I. Being Persuaded To Obey Man
A. A Definition
1. G 3982. peitho, pi’-tho- to persuade to obey
a. to convince by argument, whether true or false
b. to pacify or conciliate, to gain by acts of kindness
c. assure, make friend
B. Examples
2. Mat 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
3. Acts 14:19
4. Acts 5:36, 37
5. The followers of Theudas & Judas allowed themselves to be persuaded to obey someone.
6. The influence that came to them was delivered by man. Not based upon the known facts.
7. These men sought to draw men to themselves. It was worldly and carnal.
II. Being Persuaded To Obey God
A. A Definition
1. G 3980. peitharcheo, pi-tharkh-eh’-o;- a compound word
a. to be persuaded by a ruler
b. to submit to authority
2. G 757. archo, ar’-kho; to be first in political rank or power:–reign (rule) over.
B. Example- Acts 5:29
1. “Ought to obey”- literally, we must obey
2. “Ought”, not strong enough
3. 58 times in N.T.: “must”
4. Why was this a “must” for the apostles?
5. Because the one whom they must obey is first in power: Jesus Christ.
6. Jesus had done the following with them:
a. to convince by argument, (in this case, a true argument)
b. to pacify or conciliate, to gain by acts of kindness
c. assure, make friend
7. Not only had Jesus persuaded them, but He had proven His ranking.
a. He is Prince
b. He is Savior
c. God exalted Him
d. We are witnesses
e. The Holy Spirit bears witness
8. He had shone Himself to be first in power, raised from the dead.
9. Disciples’ obedience not built upon the shifting sand of a personality, a hope, or a movement, but upon the Person of Jesus Christ, who He was.
10. They were not intimidated by the power of human ranking, and self appointed power of the religious rulers.
11. Their allegiance went to the One who far outranked mere men.
12. The apostles had become convinced, persuaded, that this was true.
III. Obeying God & Not Man
A. Civil Authorities
There’s a time to disobey the authorities. At times in history, Christians are forced to make a choice of whether to obey the government, or whether to obey God.
During WWII, some Christians in Holland disobeyed the Nazi government, and hid Jews.
Corrie ten Boom ended up going to prison camp for hiding Jews. Her father and sister were killed by the Nazis.
Corrie Ten Boom ended up learning things like, “If God sends us on stony paths, he provides strong shoes.”
“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”
In reality, civil disobedience is not the norm for the American Christian We are only to disobey if/when the government directs us to disobey the laws of God.
Romans 13:1,2 1Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
B. Peer Pressure
This is where most of us will struggle.
We will struggle against peer pressure much more than against the government.
Daniel is a great example of a young boy who was persuade to obey God, not man.
Dan. 1:8 8But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Dan. 1:20 20And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.
Daniel’s success came because he purposed in his heart to obey God rather than man.
He risked his life, but it was because he was persuaded about the sovereignty of God.
C. Ourselves
The Christian is always in danger of obeying his own fleshly desires rather than God.
We are to be persuaded by the loving, convincing, friendly argument from Jesus.
We are to remember that we are His creation, and we exist to please Him and serve Him.