Mighty Through God, Part 7

Speaking Evil of Authorities, Part 1

"Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." (Titus 3:1-2)

Once we grasp the true meaning of "authority", specifically, God's authority, we will be brought up short at the first beginnings of any evil-speaking in ourselves, hopefully, taking captive the evil thoughts themselves long before they have a chance to reach our mouths and cause us to "bite and devour one another."(Galatians 5:15)

But, once again, we need some practical insight as to what is meant by evil-speaking against man, and especially against man (or woman) who is in a place of authority over us.

Evil-speaking against government:

Along with the scripture in Titus that instructs us to be "subject to principalities and powers", are these additional two, which speak not only of being subject to, but also of praying for and, yes, even of giving thanks for those in authority:

Romans 13:1-2 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."

1 Timothy 2:1-4 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."

In the Greek, "principalities" indicates those in a "principal" or "first" place of authority, or "leaders." While we know that God is the "supreme" authority over all, it is His will that we submit to those who are in an "earthly" place of principality or authority; knowing that they would not be in that place had not God ordained it to be so. "Powers", in the Greek, simply means the power of rule or government; or the power of such authorities.

That God uses such principalities and powers for His purposes in our "refining" and that we are not to resist His will even in this area, is shown in Jeremiah 38:14-18, in the instructions Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah (who unfortunately did not heed the prophet's words and thus died). And even in the New Testament (Matthew 23:1-3), Jesus instructs his disciples that while they are NOT to DO as the scribes do, which are the opposite of their teachings, the disciples ARE to "observe and do" whatever "they bid you observe" as they sat in a seat (a principal place of authority) that had been ordained by God. While we could not look to either Nebuchadnezzar or the hypocritical scribes as examples of righteousness (although I do believe Nebuchadnezzar repented under God's persuasive power Daniel 4), still we are clearly told not to resist them, nor to speak evil of them, for in speaking evil of them, are we not, in fact, speaking evil of God who has established them in their roles? This is critical to us to understand: that if we resist or speak evil of authority of any kind, knowing that all authority is established by God who is sovereign, we are in fact resisting or speaking evil of God Himself!

In practical terms, the leader having principal-place here in America is our President. Whether or not we voted for him, whether or not we believe his decisions to be right in the eyes of God, we must bring our thinking in line with the Word of God that tells us to make "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks" for him. (How can thanksgiving and evil-speaking both come out of the same mouth?) And these biblical actions are to be applied, as well, to our state leaders, and city leaders equally. In these days of social outcry, it is difficult to do one and still do the other, is it not? I always remember the words of J. Vernon McGee, a biblical pastor and teacher, deceased now, who said: "God has called me to fish…not to clean up the fishbowl." Truly, I do not see the example, biblically, of Jesus leading social reform meetings. He spoke of "individual and personal" reform through repentance of sin; He exemplified holiness, as we are also to be holy. Perhaps if more Christians were witnessing to more individuals about the Good News, there would soon be so much individual reform (as in returning to God), that the cities and countries as a whole, would in fact, become spiritually (and thus socially) reformed….all through the power of God Himself.

Evil-speaking against husbands:

This is one of my favorite subjects; probably because I have had so much to learn in this particular area. Here are the three passages of scripture that made it most clear to me:

1 Peter 3:1-6; Genesis 12; Genesis 20. If you have a chance, I hope you will read them so that perhaps God will show you in advance what I learned through Sarah and Abraham, before we discuss them further tomorrow.

Next posting: Part 2 of Speaking Evil of Authorities, in Mighty Through God, Part 8.