Isn't that just like the Lord, so very much like Jesus? This is Larry Jones. You are listening to the Grace and Glory Hour of the Dyer Baptist Church with our co-pastors David M. Atkinson and Dr. Lee Atkinson. We are coming to you from Dyer, Indiana. Our prayer is that you will be strengthened by the Word today. Now, here is our pastor. Turn to 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 15. 1 Samuel 15, and I will read because I need to just hit the highlights. We're starting verse 1a of the 15th chapter of 1 Samuel. Samuel also said unto Saul, verse 3, and this was the command, the order from the authority Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all. Verse nine. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings. Verse number 13. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto Samuel, blessed be thou of the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord, verse 20. And Saul said unto Samuel, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, verse 21. But the people took of the spoiled sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed." Would you put a mark in the margin of your Bible beside the middle of verse 21 where Saul says, people took of the spoil the things which should have been utterly destroyed. Here King Saul tells on himself. Do you see that? He tells on himself. He had understood the instructions. All right? He could not claim ignorance. He tells on himself. He says that they spared the things which should have been utterly destroyed. He had no claim to ignorance or not knowing Now let's continue please in verse 22. And Samuel said to Saul, hath the Lord his great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, or take a look, to obey is better than sacrifice. 23, for rebellion, resistance against constitutive authority, that's what rebellion is. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. In the last message, I also referenced Luke 19.14 where in the parable, the rebel said, we will not have this man to rule over us. We'll not have this man to be our authority. We saw that since the fall of our foreparents, we all, and I'll start with myself, have had an authority problem. In Genesis 3, 1D, the serpent speaking for Lucifer said, to Eve, hath God said? And that was the beginning of our authority problem. Now, I again want to remind you of the qualifier. I am not saying, I'm not saying that we should follow corrupt leaders or authorities into sin. There are places where lines must be drawn. In Acts 4 verses 18 through 20, Peter and John refused to obey corrupt authorities who were trying to get them to disobey God. That's the qualifier. And we all have to pray for God to show us where the line is. An authority is trying to get us to say it, and we must draw the line at that. Now, I want to read an article, portions of the article this morning that I consider to be a hoot. This is one of the funniest articles I have ever read. Could you practice smiling? I know this is early in the morning. And perhaps my sense of humor is different. Some of you are saying, yes, we know you quite well. Your sense of humor is quite different. But this is really funny. This is really, really funny. It was in the Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2020. Now, I've got the picture here, a full-color picture of the article. And I don't know how we can work this out with your authorities. But if your authorities will give you permission, I would love for you to come by and see this full-color picture. It's a man in a general's uniform with a green and white and blue sash across his upper body and a hat with a peak that looks like the kind of military hat that Hitler wore. And behind him, there's a sign. And the sign in one direction points USA, and in the other direction, the name on that sign for the other direction is Molossia. Molossia. Do you know where Molossia is? Have you never heard of Molossia? Well, Molossia is a very big kingdom in the mind of Kevin Ball, and you can do it too. And I think I can show you how you can do it. The headline of the article is, it's good to be king, unless nobody recognizes your country. People all over the world have created their own kingdoms. Some out of boredom, some to experiment in the problems that come to you when you're the ruler of a kingdom. They find it's not quite as easy as it looks. Some out of fantasy, a sort of Dungeons and Dragons type thing. They fantasize and make themselves the head of their own kingdom. And this article talks about how difficult it was for these self-appointed kings and archdukes to keep their kingdoms going during the COVID locks. All right. If COVID-19 has put the kibosh on your summer travel plans, why not form your own country? Micronations, say the word with me. Micronations, oh, one more time. Micronations, tiny imaginary countries lying somewhere between libertarian fantasy and a game of Dungeons and Dragons have provided escape for all kinds of people. They involve a constellation of would-be presidents, kings, or emperors who invite their own countries like a role-playing game that has spun out of control. Now, if I have an authority problem and if you have an authority problem, it's because you're engaging in a role-playing game that has spun out of control. Whether we like it or not, we are not our own authority. We'd like to think we are. The article goes on. Some design flags or claim territories as a satire of how real life countries work. Others to make a political point or as an academic exercise. No actual countries recognize them. The empire of Austenasia's capital, he named it, of course, after himself. Why not? His name was Austen, so he calls his nation Austenasia. The empire of Austenasia's capital is a terrorist house in southwest London, England. Liberland, the one over in Germany, Liberland claims a flood-prone sliver of land on the western bank of the Danube. Well, I guess if you're going to build yourself a kingdom, it might be nice to be by the Danube. Grand Duke Travis McHenry of West Artica, Grand Duke Travis McHenry of West Antarctica complains that a shipment of flags from a Russian factory was delayed because of the coronavirus. He said, this has made it impossible for us to acquire our desktop flags and full-size flags that we provide to our peers and honorary consuls. says Grand Duke Travis, 40, from his home base in Los Angeles, California. He claimed 620,000 square miles next to the South Pole on the basis that nobody else has registered West Artica. and he uses it as a charity to highlight how climate change is impacting the world. The Republic of Molossia! The capital of which is a house, an yard, in Dazen, Nevada, south of Reno, owned by its president, Kevin Baugh, survived the lockdown because Mr. Baugh was able to continue working his day job across the border in the U.S. from his home, Milwaukee. So that's what this sign comes in. USA! Milwaukee! And he leaves Milwaukee every day to go to work. the border. We rely on the U.S. for most of our sustenance, says Mr. Baugh, 57, who sometimes wears a general's uniform plastered with medals and a peep cap and dark sunglasses and has banned both onions and spinach from his kingdom. Austen Asia's emperor, Jonathan Austen, 25. Talk about a kingdom in the mind. Austen Asia's emperor has had to follow the shelter in place guidelines imposed by Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the other side of his front door. Over 70 people from around the world have signed up to be Austenasians. After he started the country as a hobby with his father, but after four of them fell ill with COVID-19 symptoms, he echoed the British government's call to remain calm as his subjects recovered. Malosia's currency, the veloura, is pegged to the value of a 30-ounce tube of Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. Around $4. Sudden discounts in cookie dough could seriously disrupt Malosia's economy. Sometimes they claim territory at sea, such as uninhabited islands or floating seasteads anchored to the ocean floor. The Principality of Sealand is a disused naval platform 7.5 miles off the east coast of England that has its own sports teams and issues dukedoms and other noble titles at a price range starting from 29 pounds all the way up to 499 pounds or 630 dollars. So all you need to buy a dukedom is 630 American dollars. Why, a dukedom would look nice on your bedroom wall. The space nation of Asgardia founded by a Russian businessman, claims sovereignty of a satellite it arranged to have launched into orbit for the purpose. It is around the size of a bread tin. It plans to issue its own cryptocurrency. Emperor Jonathan, who recently completed a master's degree in theology, I shouldn't have read that, says that he notified his member of parliament and never heard back. Oh my. The kingdom of Mercia has resumed diplomatic communications with other micronations after a long silence. A recent coup was attempted in Austin, Asia. One micronation had an insurrection. It's been a very difficult time for our country. Emperor Jonathan said, who recounted how his officials in his online government plotted against him. He put down the revolt by suspending ostinatious virtual parliament and stripping citizenship from the deputy prime minister who led the rebellion. I have to stop. Mr. Baugh generates revenue by selling autographed pictures at $5 a pop, in addition to stamps, coins, and lip balm. We will continue to build and grow our nation, Mr. Baugh says, always seeking to make Melosia a better place each day for our citizens. Now, how's that? Now that's one way to be your own authority. You know, you can just shut your bedroom door and let the rest of the world go on. You don't hear to clean up your room. You don't hear come help with the dishes. You just rule your own kingdom. So just imagine, just, yes, yes. Hope, hope right here can say, I hereby crown me queen of Temoria. I hereby declare me Archduke of Nicolsonia. That has a nice ring to it. Nicolsonia. And Silas says, I hereby declare me Emperor of Larenda Stein. Now the quickest way for me to solve My authority problem is for me to declare I am David, the king of Atkinsonia. I answer only to me. But this quickest solution to solve my authority problem is not a lasting or satisfying solution. Eventually, you rebel against yourself. Have you ever been here? In the last message, we saw that there are certain symptoms of my authority problem. In 1st Samuel 15, verses 9, 20, and 21, we saw that those of us who have authority problems often engage in blame shifting. We engage in trying to shift the blame. Oh, Samuel, you don't understand. I didn't really want to do it, but the people wanted to spare when the Lord had said, don't spare anything. Blame shifting is a symptom of my authority problem. You'll find the second one in 1 Samuel 13. And let's turn back there. 1 Samuel 13. 1 Samuel 13 and 7. 13, 7. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal. And all the people followed him, trembling. And he tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed. But Samuel came not to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from Saul. And Saul said, bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. He went beyond his jurisdiction. And it came to pass that as soon as Saul had made an end of offering the bird offering, behold, Samuel came. Number two, people who resist authority are also characterized by impatience. People who resist authority are also characterized by impatience. I'm impatient because I'm driving my own agenda. Would you say that with me, please? I'm impatient because I'm driving my own agenda. Could we do it again, please? I'm impatient because I'm driving my own agenda. Saul did not wait for his spiritual authority to offer the burnt offering. He forged impetuously ahead on his own. trying to unite his followers around himself. He was circling the wagons to protect himself. There was one word written in bold uppercase letters across Saul's schedule and agenda. That was the word S-E-L-F. Self was written in bold caps across King Saul's agenda. People who resist authority are self-willed and impatient. You may have heard me use this before, but I'm using it again because self likes it. A few smiled. The rest of you are hiding behind masks. I like Jessica Nelson North's little poem. It's called The Tea Party. I had a little tea party this afternoon at three. It was very small. Three guests in all. Just I, myself, and me. Myself ate up the sandwiches while I drank up the tea. It was also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me. Sound like that inside your self-talk? I repeat, me, myself, and I. Do you sound like that inside your self-talk? Impatience is a mark of someone with the authority problem. Then look in verses 11 and 12. 11 and 12 in chapter 13. 11 and 12. And Samuel said, what hast thou done? And Saul said, because I saw that the people were scattered from me. Verse 12, therefore said I, the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, because I saw that the people were scattered from me. He said, I force myself to disobey. The third symptom of someone who has the authority problem is insecurity. Insecurity. Selfish people, me, myself, and I people are very insecure. Because as they imagine it, their whole existence hangs upon the security of the extent of their world which is me, myself, and I. So anything that threatens their world, which is no bigger than me, myself, and I, threatens their total existence. And so they behave as though everything revolves and depends upon themselves. People who resist authority are deficient in their dependence upon God. I'll say it one more time and I want you to join me. People who resist authority are deficient in their dependence upon God. Now try it with me please. People who resist authority are deficient in their dependence upon God. One more time. People who resist authority are deficient in their dependence upon God. We become insecure because we become our own God. We become insecure because we become our own God. I will be transparent, as everyone should be. When I worry and fret, it's because I've become my own God. And you worry. Yes, you do. You worry because you're letting yourself become your own God. You're not in charge. I'm not in charge. We worry and fret and politic and scheme because we've become our own God, our own authority. There's an old gospel song that says, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If we run around frantically, burdened down all the time, it's because we insist on being our own God. Take it to the Lord, the authority, and leave it there. Are you a worrier? If you're a compulsive worrier, it's because you're your own authority. You depend on you. We can begin to think and act as if all of our experiences and battles depend on us. But the problem is, deep inside, we know that we're not up to the problem. Now do the logic. When you depend on yourself to solve the problem, and deep inside you know that you're not up to the problem, it's no wonder you're anxious. You're depending on the wrong authority. When we get anxious and worrisome, and engage in machinations and manipulations. It's because we know that left to ourself, we are insufficient for the challenge or the task. And the sooner all of us realize that we're not up to the task, the better off we'll be. The sooner we make a transfer of the authority and the responsibility to God, the more peace we will have. The more you retain authority over your own life, the less peace you will have. Don't blame God for that. You took his authority away from him. It's not God's fault. It's your fault. We worry when we usurp God's authority in our lives. Saul was insecure because he trusted himself more than God. His insecurity bred petulance and a refusal to trust God for the timetable and the schedule, with respect to offering the sacrifice. Will we trust God or do we insist on trusting inadequate self? Failure to trust God with the problem is a serious stress builder. I repeat, failure to trust God with the problem is a serious stress builder. And unresolved stress leads to bad decisions. Unresolved stress which comes from not depending on God. Unresolved stress leads to bad decisions. It did so in the case of King Saul. There's a fourth symptom of having the authority problem. Look at it please in verse 7C of chapter 13. Chapter 13, verse 7C. It says, all the people followed Saul And then verse 8, see, and the people were scattered from him. And chapter 15, verse number 9, but Saul and the people spared Agag. And then verse 14, verse 14. Samuel said, what meaneth then this bleeding of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen? And Saul said, they, the people, have brought them from the Amalekites. The fourth symptom of someone who has an authority problem is men-pleasing, men-pleasing. He was a slave to his followers. If you want to be an unhappy leader, Just be a slave to your followers. Sometimes pastors can fall prey to the woman-pleasing syndrome. I'm not talking about any kind of attraction. I'm talking about the old biddy who has the most money in the church, and she always to preach and shaking her cane. If you don't stop preaching against those things, I'll stop tithing. And that's the sin of woman-pleasing. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul warned both the believers at Ephesus and the believers in Colossae to avoid being men-pleasers. Men-pleasers or women-pleasers have multiple authorities. Say that with me. Men-pleasers or women-pleasers have multiple authorities, and that'll drive you crazy. Oh, how did those fellows in the Old Testament ever survive with so many wives? Oh, you fellows will find out. Honey, take out the garbage. Honey, fix the faucet. Honey, straighten your tie. It's enough to have one authority, let alone a thousand wives. You fellas look like you're above the frame. I'll come talk with you about five years after you're married, and we'll see how above the frame you are. Men pleasers or women pleasers, have multiple authorities. Confirmed, confirmed men pleasers, public opinion driven people have as many authorities as they have acquaintances. Public opinion driven people have as many authorities as they have acquaintances. I want to please you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you. And after a while, I become like a chameleon on a piece of Scotch plaid. I explode. Do you know what chameleons are? I'm grateful to your biology teachers that you know. Chameleons try to turn whatever color they're placed on. Now, I'm opposed to cruelty to nature. I hug trees. When we try to have multiple authorities, when we try to be men-pleasers and women-pleasers, we'll go crazy! How about just have one basic authority in your life? God? Love your spouse, but have God? as your authority. Men-pleasing is a treadmill that quickly exhausts its participants. How many of you are considering that maybe you'll be a pastor, missionary, Christian school teacher? All right, some that's good. If you live to please men or women, you put yourself on a treadmill And you'll tie yourself out so quick. The last one is jealousy. First Samuel 18. First Samuel 18. With this I have to stop. First Samuel 18. Eight. And this lies at the heart of King Saul's problems In the latter part of his life, the crowd was cheering for David. And Saul was very wroth, chapter 18, verse 8. Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him. And he said, they have ascribed unto David ten thousands of victories. And to me, they have ascribed but thousands. And what can David have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward understood with jealousy. Jealousy is the fifth symptom of a person with an authority problem. This sounds like this in the self-talk. My authority! My authority loves my rival more than he loves me. Jealousy. My authority loves my rival more than he loves me. King Saul was jealous of David, and his jealousy hastened his demise. A little practical piece of advice for what it's worth. Saul was jealous of David, did not make him any more attractive to God. Saul's jealousy of David did not make Saul any more attractive to God. In fact, it just confirmed that Saul needed to go and David needed to be the king. I'm closing with this. Lyrics of a song. I didn't write it. Before I read the lyrics, I will give this introduction. When Jesus is really the Lord of our life, we will not have an authority problem because we will be obeying the God honoring authorities in our life as unto God. Whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. When Jesus is really the Lord of our life, we will not have an authority problem because we will be obeying the God-honoring authorities in our life as unto God's glory. In my heart, our kingdoms of a world that's all my own, it reminds us of these little micronations The inner heart, my heart, are kingdoms of a world that's all my own. Kingdoms that are only seen by myself and God alone. In the past, when I tried to rule my world, it just seemed to fall apart. So please, Jesus, be the Lord of all the kingdoms of my heart. I guess I only fooled myself. For I said I had healed it all, but in a secret corner of my heart was a kingdom that did not fall. Where is it in your heart? Your little micro nation that you will not let Jesus be Lord or authority over. I surrender now. Make my heart your throne. Lord, rule its kingdoms, great and small. For if you're not Lord of everything, you're not Lord at all. Jesus, be the Lord of all. Jesus, be the Lord of all the kingdoms. I wonder if the Holy Spirit has spoken about some little micronation hidden in some corner of your heart this morning. If the Holy Spirit, through the humor and through this look at Saul, has put God's finger on some little micronation, some little unyielded corner of your heart. And I promise I'll not tell anybody, but would you go this far? Would you take this step and raise your hand to say, yes, pastor, that there is, there is a corner. There is a corner that I need to go there. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes. Yes. Are there other? Yes. Yes. And others. All right. Give me all your hand. Please Lord. I have had to battle this for 73 years. The little micro nations, my little kingdoms, where I'm King David, in some corner of my heart. Thank you for each student, and please, Lord, help us to surrender all. We pray for Christ's sake. Thank you for joining us today. We'd love to hear from you. Our email address is GraceGlory7 at Juno.com. GraceGlory7 at Juno.com. Pastor David M. Atkinson also has a ministry on Facebook and invites you to connect with him there. Now, until the next time, remember to walk softly with the Lord.