WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.320 Father, that's our desire, Lord. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:22.320 It's the desire of our life. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.760 But God, it's the desire of our church. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:38.399 And it's for that reason, Lord, that we open up your word to ask you, Lord, the King of the church, the King of this universe, Lord, to ask you who you want us to be and where you want us to go. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:49.119 God, it's our desire that we would be a people that magnify, glorify, and exalt your name. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.240 God, that this church would be a bright light. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:00.560 Lord, shining in the darkness of our world, declaring, Lord, that there is hope, there is eternal hope. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:09.040 Not in us as a people, but in your Son, the one who has redeemed us as a people, and who is sanctifying us and transforming us as a people. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:13.760 And so, God, do a mighty work in us, we pray this morning. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.319 Not so that we may be magnified, Lord, but that you may be magnified. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:24.959 God, right now, Lord, in the presence of your Holy Spirit, I pray by the power of your word, Lord, a two-edged sword. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:26.640 Would you pierce us? 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:28.079 Would you change us? 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:32.319 Would you mold us into the image of your son, God? 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:34.879 Lord, we pray that you would accomplish this work. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.200 It's so beyond the work that any human can do, Lord. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:37.920 You must do it. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.319 And so we submit ourselves to you, Lord. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:42.400 We pray this in the name of your Son. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:43.359 Amen. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:44.879 Amen. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:48.640 You can grab your seat. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:55.359 As you grab your seat, you can take your copy of God's word and open it up to Hebrews chapter 13. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.879 We're going to be in verses in verse 17 this morning. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:02.319 If you don't have a copy of God's word, then the ushers are going to come to the front of the aisle. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:03.599 They're going to make their way to the back. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.280 You can slip your hand in the air and they'll get a copy of God's Word into your hand. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.240 And if you don't own a Bible, we'd love to give this to you. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:14.479 You consider can consider this our gift to you so long as you will read it. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.599 If you're new with us this morning, I just want to extend a warm welcome to you. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:18.879 So glad that you're here. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.319 My name's Miles. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.319 I'm the lead pastor of this church. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.599 And we want to let you know that we love you and we want to serve you this morning. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:27.120 So we've set up an area just for you. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:29.680 It's called Connections at the back of this worship center. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:36.319 We'd love to meet you thereafter, put a small gift into your hands and answer any questions you might have about our church. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:44.879 I want to talk to you this morning about authority in the church and the biblical call to be a surrendered people. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:49.360 Now I'm really glad that at this moment nobody's walked out already. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:56.560 Because the reality is, in our day and age, isn't authority a very divisive topic? 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.439 Especially when it comes to authority in the church. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:08.879 In fact, I'm sure that you would agree with me when I say that as a culture, we are kind of in like this authority crisis, aren't we? 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:18.800 That there are multiple cultural and societal wars being waged all surrounding authority. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:26.400 Consider the societal divide that exists on whether or not we should trust authority. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:38.240 In fact, almost every one of us in this room over the past year, three years really, has been involved in this debate on whether or not we should trust the health authorities. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:47.759 And we're living in a culture where really we're forced to debate whether we should trust police authorities. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:53.680 All of these things put us in an authority crisis. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:58.240 Well, that's not only part of the authority crisis that we are in as a culture. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:02.159 Think about the philosophical divide as we think about authority. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:03.280 Answer this question. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.400 What's more healing to our society? 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:11.520 What would be better for a society to have a government with more authority or to have a government with less authority? 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:18.000 Well, really, your answer to that question is creates a political divide and really points where you might vote. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.839 What about parental authority? 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.279 What makes a good parent? 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:33.360 A parent who releases their children and lets them kind of go their own way, or the parent who exercises their parental authority over that child? 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:47.759 What about social movements, all these social movements that have been created in the last especially few years that really aim at authorities in culture and society and deconstructing authorities in culture and society? 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:49.839 One more. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.439 What about globalization? 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.759 What about the wars that our world finds itself in these days? 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.199 And the question of who do these countries report to? 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.160 Whose authority are they really under? 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:09.920 At this point in time, you can agree with me that we are in an authority crisis. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.040 Some of you are really excited. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.439 You're like, this is gonna be a really juicy sermon. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:17.680 He just brought up a lot of really divisive topics. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:35.360 Well, I don't want to talk so much about those as much as I want to talk about authority in the church and present for us this morning really a biblical vision of authority, what it's meant for, and how it is to function in the church. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:36.879 See, this is the problem. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:47.759 As a society, as a people, we have never been more confused about authority and its role in our life than we are today. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:57.680 And yet, on the other hand, authority, the authority that God gives to his church, is central to the church's mission. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:04.560 You remember that when Jesus sent his church on mission in Matthew 28, he said, Go and make disciples. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:07.040 And what assurance did he give to his disciples? 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:11.680 Well, he gave him this assurance that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:20.160 See, critical to the success of the church, Jesus says, is that he has authority and that he has given it to the church. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:27.279 And so we find ourselves kind of in this problem where on the one hand we fear authority and we don't know what to do with it. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:36.560 And yet on the other hand, Jesus is saying that if you're going to be successful in this ministry, then you must know what to do with the authority that I am giving to you. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:47.839 Add to this the reality that many of us, many of us, are sitting in a place where we have been hurt by the abuse of authority or the misuse of authority. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:54.480 Maybe it's our parents who just misused their authority that God had given to them as parents. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.120 Maybe it's even in the church. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:12.240 That we've experienced the authority of the church instead of coming alongside us as a healing authority, crashing down on us as a damaging authority. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:16.319 And so the question for us this morning is what do we do with authority in the church? 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.879 And I want to read for us in Hebrews 13, verse 17. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.639 The counsel that we are given here, look at the verse with me. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:29.279 It says here, obey your leaders and submit to them. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:35.120 For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.079 Let them do this with joy and not groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.879 Now, some of you are here this morning, you're thinking, okay, how could he preach in this sermon? 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:47.839 Obey your leaders. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:49.680 He's going to really tell us that we got to obey the leaders. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:55.680 And I want to let you know that if there is anyone in this room who should be scared of these verses, it's me. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:57.040 It's not you. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.519 Think about the reality of these verses. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:05.040 There are three men in this room right now who should be like literally shaking in their chairs. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:12.800 Because the hard part of this verse is not the fact that all of us as believers are here commanded by God to obey your leaders and submit to them. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:14.480 You know what the hard part of this verse is? 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:26.399 Is that your leaders one day are gonna stand before the Lord and they will have to give an account for how they cared for those people that were placed under their leadership. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.039 If any of you are offended right now, you need to take your offense and turn it into prayer for me, okay? 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:34.879 This is scary for me. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.600 I wore a diaper this morning, just in case I pee my pants. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.080 That's how afraid I am right now. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:09:03.360 And yet, this is what we're being told that there is a spiritual care, there is a spiritual life that is promised to you as a believer when you find yourself in a position to surrender and submission to the authorities that God has placed in the church. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.759 This is really what the whole series has been about. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:13.279 As we've walked through this series called the church, we've really been talking about authority almost every single week, haven't we? 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:17.360 We we've talked about how Jesus is the king who establishes the church. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.320 He is the one who creates the institution of the church. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:32.000 It was his idea to gather together all whom he came to save, to gather them together into this institution that he calls the church. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:38.159 And it was his idea to give that church authority by which they would be able to accomplish the mission. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:47.840 And so this is what I want you to understand that that biblical authority, when it is practiced biblically, produces life. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:50.240 It promotes life. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.639 You know, one way that I could illustrate this is by thinking about the sun. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:10:00.000 I mean, we've all thought about the sun, and the reality is that the sun is a very good thing, isn't it? 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.279 The sun brings warmth. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:07.279 The sun brings life in very many ways. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:14.000 And yet, right now, in this very moment, there are two people in this room who are being absolutely blinded by the sun, and they're cursing the sun. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:23.679 They can rejoice in the vitamin D, but they can be filled with fear from skin cancer that they may be caused. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:29.120 And we have anyone in this row sign a waiver at the beginning of the service, they can't sue us. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:35.279 The sun has good effects, and yet it can also have very negative effects. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:37.279 And that's much like authority. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:45.200 See, when we place ourselves under biblical authority, what God is telling us this morning is that this is the place for life. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.639 And yet, in a fallen sinful world, it can do great damage. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.039 And so I want us to understand authority this morning. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.960 And as we look at this verse, I want to first maybe zoom out and think about authority together. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:02.000 And the first thing I want to think about together is our first point this morning. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:04.960 I want to think about the biblical nature of authority. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:06.399 That is divine. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.840 The biblical nature of authority is divine. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.720 And let's zoom out for a moment and think about where did authority come from? 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:16.480 Where did authority come from? 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:22.480 And what I want you to understand here is that authority is a design of God, not man. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:38.799 There are some that look at maybe the authority structures in our world, whether it's the authority structure between an employer and an employee, whether it's the authority structure that's within marriage and family, maybe it's government. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:45.360 There are some that look at these structures and institutions of authority and they say, well, that's a man-made thing. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:53.600 And the reason why we see so much damage is this is because as men and women, we just haven't found the system that works yet. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:02.480 And yet I want us to understand that authority in the Bible is presented to us as a design of God, not man. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:07.200 And so flip back with me in the book of Hebrews to Hebrews chapter 2. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:14.960 Really, the writer of Hebrews has already set up this context for us of authority and where authority comes from. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:19.600 And he does that as early as in the chapter 2 and verse 5. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:28.240 And in chapter 2, verse 5, the author of Hebrews is making this argument that Jesus is even greater than angels. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:30.399 And he actually quotes from the Old Testament in Psalm 8. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:32.240 Look what he says in Hebrews 2, verse 5. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.639 He says, For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.480 Here we are speaking in terms of authority. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:49.679 Verse 6, he says, It's been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:52.799 You made him for a little while lower than angels. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:01.440 And listen to this, you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:19.200 And here the writer of Hebrews is quoting from Psalm chapter 8, which is really a commentary on Genesis 1, to say, the dignity that humans have is a dignity that is given to them by God, in that in their life there are things that are put into subjection to them. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.799 They have authority over things in the world. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:24.960 You say, I don't have any authority. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:30.320 I'm not like a, you know, head of my household, or I'm not a boss at, you know, my workplace. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:31.679 I don't have authority over anything. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:35.200 And yet the reality is that every one of us has authority. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:42.080 Maybe it's just the authority over your own thoughts, but the reality is that we all have authority over our own life. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:52.480 I was reminded of this this morning when my wife came into the living room with some clothes for my oldest daughter to wear, and she threw them to that to my oldest daughter, and my oldest daughter said, I'm not wearing that. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:14:01.600 She has authority in that moment to carry herself in a way in which she imagines she has authority to say that to her mother. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:03.039 She's in control. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:11.919 We all have authority, and this authority, the writer of Hebrews is saying, has been given to us by God. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:16.080 Now I want you to notice, though, that he roots his argument then in creation. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:21.200 The reason why we all have authority is because God created the world. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:27.840 Because of the first four words of Genesis, the most important words in the whole Christian view, in the beginning, God. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.240 This is where all authority begins. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:38.960 See, authority is divine, authority is of God because God is the one who created the whole world. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:45.840 He is the highest authority, he is the highest power, he is the one who spoke something out of nothing. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.879 He is the one who brought everything into existence. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:54.879 Any authority has been brought into existence by God, and therefore there is the creation of authority. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.200 God is at the top of everything. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:02.399 In other words, you could say this authority exists because God exists. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:08.080 And we are not created equal to God as creatures created by the Creator. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.120 We are created under God's authority. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:13.919 And there's your first authority structure. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:27.039 But it's really interesting that as you begin to think about authority in Genesis 1 to 3, what you really find is that the first three chapters of Genesis are very much concerned with how God is going to give his authority to humans. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.480 Have you ever thought about authority in Genesis 1? 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:37.679 First, think about the authority that God gives to his creation and the fact that he makes Adam and Eve in his image. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:40.399 They are image bearers. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:48.159 And the way that they reflect God is that they're given authority on earth to be kind of like God. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:56.399 They get to live in the garden and they get to take the things that God created and create other things out of them. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.519 We see this authority when Adam names all the animals. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:03.840 All the animals are paraded in front of Adam. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.480 It's this fascinating moment in Genesis 2. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:08.480 And what does Adam have the authority to do? 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:15.519 God hands the authority over to Adam to name all of these animals. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.279 I'm sure it was a terrifying moment. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.080 Adam and Eve are given the authority of a stewardship. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.799 They're called to work and keep the garden. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:51.200 All these trees that God created, it would be up to Adam and Eve to cut them down and maybe build a house and start to build out culture and society and maybe cut down trees and make instruments with some and houses with others. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.039 There's an authority given to them by God. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:57.919 You think about the authority that God created in family. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:06.480 When God said to Adam and Eve that once they were married, they would leave the authority of their parents and be their own family unit. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:13.599 And that even within that marriage, there would be authority structures of the husband being the head of the household. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:20.640 See, God is interested in giving his authority to humans. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:25.680 And the reason we find that is because God is interested in his glory. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.240 God is interested in his glory. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.960 That's why he created the world so that we could praise him. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:39.359 And the intention of the garden paradise would be that Adam and Eve would live in submission and surrender to God's authority. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:46.559 And in their own authority, they would do what God had commanded them and therefore shine light on the goodness of God. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:54.720 Doesn't feel like it happens very often, but you ever walk into like a business and you just look around and things are being so well run? 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:01.200 Like everything in this in this business, maybe it's a restaurant or something, and it's like the food's on time, it's hot when it gets there. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.279 You know, the waitresses are so kind and everything is just amazing. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:07.119 Like this is a five-star Google review. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:08.240 What do you think in that moment? 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:11.519 Well, well, what you think is, well, this place must be managed well. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.400 This doesn't happen by accident. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.839 Like these people don't they don't just organize themselves into this unit. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:23.440 There must be someone who is doing a really good job providing structure to this business. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:36.240 And in many ways, doesn't it kind of reflect the leader of that business, the manager, the owner, whoever it is, it reflects their glory, the goodness of the work that they're doing in that business. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:37.200 And so it is in the world. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:48.319 We're created to live under the authority of God, so that as the image-bearers of God, we reflect through our authority the goodness of God's authority. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.400 The authority, it's a design of God, not man. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:57.119 But I also want you to understand that authority is a necessary good, not evil. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:02.640 And so notice there a little word in Hebrews 13, 17. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:17.039 He says at the end there that to obey your leaders in a way which causes them groaning, he says at the end of verse 17, would be of no advantage to you. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:23.680 Now the opposite of that is that to obey your leaders and to submit to them in a way that gives them joy is of advantage to you. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:30.400 There is great advantage to you when you surrender yourself and submit to leadership. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:36.480 And so what the author of Hebrews here is pointing out is that leadership ultimately is to your advantage. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:38.000 It is to your good. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:56.720 Now it's very important for us to be real here and understand that as we look around our world, there perhaps is more examples of the sinful abuse of authority than there is of the biblical model of life-giving authority. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:00.960 That's the sad reality of living in a fallen world. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:08.400 And yet I find it so important for us just to take a moment to ensure that we don't throw out the baby with the bathwater here. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.440 To understand that God created authority and he created it good. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:16.640 It is not evil in and of itself. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.880 See, the reality is that we cannot escape authority. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:25.200 Because we all have authority. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.720 All of us, just like we mentioned, our our our kids have authority. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:34.079 We are born with authority over our life, and we cannot escape authority. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:41.119 We need to understand then its biblical nature and how it was created by God for good and not for evil. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:49.680 I want you to see this lastly in this first point as we discuss the biblical nature of authority being divine. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:53.200 I want you to see that it's a critical help, but not a hindrance. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.480 It's a critical help, not a hindrance. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:05.279 See, to live under authority, to surrender to the authority that God has placed in our life is to our benefit. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:13.279 It doesn't hinder us, it doesn't slow us down, to submit ourselves to the leadership of the church. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:18.240 Look what the writer of Hebrews says is to submit ourselves to their care. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:18.799 Do you see that? 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.400 There he says, for they are keeping watch over your souls. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:33.279 And so the question for us is who has God given to us in order for our souls to be cared for? 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:35.839 Who is it? 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:45.200 The answer here is that you have that if you are a part of a local church, you have been given leaders. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:51.440 And it is their job to care for your soul, to watch over your soul. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:56.559 They will one day give an account for the degree to which they cared for you. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.839 God created the church. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.680 Because he loves you. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.160 God created the church because he desires to care for you. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:20.559 And as much as we push away from the church, as much as we are unwilling to lean into the church and embrace the church, is as much as we push away from God's care and are unwilling to push into God's care. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:26.559 See, the church is the institution in which God has created to care for your soul. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:34.240 And he has given its leaders to keep watch over our soul. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:40.240 And so to neglect this is to neglect what is necessary to life. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:44.240 You and I as human beings, we thrive under authority. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:51.039 God knows what we need, and so he gives to his church leaders to watch over us and care for us. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:22:59.359 My wife, I've mentioned this before. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:00.720 She's loves to garden. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:01.920 She's got a green thumb. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:08.480 And I don't know what the opposite of a green thumb is, but I whatever color thumb or whatever kind of thumb is, I have that thumb. 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:10.799 Okay, I've got the thumb of death. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:12.480 I can kill any plant. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:14.160 I got one plant on my desk. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:20.799 It's a miracle, honestly, a miracle of it's similar to the miracle of creation and salvation that this plant is alive because I water it like once a year. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:27.119 Somehow it's alive, but beside it is a pot with like a little wilting stick because it died in like two days, that plant. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:32.720 And so whenever my wife leaves, we have this perpetual problem of how are the plants going to stay alive. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:39.680 Because I look at these plants and I say, you know, these plants, 364 days a year, they just stay alive miraculously. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.440 I don't know what my wife does, I don't know where she puts them, I don't know how she cares for them. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:44.720 To me, they just stay alive. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:46.960 But the day she leaves, there's something I'm supposed to do. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:49.839 I don't know what it is, but when she comes back, they're dead. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.480 She knows how to care for these plants. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.759 She knows how to put them in the places that they need to be that lead to life. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.119 She knows how much to water them or how little to water them. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.359 And just like that, God is a master gardener. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:05.119 He's the master gardener of our souls. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:11.119 He knows how to care for us in a place where we will thrive in growth and glory to Him. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:13.680 This is the biblical nature of authority. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:14.160 It's divine. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:17.359 Well, I want you to see our second point as we think about authority this morning. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:21.599 And that is the prideful resistance to authority to reject. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:24.400 The prideful resistance to authority is to reject. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:37.839 Now, the very nature of this verse, the very necessity of this command, shows us that as much as authority is meant to be received, it is often rejected. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:48.400 The fact that the writer of Hebrews had to write this points us to a problem that was in the church, where the church was really struggling to live in surrender to its leaders. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:57.200 And I want you to understand again, sort of zooming out here, that rejection of authority is really the core problem of the human heart. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:59.680 As humans, that is our issue. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:01.599 It is an issue of authority. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:08.319 It's an issue of not really knowing which authority we are to listen to and which authority we are to not listen to. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.119 And so think for a moment of Adam and Eve. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:14.559 Think about where it all went wrong in Genesis 3. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:20.559 See, Adam and Eve, they were given a command by God, and everything was good. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:25.440 They were given all the trees of this garden of paradise, this garden of delight. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:34.160 They were given all the trees to enjoy until one day, living in God's garden, the serpent came, and what did the serpent succeed in doing? 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:41.920 At the very heart of what the serpent succeeded in doing was causing Adam and Eve to question God's authority. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:43.839 And so, what does the serpent do? 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:48.400 He comes and he says, Did God really say? 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:50.400 We've experienced this, haven't you? 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:53.759 You ever worked at a place and you know you're working there and you're like, oh, my boss is pretty good. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:26:00.079 And then some employer comes and starts like, you know, start talking trash about your boss, and you're like, hey, you're right, he's not the best. 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:02.160 You start to question this authority. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.000 And this is what happened with Adam and Eve. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:07.440 The serpent comes and says, Did God really say? 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:14.880 He says, You know, you know, if you ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you could be just like God. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:19.839 And you'd make a you know, the sense of that is like you would make a way better God. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:24.319 You could be you could be much better at this whole God thing than God is Himself. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:26.720 And so listen, don't listen to God anymore. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.799 You should, you, you should be your own authority. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:31.839 You should do what you think is most helpful. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:39.359 And from that day on, each of us as humans have struggled with authority. 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:47.440 At the heart of our problem as human beings is this authority struggle. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:54.000 Well, as we think about how we struggle with authority, maybe we could summarize it in two ways. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:58.480 The first way that we often reject authority is through autonomy. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:26:59.680 Autonomy. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:06.400 Autonomy is this belief that life is best lived when I'm free from any external influences. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:11.920 I get to be my own boss, I get to make my own decisions, I get to do whatever I want. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:24.240 It's this worldview of autonomy that says that my life is best lived my own way, away from anybody else. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:29.200 It's this worldview that, you know, authority is coercive. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:38.079 Authority causes you to walk down paths you don't want to walk down that might not necessarily be the best path, the path that leads to life for you. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:42.000 It's this worldview that says, I know what's best for me. 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:45.359 And I am my best boss. 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:55.039 And even as I'm speaking here, I'm sure that you understand that this autonomy is really the worldview of our day, isn't it? 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:06.240 We live in a world that constantly preaches this message that the only person that should govern ourselves is you. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:10.799 That your only master is yourself. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.440 No one else has any say. 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.440 No one else has any authority. 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:24.240 I mean, it's as you think about this that you begin to make sense of some of the most critical issues that we face in our day. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:39.440 As we begin to make sense of the LGBTQ plus movement, it really is founded on this worldview that I can do whatever I want, and no one else, not even God, the Creator, can tell me who I am or what I am to do. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:42.960 It's this elevation of the self. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:50.319 And yet I want you to understand is that what the world views as freedom in autonomy is actually not freedom at all. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.839 See, the reality is that you cannot get away from authority. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:04.400 You will always live under authority, whether it is your own authority or the authority of God or the authority of someone else, you cannot get away from authority. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:08.240 And the reality of scripture is, you know what it says about autonomy? 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:14.319 It says self-authority is actually one of the most destructive authorities that you can submit yourself to. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:17.200 You want the surest way to destroy your life? 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:20.720 Make sure that there's no authority that can speak into your life. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:27.920 Cut yourself off from every other authority so that you are the only authority that has a voice in your life. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:37.440 You are the only person that you listen to, and that will be the quickest way, the quickest way to lead you down the path of destruction, to lead you down the path of death. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:41.759 And yet, this is what our culture kind of preaches about autonomy, isn't it? 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:46.400 Like if you free yourself from this external influence, then you will find freedom. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:50.559 And I want you to know that there's no freedom there at all. 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:52.640 There is only loss. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.880 I mean, you think about Adam and Eve for a moment. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:00.640 You think about that decision they made to be autonomous, to be to cut themselves off from the authority of God. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:05.519 And they were in a garden where God said to them, You can eat of every tree. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:09.119 They were in the garden of delight, it was the place of joy. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:15.839 And then what happens the moment they choose to live the life of autonomy, they lose. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:18.000 They only lose the garden. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.920 They get cast out into the desert, the place of death. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:28.240 The only thing that they gain in their autonomy is death. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:30.720 And so it is with us. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:37.599 And in many ways, our culture is exalting the idol of autonomy, and you and I need to be so careful. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:40.559 Isn't the message, isn't the message, hey, you want to be happy? 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.240 You need to be your own boss. 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:46.160 You need to be your own boss, you gotta free yourself from the nine to five. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:49.519 You gotta free yourself from working under the man. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:55.440 You'll be happy once you free yourself from all these external authorities. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:05.359 My worry, my honest worry is that many of us are treating the church from a place of autonomy. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:09.119 Many of us are trying to engage in the church from a place of autonomy. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:09.920 Do you understand this? 00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:16.319 Do you understand that the church that is driven by programs, the programmatic church, what do I mean by that? 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:23.920 I mean the church in which its life is primarily just programs that you can come to any week, but you don't have to come to another week. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:28.559 It really feeds this sense of autonomy. 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:33.839 It really begins to treat God's church kind of like a movie theater. 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:38.640 Like when you sign up for a movie theater, or when you sign up to go to a movie, you don't call it sign up, eh? 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:40.799 You can tell I don't go to many, many movies. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:47.680 But, anyways, when you sign up to go to a movie, they don't ask you your name. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:51.839 Well, if you bought the movie ticket and they said name please, you'd be like, wait a minute, wait a minute, what's going on here? 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.039 You don't need to know my name, just give me the ticket so I can go in and watch the movie. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:32:07.119 And in many ways, what many of us want the church to be is this place where we can go and get what we want, or we can drop our kids off to the programs that we think will be good for them, but there's no give back. 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:12.720 I don't need to surrender myself to any sense of authority that might care for me. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:22.319 And it's for that reason that the programmatic church thrives today because it feeds this sort of inner impulse we have to not be known by people. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:35.039 And I want you to know that if what if if you're looking for like this church that you can live in and not be known, this church is gonna be incredibly awkward for you. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:45.200 I mean, one of the things that I love about our church, like one of the cultures that I love is that there are people in this church that they are like, they are like welcome hounds, is the only thing I can call them. 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:49.599 Like they're just as soon as, as soon as you know the morning starts, people come in, they're sniffing around. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:51.759 There's a new person around here. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:54.400 And as soon as the service ends, they're bolting to the back. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:55.359 I'm gonna catch this person. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:33:03.440 I saw one of the um ushers on the welcome team almost tackle a person the other week just to say hello. 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:07.200 And that's what I love that about our church. 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:11.279 Like, like you understand, if you're if you're new here, we want to know you. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:23.519 And we will really put we'll push through all the awkwardness just to know you and to embrace you because we want to care for you, and we cannot care for you as a church if we do not know for know you. 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:29.119 Autonomy will always be awkward in this church. 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:38.720 And if you want to live the autonomous life where you can kind of show up to church and it's programmatic and it's just consumeristic, there are many churches for you. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:43.599 And I just want to let you know, like biblically, as leaders, we can't we cannot do that. 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:49.200 We cannot do that because we want to care for you, we want to know you, we want to love you. 00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:04.319 That's one danger of rejecting authority is the danger of autonomy, but the other the other danger is really the danger of anti-institutionalism. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:21.440 On one hand, some of us just have rejected authority altogether, but on the other hand, there many of us, in fact, I would argue in many ways, all of us to some degree, are kind of functioning in this anti-institutionalism. 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:26.719 And that was really the problem that necessitated the writer of Hebrews to write verse 17. 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:30.960 See, the the problem in Hebrews is really described in chapter 10, verse 25. 00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:34.159 You could flip back there a few pages with me, chapter 10, 25. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:57.679 One of the problems in this church, let's start in verse 24 of chapter 10, is that the writer of Hebrews says, Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:06.559 See, the problem is that there were some who were pushing themselves away from this gathering that Jesus was creating called the church. 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:21.599 And some were neglecting to push into the life of the church and to embrace this church, and it was kind of like this anti-institutionalism that was growing in the culture of those who had once attended this church, this belief that they don't really need the church. 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:26.719 Like I just, you just don't really need the church in order to thrive. 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:29.679 And it is alive and well in our day. 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:38.639 You will not imagine how many conversations I've had with people where you know they say, Oh, I'm a Christian, I'm a follower of God, and I say, Oh, what church you go to? 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:39.920 And they say, Oh, I don't attend church. 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:44.800 It's just this worldview of I don't really need church in order to follow God. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:51.280 You you don't need that group of people, me and God are good, I don't need the church. 00:35:52.239 --> 00:36:00.239 And there's two kind of like two different ways that we can flesh out this anti-institutionalism. 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:05.679 And the first is that there's this flagrant anti-institutionalism that's possible for us to have. 00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:12.159 It's this kind of outright, like that person I was just speaking about, that would boldly say, I don't need the church. 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:16.000 And me and God are good, I don't really care about the church. 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:24.400 Yet I want you to understand that God has always, God has always been immensely interested in the structure of his people. 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:33.599 We talked about Genesis 1 to 3 and how much of Genesis 1 to 3 is God structuring his people so that they might carry out his authority rightly. 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:44.559 And yet, as we zoom out from Genesis 1 to 3, we see that throughout the Old Testament, God is immensely concerned with the institutional authority of his people. 00:36:44.719 --> 00:37:01.920 That's why you read through, you know, Numbers and some of these books, and there's so much about the lots and the lands, and there's so much about different kings and how they led and if they did well or if they did poorly, because God is interested in the leadership that is given to his people. 00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:10.400 When we come to the New Testament, we see God's design for the institution of the church all the more clearly. 00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:21.519