Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 16. Jos 1:16-18; 1Pe 4:15-19.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 16. JOS 1:16-18; 1PE 4:15-19.   

 

Announcementsopening prayer:

 

 

When a believer is forced to obey God rather than his authority it will usually be the case that he will suffer undeservedly at the hands of that authority.

 

1PE 4:15 By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;

 

1PE 4:16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God.

 

Such was the fate meted out to Him by others for His obedience to God; but more than that: submission to this treatment is His crowning obedience; for this reason, Jehovah was chosen by Jehovah and endowed with His Spirit.

 

Rome saw that the imperialism of Christianity was challenging the imperialism of the Caesars, and that it was by its propagation, striking at the very vitals of the empire. It answered this by bloody persecutions. It meant and cost something to be a ‎Christianos ‎in those days.

 

The members of the Imperial Cult looked down upon and persecuted the members of the Body of Christ. That is what Peter means when he says, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed."

 

Their Roman neighbors attempted to force shame upon them for not being like them in accepting Caesar worship, yet the Romans were in the wrong and the Christians in the right, so they should have never felt ashamed, although many around them demanded that they should.

 

1PE 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

 

It seems to say that God is going to first judge His church and then the world, but that interpretation falls apart within the context of the passage. This is why we must be careful to not take verses alone but to understand them in the context of what is being written. This is the judgment upon the church by the world, and if they judge the church, which is right and good, then what will be their outcome when they are judged? But they will not be judged by themselves, but by God.

 

This is not the judgment from God but from the world. The world would judge the Christian to be a heretic and persecute him. This judgment would determine the character of Christianity. Was it real or not?

 

ACT 5:38-39

for if this plan or action should be of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God."

 

If Christianity was from God then the judgment of the church by the world would prove the worth or value of Christianity as the one true religion, and it did so magnificently. If it wasn't so persecuted then its power, given from God, wouldn't be as apparent as it is.

1PE 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  

1PE 1:7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

For the individual believer, your persecution will prove to you the value and reality of Christianity.

 

Despite the bad behavior of many Christians, the church has remained powerful, not by use of the sword, but by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

 

Eventually all judgment will come and when it comes upon the unbeliever from God, this will show the value of unbelief, that it was worthless, no matter how much the world praised it.

 

1PE 4:18 And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?

 

Although the interpretation here could be viewed as the difficulty with which salvation comes to the unbeliever, the context lends a better interpretation of the difficulty, which is the persecution from the world delivers the righteous, in other words, the tribulation upon the Christian proves the value and true power of Christianity, to the world and also to the individual believer who comes to recognize just how powerful it really is.

 

The word "save" is the Bible does not always mean salvation at the moment of faith in Christ. The Greek word sozo means deliverance in general. At the moment of faith the believer is delivered from the lake of fire or the second death as well as from sin. The word is also used for being delivered from a situation. The context of the passage usually makes this distinction easy to identify.

 

"If it is with difficulty (persecution from the world) that the righteous are delivered (shown the value of Christianity), what will become of the unbeliever when severe tribulation comes upon him? A: His beliefs will be shown to be worthless.

 

When judgment comes upon the unbeliever, what will become of him? The believer is purified but the unbeliever perishes.

 

1PE 4:19 Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

 

The Greek word "entrust" is a banking term meaning "to give in charge as a deposit."

 

Peter exhorts believers who are undergoing persecutions, that in view of the fact that these are allowed to come by God and are designed to purify their lives, they have every reason to trust Him to take care of them through all of their sufferings.

 

God is the Lord of the Christian's conscience. The believer must know the commands of God clearly and when he finds himself in a situation that is not specifically addressed in the word of God he must make his own decisions as a believer priest through reflection of his own understanding of the word of God, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in prayer; all the while, trusting God for the deliverance.

 

The believer is not to create his own persecution by needlessly breaking the law of the land or breaking his contracts with others.

 

The believer must be wise. He is at liberty to preach the gospel in America, but what if a believer preaches the gospel during his working hours, and instead of doing the job he was paid to do and has agreed to do, he goes around to each employee to evangelize? He has no right to violate the contract of his employment. He is concluding that breaking the command to honor his God given authority is justified because he is preaching the gospel. God always affords the time for us to represent Him by teaching His gospel, at lunch say, or during breaks, and during the time that we work as unto the Lord we reveal Him through our lifestyle, without a word. Tent meetings, street revivals, etc. need city permits - the believer is to get them, if he is denied, then so be it, he finds another way, legally. He is not to stand in the middle of the street, blocking traffic with his sandwich board and bell. He is not to loudly preach in the middle of the night in a crowded neighborhood and wake everyone up. God affords the opportunities. There are extreme circumstances to be sure, but the manner of the great witness of Christ is not defined by the exceptions.

 

At this time in America preaching the gospel and obeying the commands of God are not obstructed to any great degree, despite the few exceptions that have cropped up lately. The gospel is all over the radio, television, in publications, and in churches and Christian organizations. However, if you found yourself in Nazi Germany, you would have been ordered to only teach a Christian doctrine that was in accordance with the regime, and it was not a correct gospel since Hitler and the Third Reich were taught as being from God and Jesus Christ was not being taught as the one true Lord, King, and Savior. Under that regime you would have been commanded that you cannot associate with Jews at all. This is a violation of God's commands to the ambassador of Christ and it is anti-Semitism as well which is evil.

 

Those German Christians would have been justified in disobeying the Nazi government in these matters. They had the right to trade with Jews and to be friends with them. They had the right to denounce racism as a lie from darkness; in fact they should have stood up against these monstrosities, yet so many of them, in order to avoid persecution, out of fear, refused to stand up.

 

Pastor Martin Niemoeller, for preaching the truth, was ultimately thrown into prison. Another minister visited him and remarked that if he would keep silent about certain subjects and respect the government, he would be set free. "And so," continued the visitor, "why are you in jail?" Niemoeller replied, "Why aren't you in jail?"

 

By his silence Niemoeller's visitor was upholding a lie, and was giving aid and comfort to the Enemy of souls. When a malignant power takes control, the believer must stand uncompromisingly for righteousness.

 

The believer in atheist Russia will not fail to proclaim, "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God".

 

If his faithfulness should be noticed by the authorities and he should be arrested, then he must stand faithfully, even to prison, exile or martyrdom.

 

But in order to do this he must have honor in his soul.

 

Believers without honor are unable to handle such pressure and they compromise and their voices become silent, and by so doing, they lend approval to the malignant power.

 

If something like this ever occurred in our nation, in our lifetime, I don't think any of us would like to be standing in heaven before our Lord at His Bema Seat and have to declare that we were too afraid to stand up for the truth when we were called to, even though that decision made life a bit easier and more comfortable.

 

MAT 10:32-33

"Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. "But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

 

The context of this passage is not confessing Him in church were everyone agrees with you.