Levels Of Obedience II

“So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?” Acts 4:18-19.

The first level of obedience is to the Word of God. The second level of obedience is to the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God can never lead you contrary to the Word of God. If you feel a leading to do anything contrary to the Word of God, dismiss it. The third level of obedience is to authority. God expects us to obey constituted authority. However, where authority is asking us to contravene God, we defer to the Word. A clear example is in the Book of Acts were the authority of the land told the disciples not to speak in the Name of Jesus otherwise they will be punished and imprisoned. And Peter said listen to yourself, which one is better? For us to obey the authority of man, or for us to obey the authority of God? And Peter declared that he would rather obey the authority of God. When the government is saying something contrary to the Word of God, follow the Word of God. Can they put us in prison? Yes. There are Christians in some countries that are going through a lot of persecution. Their government is saying they cannot preach in the name of Jesus but they are disobeying because it is better to obey God than to obey men. So if the government of Nigeria [God forbid] says no preaching of Jesus or else we hand you over for execution, will you still go to church? It is a question you need to answer. Or will you say, God sees my heart and Jesus knows I am for Him so I do not need to declare it. It is my sincere prayer for all of us that we will disobey man and obey God if faced with such circumstances. This also applies to our jobs. The authority in your office requires that you obey them. Your boss dictates the direction of the company and you follow except you are able to convince him otherwise. But if you seek your own way, you will get sacked. It is the same thing in the family unit. You are to obey your parents and women are to obey their husbands. If your husband says ‘north’ is the direction of this family, that is the direction of the family.

Note that if authority is in sync with the Holy Spirit and in sync with the Word of God and not speaking contrary to the Spirit of God or the Word and you disobey, you are coming in direct disagreement with God. Let me explain, if your husband says head north, is that against the Word of God? He is convinced that is what the Spirit of God is telling him and you can’t prove otherwise, then head north. If you refuse because you don’t trust his direction and head south, you are not going against your husband, you are going against God. Is it that serious? Yes it is that serious. But what of if he is wrong? There are things to do but that is beyond our scope for today.

Prayer: Lord, grace me to stay under the things You have placed above me so that I can stay above the things You have placed under me, in Jesus Name.