Submitting to God Appointed Authorities

Our Heavenly Father is the God who made this universe and He's arranged the universe in such a perfect order that everything moves in a system that's so organized that there's no imperfection in it. It's almost split-second timing how the earth has rotated on its axis for a certain amount of time and how the goes around the Sun and exactly the same all the time been going on for years and years and years and it's all a result of each of these heavenly objects being in complete subjection to the laws that God made for them probably thousands of years ago. We know that man is 6,000 years old but the earth and heaven were probably much older than that we don't know how long but it's never you know if there was even a split-second change at any time everything would go out of order in thousands of years you can calculate that and see but it hasn't it's absolutely amazing and this is the God who sent Jesus to earth and Jesus life was also like that perfectly ordered in every detail so that at the end of his life he could say to his heavenly father, father I have finished the work you gave me to do.

You know he didn't go everywhere he was invited for example for 30 years he didn't preach at all and even when he did begin preaching he only moved in a small country called Israel even though the world is so huge he lived in complete subjection to his father and the father said you stay within Israel and he never went outside except once he went to deliver one demon-possessed person and came back his ministry was limited to one country now he could have been a blessing in any country in the world he could have done miracles in China and thought I can bring people to God over there but he never moved outside God's perfect plan for him and so both in the universe the order and the universe is a result of obedience to God's laws and Jesus perfect life is also a result of split-second obedience to everything that the father told him to do once there was a great revival in one place we read in Luke chapter 4 the end of that chapter and humanly speaking would think we would think that's a great movement is we let's stay here and continue the work but he had gone early morning to pray and the father said no go somewhere else he went against what human reason would say because his father told him something else he didn't go around raising any number of dead people we don't know more people would believe if he raised up more dead people he raised up only three dead people there was so many things in his life if you studied carefully it was a result of implicit obedience to the father subjecting himself to the authority of the father and he has given us an example in his life in the first words written about him in Luke chapter 2 are these Luke chapter 2 we read he went into the temple and he was talking to the scholars there it says here in Luke chapter 2 in verse 46 and 47 the great Bible teachers at that time were absolutely amazed how this 12 year old boy knew so much of the Bible of the Old Testament at that time was a Bible and he could have thought with that knowledge which was more than the scholars of his day he could have started preaching straight away gone around in different parts of Israel itself and shared the things that he shared with these teachers but he didn't do that he just went back home it says after that he just came back to Nazareth verse 51 and he continued in subjection to Joseph and Mary who knew much less than him it's an amazing example of how what true godliness is true godliness is complete subjection to the father's will and not what our reason says is what we think is good and then you see for the next 18 years this is he was 12 years old here and as you read that in verse 42 from then onwards for 18 years he never preached a single sermon he probably talked to individuals like he talked to the priests but he never preached a sermon never did a miracle and you think what is he doing all these 18 years he's making stools and benches and repairing furniture and probably helping a lot of poor widows and all with their furniture and things like that earning his own living as Joseph had died supporting a mother and four brothers and two sisters at home he was the eldest and you think is that God's will that he sends his son to earth and he almost wastes 30 years of his life hardly ever preaching anything when there's so much you could have done in those 30 years you know we think in terms of quantity oh you could go here you could go there you grow so many things in 30 years and you can look at his whole life he spent only three and a half years preaching now humanly speaking that's not doesn't sound right one who had such fantastic knowledge tremendous ability to do miracles and why should he die 33 and a half he could have lived up to 70 and died how many more people he would have blessed that's how our human mind works and Jesus life itself there I want to point that out is is a proof to us that our human way of thinking can be completely wrong and completely against God's way of thinking now we must apply that to our own life if I try to order my life according to what I think is best I'll go astray and I see that also after the day of Pentecost it says here in Acts of the Apostles in chapter 12 see there were only 11 people who had walked with Jesus a very small number and they had to spread the news to the whole world only 11 people remember and one of them we read here James Acts 12 verse 2 Herod caught him and put him to death with a sword why did God allow James to be killed he must have been just about 30 years old his brother John lived up to 95 65 years more traveling all over and establishing churches writing scripture and what a long useful life he lived God could have easily saved James from dying here and I'll show you that because after that you read about him the Herod seizing Peter and arresting him but Peter the night he was supposed to be he was also going to be chopped off his head was going to be chopped off an angel came and we're seven and you read that story he delivered him from that prison the question that comes to my mind as a human being is why didn't that angel come two days earlier and deliver James human logic does not work here so all these apostles realized subjection to God's laws and his perfect will is the greatest and the best way to live that's what I've understood as I've studied the New Testament but many of us I don't know whether we've understood that that God has a particular way of doing things and if we subject ourselves to him that is the best and most useful way we can live James could not have accomplished any more of God's purpose if he had lived one more day it was not God's will for him to live another 65 years like his brother John so we think in terms of quantity and areas traveled and Jesus never traveled outside Israel you think what a waste of time that he could have traveled to so many countries been a blessing to so many people keep that in mind when we try to understand God's will because so often we reason according to our own understanding so when we think of the way God ordered this universe and the human race and all of creation we know that God began not with Adam and Eve because right at the beginning you read about Satan coming in and tempting Eve so there was a creation before Adam and Eve as well and for those who many of you already know about this but for those who don't know let me point out to you how Satan came into existence God created him as the head of all the angels he was the highest archangel we don't know his name he's called the morning star in Isaiah 14 verse 12 and that's in the Latin it's called Lucifer that's how he's got that name Lucifer but that's not his name nobody knows his name isn't just called the star of the morning and he even though he was the head of all the angels this is the first occurrence of sin in this perfect universe there was no such thing as sin until this is if you want to know where sin began it's not in Genesis 3 it's here in Isaiah 14 and you need to understand that because you know when people think of a disease they say what is the origin of that disease let's get to the origin of it then we can hit it you say when you see a sickness in your body you know something coming up on your hand they say no use treating the hand go inside and see where that problem arises in something inside your system and you take a tablet inside your body and that heals the hand over here because it's man's discovered that you got to go to the root of the problem so here you see you need to understand where the root of sin was and it was when the highest of the angels said in his heart verse 13 so sin originates in the heart that's the first thing we see it's not by an external action first in his heart he said I will ascend those two words I will that's where sin begins I want to do this I don't care what God thinks about it and Jesus came down from heaven and said not as I will his exact opposite that's how he overcame sin now this may sound like a very little thing but is the root of sin is I will do this and the root of holiness is not as I will but as God will if you understand this you've understood the secret of sin and of holiness then you will discover that sin is not just getting angry and lusting with the eyes and all that it's much more than that a strong self-will that wants to do things on your own without submitting to God's will that's the reason of a lot of conflict between husband and wife it's two strong wills clashing with each other it's I will that is the origin of all sin and not as I will is the origin of all genuine holiness please remember that all your life there's not a question of just a few things that we call sin and what we think is holiness going to meetings and reading the Bible and all that I will verse 13 listen to this how many times it comes can you count it I will ascend to heaven I will raise my throne above the stars of God I will sit on the mount of assembly I will ascend above the clouds I will make myself like the most high five I will I will I will I will that is the origin of sin and you see immediately whenever God sees that God is not allowed I mean think of this I told you about the perfect system of this universe supposing one planet said I will do this it doesn't have the ability to say that that's why there's no collision in the solar system that's why earth and mercury and Mars don't collide with each other because none of them can say I will if any one of these planets or stars could say I will there be collisions all over this universe we wouldn't be alive today so the reason for this perfect order in this universe is because none of them say I will God determined long ago this is what you're gonna do and they just obey and that's the secret of this perfect order in the universe and that is a lesson for us that if you follow the example of those planets and stars and all who never say I will but God what have you willed for me I do that you'll have a perfect life and if you can understand that you see that's how Jesus did he never did his own will he says I came from heaven not to do what I will but to do the will of my father and so God says okay you say like that you're gonna be thrust down to hell this shield is the first reference to hell in the Bible and it came as soon as a created being said I will immediately God said the end of that is hell she all is another word for hell you'll go to the pit and why did he say this to find the reason for his saying that you got to turn to Ezekiel 28 Ezekiel chapter 28 he is again referring to the same angel he's called here the king of Tyre and King means the ruler instead of King you put ruler there was a prince of Tyre was mentioned in verse 2 the human earthly leader of Tyre but the real king who ruled the whole was this fallen human being and at this point is already fallen and he's become controlling earthly rulers and Satan was doing that even today controlling earthly rulers all over and here's an example of a person who's called the king of Tyre and ruling was to the leader of Tyre and the Lord says to the king of Tyre now you know this is not a human being because it says in verse 13 you were in Eden who was in Eden before Adam and Eve you had the seal of perfection full of wisdom perfect in beauty that's what this Lucifer was and he was in Eden before Adam and Eve were there and that's why he was so jealous when his place was taken over by Adam and Eve where he was now somebody else God has put somebody else there it's the same type of jealousy you see in a human being when you see somebody else getting what should be yours and it says here about he was verse 14 the anointed cherub who was placed on the holy mountain of God verse 14 and it says here another thing about him was 15 you were blameless in your ways from the day you were created he was created perfect until sin unrighteousness found in you and what does that sin you know we read that in Isaiah 14 I will I will I will I will I will that is a sin that is called unrighteousness God did not create man to say I will and because he is like that it says I've cast you out middle of verse 16 and I've destroyed you where 17 your heart was lifted up because of your beauty and this strength to say I will came from a pride in his own ability and his attractiveness so there you see the pride is the thing that makes a person sin and to think that he can do something pride is the cause of all the problems in the universe your heart is lifted up pride has been the cause of all the problems in every church since the day of Pentecost pride a heart that's lifted up and says I will do this if you study the history of Christianity it's always been because of pride that churches have been destroyed leaders clash with each other it's always I will do I will clash him with each other because of pride and because a heart a heart that's lifted up lifted up with what why if he was stupid unattractive and ugly it wouldn't be lifted up it's a person who's beautiful whose heart is lifted up an ugly woman is not proud it's when a person sees a woman looks at the mirror and sees boy I'm far more beautiful than all these other women around me the heart is lifted up or an intelligent person finds he's far more intelligent and capable than other persons around me even in the church I know more of the Bible or anything the heart can be lifted up and then he's cast down so we need to understand the origin of sin that pride comes in and then he's not willing to be subject to the authority of God over him so subjection to authority which is not as I will is the secret of holiness now let's turn to John's gospel in chapter 6 you see the very opposite of all this if this is how sin came as we have seen in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 you see how salvation came I'm often caught called this verse John 6 38 the autobiography of Jesus Christ you know the difference in a biography which is a life story of a person written by somebody autobiography is the person writing his own life story and the whole life story of Jesus is written in one sentence was 38 I have come from heaven and what did he do on earth for 33 and a half years he never did his own will always did the will of the father what did we say about Lucifer I will I will I will I will and here Jesus for 33 and a half years he said not as I will not as I will not as I will not as I will throughout his life and there you see the secret of holiness John chapter 5 verse 19 Jesus answered and said to them truly I say to you the son can do that he's referring to himself can do nothing out of himself unless he sees the father doing it for whatever the father does the son follows in the like manner if I were to paraphrase what he's saying is the same thing I will not do my own will I don't do whatever I feel like doing I'll wait and listen to the father and what he tells me to do I do this is why the secret of all holiness of genuine holiness and not just living a good life and getting a good impression before others because that's only in public holiness is much more in secret in the times of our life that nobody can see areas of our life that nobody sees the secret of all holiness is to say I don't want to do anything that the father doesn't want me to do I want to be listening listening listening whatever the God tells me to do I'll do and he says further down in verse 30 John 5 30 I do nothing on my own initiative you know what that means my own initiative means I get a bright idea and I'm gonna do it we act like that all human beings are like that but he says no when I got a bright idea I go before the Lord and I listen as I hear do you want me to do it Lord and then I do not my will but the will of him who sent me verse 30 so if we understand this we'll discover that holiness is not just being nice on the outside and being pure on the outside it's a lot more than that and that's why we have so many problems in the Christian life because we think I'm a holy person because I do all these things that's only to get a reputation before people genuine holiness comes from a life where you never want to do your own will in any area of your life we can think that's bondage far from it the most free and the most wonderful life that has ever lived on earth was the life that Jesus lived we perfectly accomplished God's will and the secret of it all was he always sought the Father's will it was a spontaneous seeking as well all the time a continuous action of father what do you want me to do and the more he did that the more he became aware of it without having to stop and question it became more and more spontaneous just like you know any you keep on doing something continuously it becomes a habit you so an action and you reap a habit so Jesus action was always not as I will not as I'll gradually it became a habit and it can be the same with us also if we constantly seek the will of God in every area gradually it will become a habit in our life and our life will be the most blessed life that we can ever live on the earth I remember when I was a young person I got converted the age of 19 and a half and I somehow I got gripped by the fact that God had a plan for my life I had already made my plans I was in the military and I wanted to go right up to the top as a naval officer but I realized that deal God had a plan for my life and I said Lord I want to fulfill that so I turned my life completely around from the direction I was going the ambitions I had and I said I want to do your will and today after 65 years I say I could not have lived a better life I didn't make so much money as I could have made if I was a naval officer maybe I didn't get as much travel the world I'll get the all the fame that could be in that type of life but I can see today as I come to so many years of my life that this is the best life you could I could have ever lived seeking God's will so I say that to all of you young people from the beginning of your life say Lord you got a plan for my life I want to fulfill that I guarantee you'll be frustrated if you try any other way to a greater or a lesser degree you'll be frustrated your married life if you want a really happy married life say Lord I want to obey your word the way you'd want me to do things how shall we build a church which is exactly according to God's will by perfectly following God's plan as given in the scriptures Jesus was careful that he wouldn't even speak things without seeking the father let me give you one example of that you see in John chapter 8 the extent to which his will not seeking his own will there was a woman caught in adultery John 8 verse 4 they caught him and brought him brought her before Jesus and so you the law says he must be killed and who gave that law Jesus himself gave that law two thousand fifteen hundred years earlier when he was in heaven he told Moses a man a woman who's caught in adultery must be killed and they did not know this person sitting here is the one who gave the law from heaven but he was the one who gave the law and they are reminding him of that law which he gave which has to be kept a woman caught in adultery must be killed and Jesus you see here is scribbling on the ground verse 6 why was he scribbling on the ground it was not clear in his mind what shall I do in this tricky situation they brought before me a law which I myself gave to Moses 1,500 years ago and I have taught that the law must be kept so you see that Jesus did not know the God's will automatically immediately he waited I don't know how long he scribbled on the ground but he was waiting father what's the answer here it's a wonderful lesson I've learned from this don't rush into something wait think about it Lord what do you want me to do and then the father gave him the perfect answer in his mind tell them that the one who is without sin must cast the first stone so Jesus looks up and says he was without sin cast the first stone where did that come from Jesus was waiting no if he had not scribbled on the ground and suddenly thought yeah I think I should give them a good answer that would not have been the answer and there we learn a lesson of not being so quick to depend on our own cleverness and then he stooped on the ground and wrote again now I know why he did the second time father I know there's nobody here without sin except me that is Jesus and if they are honest they'll all go away and I'll be left here alone and I'm the only one without sin and I said the one who's without sin must cast the first stone so I have to cast the first stone at this woman what shall I do and he keeps scribbling on the ground by the time they've all gone out one by one by the time he's got the answer from the father let her go so he straightens up and says nobody condemned you Jesus said no one Lord I don't condemn you verse 11 go doesn't it look as if Jesus disobeyed his own two commands of his one is the one he gave to Moses 1500 years earlier that the one who sins must be stoned to death and the second one was what he himself said right there but one who's without sin must cast the first stone this is where our human logic fails I understand it perfectly I'll tell you the answer to it and the answer is found in James and you'll see God's nature God is not a legalist remember this God is not a legalist who says this is how it must be there are church leaders who are legalists they quote a scripture in order to condemn people must be like this must be like this you're not doing it like this you learn a lesson here James and chapter 2 we read the last part of verse 13 James 2 13 mercy triumphs over judgment so when there are two things that come up in your mind this has to be judged this is God's standard and then the other thought that comes in his mercy who's going to win mercy triumphs over judgment so Jesus got that when he was scribbling the father told him let mercy triumph over judgment very often legalistic human beings it's exact opposite judgment triumphs over mercy we can be like that towards their own children where we can be so severe and mercy is not there we are impatient and do something and it's not in the will of God and that very often parents are not good examples to their children and where they sometimes they punish them because they are impatient they have no time to sort of scribble on on a piece of paper and say what shall I do father these are lessons that we need to learn so in that's why in the home God is commanded see Ephesians chapter 6 this perfect order in the universe God is commanded in the home as well in Ephesians 6 God gave ten commandments to Moses and out of that verse 2 says honor your father and mother is the first commandment that had a promise attached to it all the other nine commandments there's no promise attached to it it doesn't say if you don't kill you'll be blessed in this way if you don't commit adultery you'll be blessed in this way no no promise but one commandment has got a promise if you obey your father and mother and honor your father and mother it'll go well with you verse 3 it will go well with you do you want it to go well with your children it's not enough to educate them and give them a good education and train them to get a good job all that is a human level if you want it to go really well with your children the Bible says teach them to honor their parents teach them to obey their parents to respect their parents always to speak respectfully in all the time to their parents it'll go well I believe that and that's why we need to be strict as parents and where mercy must triumph over judgment if we believe God's laws and Jesus is the perfect example of one who obeyed God's laws and he lived such a wonderful life and he says follow me so it's not only in the home turn with me to Romans and chapter 13 in society God's law for society just like in the home that children must obey their parents completely in society he Romans 13 one let every person means every believer must be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God do you know to whom this is written to the Christians in Rome and do you know who was the ruler in Rome at that time a man called Nero who was one of the most wicked emperors in the history of Rome who finally killed thousands of Christian later on and the Lord says be subject to the authorities he's got nothing to do with the whether the authority is a Christian or got Christian values or you know so many people in election time and politics they talk about Christian values nobody has Christian values there can be an appearance of Christianity it's all a deception in India for example all the political parties are Hindus it's the Hindus versus Hindus who do you vote for I believe in Romans 13 one there's a sovereign God who runs every country in the universe and I don't think in any country there's a ruler as bad as Nero was when this letter was written be subject and if you resist the authority was to you're resisting the ordinance of God you resist the Emperor Nero in the orders he gives you're resisting the ordinance of God can you believe that because the last a lot of part of verse 1 there is no authority except from God how many of you believe that there is no authority except from God it doesn't matter who wins the elections there is no authority except from God and those that exist are established by God God is sovereign it doesn't mean he approves of what they do he certainly did not approve of Nero but God sovereignly controls rulers in every country that's why a Christian need never be afraid and it's also says these rulers are verse 4 servants of God we thought only the preachers were servants of God the ruler is also a minister to God and then he says therefore verse 5 it's necessary to be in subjection not only because of wrath but for conscience sake and he goes on to say therefore that is the reason why was 7 we must pay our taxes that's why you must pay your income tax exactly and not cheat on your income tax because it's a authority established by God and in that connection it says pay your taxes and verse 8 don't owe anything you should not be owing anything on your taxes it's very down-to-earth and practical but a lot of Christians don't follow these things I have sought all my life to follow these things to the best of my knowledge even paying taxes and all exactly to find out the laws and obey it and okay the money in your bank will get a little less when you pay taxes exactly but I found through the years the blessing of God is upon it and I never run run short at all the important thing is not to run short important thing is not how high your bank balance is the important is you always have enough for your needs and I've always had enough my knees and all these years we'll never lose out by obeying God and Christians must be a testimony to that fact now the next thing I can't want to say is within the church there is authority in the home we saw that parents there's authority in the society that is the rulers and some of the rulers are not very good but God says subject be subject to them what about authorities in the church the church is also instituted by God just like society and just like the home so in the church the law is this Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17 obey your leaders obey the elders and submit to them because they keep watch over your souls and they will have to give an account to God one day for you let them do this with joy and not with grief because that'll be unprofitable not for them but for you so that verse teaches me that one day every elder will have to give an account in the day of judgment how do these people behave who are in your church did they obey you the Lord asks the elders and the Lord has and the some elders have to say well Lord I don't want to say it but it wasn't very good with that person he was always questioning what the elder said and had a spirit of rebellion he thought he was too smart he thought he knew more than the elders Christendom has been filled with such people so when we talk of a new covenant Church fellowship NCCF how new covenant is it how much new covenant is it if you don't follow this instruction it can be a name like you talk about nominal Christian you can be nominally new covenant new covenant is obey your leaders submit to them let them do this with joy and not only that it says in 1 Thessalonians and chapter 5 and verse 12 we request of you brethren that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you that's the elders who have charge over you in the Lord and who teach you who give you instruction it's not easy for an elder to teach God's Word to you try and do it yourself then you'll know how difficult it is to continuously give you instruction week after week after week after week I mean you'll find it difficult to do it one week in a year and they have to give you instruction and therefore esteem them very highly in love because of the work they do I want to ask you do you esteem the elders in the church like that do you obey that command of God as I said the other day we obey the authority on the roads the traffic police because if you don't you'll be ending up paying a fine of maybe a few hundred dollars you submit to them when they pull your car to the side and talk to you otherwise you'll be in handcuffs and we obey the ruler in the office our boss the CEO because if you don't obey you lose your job and your children will starve and it's not easy to get another job so all these obedience is very often out of fear there is a possibility of immediate punishment dismissal from the job or immediate fine if you disobey the police or a handcuff but when it comes to the church we see ah there's no punishment nobody's gonna put a handcuffs on me nobody's gonna give me a fine and that is why so many Christians do not respect their elders because they're not really they don't have a fear of God in them they're always seeking their own comfort I don't want to pay a fine I don't want to get handcuffs so I'll obey the police I don't want to lose my job so I'll obey the CEO but in the church what do I lose I can rebel against the elders I can question them and say why do they do this why do they do like this I'm gonna talk behind their back why do they talk like this and why they allowed this and why are they allowed that and discuss among each other you should you'd never do that if a policeman was standing outside your car questioning you you'd never do that in your office and the CEO tells something it's only in the church is that happening in a new covenant Christian fellowship really is this new covenant how much do we study the Bible how much respect do we give to God's word I told you that I started with how the universe runs in perfect order because of implicit obedience to God's commands no not even the slightest variation and if there's one group of people on earth that is to imitate this perfection in the universe of obedience it should be in the church and very often it is in Christian churches that you find the maximum amount of rebellion which you'll never find a fellow doing to the police on the roads if his car is pulled up which you'll never find in people in an office rebelling against the authorities because they lose their job why is this I'll tell you why because there's one word that describes it and I'll read that verse to you from Scripture Romans chapter 3 one sentence one verse Romans chapter 3 verse 18 there is no fear of God in their eyes there's no respect Romans 3 18 there's no respect for God's commands so what if God says submit to your elders yeah yeah then what it means is you think about it and decide whether you want to do it or not okay but I'll tell you something I've observed through the years because I've been in Christian ministry for 60 years almost full-time Christian work and I've seen all types of Christians and I've seen one thing in the long run it never never goes well never goes well with a believer who ignores submission to authority I'm telling you that after 60 years of observation you can take it or leave it that's why I decided I mean I learned this very early in my life I remember when I was a young man God had gifted me with the ability to speak God's Word when I was 23 years old I mean that's not because of my cleverness God anointed me with the spirit gave me a knowledge of the word and I was preaching to believe it or not to 5,000 people regularly when I was 23 years old and I there was an anointing people respected it and I found it's there were people above me who were my elders I was not an elder I was just a young brother who were jealous of that and they wouldn't give me a chance to speak in the church and the Lord said submit don't leave this this is the place where you should be and I stayed there then I went to another church I mean I got transferred in my job and then I found even after I quit my job and was in another church there also there was this jealousy but people were not so gifted would suppress me and I remember once the Lord told me sit quietly don't question that is the elder brother has told you not to speak sit quietly and I sat for two and a half years never speaking because God said to keep quietly and I know that God was testing me in those years to see with all this gift that you have can you keep quiet I said yes Lord and I would sit there listening to these boring sermons that others and a lot of people sitting there wanted me to speak and I said no I will not do it if the elder brother does not ask me to speak I will not speak and those are the years God tested me to see whether I had this whether I would submit to the lust to speak just because I had the gift and I would sit there for years believe it or not listening to these boring sermons and I said I will obey you Lord it's after years of testing me like this that one day God started the first CFC Church in our home in 1975 by then I was 35 years old God never uses anybody without testing him and I want to ask you do you pass the test or do you say well I'm gifted so I don't have to submit to anybody if I had done that I would not be here today and I don't believe that God would have ever blessed my ministry and I don't believe God would have planted even one church I myself am amazed is God's work 100% but I've come to see that God's looking for people who are willing to be broken and humbled and I say this to many of you young people who are very clever and gifted particularly Silicon Valley Church most dangerous because a bunch of clever people here who got so much academic knowledge and so much other things dear brothers let me ask you I'm speaking particularly to the brothers if you think that all your abilities that God cares much for that you're strongly mistaken he cares for one thing are you willing to allow your strong will to be broken and humble all your confidence in your own ability and say Lord I'm willing to bow down to you for example it says here how is God ordered the church structure see 1 Corinthians in chapter 12 there is an order just like in the society God has established an order in the church also it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 28 God is appointed in the church first apostles do you know there's a first second third in the church also first apostles second prophets third teachers and then miracles healings and all the we think miracles and healing should come first no apostles are those who God equips to plant churches to appoint elders to write letters to the churches that's I mean we learned that from the life of the Apostle Paul he planted churches he established and appointed elders and wrote letters and preached frequently to them in fact we read in Acts chapter 20 Acts 20 we read that in one church that was an Ephesus listen to this Acts chapter 20 he was in a church Ephesus for three years and it says in Acts 20 31 he tells the elders he's talking to the elders were 17 remember night and day Acts 20 31 for three years I kept on admonishing you with tears often he had such a burden he preached night and day for three years that's how he built the church in Ephesus and then he wrote letters to them warned them that's how they were protected and that's why the church in Ephesus flourished for a long time but there was another church which is the church in Corinth it says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 3 Paul wrote to them 1 Corinthians 3 I could not speak to you Corinthian Christians as to spiritual men they had clever people there at least some but I had to speak to you like babies because verse 3 you're still fleshly there's jealousy in your midst there's strife and Paul was strong and correcting them and because he was strong and correcting them they despised him we read that 1 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 this is the opinion that the Corinthian Christians had about the Apostle Paul because he corrected them very strongly and I say you're a bunch of babies you're all fleshly so what is he what are the current to the Corinthian Christians what did they say about Paul see 2nd Corinthians 10 and verse 10 they say his letters are very weighty and strong but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech is contemptible can you imagine Corinthian Christians thinking like that about the Apostle Paul despising him and criticizing him no wonder the Corinthian Church was the worst church in the days of the Apostles they were critical because they thought they were so clever the Corinthians were clever was a well-known fact in history that the people of current the very clever people Paul was cleverer than them but he told them in 1 Corinthians 2 I did not come to you I did not use my cleverness when I wanted to speak to you he could have spoken with his cleverness as a scholar but he deliberately put that to death because he knew God's ways through the Holy Spirit not through human cleverness he says in 1 Corinthians and chapter 2 I determined when I came to you brethren that 1 Corinthians 2 verse 2 and 3 I would not preach with persuasive verse 4 with persuasive words of wisdom he spoke in the spirit even though as an apostle his position was the highest but he took the position of a servant among them and when he corrects them he tells them in 1 Corinthians 4 he says in verse 15 you can have countless preachers and teachers coming there to Corinth to teach you but you don't have many fathers a true apostle is like a father he's I became your father through the gospel the spirit of a true servant of God is not one who's trying to impress people like a scholar but who's got the heart of a father and you've got to be thankful when you have elders like that in this church and I believe you do I want to urge you to respect them because that is how the church is built let me just turn finally to Ephesians in chapter 4 how does God build the body of Christ here's the answer he talks about building the body of Christ in verse 12 the last part of Ephesians 4 12 that's the same word building up the body of Christ how does it happen verse 11 he ascended to heaven we read in verse 10 after ascending to heaven verse 10 he gave some apostles so these are not the 11 apostles he appointed on earth those he appointed when he was on earth these are the ones after he ascended to heaven he gave some apostles on earth one of which was Paul another was Barnabas and he gave some prophets and some evangelists and shepherds and teachers to equip the Saints to build the body of Christ this is how the body of Christ is built through apostles and prophets and shepherds and teachers etc it's thus that we will attain to the unity of the faith and grow up verse 13 to be mature in Christ so I want to say dear brothers and sisters that this is the way God brings order into the church the same order that he put into the universe when he has a bunch of people who say we cannot do God's work with our human wisdom we want to say no to our own will and obey what God has taught in his word this is the only book in the whole world that will show you what God's will is and I have discovered through the years it has an answer to every problem we can face amen may God help us