(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So, if you can get back to Romans chapter 13, just look at verse number 1 there. We will go back to Romans 13 later on in the sermon, but I'm not covering it in any great detail. I just want to grab a few thoughts there. But in verse number 1 it says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be ordained of God. The Bible here is telling us that there are certain powers, there are certain authority structures in our life that have been ordained of God. There are some organizations and some authorities that haven't been ordained by God, and they want to take control over your life. They want to tell you what to do. But there is proper order in God's creation. There are higher powers that are indeed ordained of God. And if you continue reading this passage, it's talking about government. I understand governments today are corrupt. I understand that after Filfiluca, I know that the leaders there are puppets of the devil ultimately. I understand all those things. Nevertheless, government is one power that was ordained by God. And so the total—and it's not just government that we're going to be talking about, we're going to be talking about some other institutions that were ordained by God—but the title of the sermon tonight is God-ordained institutions. God-ordained institutions. Now what's interesting about this sermon is I had planned to preach this on our very first week as a church. Not on a Sunday, but definitely on our midweek service on a Thursday. This was the first sermon I ever wanted to preach. I didn't have it all down in notes, I just had it on my mind. And I'll give you my reasons later on, toward the end of the sermon, why I wanted to preach this very early on. But for whatever reason, God saw fit for me to not preach this until now. But as you guys know, I've been talking about trying to get into a series on the family. And I believe, obviously, the family is a God-ordained institution as well. And so I really wanted to cover this topic first, before we got into the family, so we understand exactly what the institutional family is all about. So the first thing I need you to understand, before we even get to any institutions or organizations or authority structures in the world, is that number one, everyone is accountable to God. Every single person on this planet will be judged by God at some point in time. Whether you're saved or whether you're unsaved, you're all going to stand before God and be judged by Him. Now, obviously, the saved are not going to be judged by their sins, for their sins. Their sins have been paid for by Jesus Christ, their past, present, and future sins. Thank God for that. I would be afraid to even stand before God for one sin. The smallest sin I've ever done in my life, I would be afraid to stand before a holy and righteous God just for that one sin. All right? So look, we're not going to be judged for our sins, but we are going to be judged for the works we've done in our body, the service we've done for the Lord, the things that are eternal value, you know? We're all going to be judged by God. We're all accountable to God. But obviously, the unbelieving, unfortunately, will be judged by God at the Great White Throne Judgment, and they will be judged for their sins. All right? Our judgment is that Christ has paid for our sins, and that's acceptable to God. But what's also acceptable to God, if one rejects the Lord Jesus Christ, that they will pay for their own sins. That's a scary thought. Paying for their own sins for all eternity in the lake of fire. Okay? No payment of sins except for the blood of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, it's eternity in the lake of fire. My point, the point I just want to bring to you is that everyone will give an account to God. If you're in Romans 13, turn to Romans 14, Romans 14 verse 12. Romans 14 verse 12, just to solidify this with scripture, it says, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Everyone. Children, that includes you. You can't go to God and say, well, you know, Mom made me do this. Dad told me this. Mom, no. You've got to give an account for your own selves. We all need to give an account for our own selves. Okay? And I'll just quickly read to you from Matthew 12 verse 36, Jesus speaking, it says, but I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Okay? The words you speak, you'll give an account of. All right? But for the unbelieving, it's not just the sins they've committed in their bodies, but also the foolish words that they've said, you know, the foolish things that they've said they're trusting in. When you go and knock on someone's door and you say, hey, what do you think it takes to get to heaven? And they think, well, I'm a good person. I'm good enough. You know, I've been baptized. I've done this or that. And they reject the salvation in Christ, then they're going to give an account for that idle word that they spoke. They're going to give an account for trusting in their own goodness. And us as well. You know, what are the words we spoke? You know, we've called upon the name of the Lord. We've trusted on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm glad to give an account for that, right? To give an account that I've called upon Jesus Christ, my Savior. So the first thing before, before I get into the institutions, I just want to solidify that we, each person will have to give an account for their own works and will be unsaved for their own sins. Okay? Now moving on to that. Not only are we to give an account for our own selves, but if you're a leader, okay, if you're the head of an institution that God has ordained, then you will have to give an account for that institution. How you fed, how you ruled your house, how you ruled your business, how you ruled the government of a nation that God has made you the head of, okay? So it's not just an account for yourselves, but for the institution. If you're the head of that institution, then you need to give an account for that as well. Okay? So that's what I want to talk about here. God-ordained institutions. And I personally believe there are four institutions that God has ordained in the Bible, and we're going to look at each one of those tonight. The first one is the family, okay, the institution of the family. God has instituted that. And I want you to understand with each of these institutions, there's a head that God has appointed over each one of those. Okay? And obviously the family, that's the father, that's the husband, that's the head of the home, that's the head of that institution. Then there's government. Okay? That's what we kind of saw in Romans 13. It spoke about the government, that's a God-ordained institution. Now the next one, some people debate whether this really is, but I personally believe it is, and that's business. That's your workplace. What you do, you know, day to day to earn a living, to provide for your family. I believe that is a God-instituted institution, and I'll cover that a little bit later. And then finally there's the church. The church is a God-ordained institution as well, and there's a head of the church as well. Okay? Now what's interesting about these institutions is that there's an authority structure within that institution, right? Every institution has a leader and followers, or members, that part of that, right? There's someone that calls the shots, that's accountable for that institution, but that institution is made up of more than one person, and the other people are the followers of that leader, of that institution. Okay? Now you might say, well, you know, do I really need to have an institution over me? You know, here's the reality of it. You are part of at least one of those institutions. Maybe more. Okay? And I would say at least everybody's part of two. Okay? If you're not part of a family, it doesn't matter how broken your family is, and whatever nation you reside in, there's some sort of government residing over that nation. So at least part of two. Okay? And if you're a working man, providing for your family, you're under a business as well. And if you're a believer attending church, you're within the church institution as well. And some people might say, well, you know, I'm just a free spirit, man, and that's just between me and God. You know, there's no one else there that's over me, but it's me and God. No one can judge me but God himself. But you know, God has instituted these organizations for us with authority. Okay? One that calls the shots and the others to obey within that institution. Okay? And you might say, well, why is that? You know, I just want to be between me and God. Well, here's the thing about God, that he himself has an authority structure. Okay? We talk about the Trinity. I don't want to cover too much. We've spoken a lot about the Trinity. You know, in sermons and outside of church as well. But just very quickly, if you guys can turn to 1 John, actually, let me give you, go to John chapter 5. Go to John chapter 5, and I'll read some other passages to you very quickly. While you're turning there, I'm going to read to you from 1 John 4.9, 1 John 4.9. The Bible says, In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. So do you see that God the Father calls the shots. He sent his Son. And of course his Son was compliant. Of course his Son was obedient. Of course his Son sent himself as well. But ultimately, the Bible wants us to understand that there's authority. Okay? There's a chain of command, even within the Trinity. The Father is the one who sent the Son. And I'll just quickly read to you from Luke 1 32 as well. It says, speaking of Jesus, this is the angel speaking, it says, He shall be great. Okay? Jesus shall be great, but look at this, and shall be called the Son of the highest. Who's the highest? The Father. The Father is the highest, you know, the authority, you know, in all creation, but even within the Godhead. Okay? Because he's the Son of the highest, Jesus Christ. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David. So we see the Father giving things to his Son. Okay? So we definitely see that every good gift cometh from the Father above, right? Now you guys are in John 5, look at verse 30. John 5 verse 30. So we saw the authority in the Trinity, who's the highest? God the Father. Okay? Now when it comes to the Son, look at this in John 5 30. Jesus Christ says, I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just. Why? Because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which have sent me. Okay? So what I want to show you there is that Jesus Christ is subject to the Father. But not only is he subject to the Father, he's actually obedient to the Father. Right? Whatever works he did, whatever words he taught, you know, the works that he left us to do originally came from the Father. And so we see that the authority, the one that calls the shots, but then we see the others that are within that chain of command or within that authority are to be obedient, are to follow after the leader. Okay? Now turn to chapter 15, please. John 15. That's funny because we're just saying this one, right? John 15 26. John 15 26. Jesus says, but when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. So I just wanted to show you there again, you know, the Father sent the Son, and the Son sends the Holy Ghost as well as the Father. The Father also sent the Holy Ghost. We have this chain of command. We have this authority structure within the Godhead, within who God himself is. And so we would expect then, if God created all things, and this is proper order, this is a righteous order that we see within himself, that there would be structures that he would ordain in this earth that we would follow, and to keep things orderly, okay? To keep things organized and orderly otherwise, and we'll see soon, later on, otherwise things get out of control. And we'll look at that later on. But the thing I wanted to just explain to you is that every institution has a leader or a head. And if you're the leader or the head of that institution, you don't just give an account for yourself, but you give an account for that institution that God has left you to be in charge of. And that's something to be sober-minded about. Now let's talk about the family. We're not going to spend too much time on the family, because as I said, we're going to have a series on the family. But just very quickly, guys, go to Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 5, a great chapter on the family, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 23, Ephesians 5, 23. The Bible says—very popular verse, and sometimes controversial—for the husband is the head of the wife. Amen. Good on you. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. So we see within a family structure, God has appointed a head of that family, and that's the husband. That's the father. So my point is, is that fathers, you don't only just give account for your own self, you have to give an account for your family. You are responsible for the actions of your family. You can't turn around and say, well, my wife was like this, or my children were like that. Hey, you're responsible. When you see Adam and Eve, and Eve is the one who took of that fruit, we know that it was Satan that tempted Eve to take that fruit, yet God comes to Adam and asks, what's going on, Adam? He's the head. He was the head of his family. Look at verse 22, Ephesians 5, just the verse before that. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Can I get an amen, Jason? No? Not too loud, that one. Yeah, amen, right? Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. So not only within the family is there a head, but there is followers. There are people that are subject under that head, and the wife is one of those. Now turn the chapter to chapter 6, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. That's better. That's louder. All right, so children, you have an authority over you. Not just dad, but mum as well. Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Right, okay, so I just want to show you the family institution, the family structure has a head, and there has people that are subject under that head. Let's move on to the government, move on to the government. Now please turn to Genesis, we're going to spend a bit of time in Genesis. Genesis chapter 4, Genesis chapter 4 verse 11. Now we're picking up the story after Cain had killed his brother Abel, okay? Cain had killed his brother Abel in cold blood, right? Now at this time, and I'm going to teach a little bit of dispensationalism, sorry guys. But obviously there are some things that are true, even within things like dispensationalism, and I'll just show you what this is. But at this point in time, there was no government in place, okay? There was no sort of structured government, there was just family. Cain killed his brother Abel here, and we pick up the story in Genesis 4 verse 11. Genesis 4 verse 11. The Bible reads, And now art thou cursed, speaking of Cain, from the earth, which have opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. So for some reason, this being the first murder, God had put some type of miracle in place that even if Cain tilled the ground, worked hard, that it would not produce anything substantial for him, right? It would not yield unto him her strength. And so he'd be a fugitive and a vagabond, going around, I guess, begging for food, begging for what he can, and look at verse 13. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Now it's interesting, because when God gives the law of Moses, and even before this, he instructs that a murderer is to be executed. A murderer is to be put to death, right? God is not even telling Cain here that you're going to be put to death. And yet Cain's saying, hey, this is a greater burden than I can bear. This is a greater punishment than I can bear. But we'll see soon, verse 14. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid. And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me. So he's saying, look, my family, my brothers and sisters, my nephews, whatever, are going to try to take revenge on me, if they find me, for killing Abel. And this is what God says in verse 15. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. So God says, look, if anybody kills you, Cain, they're going to receive seven times the curse that you've received. So that's what prevents the people from taking revenge and killing Cain, knowing that, whoa, you know, the curse that God has put on Cain, it's going to be seven times worse on me, so they let him live. Okay? But again, at this point in time, there's no government structure. There's no government. Now turn to verse 23. Go to verse 23, same chapter. So this is the first murder. And then we have the story of Lamech. Lamech is a man that took on two wives, Adah and Zillah. So look at verse 23. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. So we see that this man, Lamech, kills, has murdered a young man. He says, to my wounding, or to my hurt. I'm not sure if that means he was physically hurt himself in the alteration, or whether he's realizing, boy, because I've done this, God's going to curse me as well. To my hurt. I'm not sure if that's sort of a spiritual consequence or something physical that he suffered during this altercation. But look at verse 24. Look what he says. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. So he's trying to protect himself. He's saying, well, if Cain was protected by someone killing him, that they would be cursed sevenfold, then me, surely seventy and sevenfold. Now I can't work out exactly why he feels this way, but I would say he probably thinks his life is a greater value than of Cain. If Cain's life was valuable, that you shouldn't go around killing him, go look and get revenge and kill him, then he thinks, well, my life is worth more, probably. I've got two wives. And if you remember the story, he had a son who was successful at farming, and another son that was a successful metalsmith or a smith. So maybe this was a rich man. Maybe he had a lot of possessions. Maybe he had a lot of success, a lot of businesses with his sons being successful as well. And maybe because of who he was, he felt that someone that killed him would receive a greater punishment than someone that would kill Cain. But we see, it's like you can just go around killing people now and just saying, well, you can't get revenge on me, otherwise God will curse you sevenfold or seventy and sevenfold or whatever. So you can see how just this mindset would start getting things out of control. You can go around killing people, knowing that no one is going to take revenge on you and kill you in return. And this is why I think God shows us these stories, so we can understand why he instituted government. Otherwise things just get progressively worse. Now turn to Genesis chapter 6 verse 11, Genesis chapter 6 verse 11. Let's fast forward now to the story of Noah. Now you guys know the story of Noah, right? God's sin in that great flood destroys the whole earth, except for Noah and his family. So I mean, God takes great vengeance, great wrath upon the earth. Look at verse 11. The Bible says, Genesis 6, 11, the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence, filled with violence. I can just see this happening over and over again, murder after murder, no consequences really, no revenge being taken upon these people. And God just sees the earth coming totally out of control. And then look at verse 12, and God looked upon the earth and behold, he was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Remember there was no government in place. There was no one enforcing capital punishment or anything like this, leading up to this. So God just sees the state of the earth, sees how corrupt it becomes. I believe a lesson for us, okay, to understand, hey, what would the world be like without government? I know it sounds nice, no taxes, you know, things like that. I think government today is way too big, way too involved in our lives, okay. But we see, you know, God has a reason for government, and the death penalty is one of those things, okay. So turn to Genesis chapter 9, Genesis chapter 9 verse 5. So we're skipping the story of the flood, you guys know it pretty well. You know, God brings two of every creature into the ark, he gets, you know, nowhere in his family are saved from the flood. But then when they get off the ark, once the flood is over, and they're back on dry land, look at Genesis chapter 9 verse 5, this is what God says. And surely your blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I require it. So he says, look, if a beast kills you, if an animal kills a man, then that animal needs to be put to death, the blood of that animal would be required. And at the hand of man, so if a man kills a man, murders a man, then that blood would be required as well. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Verse 6, whoso shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. So I'm going to put my dispensationalist hat on right now. People say this is after the flood, the dispensationalist will say, this is now the dispensation of human government, human government. So I mean, look, that's truth. This is government put in place. Now if someone kills a man, that they will be punished with a death penalty. Okay. Now they couldn't do it before, because there was no government in place. You know, you can't be a vigilante and look for murderers and go and murder them, okay. God may very well curse you, okay, the way he did, the way he had sort of told Cain that someone would murder him would be cursed. But now once they're off the arc, he says, look, we need to set some rules in place. If someone gets murdered, either by a man or gets killed by an animal, that animal or that man needs to be put to death, okay. And this is really the beginning of government, okay. And the first thing God requires from government is the death penalty, all right. And it's amazing how Christians can be against the death penalty, okay. And look, God has given the death penalty for many other crimes. And look, if you're going to reject those other reasons, you've got to at least accept the death penalty for murder. At least. You got to start there. You got to start on something, because that is the purpose of government. There's no other reason for government to exist except to make sure that a murderer got punished, got executed, okay. And this is a good thing. This is something that is still relevant for us today. Go back to Romans 13, Romans 13, because people say, well, that's the Old Testament. This is before the Old Testament. This is before the law of Moses. This is after God had to destroy the whole earth, you know. And say, look, some of the very first words out of God's mouth. The death penalty for murderers, all right. Because obviously we see what happened before the flood when things just got out of control without proper structure. And, you know, so I believe government is definitely a God-ordained institution. Romans 13, verse 3. Romans 13, verse 3. The Bible says, So again, this is talking about government here. It's there to instill fear to the wicked, to the evil, okay. Because they should know that they will be punished, all right. Verse number 4. For he beareth not the sword in vain, okay. What's that about? Not bearing the sword in vain. The sword is there to behead someone. It's there to execute a murderer. This is the New Testament, you know. The government's responsibility is to bear the sword, okay. To be in charge of that act of putting evildoers to death because it will corrupt the whole world, okay, as we saw in the days of Noah. The Bible says, So again, it's not us vigilantes to take action and take revenge on murderers, but it is the proper power, the proper ordained authority, government to execute judgment, to execute wrath, the wrath of God upon the evil, okay. And you might be wondering, Kevin, why is our world getting worse and worse? Why is there more crime and more things going on in this world? It starts with a very simple thing. They stopped executing murderers, and then it just gets worse and worse from there, okay. And I don't want to go through all the, you know, death penalty needs its own sermon, but I just wanted to show you that government is a God-ordained institution. And obviously, I personally believe our government is way too big, our government is way too involved in everybody's, you know, life. I understand why they get involved, sometimes they do have good reasons, but then there are other stupid reasons why they get involved in your life. You know, just my general rule of thumb is this. If the government requires something from you that is not against God, that is not against the Bible, that's not sinful, then I think we should comply, though they might be stepping out of their boundaries, okay. Just because you got to sometimes pick what battles that you're going to fight, okay. And sometimes you might fight against the government because it's not their right to instill some sort of law or something upon you. I mean, you can fight that battle if you want, you know, you'd have my support for that because it's anti-biblical, okay, but at the same time, do you really want to spend your time and your money and your life fighting something when really, you know, we're just passing through, you know, we're just pilgrims on this earth, and we've been left with work to do. So be mindful, okay. I understand that government sometimes, yeah, you know, we need to push back, but just be thoughtful about what battles you choose to fight, okay. Now let's talk about business, okay. Your workplace, where you go and work. Now if you can go back to, let's see, let's go back to, yeah, let's go back to Genesis, Genesis chapter 2 verse 15, and then once we've read this, turn to Colossians. Genesis 2.15. I just want to show you this, so before, when God creates Adam, he says this in Genesis 2.15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. So as soon as Adam's created, it's not like, all right, Adam, do whatever you want, you know, just go wild, enjoy life. No, God says, hey, I'm leaving you some work to do. You know, I'm employing you to take care of this garden, this garden of Eden, to dress it, to maintain it, to keep it, to look after it, preserve it, you know. And so we see that the first job given to a man was to be a gardener. This is his full-time work, okay. And this is before God gives him a wife, by the way. So I'm just saying, hey, you know, you want a wife, you know, make sure you're working hard. You know, make sure God sees that, and then he'll provide the wife for you. But we see, this is where I believe business or your workplace is first ordained by God, by the very first man. And notice he doesn't give that job to Eve. He gives it to Adam, okay. Eve is not left to look after the garden, but to be a help meet to Adam. Now, if you're in Colossians, go to chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3, verse 22, Colossians chapter 3, verse 22. Now, obviously, Adam did not have a manager, a boss, like a human being, it was God himself. But still today, if you go into a workplace, if you're an employee, you'll have your employer, you'll have your manager, your supervisor, whatever you call them. Look at Colossians 3, 22, Colossians 3, 22. The Bible reads, servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. So our job as employees, if you work for a firm or a business, you know, you're not working for yourself, I guess, is that you obey your masters, you obey your masters in all things. Now obviously, as long as it's not sinful, as long as it's profitable, and for the business, you obey your master, even if it's not profitable, even if you think this is a bad decision, if your master, if your employer is saying, hey, you need to do this, you do it, as long as it's not, you know, sinful, okay? And then verse 23, and whatsoever ye do, do it heartedly as to the Lord and not unto men. And boy, this is such a good principle to learn, especially if you hate your workplace. Especially if you despise your managers, if they're really hard to get along with. Just remind yourself, I'm serving the Lord, you know? I'm doing it as unto the Lord and not as unto men. And again, I applied this stuff, and that's when I started getting promoted, because I started to think, oh, I'm going to serve God, so I'm going to do the best I can. And my co-workers thought, oh, you're sucking up to the boss, you're trying to, you know, suck up to the boss. I was trying to suck up to the boss, but my boss is Jesus Christ. That's the person I'm trying to please. That's the person that I'm trying to delight in, okay? And when I realized, hey, my work ethic improved, I became more productive, I cared more about the business when I had my mindset that I was serving Christ, and I started getting promoted. Started getting the pay rises, you know? Just the way God works things is just amazing. Verse 24, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. And again, I've said this before, but it's such a good thing when you're serving Christ in your workplace, yes, you get your paycheck, but then you know you're getting eternal rewards in heaven, because you're doing it for the Lord Jesus Christ. So you get double time, or triple time. In fact, it's times 100, right, 100-fold, for doing things for the Lord. So it's not double time, it's 100 times that you get paid if you're working for the Lord. All right? So again, the business is a God-ordained institution. There's the master, the employer, the boss, the manager, the CEO, the supervisor, the team leader. Whoever God has put above you in your workplace, obey that person, okay? And then look at, actually, you don't need to turn there, I'll just quickly read 1 Peter 2.18. 1 Peter 2.18 says, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear. And I like this bit, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. It says, be subject to your employer, basically, okay? Not just to those that are good to you, but to also those that are the froward. The froward is a difficult person. Have you ever had to work for a difficult person? I have. It's not easy, right? But you do it anyway, because it pleases the Lord. This is the instruction that God has left us to do. So we see that workplace, the business, is an institution that God has ordained. And I'm thankful that we don't have ladies that go to, mothers and wives that work. Because I mean, look, God has already put your husband as your head. Do you really want another man or a woman as your head in your life as well? I mean, there's so much more freedom to raise your own family, to look after your kids, to teach your kids, and to provide, to help your husband out. There's so much more freedom in that than having another authority over you. It's better, hey, I know my wife likes the freedom that I give her to run the house. Imagine if those hours she spent running the house, she was working for some other man. It's not what God has ordained. He's given work, provided for the family, the responsibility to the husband, to the father. Now the fourth institution that I want to talk about that God has ordained is the church. And this is kind of why I wanted to preach this in our very first week, because there's a lot that I think about as a church, or myself as a pastor, as a bishop of this church, that is different to how most churches operate, okay? So if you guys, where can I get you to turn to? I'll get you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 5, and while you're turning there, I'm just gonna read Hebrews 13, 17, Hebrews 13, 17. The Bible says this, obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves. So again, there's someone that has a rule over you, and there's someone that has to submit, for they watch for your souls. This is speaking of the bishop, this is speaking of the pastors of a church. And now look at this, as they that must give account. So I have to give an account to God, I don't know exactly when, you know, but I have to give an account for this church. But they may do it with joy, and I want to do it with joy, right? And not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you, okay? So every bishop of a church, obviously a true church of God, has to give an account for the church, for the people in the church. Why do they want to do it in joy, like why should we submit to the leadership God has put in the church? Just because if you don't, it is unprofitable for you. Meaning that if you are submissive, meaning if the pastor can give a good report of you as a member in the institution of the church, that it will be profitable to you. So it sounds like there's not just rewards for your work, but also additional rewards for being a obedient, faithful, submissive person in the church, whenever the pastors have to give an account for the church. So that's just something for you to be mindful about. There is profit to receive a good report from the church bishop, okay? So think about that, whatever churches you may have been part of in the past, true churches of God, I hope you've had a good report, I hope you've left with a good report, so it'll be profitable for you at the time of judgment. Before we get to 1 Peter, let me just read one more passage here in 1 Timothy 5.17, because I just want to draw some connections here, because some people might say, well, is that really talking about the pastor, the one that has a rule over you? Well, in 1 Timothy 5.17, it says this, Let the elders, Now the elders is the word that's synonymous with pastor or bishop, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, Especially they who labor in word and doctrine. Okay? So elders, pastors there, are seen as someone that rules, that ought to rule well the church, okay? And they should receive double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. I kind of get the idea that maybe there are those pastors that don't labor well in word and doctrine, right? Because especially they who labor in word and doctrine. So you know, I want to make sure that as a pastor, that I do labor in word and doctrine, that I teach the word of God and doctrine, and I don't just teach my personal opinions and personal experiences and give you some feel-good story, that I spend time laboring in the word and doctrine. But let's move on to 1 Peter 5.1, 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1, look at this. So the Bible says, The elders which are among you I exhort. This is Peter obviously writing, and then he says, Who am also an elder? So Peter's saying, look, I'm not just an apostle, but I'm a pastor as well. He pastored the church in Jerusalem, and it says this, And a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Okay? Now this is the instruction that he leaves pastors. Verse number two, Feed the flock of God which is among you. Obviously what we saw in 1 Timothy 5.17, feed them what? Word and doctrine. That's what we ought to be feeding the people of God. Taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, Not for filthy Luca, but of a ready mind. All right, so, I hope you guys have realized we're about ten months into the church. I still don't have a paycheck. I promise you this. I'm not doing it for filthy Luca. All right? I'm not doing it. I'm doing it willingly. All right? This is a role that I have had a desire for for a while now, and it's definitely not for filthy Luca. Okay? Um, let me keep going. Sorry, where did I leave off? Verse number three. Verse number three. But look at this. Verse number three. Neither has been lords over God's heritage. God calls you his heritage, okay? And the instruction for a pastor is not to lord over the heritage, okay? That means, look, and then look at this, But being examples and samples to the flock, okay? So I ought to be able to teach you guys, feed you with word and doctrine, but also by setting a good example, okay? So I ought to be, you know, a sole winner. I ought to be someone that's striving to know the word of God more, who's striving to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ, who's able to give you some good advice and good counsel for, you know, for you to be able to live your life, you know, in a God-honoring situation. I ought to set a good example with my family, with my wife and my children. All those kind of things ought to convince you, okay? But I still have the rule over you, okay? But even though I have the rule over you in the church, it says that I'm not to be a lord over you, okay? Meaning that I don't have authority over every aspect of your life. I can't tell you what you need to do in your workplace, you know? I can't tell you how to raise your family or to, you know, I can't walk into your house and say what you should have for dinner tonight, you know? That's not my role. My role is to preach the word of God, to feed you the word and doctrine, and then it's up to each family, the head of each family to decide, are we going to apply that to our lives or not, okay? It's not for me to enforce that to lord over you and force you to take action in your own life. Otherwise, that's me kind of being a dictator to you, okay? And this is the big mistake that I see in a lot of churches is that, and it's not always the pastor's fault, but sometimes it's just people in the congregation, they feel this way, and I don't know it's because they've come out of a Catholic church or they've come out of some church structure where it seems like that authority, the priest or whatever seems to rule over their lives in every aspect, especially, you know, in the European countries. You know, they see the priest or the pastor as this man that's in charge of everything in their lives, you know? And I've seen this, and it saddens me that I've seen this stuff in good independent fundamental Baptist churches as well. I see people in the church going up to the pastor and saying, pastor, you know, who should I marry? What? You know, the Word of God, first of all, tells us who you should marry. That's a fellow believer, but it's not the pastor's decision to tell you who you should marry, whether you should marry that person that you're interested in or that person. That's your decision, you know? Every man needs to find his own wife or, you know, what work should I do? You know, should I become an electrician? Should I become a plumber? That's not the pastor's responsibility. That's your decision. And if you're a young man in a family and you don't know what to do with your life, ask Dad. He's the head of your house. He's the head of the family. That's why Dad is there, okay? Even an unsaved father can give good advice to their children about what to do, you know, growing up. You know, and I think I've given this example once before, but I'm not going to name the church or anything like this, but I remember there was a young man who had finished high school and he wanted to get into Bible college. He wanted to serve the Lord full time, you know, as a missionary or a pastor and he really wanted to get into church, you know? And his father said, look, son, and his father's unsaved, you know, not going to church. He goes, look, son, I'm not against you wanting to do that stuff, but first of all get a trade. You know, become skillful at something. Get a job. You know, that way you can at least provide for yourself. You gain some experience and then you can go to Bible college if that's what you want to do, like if that's what, you know, God wants you to do. And I remember week after week this young man just being like, oh, I don't know, I really want to go to Bible college, and I remember him just standing there one day all by himself. I went up to him and said, hey, you know, how are things going? He goes, oh, I need to talk to the pastor. I'm like, oh, well, you know, the pastor was busy talking to someone else. I said, oh, you know, can I ask what you wanted to ask the pastor? He goes, oh, I really want to do Bible college, but my dad's saying get a job, you know, go study, get a trade, do something, get an apprenticeship or something. And I'm like, then why are you asking the pastor? I mean, your dad's giving you good advice. Yes, he's unsafe, but he's giving you good counsel. And God has put that man as the head of your family, the head of your home. And then I just showed him Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did not start his full-time ministry until he was 30 years old. Guess what he was doing before that? Carpentry. He was working in the family business. And if we're going to follow after the examples of Jesus Christ, then hey, get a job, provide for yourself. We see that the business, the workplace is a God-ordained institution as well. Okay. You're in obedience if you go and get a job, but I find too often young people get excited and they should get excited. It's like, I'm going to get to Bible college. Look, Bible college is not going to pay your bills, you know, get a job. This is the stuff I'm saying to you that people are going to like frown upon. Come on. You know, we need more pastors. We need, look, I didn't go to Bible college and I'm a pastor now, pastor of two churches. Right. So, you know, all I cared about was getting a job, providing for my wife, having children, doing the things that God has instructed to us to do, and then in his timing, he's found a way for me to become a pastor, get into full-time ministry. Look, thank God for that, because now I can provide for myself, right? If I went straight to Bible college, straight into full-time ministry, I'd have to go on deputation for two, three years. You know, can this church pay me 50 bucks a month, order that church 100 bucks a month until I could have enough to provide for my 10th kid coming on the way. I'd be on deputation for 10 years, I think, by the time I could provide for my whole family. Anyway, these are the mistakes that I see. Are we still in 1 Peter 5? 1 Peter 5, let's look at verse number 4. Let's just finish this next two verses. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, so the pastor is the shepherd of the flock, but then Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd. So don't forget that, even though the pastor has a rule over the church, the chief shepherd, the head of the church, is Jesus Christ, ultimately Jesus Christ. When he shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Hey, that's a crown for pastors, did you know that? A crown of glory, that's if you do it well, and not lord over the flock. Verse number 5, likewise ye younger, so those that are younger in the church, submit yourselves unto the elder, yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. So there again, just a submissive, the rest of the church should be submitting themselves to the pastor. The context there is the church. So let's move on now to Colossians chapter 4 please. Colossians chapter 4, I'm almost done now. I've said this before, but just to reinforce it again with scriptures, is that the leader of an institution must give an account for that institution. Young men, if you want to get married one day, and you should want to, understand it's not just, oh, I get a wife. No, God's going to hold you accountable for that family as well. You better make sure you look after that family, because you need to answer to God for that. Now Colossians chapter 4 verse 1, this is in the context of the business, of the workplace. The Bible says, masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal. Why? Knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. God's watching you, masters. God's watching you, head of that institution. Do what's right. If you're an employer and you've got employees, you need to make sure that you look after that employee. Don't cheat them out of what they've earned, because God's watching, God's your master in heaven. By the way, yes, God has put a leader, has put a master above every one of these institutions, but above every one of those institutions, God is the head of that institution as well. God is the head even of an ungodly government, because it's a God-ordained institution. God is watching our ungodly government, and they're going to be held accountable for what they've done, for the ungodly laws that they have passed in our nation. Let me just read to you James 3.1. The Bible says, my brethren, be not many masters. So don't strive to be the master or the head of every institution you can find. Like right now, I'm the head of my family, and I have the ruler of the church. I have the mastership, if you will, of two institutions. But it'd be very hard for me to do my job if I was also an employer, and I had all the responsibilities of a business, or if I was a government leader, could you imagine that? A pastor and a government leader as well as looking after our family. Don't strive to be many masters. It says, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation, wow, God holds us a greater accountability for being the head. You might say, ah, sweet, it's such a good thing to be a man so I can be the head of the house. Why did God make me a woman? Well, there's a greater condemnation. There's a greater accountability. It comes with responsibility as well. And you know, I need to keep that in mind myself. There's a greater condemnation if I run this church into the ground. If I destroy this church, if I allow heresies to come into this church, I'd be afraid of that greater condemnation to come my way. And Proverbs 27, you can turn there if you want. Proverbs 27 verse 23. Proverbs 27 verse 23. Let's finish up there. Proverbs 27, 23. And this is just a good verse just overall, but I want to apply this to someone that's the head of an institution. It says, be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. Know what that means? I need to make sure that I'm diligent, that I work hard to know the state of the flock in this church. And let me just quickly summarize this with the church here, is that my rule, my authority over you is within the church, within the congregation. When we gather together, the assembly, the congregation, that's my authority. But when it's 8.30 and we pack up and we go home, I don't have authority over you anymore. When you're driving your car, I don't have authority about how fast you drive. When you get into the house and maybe you can't have a late dinner, I have no authority as to what's being served there. I have no authority as to what time you put your kids to bed. And if you're an employer, you need to be diligent to know the state of your flocks, of your employees. Look after your employees. If you're a family, fathers, know well be diligent to know the state of your flocks, of your wife, of your children. Know them. Don't just be a father that goes to work and doesn't spend time with the family not knowing them. Don't be a father where the kids grow up and say, oh, I never spent time with dad. Don't be like that father where the kids sit around and say, I don't even know anything about my dad. I don't know nothing about his past. I don't know anything about him. Don't be that way. Be diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds. And what was the other institution? Government. They're also to know the state of their flocks. When you think, man, with the government passing law after law, ungodly laws, and yet they see the nation deteriorate, they see the crime rate go up, don't they stop and think, hold on, maybe we're doing something wrong. Hold on, God ordained government, maybe we should talk to God and see what God wants us to do. Maybe we need to bring back the death penalty. That would fix, I mean, just that one thing would fix a lot of things in this nation. The last thing I wanted to cover today is the separation of institution. The separation of institution. Baptists are pretty well known for this. They often talk about the separation between church and state. Because they recognize there's an institution of government and there's an institution of the church. And these two things should not mix. The church and government. And government is not there to govern churches. Government should not come and say, all right, Kevin, this week you're preaching on whatever. And that's how some nations are. The government literally tells the churches what they're meant to be preaching on that week. Okay? That's not right. There needs to be a separation of these institutions, and neither is a church to operate as a government. Okay? That's not the church's responsibility. The pastor is not the prime minister. Okay? These two things are separate. But that's not to say that the pastor should not preach about government, because ultimately the pastor preaches the word of God, and the word of God covers all this stuff. Okay? But it's not the church's job to enforce that into the government. Okay? That's why there's a head there. The head of the government, to take care of those things. And the government, and I'll just talk about family, because we're going to be doing a series on the family, okay? This might shock some of you guys, I don't know, maybe not. But it definitely shocks people that are on welfare. Okay? The government is not responsible for your family. Okay? The government is not responsible for your family. Okay? They're not there to give you welfare checks. That's not the job for the government. Okay? Why do you read that in the Bible? That's not their job. Whose job is it to provide for the family? The father, the husband. Okay? And when you see the government get involved in people's families giving out welfare, guess what happens? An increase in single parents, because a girl can just fall pregnant now and get money from the government. You know, they don't need to worry about finding a good man and get married and settle down in the family. They can just fall pregnant. The more kids I have, the more money the government gives me. Sometimes they make more money than someone that works a full-time job. That's crazy. And so you see this increase, you see children leaving home early because they can get handouts by the government, serial unemployment. Why would someone that gets welfare be driven to go and work and provide for their family? You know, so, I mean, when the government gets involved, were they trying to help? Yes. Did they have good intentions? Yes. But it's not your place, government. And this is why things get worse. Because God has instituted these institutions for a reason and has put a head above each institution for a reason. Okay? The father, the husband, you're in charge of the family, not the government. They're going to mess up your family. And you might say, well, hold on, Kevin, what if I'm entitled? Like what if, and like, for example, we get family tax benefit because of the number of kids we get. Look, because things are messed up, because we're taxed higher than we ought to be anyway, for a lot of these other things, look, if you're entitled, I'm not against you taking that entitlement. Okay? Because otherwise, everyone's going to bleed you dry. You might as well take, I guess, what you're entitled to, but at the same time, don't become reliant upon the government for your family. Okay? Make sure that you can provide yourself and you've done everything you can to provide for your family. Next thing I want to say is the workplace, the business is not responsible for your family. Okay? The business, the workplace is not responsible for your family. You know, I've hired a lot of people in my life and they've done job interviews. It's like, okay, the hours are nine to five. Oh, but I've got to pick up my son at three p.m. That's got nothing to do with me. Okay? You having to pick up your son at three p.m. has nothing to do with the business running from nine to five p.m. That's not my responsibility to take care of your family. This is the job that's on offer. These are the hours that's required to be work. This is the hourly rate. These are all the conditions. These are all the perks. These are the bonuses, but your family, that's your responsibility. A workplace should not be required to change how they operate things for your family. Okay? Okay, this happens. And look, I try to be a really good employer and I really try to look after my people. And sometimes, you hire ladies. And look, first of all, again, I don't believe ladies should be in the workplace. Okay? They're working and then they fall pregnant. They fall pregnant, they need time off, and then they want to come back to the workplace at some point. Okay? Let's say my baby is six months old. And look, this is why it just destroys the family. Right? I mean, you're just destroying the family when mothers aren't there for their little children at a very early age, when they need them. Look, mothers are meant to be there for their whole lives. Okay? Not trying to get back into the workplace and earning the big bucks. What for? It's costing you more putting that child in school. It's costing you more trying to find aftercare vacation for your kids when you're trying to work that job. And you're making things more stressful for your life because you're like, who's picking up the kids this time? Is it me or is it my husband? Husbands should just be mindful. Hey, these are the hours I'm providing for my family. Mom, you're taking care of that stuff. Even if you end up putting your kids in school, whatever. At least there's someone there responsible for those things. Okay? And I remember, I've hired people, they fall pregnant. It's all good, you know, maternity leave. That's part of the conditions of workplace now. And then they come back and say, oh, okay, I want to get back into work now. But instead of having a full-time job, I want to work two days a week. And those two days will be Monday and Tuesday. And I want to work this many hours. It's like, no, that's not how it works. Okay? It's not the workplace's job to take care of your family life. If you can't work the hours, then look after your family. That's what you're meant to be doing anyway. Okay? And, you know, look, again, I've tried to be a really good employer. I'll be like, all right, look, I'm willing to give you part-time work, but you can't tell me what hours you can work. These are the days we need you because the business needs to run. Okay? There's work coming through. The business doesn't stop for your, you know, family life. Okay? This is the business. This is what needs to happen. I need you on these days. I need you for this many hours. Try to be as reasonable as you can, and they still get offended. Hey, listen, go home, be a housewife, live a happy life, okay, instead of trying to make everybody miserable around you. Kevin, who are you talking to? I don't know. Just someone on the YouTube world that's trying to get their employer to give them, you know, the hours they want or whatever. You know, it's not the workplace. It's not the business responsibility to look after your family. Okay? Now, look, at some point, hopefully if you're a good employer, and, you know, look, and again, there's emergencies that happen. Of course, you know, a good employer is going to try to look after their staff and do what they can. Hey, but it's not the employee that tells the employer what they need to do, you know, to look after their family. And the last thing I want to say here, and this is why I wanted to preach this my very first week here, is that the church is not responsible for your family. The pastor is not responsible for your family. Okay? Now, you say, well, why do you want to talk about that, Kevin? Are you thinking about a family? No, I'm not. Just before I became a pastor, before I even decided to really take this on, I had a good hard look at just other pastors, okay? And I've told you guys that I've got two uncles that are pastors in Chile, and I know a few pastors, and I know a lot of horror stories of pastors, okay? And I've seen pastor families crumble, break down. I've seen pastor's children want nothing to do with the Bible, want nothing to do with God, and go into the world and get into all matters of sin. Okay? I've seen pastors get divorced. I've seen pastors commit adultery. Okay? But if you ask the church, how was your pastor? That was great. He was always there for me. He always gave me advice. He always gave me counsel. Every time I rang him for help, he came to my door. Yeah. They looked after everyone else's family rather than their own. Okay? And I do not want to be that way. Okay? It's not my responsibility to look after your family. The head of your family is the husband. Okay? The father. Yes, I can provide advice. Yes, I can counsel. Yes, I can get a sermon ready and try to give you something to work toward, but ultimately, the responsibility of that family falls on the father. Okay? And this is why I wanted to use this as a springboard before I get into the series on the family. Okay? Where do you see in the Bible pastors going from house to house trying to fix everybody's problems? It's not in the Bible, but that's the expectation people have, right? And again, even in good independent fundamental Baptist churches, that's the expectation that they have. And I wanted to preach this first week because I didn't want you to have that expectation that I can just call Kevin whenever I need him and he'll come running and if he doesn't, he's not a good pastor. No. I have the church to look after when we're congregated together, but I'm also the head of my family. Okay? And I'm not going to be fixing other people's problems and then cracks start developing in my family. I'm not going to be looking after your kids and then my kids grow up saying, Dad was never there for me. Because what's one of the qualifications of the bishop? To have a faithful family. To look well after their own house. And I've seen this time and time again. Pastors' families just being destroyed. Why? Were they a bad pastor in the church? No, they were better. They were even better than what you read in the Bible because they were helping everybody and then they just let their own house fall apart. So we need to keep these things in mind. You know, I'm happy to give advice. I'm happy to hear of your issue. Prepare a sermon. I'm happy to point you to one of my past sermons. I'm happy to point you to other sermons of other good men that have preached stuff that you might need to hear. But at the end of the day, it's up to every family, it's up to every man of the family to instill what they've heard from the sermon. It's not my responsibility. Okay? Same thing for me. I preach a sermon. I preach a sermon. There might be something in that sermon that I'm failing at, something that I need to work on, then I need to decide, even as the pastor, I need to go and apply these things to my home, to my family, to my life. Okay? It's the same thing. Okay? So what did it say? You know, my brethren, James 3.1, my brethren, be not many masters. I've got enough. We've got the church. I've got my family. I don't need to be the master of your family. Okay? That's the command. Be not many masters. Okay? That's not my responsibility. God has given us these four institutions. They work well. There's a chain of command. There's a head, and everybody that's under that head needs to be submissive and obedient to that head, even if they're froward. Remember that? Even if they're a difficult person to get along with, it's better than having somebody else. Okay? It's not a... And the other thing is, it's not another pastor's responsibility to come into this church and tell me how to run this church. Okay? So it's not just one institution to another institution, but the same institution, though they're independent and separate, it's not that pastor's job to come in here and tell us what to do. Okay? It's not my responsibility as a pastor to go to another church and tell them what to do. Okay? It's not the responsibility of a father, of one family, to go into another family and tell them what to do. Okay? You've got your responsibilities. And I find it funny and sad, maybe not funny, but sad, and I've had this happen where somebody would come up to me and their family's falling apart and they'd say, oh, I think you should be doing this in church. I think this is how you should be doing church. It's like, you can't even take care of your own family. You're going to come into another institution which you have no authority over and say how things ought to be. That's crazy. And yet people don't want to look after their own responsibilities, always blaming others, but they always can see, you know, the issues in other people's institutions. It is not for Donald Trump to tell Malcolm Turnbull what to do in Australia. Okay? And I'm against, and I should be against, a one-world government. I'm against, you know, the United Nations. I'm against these governments coming together and trying to, look, you're our own institution for your own nation. You know, that leader of that country is looking after the needs of their own country. They shouldn't be coming and telling, you know, Malcolm Turnbull what to do. You know, we shouldn't be sending our troops overseas to fight some battle of some other nation. Okay? That's wrong. This is where you get things, this is where things get messed up. You know? It is not the responsibility for Ronald McDonald to go to Colonel Sanders and tell him how to do KFC. Okay? My point is that a business has an employer, they're in charge of their own business. They don't go to another business and tell them how to do things. Okay? This is just common sense. Makes sense. God instituted, institutions ordained with authority structure, with a leader, with people that are submissive to that leader, and that leader is accountable not just for themselves, but for that institution before God. Okay? And above every institution is the Lord Jesus Christ. And above Christ, it's God the Father. Okay? God has set things in order. Let's try to keep that in mind. And yeah, that's all I've got for you tonight. Let's pray.