THERE IS A CRISIS OF
AUTHORITY - 1
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
16:16)
1. In every
institution
in American society -
a. rather it be church, school, home and
nation -
b. there appears to be a crisis of authority.
2. The tremendous confusion among us in the church of our Lord,
a. and in the
denominational
religious world in general
b. proves that
such a crisis
exists.
3. As every observer of the religious scene knows,
a. there are many man-made doctrines
b. which are
contrary to the
word of God
c. and which contradict each other.
4. Many denominations teach that authority in religion can come
from FOUR
sources.
a. However, since
God is ONE
and He deals with Oneness (cf. Eph. 4:4-6),
b. it stands to
reason that
three of their four sources for authority are wrong.
c. They say the following FOUR things can
all constitute religious authority:
1)
religious experience,
2)
doctrines or traditions of the church,
3) one’s
own reason or opinion,
4) and
Scripture.
5. Thus, in
some
man-made churches
a. their doctrine,
obtained
by human reason, says one can be sprinkled for baptism;
b. even though the
Scriptures
teach baptism as an immersion or burial under the water
(READ Romans
6:3-4 and Colossians
6. If one’s
own reason
or religious experience is authoritative,
a. whose are we going to follow?
b. Shall we follow
the
opinions or experiences of the religious liberals,
c. the
evangelicals, the
conservatives, the Roman Catholics, the Mormons, the Pentecostals?
7. What if our reason or experience
a. leads us to a
different
conclusion from that of our religious neighbor?
b. How can we
settle the
differences?
8.
Unfortunately,
denominationalism is not the only religious entity
a. which suffers
from a
crisis of authority;
b. so do the
churches of
Christ.
9. How many of us ever dreamed that we would see the day
a. when Gospel preachers would defend
instrumental
music as being scriptural?
b. How many ever
thought that
men within our own brotherhood
c. would argue
that “one
cannot know the truth?”
10. How discouraging that men in the church of our Lord
a. are now
defending the
Calvinistic doctrines of salvation by grace alone,
b. the
impossibility of
apostasy,
c. and many other
false
doctrines.
11. As anyone can readily see,
a. the real
problem in the
church as well as in denominationalism
b. is a lack of
knowledge and
respect for the AUTHORITY of the Word of God.
12. Surely we can understand that the church which (or person who)
a. does not honor
the only
authority which God has given for His Kingdom (the Bible),
b. will invariably suffer from confusion,
indecision,
division, and ultimately spiritual death
(cf.
Rev.
2:4-5).
13. But the church is not the only institution within our society
a. which stagnates
and
deteriorates when legitimate authority is not known or is ignored.
b. The home also
experiences
many problems
1. when husbands and
wives,
parents and children
2. fail to follow
God's
pattern for the family.
14. Divorce, spouse
abuse,
and other domestic trouble
a. are a direct
result of
ignoring the proper authority
b. which God Himself has ordained for the
home.
15. In spite of all the yelling and screaming by the feminists and by
liberal
theologians,
a. the husband and father is still the head of
the
house (cf. Eph. 5:23).
b. Paul did not say
that the
husband SHOULD be the head of the house;
c. he says that he IS the head of the house.
16. When this truth is not followed
a. and the husband does not fulfill his God
given
authority,
b. we begin to see the deterioration of the
home and
of society in general.
17. But this lack of respect for properly constituted authority
a. not only
plagues the
church and the home;
b. it is also a
source
of trouble within the school and the community.
18. For the past several years our schools -
a. elementary,
secondary,
undergraduate, and graduate
b. have been
failing to
provide the basic education
c. for which we are paying and which our
country so
desperately needs.
19. One of the reasons relates to who is in charge in the schools.
a. In many cases,
no one
seems to be in charge (or have the authority).
b. Someone has
wisely
observed that the teachers are afraid of the principals,
1. the principals are
afraid
of the superintendent,
2. the superintendent
is
afraid of the board members,
a. the
board members are afraid of the parents,
b. the
parents are afraid of the kids,
c. and
the kids are NOT afraid of anybody.
20. Of course, schools should not be based on fear --
a. at least, not
the cringing
kind of fear --
b. but there must be proper respect for
authority.
1. That applies to
everyone -
from the kids – to the parents -
2. to
the principal - to the superintendent.
21. Thus, the matter of authority
a. gets to the
heart and core
of every issue that causes division,
b. rather it be
secular or
religious.
22. This means that recognizing DIVINE AUTHORITY
a. is of utmost
importance to
all that are concerned
b. with the unity
of all
believers and their own soul’s salvation.
23. So, what is Authority?
a. Simply speaking,
authority
is the power one has to demand obedience.
b. It is the right
to
command.
1. It is the power of
rule or
government
2. (the power of Him
whose
will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed).
24. One must always bear in mind
a. that God is the Creator and man is the
created.
b. The created
NEVER has the
right or power to make demands of the Creator (cf. Job 39-40)!