If any authority under heaven comes to the Christian and tells them he may not pray, he may not preach, he may not worship, he may not tithe, he may not do any of those things that God commands, that Christian may not only disobey, that Christian. must disobey. In the words of a well-known hymn, Christians are called to trust and obey. But when earthly authorities order us to break God's clear commands, then we must obey God rather than men. It's so good to have you with us for this Lord's Day on Renewing Your Mind.
Today, Dr. Sproll continues his sermon series in the book of Acts. Exploring how Christians should respond when any human authority commands us to disobey our God. At the end of today's program, I'll tell you how you can receive the hardcover edition of Dr. Sproll's commentary on the book of Acts.
But right now, here's RC Sprul with today's message.
Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, And perceived that they were uneducated. An untrained men They marvelled. And they realized That they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them. They could say nothing against it.
But when they had commanded them to go aside of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do with these men? For indeed. that a notable miracle has been done through them. is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it.
But so that it spreads no further among the people. Let us severely threaten them That from now on they speak to no man. in this name.
So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. And so when they had further threatened them, They let them go. Finding no way of punishing them.
Because of the people. Since all they had all glorified God, For what had been done For the man was over forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. I was reading a novel the other day, and I came across a strange line where one of the police detectives was often on television. In the city, and somebody came up to him and said, Oh, You're that world famous detective. And he said, yes, I'm world famous in the city of Minneapolis.
Yeah. Any time somebody s has to introduce somebody as saying that they're famous, That seems to be unnecessary because they're famous, they shouldn't have to be introduced. But we never know. How far and how broad our influence may extend. And sometimes we're surprised, aren't we?
I'll never forget one of the most shocking surprising experiences of my life came on the day When Lec Valencia the leader of the Polish Solidarity Movement, was placed Under house arrest. by the Soviet officials.
Some of you will remember that. The picture of his arrest. Was on the front page of every newspaper in America. And when he was arrested, he was shaking his fist. in defiance of the arresting authorities.
And in his hand. He was holding One of my books. I said, that's incredible. And not only that, I later found out that that same book he placed in the casket of his father. when his father died and was buried.
And so I thought, I never would have dreamed in a million years that anything I ever wrote. Would ever find its way into the hands of Lec Valencia. But it made me think a lot about his position. in modern history. Because I thought, why was it that the government at that time?
interested in arresting him. Why didn't they just execute him? That's usually the way it works. In tyranny. Tyrants always have a secret police.
They find a way. To get rid of those who are in opposition to them, and usually it's by some form of execution. But I realized that the reason why Lech Valencia was put in house arrest and was not executed was that he had already become too well known. And to kill him. would have made him a martyr.
And the thing that every tyrannical regime fears more than anything else is the public uprising. Back in the 18th century. The philosopher Montesquieu, when he wrote his book, The Spirit of the Laws. said that the maintenance of all forms of tyranny Depends and relies upon the ability of the government. to keep the people Afraid.
That's why you have purges. That's why you have secret police. That's why you have mass execution in nations that follow that sort of regimen. And what Montesquieu said was that it only takes one person. One luck Valencia.
With enough courage. To withstand the tyrant. to bring down There Powerful. Regime.
Well, throughout history. We have seen individuals. Who have swum against the current, who have stood against powerful obstacles, Mahatma Gandhi. in our own country, Martin Luther King. The authorities of his day.
He defied those authorities and raised all kinds of questions about the legitimacy. of civil disobedience. back in the middle of the eighteenth century. in the little town of Northampton in Massachusetts, where Jonathan Edwards was the preacher. The town itself was divided about equally.
Well before the Revolutionary War. In terms of their loyalty to the crown. And to their loyalty to their local magistrates, because already the division. over those loyalties was being felt in New England. And if you read your American history, you know that there were Christians on both sides of that debate.
There were those Christians who insisted. that it is never legitimate for any person or body under any circumstances to disobey the civil magistrate. And so, though they were feeling exploited by the taxation and so on coming from Parliament in England, they refused to rebel or to join in the rebellion on matters of principle and on conscientious grounds of being obedient to civil magistrates, because the Bible teaches again and again. That it is the Christian's duty. To submit.
To those who are in authority over us, whether it's children to their parents. students to their teachers, employees to their employer. citizens to their government. Whatever it is, wherever we find levels of authority over us, the Bible calls us to be model citizens of submission. and of subjection.
And it was out of that principle of submission. to the civil magistrate. that Mary and Joseph made the arduous journey to Bethlehem, risking the life of both Mary and the unborn infant Jesus. Out of this deep affliction and inconvenience. They made the journey.
To obey the authorities that were over them.
So the principle that comes to us again and again in Scripture is the principle of submission to those who are in authority. But always the question arises, Is it ever Legitimate. Is it ever ethically right? Two, refuse to obey. Authorities who are over you.
That's the question I want to look at. in light Of the text that I just read. Let's look again at what's taking place because we continue to deal with the reaction of not only the people, but the authorities that ruled over the Jews in Jerusalem to the healing of the man who had been born. Unable to stand or to walk when he was healed by Peter and John by the gate, beautiful. And so we read in chapter 4 this.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, They noticed, they perceived that they were uneducated. Untrained men.
Now they could have stopped right there and said, therefore. ignorant rabble rousers. who have no credibility. But that's not the point here because they add to it, and they marveled. Because they marveled at their power.
They marveled at their persuasive skills. They marveled, obviously, at the eloquence of Peter as he spoke. on this occasion, bringing to mind, does it not? The promise of Jesus to his disciples before he left this world. Saying, Don't be afraid when you are brought up before councils and the rulers of this world.
Because in that time The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And give you the ability to say what needs to be said. And so these men Believed that promise of God. And in the face of adversity and opposition, Peter spoke with this boldness.
so that the whole Sanhedrin The 71 of them. Along with the people. We're amazed. And they realized They had been. With Jesus.
What a statement. How many sermons could we get just out of that one line? How many times has anybody ever said to you, Oh, I know about you, I can tell. And you've just been spending time. With Jesus.
Nobody's ever made that connection to me. They talk about my connection to the Steelers or the Penguins or to The Irish, or whatever, but nobody says, oh, he must have just been with Jesus. But they made the connection. The events that had transpired so recently in Jerusalem. We're so Resonant in their ears that was unmistakable that these men belonged to that group that followed Jesus.
And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Well, sure they could say something against it. They'd say anything they wanted to against it. But what the author of scripture is telling, what Luke is saying, is they didn't dare. publicly Say anything against it. Who from the Sanhedrin, who among the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees is going to come out and say, that's enough of that.
Stop this healing. We can't have any more miracles around here. They didn't dare say that. Because of the multitudes of the people who were there.
So then they commanded them to go aside out of the council, and they conferred among themselves. They went into executive session. And they said What do we do with these men? But it doesn't really say what do we do with this man. The question is what?
What do we do? Two these men. We have to do something to them. Because this is getting out of hand. And this has to stop.
And when they said, what should we do to these men? They weren't suggesting giving them some kind of honorary banquet. But they said, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
Now here are the enemies Of the Apostles Conferring among themselves, and they say, Well. What are we going to do now? It's manifest. It's clear. That through these guys, a notable miracle has taken place.
The whole city knows about it. And everybody's cheering them on. Course we aren't. Can you believe how wicked? The hearts of fallen people are when they know.
The manifest power of God has been given right before their very eyes, and they still enter in a conspiracy to squelch it. That's what they're doing? But so that it spreads no further among the people. Here's what they come up with. Let us Severely Threaten them.
Let's not just warn them. Let's not just say you stop this or else. Let's make our threat. Severe That from now on They speak to no man. In this name.
So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. They come out of the executive session. They call back in Peter and John and say, come on in here. We're not going to do anything to you now for what you've done. We're going to let you slide this time.
Well, just write it up as a warning. But don't you dare ever mention the name of Jesus again as long as you live. We don't want to hear that name from your lips. If the Apostles at that moment. Decided The Supreme Court of the nation has spoken.
It is our obligation now to obey. And suppose Peter and John came out of there. And the people said, well, what'd they say? Peter said. My lips are sealed.
I'm never going to speak about what's his name. Again. Had that been the response of the apostles? We would not be here talking about it. or listening to a story.
About it, would we? But all of a sudden Peter and John. are in the worst of all possible conflicts of ethics. A conflict between ruling authorities. Every child knows what it's like when the child goes to the mother and says, Mama, can I go to the movie tonight?
And the mother says, No. And so what does a child do then? Goes to Daddy. Hey, Dad. Can I go to the movies tonight?
Tries to set one authority after the other, but it doesn't work because the father always says, go ask your mother. Yeah. There's the soldier who's on trial for his life for war crimes. At Nurenberg. Involved in genocide.
And the court interrogates them, and the excuse that is given is what? I was only obeying orders. I was only doing what my commanding officer required of me. But the court said no. You are required at that point to disobey this magistrate rather than to commit genocide.
Martin Luther King knew the law. He knew that any statute published by any state in the United States was challengeable by the Supreme Court if it violated constitutional rights. And so with passive resistance, he went ahead and broke the law. In order to get the test case. before the Supreme Court.
Which right was given him by the higher magistrate with respect to the lesser magistrate? We still have that. But the conflict of those situations. At times can be unbearable. And here's how the apostles handled it.
They said Whether it's right in the sight of God. To listen to you. Or to God. You judge. Wow.
These guys are supposed to be the judge of Israel, the Supreme Court. But you see, still ringing in the ears of the disciples and of the apostles. because only a few weeks had gone by since they heard these words. was the word of Jesus. that we call the Great Commission.
To go into all the world. To make disciples. of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the name of the Son, and of the name of the Holy Ghost. Jesus gave to Peter and to John and to the entire church of the first century a mandate.
And it's our mandate. And if any authority under heaven Comes to the Christian and tells them he may not pray, he may not preach, he may not worship, he may not tithe, he may not do any of those things that God commands. That Christian may not only disobey, that Christian. Must. Disobey.
Now in our ethics courses in the seminary, we give the principle, and I've said it's a simple principle. Anybody can understand it. The application of it to concrete circumstances is often excruciatingly difficult. The principle's this. That we are always to obey.
those in authority over us, unless That authority commands us to do Something God forbids. or forbids us from doing something God commands. If the husband says to the wife, I want you to earn some extra income for us by turning to prostitution, not only may she disobey him, she must disobey him. On the other hand, a woman's married to an unbelieving man. And the man says to her, You may not go to that church on Wednesday night and join the choir.
What should the wife do? She should stay home. Because God nowhere commands. Women to sing in the choir. I plead for it.
But I can't command it. But what if the husband says to the wife, You are not permitted to go to church on the Sabbath. And join the corporate worship of the people of God. Not only may she disobey him, she must disobey him. Because God commands her.
To be In the assembling together of the saints. Do you see how this can be very painful and very costly when we are caught in this vice between? Two Authorities That differ. And we can never use the cop out. I'm just obeying orders.
as a license or an excuse for sin. But the other side of it is this Just because God gives us the right and the responsibility to disobey when an authority over us commands us to do something He forbids or forbids us from doing something God commands, That is not a license to be disobedient just when we disagree with the authority. Or if the authority is exploiting us, or if the authority is afflicting us. bringing us discomfort or inconvenience. How inconvenienced were Joseph and Mary in making that arduous journey to Bethlehem, but they submitted.
Because God never commanded That Joseph and Mary be comfortable. Or be wealthy. Or be popular. And so again The principle that's the general principle is we bend over backwards. To be submissive.
But we stand with ramrod defiance When the magistrate Commands Disobedience to God. That's why it's very important for us to understand. In our daily lives. what it is God commands. And what it is, God forbids.
Otherwise, we are like sheep without a shepherd, and we go along with what Nietzsche called a herd morality, doing whatever anybody tells us to do. When in fact there are times The Christian has to say No. There is a reason why the first century. was a century where the blood of the church became the seed Of the church's growth through the martyrdom of those who would not submit. to tyrants who told them to deny.
The face in Christ. With Job, we have to say. Though they slay us, Yet We will honor Yeah. And so I urge you Christians. to be prepared.
or that time. when you have to choose. Obedience to those who command sin. Or obedience. to Christ.
Those are sobering words from Dr. Sproul. But should we be faced with that choice, may God give us the strength to obey Christ no matter the cost. You've been listening to the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. and I hope you'll join us next Sunday as we conclude our brief series in the book of Acts.
but if you'd like to continue your study through the entire book, You can receive Dr. Sproul's hardcover commentary on Acts when you make a donation today at renewingyourmind.org. and let me thank you in advance for your donation. Your support helps make Renewing Your Mind available to people around the world. The Bible makes it clear that there is a cost to following Christ for every Christian.
And there have been those throughout church history who've paid the ultimate cost of martyrdom for their faith. I invite you to join us again next Sunday as Dr. Sprul considers the church's first martyr. who, even as he was being killed, looked to heaven and saw Jesus. That's here upon Renewing Your Mind.
