We've understood we had the initial study on what is the law, what is the gospel, what is our relationship to the law. We have seen that the law is a part of the covenant of grace, that God has given us his law. To be saved is not to be saved from the law, it's to be saved from bondage to the law, and it's to be saved unto obedience to the law, so that God enables us by his spirit to rejoice in his commandments. And again, all you have to do is read Psalm 119 and Romans 7, and to see the joy that believers find by the grace of God in the law, in the statutes and the commandments and the rules. and in all the ways of God, because we've been made new creatures, we've been given a new heart, we've been united with Christ. We cannot but find in our hearts at least a measure in this life, it'll be perfect in heaven, but we cannot but find in our hearts a measure of the joy that Jesus has in righteousness. Because if we're united with Christ, which the Spirit affects in us by uniting us by our effectual calling, if we're united with Christ, we can't but share at least in some measure and participate in some measure in his affections just as we participate in his righteousness and in his holiness and we're united to that we participate in his justification and his setting apart under the father and his glory all we share all of this you can't share all of that and not be fully united to Christ and you can't be fully united to Christ and not begin to share little by little more by more his heart his love His compassion, His mercy, this is what we pray for for our deacons, our church officers, that Christ's mercy and Christ's compassion would flow through them and Christ's rule would flow through the elders and Christ's ministry would flow through a pastor that because of that union to Christ and to his offices and to who he is and what he has done, that that would show itself in our lives. And so therefore we're united with the heart of Christ who loves the Father, who loves righteousness, who loves truth, who loves the law, and who loves holiness in every way. And so we began the study by realizing and recognizing that the law isn't something that has been cast away now that we're redeemed, but rather something that we have been aligned with in a proper way now and enabled to love it and more and more by grace to keep it until finally in heaven when all sin is put off and this body of death is put off and we will be able to walk in perfect holiness because as John says, we will be like him. So we look forward to that. But having done that, then we entered into a series of questions with regard to obedience, with regard to the law, and then finally now with regard to obedience to men, subjection to men. And so the final question is, are Christians freed from obedience to men? Obviously the understanding is that if we're freed from slavery of any sort and all sorts, then are we not free then from slavery to men when we count obedience as slavery? It would suggest then to some that, well, that we don't need to obey men because we obey God and God alone. Our own confession says the Lord alone is Lord of the conscience. And so if God is my ruler, if God is my master, then I have no earthly master, I have no earthly ruler. How do we understand this? What does that mean? And of course, we know that scripture often will find us in a middle ground to where two things are true, two things that seem to contradict one another and yet are true. That's always the case. most often the case in scripture, as we find, for instance, even with God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Both are fully and absolutely true, and yet both are true together. They seem to contradict one another until we realize that they come together not in our minds, in our rationalism, but they come together in God in a way that is mysterious to us, and that's the way it is with so many things. And it is that way this morning in this regard, too. So we want to talk about two kinds of subjection and two kinds of masters. If you're reading the book, this chapter was very short, but in it there was constant juxtapositions of back and forth and a comparison. So for the first time I thought, you know, a chart might be helpful here to lay things side by side so that we can see clearly the back and forth and balance the two and see how they differ and where there is a mean, a golden medium that we can walk down. So two kinds of subjection. Let's start here. So some scriptures seem to say that it's inconsistent with Christian freedom to be obedient to men. That if we're free in Christ, then we ought not to be obedient to men. Some scriptures seem to suggest that. We find in scripture a double charge related to this issue. Number one, men must not usurp a position of authority over others. So we find this then in Matthew 23. Verse nine, Jesus says, speaking of course to his disciples, and call no man your father on earth, for you have one father who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. Now the King James there, I think, says masters. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Let me back up and get more clarity here. Let me back up to verse five, speaking, of course, to the Pharisees. They sit in Moses' seat, do what they say, but don't do what they do because they don't practice what they preach. They're hypocrites. Verse five, they do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feast and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. So this is what they like. They like to be exalted, and that's why Ienzu Eid does. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, right? Whoever humbles himself will be exalted because the Pharisees are all about exalting themselves. They're the righteous ones, they're the ones that should be called rabbi or masters or teacher. Verse eight now, but you are not to be called rabbi for you have one teacher and you are all brothers. So there's an equality among the church and above the church, above freedmen, those whom Christ has freed, there's only one rabbi, one teacher, and of course that's Christ. And then verse nine, call no man your father on earth for you have one father who is in heaven, neither be called instructors for you have one instructor, the Christ. the greatest among you shall be your servant. So men must not usurp a position of authority over others. That's what the Pharisees did, and Christ condemned them for it and said to his disciples, don't do that. But turn to 1 Corinthians 7 as well. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 23. It says, you were bought with a price, do not become bondservants of men. You were bought with a price, obviously the price of freedom that Christ has laid down his life. Do not become bondservants or slaves or servants of men. And so these two things come together, right? Some scriptures seem to suggest that it's inconsistent with Christian freedom to be obedient to men, because on the one hand, no man must usurp authority over another. And then he says, secondly, in 1 Corinthians 7, No man is to be the bondservant or the slave of another. But then let's turn to Romans 13. Other scriptures, which appear to contradict what we just read, other scriptures charge us to be obedient to men who are placed over us. Other scriptures say that there is a manner by which men are placed over us, it's a matter of fact, and to those men we owe obedience, we owe reverence, depending on where we are in the scripture, reverence, fear, honor, think of Peter, think here of Romans, right? So Romans 13, read verses one and two, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment. So not only does that say that certain men are placed over us, It says, if men are placed over us, God put them there. The only governance or the only, what does it say? There is no authority. So the only authority that is over us is one that God has placed, and we must subject ourselves to that authority. And then it goes on to say even further, if we don't, we will incur judgment. And he goes on to talk about the magistrate doesn't bear the sword for nothing. He bears the sword to extend and to show and carry out, in fact, the justice of God over those who are under him. Now, that seems to go directly contrary to what we just read. And of course, we've seen not too long ago in Peter, turn to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 13 to 16, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution." That's really an echo of Paul, every authority placed over you by God. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme. Now notice it talks about the emperor having supreme authority. We'll come back to that. Or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. That's an echo of Romans 13 verse 4 or 5. For this is the will of God. Again, Paul said the same thing, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Doing good there is obviously directly pointing back to submission, right? The doing good that is the will of God for you in this case when you're under authority is to submit to that authority. And foolish people who are ignorant don't submit to the authority placed over them. That's the measure of their ignorance. That's the measure of their folly in this text. Live as people, now notice verse 16, live as people who are free, so there's a clear recognition back to Matthew 23. You are free, right? That isn't being taken away from us, and we'll see this parallel, right? These two things come together in scripture. There's a freedom that is not being denied, but there's also a subjection that is not being annulled, right? You see that? Live as people who are free, Not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, what would be evil in the text? Rebellion against authority. But living as servants of God, which looks like what in the text? Serving authority. Serving authority is serving God, right? Children, honor your parents, wives, submit to your husbands, et cetera, et cetera, right? And of course, in this case, submitting to the magistrate is a submitting to God. And then verse 17, he wraps it all up. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor. the emperor. And we could echo what he said in verse 13 as supreme. So clearly then these two scriptures seem to say two totally different things. How do we reconcile these two? Obviously they are reconcilable. They can be, they must be reconciled because God wrote them both and God therefore gives them both to his church as positions of faith, things that we are to affirm. These are truths and we must affirm both. So we pull these together, the meaning intended by the two charges is this, one and two. On the one hand, we must submit ourselves to the authority of men in such a way that we don't thereby deny our Christian liberty which we have in Christ, right? We must submit to the authority of men, but it has to be in such a way that we don't deny the freedom we have in Christ. And that's exactly what verse 16 says. Live as people who are free. take out the parenthetical statement, live as people who are free, living as servants of God. And to live as a servant of God is to honor those whom the Lord places over you, right? Honor the authority given to them, Romans 13, by God, because if they have it, God gave it. Doesn't mean they're always gonna use it rightly. In fact, most people abuse authority, we understand that, right? Most people abuse authority. But just like children to their parents, just like wives to their husbands, your submission and honor and respect isn't conditioned upon how well they do. Right? It's called to you as a duty regardless of what they do with their authority. They may abuse it, they may be terrible at it, but that doesn't annul your responsibility. So again, there is a subjection, right, that is not being annulled, and there is a freedom not being denied. We have to hold these two in balance. So we submit ourselves to the authority of men in such a way that we don't thereby deny our Christian liberty. And secondly, these two go together because this is what the scripture says if we pull these things together. And we must maintain our Christian liberty in such a way that we don't use our liberty as an opportunity for the flesh and thereby neglect our Christian duty as disciples of Christ. What duty? The duty to submit to authority. The duty to honor those who are placed over us. to recognize, as we saw in the catechism, the position we have, whether as superiors, equals, or inferiors. Wherever we are, and most of us have more than one of those positions, correct? People above us, people beside us, people under us, regardless of where we are, we need to honor the Lord in that station, recognizing the freedom that is ours, but that freedom is never a liberty. or a license to sin. That's exactly what Paul says in Galatians 5, right? You've been freed by Christ, but don't use that freedom as a cover-up, says here, or as a license and liberty to sin. Because we've not, just as on the one hand, we've seen, we've not been freed from the law, from obedience to the law, nor have we been freed to do as we want, nor have we been freed to sin. Right? We've been freed from slavery to the law that we might come under it and aligned with it through Christ and walk in the way of it. And we've been freed from sin that we might say no to sin and yes to righteousness. That's the freedom we have and enjoy. So there's never a place where Christian freedom results consequently in disobedience or a neglect of Christian duty. And actually, I've already put together the final lesson, all the applications last week. And I love how he ends. He ends this entire treatise on six ways that we can abuse our Christian liberty, our Christian freedom. Really, really helpful. Without going into some things that we might think he ought to, he covers six things, just very simple bullet points right at the end of the book, but really helpful ways to think about, yeah, Christian freedom is a wonderful blessing. It's at the heart of our blessings, because Christ came to set the captives free. but that freedom is never a freedom to sin, it's never a freedom to neglect duty, it's never a freedom to break the law, to break the commandments, it's always a freedom unto obedience for Christ's sake. So number three then, just to wrap these two, bring these two together, we're to submit ourselves to men as free men and not as slaves. The submission required of us to men is not the submission of slavery, it's the submission of freedom. Right? Live as free, but as servants of God. Right? And we're to be freed men who still submit themselves to men. So you see, we're coming from the one side and arguing from the one side to the other, and then arguing from the other side to the one. Right? We're arguing forward and backward. We submit ourselves as free men to men, and as freed men, we still submit ourselves to men. Why? Because God tells us to. Right? Again, we learn this in the catechism. We're all under authority. None of us is independent. None of us is self-existent. None of us is a law unto ourselves. None of us is autonomous. None of us can say, I have no authority over me. There is nothing required of me. I owe no man nothing. It's not true. And certainly none can say, I owe God nothing. We're dependent creatures. We're in subjection to God. And God is pleased. In the arrangement of society, beginning in the garden, right? With a husband and a wife, God is pleased to place us in stations of either superiors, equals, or inferiors. That's how he's arranged society, marriage, family, everything. Because that reflects, again, it doesn't reflect the essence of the Trinity as if Christ is under the Father, because there's an absolute equality. We'll learn that this morning. But it reflects the story in the picture of redemption where he who is equal to the father subjected himself to the father. Right? That's redemption. If Christ had not humbled himself, if Christ had not chosen the place of an inferior under the father as superior, we would never be redeemed. But that's the beauty and the glory of the gospel, right? He who knew no sin became sin. He who was rich became poor. He who was God became a man, took on the form of a servant, died, even on a cross. Christ keeps going lower and lower and lower. So if Christ subjects himself willingly, willingly, not essentially, but willingly, what we call economically, in the unfolding of redemption, then it makes sense that God would arrange us in places of subjection and authority, that we might give some reflection of the gospel in how we lead people, and in how we follow our leaders, in how we shepherd people, and in how we honor those over us. We're supposed to reflect the gospel, and that's why in marriage, and in family, and in the church, we always come back to what we'll come back to here in a moment. We always come back to, for the Lord's sake, wives, submit to your husbands in the Lord. Honor your husbands in the Lord. We're doing it for Christ, but as we do it, it's supposed to show the world something of the gospel, not something of us. and our marriage and our family and our church and how great and wonderful we are, we're pointing to Christ because we're doing it for Christ and only Christ can enable us to do it. And so when we do it well, Christ is seen and our good works are seen by men and God is glorified in heaven. Okay, so then let's break this down and show the two sides here. There is a twofold subjection to men. So two charts and we'll go back and forth. First of all, there is a subjection which may be yielded with the preservation of our Christian liberty. That you think of Romans 13, right? There is a subjection in Romans 13 and 1st Peter 2. There's a subjection required of us by God. And there's a subjection that we can give as obedient to God that preserves our Christian liberty. We can submit as freemen, right? Secondly, on the other side now, there's also a subjection which cannot be yielded unto men without a denial of our Christian liberty. There's a kind of subjection that cannot be rendered to another man, whatever his position of authority, without a denial of our Christian liberty. And so when we look at Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, and it tells us to submit, it's telling us to submit as freemen. When we look at Matthew 23 and 1 Corinthians 7, and it tells us not to submit, it's coming from the position of don't submit because you're freed, right? You're freed from slavery to any man. You're freed from that kind of subjection. Two kinds, okay? First then, come back to the left side. We'll go back and forth. This subjection, which may be yielded with the preservation of our Christian liberty, this kind of subjection pertains to the subjection of the outward man in lawful things. Right? We're submitting to men in outward things, in lawful things. Right? The outward man in lawful things. In other words, we're not submitting our heart and conscience, as we'll see in a moment. And we're not submitting in cases of sin. In any case, if an authority tells you to sin, the answer is no. Because above that authority, above that master, is the master, Christ. Right? And so wives should honor their husbands, but never if their husbands say sin. Right? Children should obey their parents, but not if their parents say sin. then the children must say no, then the wife must say no, then the citizens must say no, because God is above that, right? So we're only talking the outward man and lawful things. But we can do that, and indeed we're commanded to do that, as freed men, because we're freed. The other side, this subjection, which cannot be yielded without a denial of our liberty, This is a subjection of the inward man, the soul and conscience in unlawful things. We can't render that kind of subjection. We can't obey in that manner because we're denying our freedom and we're giving a man, we're giving anyone that authoritative position. We're giving a person lordship over our conscience, which is a sin. No man is to be ruler of our conscience. Only the Lord is the Lord of the conscience. Our conscience is subject to God and to no man, right? Come back. This subjection which may be yielded with the preservation of our Christian liberty is a subordinate subjection. In other words, it is a subjection in subordination to God, which means it's for the Lord's sake. And that's what shows up so often in scripture, right? Here in 1 Peter 2.13, be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake. Be subject to human institutions for the Lord's sake, right? Wives, honor your husbands in the Lord. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, right? Members, submit to the elders in the Lord, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That's the text. That's the wording. It is a subordinate objection that is in subordination to God. In other words, why are we submitting to an authority over us? Why are we submitting to a man? The answer is, in this case, because we fear God. Because God is above the man. And what does Romans 13 say? God put him there. There's no authority there unless God put it there. And to rebel against him is to rebel against God who put him there. Right? And so, subjection in this case is in subordination to God. So we do it for the Lord's sake. Is the man worthy of it? Absolutely not. He's a sinner like us. Right? Does he deserve it? In the same sense, no. Has he earned it? No. Right? What are we honoring then? The position, right? We're honoring the office. And more particularly here, we're honoring God. Right? Because it's against God that we sin when we sin against him, when we rebel against him. So this is a subordinate subjection. We go back to the other side. This subjection which can't be yielded without a denial of our Christian liberty This would be an absolute subjection, a subjection of our souls and consciences for man's sake. So that we're surrendering our conscience to this man for his sake because he said so, right? Because we honor him, we worship him. That's idolatry, isn't it, right? We're honoring, in this case, the emperor as supreme in a way that fails to recognize that the emperor, though supreme, is also a servant under God who alone is supreme. We'll come back to that in a moment. So the reason we can't yield this kind of subjection is because it denies the freedom we have in Christ which has given us our freedom and the submission of our conscience to God. And we will not render or we will not yield up our conscience to any man. Back to the other side. Kind of a conclusion here. Thus we may be subject to man's authority in respect to the outward man in lawful things. We see this charged upon us in Ephesians 5.7, so go to Ephesians 5.7. That is not the right text. Did I miss a one? 57. One second here. Go to verse 5, 6 verse 5 here in bondservants and masters. Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ. So here, of course, what is it recognizing? It's pointing out that our earthly masters are masters according to the flesh, right? Masters according to the flesh. So bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling. That means with a sincere heart. That's what that means. As you would Christ. Why? Because he's not Christ, but Christ is above him and Christ placed him there and you under him. Not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ. We'll come back to this in Colossians, very important text, but the wording here is just the same. Paul wrote Colossians and Ephesians right at the same time. So the wording here is just the same. We're obeying our masters over us, whatever that position may be. We're obeying our masters over us. We're not doing it as people pleasers, but we're doing it because we're bondservants of Christ. Which means to rebel against that master is to be a rebel of Christ, a rebel to Christ. Bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man. So here we are rendering service to our masters, not as unto man, but actually unto the Lord. Every place of submission is like that. Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. How is that? Notice God takes our submission to our master as submission to him, just as he takes our rebellion to our master as rebellion to him. But then it goes further. God will take our obedience to the master as obedience to him and he'll prove it by actually rewarding us for that obedience and that's what it says. You're receiving good, you will receive good back from the Lord, the Lord will reward you because your submission to the master is submission to him, that's his will for you in that case. And then he goes on of course to charge masters which he points out and makes clear that whatever masters are over us, whatever authorities are over us are themselves subject. Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening. an abuse of authority, an abuse of power, knowing that he who is both their master and yours, the same master, one master, identifying that there's one true master, he is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him. In other words, he will judge you both, right? And that's the reality brought home to masters. And so we may be subject to man's authority in respect to the outward man and lawful things. This is charged upon us here in Ephesians. which speaks of men as masters according to the flesh. What that means is masters on earth. Masters according to the flesh only pertain to the outward man and only in outward things. But go to the other side, but for our souls and conscience sake, like we saw in Matthew 23, we have no fathers and no masters on earth, but we only have one father and master who is in heaven. This is what Christ says in Matthew 23 10 which forbids us to have any earthly masters according to the spirit that is over our conscience. And Christ is to be the only master of our souls and consciences on earth. And in that regard then there is a subjection that man may demand of us that if man demands of us we cannot give without a denial of our Christian liberty and without a failure to recognize that there is only one master of our soul and conscience and that's Christ. So we've seen two different kinds of subjection. So let's bring this now to obedience to the magistrate and then we'll look at two different kinds of masters. Obedience to the magistrate, number two, we have a question that Bolton presents which is an important one. Isn't it lawful for a magistrate to impose actions upon men which concern their consciences, right? And the reason Bolton presents this question is because he had just established, as we saw in the column on the left there, that subjection, in this sense, is subjection to masters according to the flesh, earthly masters. It's subjection of the outward man and outward things. But isn't it the case that a magistrate, a husband, right, a parent, can call for a certain kind of objection that, as he says here, concerns the conscience? It's absolutely the case. Because as we just read in Ephesians 6, 5, obedience is always to be from the conscience. It's always to be from the heart. What is obedience? No parent accepts obedience which is done begrudgingly, which is done angrily, right? Obedience is from the heart if it's to be true obedience. And of course, obedience before God is never acceptable if the heart's not in it. And that's why he charges, even in our subjection to men, to render a subjection that includes the heart. And of course, if we say back, but Lord, he doesn't deserve it. The Lord reminds us, but you're not doing it for him. You're doing it for me. And to honor him for my sake is pleasing to me. And I'll show you how pleasing it is when I reward you for it, when I bless you. That's what Ephesians 6 maintains. The same thing comes up in Colossians 3, which we'll come to in a moment. So isn't it lawful for a magistrate to impose actions upon men which concern their consciences? Of course. So how do we understand this? He makes a couple of really good important points here. First of all, it's unlawful for a magistrate to impose anything on a Christian which it would be unlawful in the eyes of God for him to obey. That goes back to the difference between a subordinate subjection and an absolute subjection, right, of the two columns that we saw earlier. It's unlawful for any authority figure to impose upon someone what it would be unlawful for that person to do for God, right, in the eyes of God, to impose upon him and to demand sin of him when God can't abide that sin. It would be wrong for him to do that in the eyes of God. Why? Because this is to set up a human authority against Christ's authority. Turn to Daniel 3 and we see a perfect instance of this, of the three Hebrew children. You know the story, so we're not going to read the whole story, but look at Daniel 3 verses 4 and 5, and then we'll jump down to 18. And the herald proclaimed aloud, you are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Right? This is calling for a subjection, a whole, a supreme, absolute subjection to the image as the supreme master, and none above him. Verse 18, of course, you know what they say. Well, verse 16, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, that you'll throw us in the furnace, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve you, your gods, or worship the golden image that you have set up. Right? You cannot impose this upon our conscience. You cannot demand of us and require of us, obviously they can demand and require it, but they cannot render it without denying the freedom they have, because there is one Lord and one God who is over all, and they're in subjection to that God and honoring that God, and it would be a denial of the liberty they have, freed from bondage and sin and slavery to worship the one true and living God, it would be a denial of that liberty to yield, to render this absolute subjection to this image, and so in this case, It's unlawful for a magistrate to impose anything on a Christian which it would be unlawful for him to do in the eyes of God. But, letter B, a magistrate may require those things of us which are clearly revealed to be the will of God because in this case, our obedience is not being given to man, it's being given to God, right? So now turn to Colossians 3. This is the other text that parallels Ephesians 6 and in some respects a little more clear Colossians 3. Colossians 3 verses 22 to 24. Speaking again, rules for Christian households and speaking now to servants. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Let's back up to 22. Actually, that's what I meant to start, sorry. 22, bond servants. Obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, masters according to the flesh. Not by way of eye service, just checking a box as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. That's for the Lord's sake, right? Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done and there is no partiality. And then verse one, masters treat your bond servants justly and fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven. But look how clearly it's laid out. Again, the obedience being required here in this case, the obedience that a master would require. You can see that it's not, not only does it concern the conscience, which is the question, But God says, don't render your obedience without the conscience. That's false, that's fake, that's hypocrisy. Don't render your obedience in an eye-pleasing way and just check the box and do what your master says but hate him in your heart, wish him dead in your heart. You need to render it willingly, cheerfully, obediently, thankfully, with thanks to God. Trusting God who has put you in that position, who has put him in that position, and now calls you to render an obedience to him that would be pleasing to God. And it won't please God if the heart's not in it. It just won't. God's not pleased with the obedience of children if the heart's not in it, obedience to their parents. It's not pleasing if the heart's left behind and that's exactly what we find here. The fact that Paul mentions it with regard to bond servants shows that this is the kind of obedience required of every inferior position. Paul doesn't have to repeat this for children and for wives. This is what's required of all of us, whether we're talking citizenship or we're talking being a family. Whatever you do, do it for the Lord and not for men, knowing that, again, from the Lord, you'll receive the reward. And then he puts it as clear as possible. You are serving the Lord Christ. I thought I was serving this master. Yes, and in serving him, you're serving me. So what do we find then? that there are two kinds of masters that parallel the two kinds of subjection. So let's look at the next chart. There are subordinate masters and there are supreme masters. Just as there's a subordinate objection and a subjection and then an absolute subjection. So first of all subordinate masters here under subordinate masters we render a subjection to a master who is himself subject to another even God. That's Colossians 4.1. So for children to render obedience to their parents, wives, to their husbands, servants, to their masters, citizens, to the magistrate, we're rendering subjection to a subordinate master because we know that he himself is in subjection to the one true master of us all, even God. When it comes to a supreme master, He who is a supreme master, we would render obedience to him as supreme and absolute. There's no one above him. We render it to him for his sake. We render to a subordinate master for the master's sake, God. But when we talk about one who truly is supreme, which is what the three Hebrew children were called to do, to submit to the image as supreme, they couldn't do it because they know that one's above that image. In fact, that image is no God at all, right? And so they can't render that because to recognize someone as a supreme master is to render obedience and subjection for his sake. And it's an absolute outward and inward obedience. Back to the left there, thus we obey subordinate masters in order that we may obey a higher authority. There's no way to obey God in a position of inferiority without submitting to the superior over you. So you have to submit to the the superior over you in order to submit to God because God in this sense put the superior between him and you. And by placing you in that position so that you can if God calls a woman to be a wife he automatically puts her in relation to her husband in a way that she can't rebel against the husband without rebelling against God. And the same for children of course the same for citizens it's the same thing. We obey our subordinate masters in order to obey God. because God is the one requiring it of us and God is the one who's directly above him. On the other side, a supreme master is being obeyed for his own sake. He answers to no one. We're not answering to anyone above him. We're answering directly to a supreme master. So go to Acts 26. See the instance with Paul. As Paul relates the account of his conversion. Verse 13, he's relating here to the king. Acts 26, verse 13. At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goats. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have beseen me and to those in which I shall appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and also to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. See what happens to Saul of Tarsus, right? He has this vision. One appears to him. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus. At this revelation, of course, Paul is converted. But at this revelation, notice what Paul does. Paul doesn't ask for credentials. Paul doesn't ask for authority above you, who sent you. He recognizes immediately, of course, by the grace of God, that the one speaking to him, the one who appears to him, is supreme. Paul immediately, contrary to every bone in his body previous to his conversion, contrary to everything he was doing, turns a 180 and immediately goes, of course, to the house of Ananias, and et cetera, and you know exactly what happens, goes into Jerusalem. And we see here, or into Damascus, rather, and so we see what happens to Paul is he immediately obeys, in this conversion, goes and preaches the gospel into all the synagogues, preaches the gospel to the Gentiles, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He gave his whole life, bound conscience and heart and soul to this vision, to the one who appeared to him. Why? Because he knew the one who appeared to him was supreme. Paul asked for nothing above him, but rendered full obedience to him. That's a supreme master. Now, of course, in the day that Bolton writes, obviously, the Protestant Reformation is still alive and well. And so naturally, all the Puritans would address the Roman Catholic Church and the great concerns. And this is still the case today. And so he has this note that we must look at here. He says, the Roman Catholic Church, under the column of supreme masters, This is an error of the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church requires absolute blind submission to the authority of the church. It's treason, says Bolton, for any to usurp this authority over another, Matthew 23, and it's a sin for any to yield this kind of submission, this absolute subjection to any, because none is Lord but Christ. He shall have no masters but me, says the Lord. He goes on and he says, if God won't allow a supreme master over us in temporal things, only putting over us in temporal things masters who are themselves servants under the master, if God forbids absolute obedience and subjection to men in temporal things, in other words they can't command us in unlawful things, but requires us to serve men in subordination to Christ's lordship, Much less will he allow a supreme master over us in spiritual things. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4, and here we read of Paul's concern. Paul's concern for the Corinthians, as he will say later with regard to the false teachers. But notice what Paul says here, 2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 and 2. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God." And so here, the Lord, even raising up the apostle Paul and sending him forth as such a great missionary, such a wonderful apostle, such a wonderful disciple, yet even Paul says, We commend ourselves to you, speaking with authority, preaching with authority, establishing churches with authority, raising up elders and deacons with authority. Yet in all of that, we commend ourselves to you as servants in the sight of God. Because Paul knew that he wasn't supreme over the church, he wasn't supreme over the apostolic band, he wasn't supreme over any one person at all. He himself was a servant, serving the Lord in a place of authority as an apostle. and as a man of God sent as a missionary around the world, but in that, always doing so, recognizing Christ's lordship over himself and over the whole church. So come back to the other side then. So men may be our masters, and we may be subject to them in subordination to God and Christ. But Bolton says it's the highest piece of slavery in the world to yield up our consciences to the will of any man. Again, the three Hebrew children. Even if God does not deliver us, O King, we will not bow to your image. We cannot, right? Isn't this exactly, in so many cases, isn't this, this was really the cause of the Reformation, but also the cause of the whole Puritan Reformation within the church. This is why they had the ejection of 2000 ministers, right? The ejection of 2000 ministers from their pulpits. Why? For the sake of conscience. They could not bring their conscience under the authority of men in an absolute manner, in a subordinate manner, absolutely, where God says to obey you in this thing, in a lawful thing, that I must obey. But where you command of me an unlawful thing, I can't obey. I can't obey, and that was matters of conscience. So 2,000 ministers were ejected from their pulpits over matters of conscience, because the Lord alone is Lord of the conscience. So come back by way of conclusion to the left, With, excuse me, without trespassing on the authority of Christ or infringing upon the Christian's liberty of conscience, magistrates may, and put, in magistrate, put any position of authority, but this is what he's using. Magistrates may require men to obey those things which are clearly revealed to be the will and the mind of Christ. Let's read Romans 13 again. We didn't read all the seven verses. We only read the first two. Romans 13 verse 1, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your sake. But if you do wrong, be afraid, For he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience, right? You can't keep a clear conscience for God without being in subjection to the authorities over you. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers. The idea there, the same word for servants, the same word for deacons. But for because of this, you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom? Taxes are owed. Revenue to whom? Revenue is owed. Respect to whom? Respect is owed. Honor to whom? Honor is owed. And then interestingly, verse 8, owe no one anything except to love each other for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. And then he goes on talking about the second table of law, which is where subjection appears in the fifth commandment, right? So come back then to this little note. Without trespassing on the authority of Christ or infringing upon the Christian liberty of conscience, magistrates may require men to obey those things which are clearly revealed to be the will and mind of God in Christ, or excuse me, the will and mind of Christ. Yet in doing this, in demanding that these things be done, he's the subordinate and Christ is the supreme master. We're rendering to him, notice now, see how both columns become one? When we render to a subordinate master, subordinate subjection, we're rendering to the supreme master, absolute subjection. Now all of a sudden, it's one and the same in lawful things, of course. In doing this, he's the subordinate and Christ is the supreme master. The magistrate tells us what is God's will, that is what is lawful. and not what is his own will. He tells us it is his will too, obviously, but only because it's God's will first. He's carrying out the authority of God. That's what he's supposed to do, but that's at least what his office pertains to. That's at least what his office entails and implies. And so come now to the closing two points. What about when magistrates impose things upon men that are doubtful and questionable? Very interesting, he doesn't say much here, but I at least wanted to give you what he does say. In this case, it should be asked whether it's doubtful in itself or doubtful to me. If it's doubtful in itself that this is lawful, that this is right, then it shouldn't be imposed at all, right? Or it should be imposed with all tenderness. Would you please, it's recommended, it's suggested, you're strongly urged, something of that nature. If it's doubtful in itself, then it shouldn't be imposed as a law, right? Something required of you, pending death. But if it's only doubtful to me, then it can be lawfully imposed. He's not doing anything wrong to impose it. But I can't yet lawfully obey it because my conscience won't let me. And so what needs to happen then is we need to address issues of conscience at that point. And then finally, it's necessary that we maintain a clear conscience before God in our subjection to men. And this is how both columns become one. It's necessary that we maintain a clear conscience before God in our subjection to men, mindful that while they may not be supreme over our conscience, they cannot be disobeyed in lawful things without defiling our conscience before God. That's what's clear. Remember Romans 13, 5, be in subjection, right? Not just for wrath's sake, but for conscience sake, right? Turn over to Hebrews 13, verse 18. Paul's, or whoever wrote Hebrews, his closing prayer, or request for prayer, rather. Pray for us, he says, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. That's the heart and the desire of a child of God. The bottom line is we want to act honorably in all things. Honoring men where we can, because that honors God. There's no other way to do it, right? And not honoring men where we can't in order to honor God, right? And then turn to 1 Peter 3.16. Back up to 15. In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. That would mean supreme in the sense supreme, the only supreme master. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness, do it with respect. Having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. The idea is to have a clear conscience before the Lord and that requires us to honor the Lord in our station. If we're above others, if we're equal to others, if we're below others, whatever it may be, honor God in that. And so we come then to the conclusion, are Christians freed from obedience to men? No, absolutely not. In fact, our obedience to God entails obedience to men in lawful things and never in unlawful things. So this then becomes a wonderful basis and a principle with which to deal with a lot of questions and cases of conscience. But just remember, right, how we saw two things all the way through. But there's a way, all of a sudden we made full circle, right? We saw two things, we saw where they were, seemed to contradict one another, but yet actually were really one charge. And that's exactly what happened as we went through, the two charts became one. And that's how we honor the Lord. So I hope that's encouraging to you, I hope it's helpful. It gives us at least, without trying to answer all sorts of questions that are flooding our minds, it gives us at least principles, right? Biblical principles that we're bound by. And it's these principles then that we need to use in order to make good decisions when it comes to issues of conscience and issues of subjection and obedience to those whom the Lord has placed over us. Amen. All right, let's pray. Father, we are grateful for this morning. We are grateful for this study and these questions that we have worked our way through over the last several weeks. We look forward to next week's lesson as we wrap this up, Lord, with encouraging and pointed applications to our lives as freedmen. freedmen of Christ. We do thank you, O Lord, for the freedom we have. We thank you for the liberty that is ours, and we desire to maintain it. And yet, Lord, not to be rebellious in any sense. Teach us, O Lord, how to be free and yet subject, and how to be subject as free men in such a way that you may be honored, you may be glorified, and yet we may also honor those whom you have placed over us. Grant to us, O Lord, that we would never kick against positions of inferiority, but that we would understand that in those places We are walking in the footsteps of Christ who himself became subject willingly and economically unto you the father that he might walk in the way of obedience and submission even unto death upon a cross. And so we pray father that we would ever I our savior that we would walk in his ways and that we would submit as Peter said in so many cases submit and follow the example he left us and in doing doing it in a way that honors you and does not dishonor men. So grant to us oh Lord this grace. And bless us now as we come into service and into worship. Encourage the flock. Build us up in our faith. Strengthen us, O Lord, in holiness. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.