God's Laws
Always Supersede Our Own
by Pastor
Paul J. Bern
Now
that Donald Trump – love him or hate him – is officially the
POTUS, I am writing this week's commentary with a plea for national
unity on everyone's part. I've been walking this earth for 6 decades
now by the grace of God, and America is more divided today than I
have ever seen. The divisions in our country from the mid 1960s to
the early 1970s over the Vietnam war and racial inequality pale in
comparison to America's social and economic divisions of today. What
deeply concerns me is that so few people seem to be aware of the
great extent that our country has been divided, but I'm going to
continue to make this known in an effort to make a contribution
towards doing something about this. So when I hear the phrase, “Not
my president”, what I'm hearing is the voice of still more division
within the US. America's citizens and those from other countries who
are residing here equally need to put their differences aside and
learn to work together, at least until the next election.
Yet
by the same token, the reasons for the lack of unity throughout
America are quite valid in the eyes of those who cherish these
beliefs in their hearts. But to refuse to cooperate or declining to
support the new president is equal to holding the laws created by the
new presidential administration in contempt. To this some may say,
“Good, that's just what I intend to do!”, while others may say,
“Hold on, not so fast until we think this through.” Both points
of view have their own merit for different reasons. This led me to
wonder whether God's Word has anything to say about this, so I
started searching. What I came away with was proof positive that,
while it is wise and usually prudent to cooperate with and obey
earthly authorities, if we pass any laws that are contrary to God's
Word, we (not just devout Christians – everybody!) are not
duty-bound to obey those laws. In a worst case scenario, we would be
obligated to disobey an unjust law. To document this I will be
quoting from the Book of Acts chapter 5.
“Then
the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party
of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the
apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night, an
angel of the Lord opened the door of the jail and brought them out.
'Go, stand in the Temple courts', he said, 'and tell the people the
full message of this new life'. At daybreak, they entered the Temple
courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When
the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the
Sanhedrin – the full assembly of the elders of Israel – and sent
to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the
officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 'We
found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the
doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.' On hearing
this report, the captain of the Temple guard and the chief priests
were puzzled, wondering what would come of this. Then someone came
and said, 'Look! The men you put in jail are in the Temple courts
teaching the people!' At that, the captain went with his officers and
brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they were
afraid the people would stone them.” (Acts 5, verses 17-26)
The background on how this whole affair started was
that the apostles, led by Peter, were having notable success in their
efforts to spread Christianity throughout the known world at that
time. The time frame is about three months after the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is a matter of days, or a week
or two at the most, after the Holy Spirit descended upon the 120
apostles who were in the upper room on what we now call Pentecost.
Peter and the other 119 apostles were quickly developing quite a
following, and the ruling religious establishment over the Supreme
Council at Jerusalem (equivalent to the Vatican of today for
Catholics, or maybe Oral Roberts or Bob Jones universities for
Protestants) had begun viewing the apostles as a threat. As a result,
they had some of the apostles arrested and jailed like common
criminals.
The next thing that happens is the arrival of an angel
of the Lord's – it doesn't say which one – who sets them free in
the middle of the night. These apostles, led by Peter, are then
instructed to go and teach and bear witness in the Temple what the
Lord did for them. That must have been quite a sermon! “The Lord
Jesus Christ will set you free from sin”, Peter must have said,
“and sometimes he will literally set you free! We were in jail for
preaching the Gospel yesterday and last night, but look! Here we are
today! God want to do this for you, too, through the saving grace and
shed blood of his only Son!” Just about this time, the Temple
guard, together with their captain, arrive to arrest Peter and the
others who had been let out of jail. Notice here that Peter and the
others willingly cooperated with the captain and his officers. Had
they not done so, the outcome here would have been completely
different, much to the detriment of the Gospel, and as this passage
documents. Let's continue now at verse 27.
“Having
brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to
be questioned by the high priest. 'We gave you strict orders not to
teach in this name', he said. 'Yet you have filled Jerusalem with
your teaching and are determined to make us guilty for this man's
blood.' Peter and the other apostles replied, 'We must obey God
rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead –
whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his
own right hand, as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance
and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things,
and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.'
When they heard this they were furious and wanted to put them to
death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law who was
honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that
the men be put outside for a little while.” (Acts 5, verses 27-34)
The
apostles had previously been brought before the Sanhedrin, and had
been given the equivalent of probation, for the same 'offense'. So
here they were, back a second time, and some of those present among
the Pharisees and Sadducees were calling for the death penalty!
Sometimes missionaries who work in countries where Christianity has
its enemies, or where the teaching of Christianity or possession of a
Bible are outlawed, pay the ultimate penalty for their faith too. “
Peter and the
other apostles replied, 'We must obey God rather than men! The God of
our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – whom you had killed by
hanging him on a tree.... We are witnesses of these things, and so is
the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him”.
So here is a clear-cut case where the laws of God supersede the laws
of humankind because man's laws contradicted those of God. Jesus'
very crucifixion is the ultimate example of this. Jesus may have been
crucified as a common criminal, but that didn't change the fact that
he was a Savior for the souls of all humankind. Peter and the other
apostles tell the Sanhedrin that they are all accessories to the
murder of the Son of God. This enrages the ruling council to the
point of (not surprisingly) wanting the apostles to be executed on
the spot. But that is just before Gamaliel gets up to give his little
speech. So now let's find out what he had to say as I begin to close
out this week's message, beginning at verse 35.
“Then
he addressed them: 'Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend
to do to these men.... in the present case I advise you: leave these
men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of men,
it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop
these men; you will only find yourself fighting against God.' His
speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them
flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and
let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they
had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after
day, in the Temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped
preaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus was the Christ.”
(Acts 5, verses 35, 36, and 38-42)
As you can see, Gamaliel was probably the smartest man
in the room at this point. He cites examples in verse 37 of 2 men who
had fomented revolt in the recent past, only to get themselves killed
for their trouble. So Gamaliel was telling them that if that new
religion known as 'the Way' was a human effort, it would come to
nothing. But Gamaliel must have suspected there was something more to
Christianity than mere ideology or philosophy. I think that's why he
told the other members of the ruling council that if Christianity was
ordained of God, there would be no possible way to ever stop them
from spreading the Gospel. And of course, he was right, and the rest
is history – Christian history! So at the end, the apostles get
flogged, or beaten with whips, as punishment for their 'crime'. And,
they're happy about it despite enduring the extreme pain! Overjoyed,
in fact! “Day after day, in the Temple courts and from house to
house, they never stopped preaching and proclaiming the good news
that Jesus was the Christ.” If being persecuted and
criminalized for their faith made the apostles overjoyed, it's time
we all got this same tough attitude.
We need to get an equally tough attitude about the laws
of God versus those of humankind. It is in our own best interest to
be law abiding citizens, there is no question in my mind about that.
But it is even more so with God's laws, the law of Jesus, the law of
salvation by faith through the grace of God. If the government starts
telling you to go and get an identification chip implanted in your
right forearm or on your forehead, you know we should disobey that
law because it's the Mark of the Beast in the Book of Revelation. If
anyone is suffering from seizures, PTSD, bipolar disorder, or going
through chemotherapy, and the only effective thing they're tried is
cannabis oil or medical marijuana to alleviate their symptoms –
which God made anyway (see Genesis chapter 1, verse 11) – then no
government has the right to tell any citizen they may not use or
ingest cannabis or its byproducts, nor do any laws passed against
medical cannabis or cannabidiol have any validity whatsoever. I could
cite more examples, but you get the idea. It's our responsibility to
use our brains about these matters. That what God gave us one for.
Choose rightly, but always choose God.
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