“Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.”

Jonathan Edwards (18th Century Theologian)

“I assert that nothing ever comes to pass without a cause.”

Jonathan Edwards (18th Century Theologian)

“The way to Heaven is ascending; we must be content to travel uphill, though it be hard and tiresome, and contrary to the natural bias to our flesh.”

Jonathan Edwards (18th Century Theologian)

“Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.”

Jonathan Edwards (18th Century Theologian)

“He who fears death loses the joys of life.”

John Huss (Aka. Jan Hus/ 15th Century Theologian)

“I hope, by God’s grace, that I am truly a Christian, not deviating from the faith, and that I would rather suffer the penalty of a terrible death than wish to affirm anything outside of the faith or transgress the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

John Huss (Aka. Jan Hus/ 15th Century Theologian)

This particular subject is not a subject to cause rebellion or to cause insurrection. This article is to biblically declare when to disobey the authorities that have been set above you when it is a clear violation of Scripture. The Word of God (The Holy Bible) is very clear as to when to do this. You will see in the story in Acts chapter 4 that Peter and John were being held because of their belief in the power of God and that they were not going to deny God just to please men. They clearly state in Acts 4:19-20 “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we have seen and heard.” Now when you read the verses following this you will see that the authorities had just threatened them. The reason being was they were trying to use fear and intimidation to bully them into submission. But if you are truly a child of God you will not be bullied into submission. These men knew that they had better please God rather than men.

In Psalms 118:8 it says “It is better to put trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”(NKJV) What this is saying, is that it is better to put your trust in God than to trust man. Now I truly believe that if you stand up for what is right, there might be consequences for your actions. That you might suffer or even lose things that are meaningful in your life, such as your freedom or even your life under the right circumstances. This is where you have to weigh out the consequences for your actions and be ready to pay the price. Peter and John knew that they had the chance of actually dying for their belief, they had just witnessed their Savior Jesus Christ crucified at the hands of these very same people in whom they were testifying in front of. But they also knew at this point in their lives that Jesus had the power of God to resurrect people also. They had actually witnessed this when Jesus was performing miracles in His ministry. But also they had actually seen Jesus after His resurrection and knew that He had power over death. Now the Hebrew midwives in Exodus that were defying Pharaoh also knew that if they were caught that they would die for their actions, but they also believed that what the Pharaoh had requested was wrong in the sight of God, so they decided to defy the Pharaoh’s orders.

The Bible clearly teaches that there is a time and a place in history to defy the authorities, but the Bible also clearly teaches that all authority has been established by God Almighty Himself. How to know the difference between what God has established and how man has perverted what God has established is to compare it with what God has told us in Scripture. I would suggest that you read Romans chapter 13 and the Book of Proverbs in order to have more understanding upon this subject, and to also read the American History section on the Home page of this website, David Barton explains how our founding fathers had to come to this conclusion of when to rebel against the British for their clear abuse of powers and their generation paid dearly for that act of rebellion, but because of their brave acts of courage, the United States of America was formed and was a strong country for over 200 years. It has just recently in the last 50 years really become a nation that is struggling to survive. I pray and hope that this study has blessed you and that you read the study on authorities and ask God to open your understanding and to give you courage to stand up against wicked rulers that are in places of authority when you need to. I also pray that God gives you the wisdom to know the difference of when to stand up against the authorities and when to obey. May God Bless You and keep you and always be with you!!!! Amen!!!!

Acts 4:5-22

The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Leaders and elders of our nation, are we being questioned because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed in the name and power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,        

            ‘The stone that you builders rejected

               has now become the cornerstone.’

There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.”

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since the man who had been healed was standing right there among them, the council had nothing to say. So they sent Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

“What should we do with these men? they asked each other. “We can’t deny they have done a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But perhaps we can stop them from spreading their propaganda. We’ll warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” So they called the apostles back in and told them never again to speak or teach about Jesus.

But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we have seen and heard.”

The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign – the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.

Exodus 1:15-21

Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, kill all the boys as soon as they are born. Allow only the baby girls to live.” But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king and allowed the boys to live, too.

Then the king called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?”

“Sir,” they told him, “the Hebrew women are very strong. They have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time! They are not slow in giving birth like Egyptian women.”

So God blessed the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

“Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.”

Charles Spurgeon (“Prince of Preachers”)

“Whenever God means to make a man great. He always breaks him in pieces first.”

Charles Spurgeon (“Prince of Preachers”)

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is know the difference between right and almost right.”

Charles Spurgeon (“Prince of Preachers”)