitate because we want to be careful that we're not just super brainwashed by the world, where we would get to the point of like mocking things that are in the Bible. Oh, that's ridiculous. It's not ridiculous. But what we do, we do have to use some level of reasoning and understanding when we read the word of God because all the words have meaning. We have to be able to discern what those words mean. And when we're looking at things that say, hey, servants, obey in all things, your master according to the flesh, I'm sorry. But if my boss tells me I have to lie to a customer to sell them something, I'm not going to do it. And I'm not going to be in sin by not doing it, even though the Bible says servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, because that would be sinning against God. That would be breaking one of the Ten Commandments. All of these say very, you know, strong language. You know, I mean, obey your parents in all things. Servants, obey in all things. Wives, obey, be in subjection in all things. It has to be understood that you can't contradict the Lord. The Bible says, and I have to go out of order now with a lot of my notes, and we're not getting, don't worry about this, I have nine pages of notes and we're not doing them all. I'll tell you that right now. Okay, don't worry. The Bible says in Psalm 66, 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. That's an individual. If I'm regarding iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. We all are responsible, just like we all are going to stand before Christ at the judgment seat of Christ to receive of the things that were done in our bodies, whether good or bad. Right? Does that say only the men are, or only the husbands are, or only the fathers? No, everyone will. Husbands and wives. You can't just defer to, well, my authority said this. The Bible says this in Galatians chapter 5, verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Those are all good things, right? Well, the Bible says, right, that against such there is no law. According to God, against all of those things, against the fruit of the Spirit, there is no law against those things. What if a human government says we're making a law against peace, right? Or joy, or how about this, faith? Well, the Bible says there's no law against that. God's word, God's authority is going to trump any government that tries to say, no, there is a law against this. I'm not going to have to be bound to follow that law when God said there is no law against that. I don't care what you said. Turn to Acts chapter 5, and this is where we really just see this play out. And, I mean, if this isn't enough for you to understand that there are exceptions, there are caveats, and that this doctrine that I'm teaching, I mean, it's in full force in Acts chapter 5. And if this is going to apply to a government, why wouldn't it apply to the home with the wife also? Why wouldn't it also apply with children in the home? Acts chapter 5, verse number 25. Then came on and told them, saying, behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, did not we straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? The authorities, the governing authorities in that realm, brought them out, said, look, we already arrested you for this. What are you thinking? We told you not to preach in this name. Didn't we command you? There are an authority. I guess you should just obey the authorities, right? I guess you, well, you're right. I shouldn't have been preaching in his name. And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. We don't like that you're blaming us for the death of Jesus Christ. Verse 29, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. Any government, any husband, any father that's going to tell you to disobey God, the answer is we ought to obey God rather than men every time. That is the truth. Now, does that mean kids should just make stuff up and say, well, I don't want to obey you because I'm going to obey God and God's telling me to do whatever? No, that's ridiculous. Of course. There is right and wrong. And this is why I don't normally go into this much in depth on the exception. Because it's more important to be teaching the rule. The rule is, look, kids, obey your parents. Look, wives, be in subjection to your husband. Look, everybody, be in subjection to the powers that be. I mean, these are all the rules. And this is what is normally going to be hammered regularly over and over and over and over again. But let's not get extreme and take things too far in our understanding of all of this stuff. Look, we need to have that discipline. We need to have that groundwork and the framework that says, children, you obey your parents. You don't have to like what they make you do or tell you to. You obey them. They're looking out for you. They've got your best interests at heart. Wives, obey your husbands. It's just God gave them that authority. But there is an exception. There is. You break the bounds of what God has given you, then you're no longer bound. Verse 30, the Bible says, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. So the very thing that they're worried about is they're giving God to them. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are as witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. So even further, if someone's telling you to disobey God, you know who God gives the Holy Ghost to? Those that obey him. This isn't the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is the power of the Holy Ghost on you. This is God's power of being able to serve him. God's looking for those that are going to obey him and not be worried about what man's going to do unto you. This includes everyone, no matter what authority structure you fall under. God gives to them the Holy Ghost, to them that obey him. But what you need to do and what everyone needs to do in wherever area you are is to try to make everything work. Everything, right? If you are under the authority of a government, as a child, you're under the authority of a government. You're under the authority of a mom. You're under the authority of a dad. You're, you know, like you're under the authority in a church. You need to be trying to figure out, well, how can I make everyone happy, right? How can I obey in all areas and be right with God? Because you need to choose to do that. Because I'll break it to you regardless of what the Bible says, we all still have a choice. Just as much as every single day I have a choice to submit to Christ, my wife has a choice to submit to me every day. And we deal with that decision making every day. And children, they have the same choice. So we're going to choose whether or not we're going to obey every day. It's not just automatic, but we ought to respect those powers. And we ought to do everything as much as possible righteously. So my wife ought to be thinking about if I tell her to do something that's sinful, well, how can I still satisfy my husband and be able to comply or be in subjection to what he's wanting, but not be sinful, right? And a good example is like Daniel. Okay, Daniel was a child. He was taken into captivity, right? He was brought in and he was commanded that he was going to need to eat of the king's meat and his drink. And it doesn't say it explicitly, but we could assume that it was probably meats that were offered and sacrificed to an idol, and the drink was probably like alcohol, probably wine or something to that effect, because he's purposed in his heart that he wasn't going to do this. And the reason why he'd be purposing that is because it would be wrong for him to do it. It would be sinful for him to do it. But the way that he worked the situation was he just, I mean, he didn't just be like, no, and just was looking for a big fight and just total rebellion. He was trying to make it work and just kind of be soft and be like, hey, can we, you know, can we just try this out? Will you give me an opportunity here? Can I, can we kind of bend the rule a little bit and give me a chance? And to work with it, to make it just all work out okay, because if he were just to be super stubborn in the sense of just coming right out and being like, you aren't going to make me eat anything, it's not going to go very well for him, right? Now, that may end up being the case, but when you're in a position of, in general, just being under subjection, you want to use the soft answer. You want to, you want to try to make it all work. That's wise. That's smart. And we want to do as much as is possible to be at peace with everything, with everyone, right? So if the government's telling us to do things, even if I think the government's acting outside of their authority and telling us to do things that they have no business telling me what to do, if it's not making me sin, it's not a big deal, I'll just go along with it anyways because whatever, right? I'm just trying to live at peace with all men and be able to be blameless and everything else and not give them some reason to be coming after me. It's not that big of a deal. Same thing with any other person under authority, you know, just, it's not a big deal. Just go with it, you know? You're not contradicting God's word. You're not, you know, being brought into sin. Fine. Just do it. Even the apostle, and this proves my point here, too, that God does hold people responsible even if they are given authority. Like it's showing that they're wrong. So in Acts Chapter 9, actually, no, skip Acts Chapter 9. Go to Acts Chapter 26. I left this in my notes accidentally. Acts Chapter, it's the same, Acts Chapter 9 is basically in Acts Chapter 6 talking about the same thing. So we're looking at Saul of Tarsus before he came to the apostle Paul, right? What was he doing? He was going around, he was persecuting the church. He was given the authority to do this by the governing powers. He had the commission and the authority to go after people who are believers in Jesus Christ and to imprison them and beat them and do all these things, right? He had that authority. Now what we can't say is, well, the powers that be are ordained of God, so he must have been doing God's work by doing that because he's in that authority and no one should resist and you should just let it all happen because otherwise you'd be rebelling against God's authority. No. Because what he was doing was not of God. God didn't want him doing that. He was usurping his authority. He was going after those who were doing good and doing righteous and we see this spelled out in scripture. Like this is literally, we see that what he did was wrong under his own admission and under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. So let's read a little bit in Acts 26 about what he did. Look at verse number 8. The Bible says, why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints did I shut up in prison having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. He's consenting to the death. He's saying, yeah, put them to death. And he's testifying against them that they ought to be put to death. These are the saints. These are the people who are preaching Jesus. He's admitting right here like, yes, I did that. And I had the authority to do so. And I punished them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. He's like making these people blaspheme God by renouncing God or whatever it is he's making. He's making them blaspheme God and being exceedingly mad against them. I persecuted them even unto strange cities. He's like, man, I chased after them everywhere. Not even just at Jerusalem. I'm like, I'm just following them around trying to get them. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests. Look, there's a second mention of him saying, I had the authority to do this. I was commissioned to do this. I was doing my job. And you know what? I was doing it well. At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. I think common sense would dictate that if you're persecuting Jesus Christ, you're in sin and you're in the wrong. And Jesus is literally telling Saul. Why are you persecuting me? You are persecuting me. How? By going after the saints. That's what he was doing. So was that, well, that's of God and that powers of God. No, he was wrong. He was out of bounds. That wasn't right. Turn over. You were to First Timothy, Chapter one. First Timothy, Chapter one. Verse number 12, First Timothy one, 12. The Bible says, and I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. So he's talking about this is what I was before this type of sinner. Blasphemy, that's a sin. Persecutor, injurious. But I obtained mercy, which means God was holding him responsible in order to extend mercy. That means you are guilty, right? He was guilty of these things before God. It doesn't matter that he had the authority of the government, according to Romans 13. No, he didn't. He went outside of the bounds of his authority. It's not legitimate. And the disciples, like in Acts Chapter five, had every right in God's eyes to disobey that authority of the high priests and the chief priests and all these other people disobey that authority because it's against God. That goes across every scope, every realm of authority, the same concept, that same principle. Is it an exception? Yes. But it's one you can't overlook and don't get too extreme in your doctrine. So he said, let's just keep reading here. He says, I did anger and unbelief, so he obtained mercy and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Verse 15. This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. He's saying I'm like the biggest sinner. And the reason why is because of what he already mentioned. I was a blasphemer. I was persecuted. I mean, I was going after the church. I was, you know, consenting to people dying for the cause of Christ. Like he's saying, like, it doesn't get much worse than that. But God still showed me grace, and he says in verse 16, how be it for this cause, I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern of them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. So he's saying I'm now being used as an example of how long suffering and merciful the Lord really is, because if I was doing these horrible sins and being injurious and blasphemy and doing all these things against God and against his people, that just illustrates how much God still can forgive and still extend mercy and still give his free gift of eternal life. Like that's that's a great testimony that God has allowed that to even happen, to just show us, hey, someone could get really far off into sin and God can still offer them salvation. But he was given mercy. Just because you're given mercy doesn't mean you didn't do anything wrong. It actually means the opposite. You did do something wrong. Otherwise you wouldn't need mercy. Examples. So I want to cover a couple of examples. I already have too many here. Got a little bit of time left. We see examples of people doing things in scripture. Now, when you see examples and we look at things that people do. First of all, it doesn't, you know, depending on how it's written and what the Bible says, it doesn't mean that they were right. First of all, right? Like if the Bible doesn't tell you who was right in a situation specifically, you can't always determine that what a person did was right, because the Bible records all kinds of things that people do that are sinful. It's the argument that some people like to use about trying to justify having multiple wives. They say, well, Abraham had multiple wives. David had multiple wives. Yeah. And they were in sin. I mean, literally, especially King David, the Bible literally says that the king should not multiply wives unto himself. I mean, that's what it says. But people will still try to say, well, I mean, King David had multiple, yeah, he was obviously wrong. He also committed adultery, and he also had someone murdered. Like, he was wrong. Okay? Yeah, he did those things, and he was wrong. So, when we look at stories, you can't just say, well, and here's the story, and this is what was used, and this is what I heard. Okay? And I'll turn, if you would, to Genesis 18. I'm going to read from 1 Peter chapter 3, and the example that's given is Sarah. Sarah is used in 1 Peter chapter 3 as being a godly wife, as someone who is in subjection to her husband, and she's being praised as being this model wife, right? Someone that we could look to. Similarly, like Abraham was a model father and head of his household and everything else. And, amen, they are good examples. But just because they're being touted as good examples doesn't mean that they both didn't sin. And that their sins weren't recorded in scripture. So, you can't just say, well, since they're the good example, everything they did was right. No. David is a man after God's own heart, but it doesn't mean everything he did was after God's own heart, right? I mean, let's use some sense. I'll read, your turn in Genesis 18. I'll read from 1 Peter chapter 3 for you. The Bible says in verse number 1, likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. Amen. That if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of planting the hair and of wearing of gold or putting out of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. It's explaining how wives, like even if your husband is, needs to be won over, look, you do it by just being a really godly wife. That's how you do it. You're going to win your husband. If your husband's not right with God, he's not right in his leadership, he's not right where, just be a really godly wife. Let him see how a godly wife acts and how they should be and you could win them over. That's what it's saying there. It's not, it's not complicated, right? And it's also telling us these godly attributes in women. And then it gives us the example of Sarah, verse 5 says, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as you do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Now, specifically here, when Sarah is being referenced as someone who was a good wife, it says that even Sarah was in subjection to her own husband, calling him Lord. Well, the reference is in Genesis 18 of when Sarah called him Lord. We actually see that this one place in Scripture is the literal reference that we have that's going to tell us when did Sarah call Abraham Lord. Genesis 18, look at verse number 9, the Bible says, and they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And this is when the angels came and Jesus Christ was there right before they went down and destroyed Sodom. Genesis 19 is the hellfire brimstone coming down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 18, Abraham meets up with them, right? And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So, these guys are talking to Abraham, Sarah's kind of hanging out in the back by the door and she hears that they're prophesying that she's going to have a child and they're already old. Like, she's past her birth giving years, right? She's postmenopausal, okay? Her body's not responding that way anymore to have children. But when she hears this, it says in verse 12, Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I pleasure my Lord being old also? Like, we're both old. So, she kind of thinks it's funny, you know, kind of laughs going like, How am I going to have a kid, right? How can I have a child? We're both old. And, you know, it's kind of a funny thought, right? They can like, We're both already old. How am I going to have a child? And things like that. And then it says, but look at what she said. She said, After I am waxed old, shall I pleasure my Lord being old also? That's where she's calling Abraham her Lord. And when you look at her other communication, you don't see that anywhere else in the Bible. We see that here. And this is her within her own heart. We can see how she's, even in her own heart, she's respecting her husband. She's not saying this out loud to him, but that's how she's viewing him. My Lord, right? My boss. You know, she loves him. And she is a great example of a wife. She is someone who submits. You know, this is good. She's a godly woman. But this is the example where she says that. And then it says in verse number 14, Is anything too hard for the Lord? Or excuse me, verse number 13. I skipped over that. And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, I have a surety bear a child which am old. So now he's asking Abraham, Why did your wife laugh at that? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. So what's kind of interesting here is that she's getting rebuked for that. Even in her example of being godly, it's like, well hey, why are you laughing? Is anything too hard for the Lord? God said he's going to do it. It's going to happen. You're going to have a son. Then Sarah denied saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid. She didn't know what to do. She was like, whoa, I didn't even say anything. Because it was in her heart. And she's like, I didn't laugh. Trying to cover it up a little bit. And he said, nay, but thou didst laugh. This is the Lord. You can't hide anything from God. But even in this example, I mean, she's not perfect. Right? We're not condemning her, but she's not perfect. We see this example. But this reference that's being referenced in 1 Peter chapter 3 is not Genesis chapter 20. Look at Genesis chapter 20, which is where Abraham, one of the examples, there's a couple of them, where Abraham is asking her to lie and tell people you're my sister and don't tell them you're my wife. Right? And this is one of the examples that was brought to me saying, well, she should have lied and it was right for her to do so and if she would have disobeyed then that would have been sent to her by disobeying because she should just obey her husband like he told her to. Now I'll be honest with you, this is one of those you know, it could be one of those sticky ideas in this regard that we see on a couple of occasions where people have lied in order to save life. Right? For example, the spies that went in to spy out Jericho they were, you know, the woman that hid them sent the people out another way and hid them by lying saying, oh yeah, I don't know, I don't know where those guys they went that way, right? They would be praised for doing so for keeping them from being killed. Right? So you have this, again, another exception where under the threat of like losing your life if you could save someone by being dishonest and saying, yeah, that person's not here and you're hiding them God's gonna be okay with that because you're saving life but again, we don't say that now people are just gonna start lying like, no, this is like such an extreme example right? That it's not what's taught I mean, we're not supposed to bear false witnesses this is a commandment of God but it's the spirit of the law just as much as it's taught by, you know, keeping the Sabbath day having this extreme view which was the Pharisaical view hey, if you heal on the Sabbath day you're working, therefore you're breaking the Sabbath and, you know when Jesus was healing and they didn't understand, look that, you know, are you not supposed to work on the Sabbath day? Absolutely right? That was the law but healing wasn't wrong just as much as doing a circumcision wasn't wrong right? In a sense, you're still working when you're performing a circumcision but it's because you're trying to obey all the commands of God the eighth day occasionally will fall on a Saturday so you gotta do that and that's what Jesus was explaining look at the spirit of the law what's given he's like, all of you guys are hypocrites anyways because if your ox or your ass falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you're gonna help them out you're not just gonna let them die because you don't want your animal just to be killed and destroyed and you wouldn't be wrong in doing so by helping them out so how much more is a person who's in need of healing of course you could heal them and this would be a similar example of like, look, this person's gonna be put to death it's an extreme example so yeah, if you tell the guys yeah, they're not here because you're covering for them so that you could save their lives and they're righteous guys it's not like there's some murderers or something it's like, yeah that example, that specific scenario will be okay so, and I don't want to dwell too long on this, but if you were to say well, this is like that whatever right, I'm not gonna nitpick over that I still think it's not right and I think that we see this also explained in this passage in Genesis chapter 20 and I'm gonna, I'm already gone longer than I wanted to it's a story of Abraham Sarah and then Abimelech King Abimelech the first time this happened is with the king of Egypt and now it's with this Abimelech and, you know, he takes an interest in her and calls her to him and she's at his house and he's, you know he comes to find out that she's actually married to Abraham because she said no, he's his sister, right and God is plaguing him and talks to him in a dream and is like, don't touch that woman, because God's like sticking up for Abraham which shows how much God has Abraham's back right, Abraham here is in the wrong and lying because he shouldn't have been fearing what man can do when he's doing the work of the Lord like, God's telling you to go do this so there was no legitimate threat to his life here he was worried for nothing and Sarah is going along with what he said and she's continuing this as well God has to step in and be like look, no, this isn't going to happen and then let's start reading here in verse number 10 Bible says, and Bimlech said on Abraham what sawest thou that thou hast doneest things like, why did you do this, what is it that even gave you the idea that you know, anything was going to happen verse 11, and Abraham said, because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wife's sake because his wife was real beautiful, so he's thinking like, they're going to take my wife and kill me that's why he did it, verse 12, and yet indeed she is my sister, she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother and she became my wife, so if what he's telling him is the truth here and I have no reason to think that he's lying at this point, he's like giving this half-truth, right, like well technically, she's like my half-sister right but she's my wife, and it came to pass, verse 13, when God caused me to wander from my father's house that I said unto her, this is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me at every place whether we shall come, say of me he is my brother, and Abimelech took sheep and oxen and men servants and women servants and gave them unto Abraham and restored him to Sarah's wife, so now Abimelech is blessing him because, I mean, he's already freaked out, God appeared to him in a dream and everything, he's just like, here take this stuff and go, right and Abimelech said, behold, my land is before thee, dwell where it pleases, go wherever you want to go, obviously God is with you like, please I want to be at peace with you, go ahead and go wherever you want to go, verse 16, and look at this and this is kind of the key here and unto Sarah, he said, behold I have given thy brother and he doesn't say has me, he says, thy brother a thousand pieces of silver behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes unto all that are with thee and with all other thus, she was reproved if you're reproved, it means you've done something wrong Abimelech said what he said in verse 16 but that colon isn't Abimelech saying thus you're reproved that's the narrator of the Bible saying thus she was reproved if she was right in obeying her husband by lying then why would she need to be reproved we all have to stand one last place, we all have to stand before God every one of us every husband, every wife you have, you will be judged according to what you do okay yeah there's an example of Jacob lying to his father right, and stealing the blessing from Esau, was he right in doing that no how do we see him reaping what he's sown later well because now he keeps on getting lied to he keeps getting his wages changed he gets the wrong woman that he wanted to marry he gets Leah instead of Rachel all these different things happen he was deceitful so now people are being deceitful to him it plays itself out it wasn't right for him to do that to lie to his own father even though his mom said now look, aren't we supposed to obey our mother and our father well mom said go lie to dad and let your curse be upon me and he followed and went along with it he's not that dumb but he knows that I'm not hairy and they concoct this plan but he goes along with it he should have said no why, because you don't have to steal if God's going to bless you he'll bless you he doesn't need your father to bless you it's not like that's the only way he could have been blessed no, if you would have done righteously then God would have blessed you then you probably wouldn't have had to deal with all the other hardships that you had to deal with in your life you wouldn't have thought that on yourself God would have blessed you anyway he actually would have blessed you probably more by standing up and doing the right thing and saying no, I'm not going to do that because I'm not going to be deceitful I'm not going to go and be part of this scheme that's what he should have done Acts chapter 5 we have one more example here of a husband and wife right where they conspire together the husband saying hey, here's what we're going to do and we see what happens with Ananias and Sapphira verse number 1, Acts chapter 5 but a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira's wife sold a possession they had something that they owned and kept back part of the price his wife also being privy to it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet so what they're doing is they sell this possession this property or whatever they sell what they own and then they decide you know what hey, let's keep some of this for ourselves right and then we're going to bring the rest and donate that now there's nothing wrong if they wanted to keep some of the sale for themselves except they lied and said this is what we sold it for so as if to God but they didn't they kept back some of it now they could have just been honest and said yeah you know we decided to keep some of this for ourselves because we got something else we want to do but here you go we're going to bless the church with this could have done that wouldn't have been an issue wouldn't have been a problem but no instead they wanted the limelight they wanted to be seen of men this is all going to God well we see what happens here verse 3 but Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land why was it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not thine own power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart thou hast not lied unto men but unto God and Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost and great fear that came on all them that heard these things so he died this is like God killing him Peter didn't kill him he just confronted him and was like why are you doing this and he just fell down dead and the young man arose wound him up and carried him out and buried him verse 7 and it was about the space of three hours after when his wife not knowing what was done came in she didn't even realize that her husband died and Peter answered unto her tell me whether ye sold the land for so much so he's just directly asking her so is this what you sold the land for the amount that they brought and she said yea for so much so what did she do, she lied then Peter said unto her how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord behold the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out guess what, she's also held responsible it's not just the husband who made the bad decision in the house and said ok here's what we're going to do and you need to tell him this well she kept that she kept the lie and then what happened she's held responsible too you're held responsible for your own actions sometimes more people are held responsible, you see Adam and Eve and the serpent, right they go down the line Adam's like well you know the woman that you gave me she gave this to me and I ate it and then the woman's going well you know that serpent over there that you created that has free reign here in the garden he tricked me and then I did it but what does God do Adam's responsible Eve's responsible the serpent's responsible all of them are all of them are involved all of them are held responsible that's the way it works ok I don't care who the authority is in your life if they're telling you to contradict the word of God and the sin they are wrong and you have no obligation to obey zero, in fact it'll be a sin to you if you do obey I'm wrapping it up I think I've beat this one to death the scriptural evidence is so it's so evident it's so apparent it's there a little bit of sense a lot of scripture we see the examples we see the stories we see this over and over again look we all have to have our relationship with the Lord everybody does it's a personal thing you choose on a daily basis who are you going to obey what are you going to do make God the highest authority by putting man's authority in saying well the wife has to do this regardless of what God had said is right and wrong you are putting man above God and his authority you cannot do that I was trying to express the same thought process and I gave this example of me being at work I have employees that work for me and I work for a boss as well I'm in the middle if I tell my employees to do something that's bad for the company they have an obligation not to do what I say because the company is above me my boss is above me he has more authority and more power than I do and if I'm telling them to do something in direct contradiction with what they're saying at the top I'm wrong and I don't have that authority I don't have that power I could pretend like I have the power and I could tell them to do these things but they are responsible for going to the higher authority I could pretend I have the authority in this church to tell you whatever I want to tell you you must do this you must believe that but it doesn't mean I actually have that authority if it's outside of the scope or telling you to do something that is complete contradiction to the word of God pretty straightforward pretty simple let's have a word of prayer Heavenly Father thank you for your word thank you for giving us the authority structure we do need it Lord and things work best when everyone can fall into line under the powers that you've ordained and when everybody is operating within the bounds when people are just doing what they're supposed to be doing Lord and when the authorities are ruling properly when everybody is humble and able to just work together dear Lord everything works great you've made a great system and design I pray you please help us to overcome our sinful flesh and the spirit of rebellion and that you would at the end of the day help us to know when it's appropriate to always just remain faithful unto you and obviously if there's areas where we're not sure especially those that have authority above them that you'd still just defer to the authority that was given them so children should always be deferring to their parents wives defer to their husbands they should be looking to their husbands to guide them and lead them dear Lord but in the areas where we see these severe contradictions and problems that everybody would individually be able to say okay look I'm going to obey God rather than men Lord thank you so much for your word and for instruction we love you it's in Jesus name we pray Amen Alright we're going to sing one last song before we are dismissed brother Peter please lead us Alright church if you don't have your windows song number 308 song 308 I surrender all song 308 I surrender all song 308 Now let's sing this out in the verse All to Jesus I surrender All to him I freely give I will never love and trust him in his presence daily I surrender all I surrender all All to me my blessed savior I surrender all All to Jesus I surrender only at his feet I bow early pleasures all forsaken take me Jesus take me now I surrender all I surrender all All to me my blessed savior I surrender all All to Jesus I surrender namely savior holy night let me feel the holy spirit truly know that thou art mine I surrender all I surrender all All to me my blessed savior I surrender all All to Jesus I surrender Lord I give myself to thee fill me with my love and power when my blessing be I surrender all I surrender all All to Jesus my blessed savior I surrender all Thank you for watching!