RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY In Deut. 12:8, shortly before Israel was to cross over Jordan into the promised land, Moses said to Israel:  “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.”  In verse 25 of that same chapter Moses explained “that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after these, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.” In spite of warning and instruction, after Israel had settled in the land—and in the days of the judges—“every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  Judges 17:6 These people—for whom God had done so much and with whom He had been so patient, rejected the authority of God.  They recognized no authority but themselves.  They brought upon themselves all kinds of wickedness and corruption.  The book of Judges records the story of God’s wrath upon this disobedient people. This same philosophy which was adopted by Old Testament Israel is popular in our day.  We see more premarital sex today and people advocating that such is good and right.  We see the homosexual movement trying to destroy the sacred bonds of marriage between a man and a woman, as God ordained from the beginning.  We see the modern generation divorcing itself from a consistent moral code.  Recently, on an NBC television station, the interviewer was talking with a woman who was opposed to the institution of marriage.  She had a daughter and made it a practice to bring several men to her apartment each week.  The question was asked her “Doesn’t this kind of conduct have a bad effect on your child?”  Her answer was “there is no standard by which to determine what is good and what is bad; there is no manual.  No studies made, no research done, and nobody can tell you what is good or bad, what is right or wrong.”  As you can see we have a very serious problem in America.  A problem which could destroy our souls, the souls of our children and grand-children, our family, our society, schools and our nation.  This problem is the basic one of the the failure to respect legitimate authority. There is a solution, but we must learn to respect the authority, first of all of GOD.  He is the creator of the heavens and the earth and the giver of life and the sustainer of our very being.  It was God who made man and possesses all original authority.  God has always retained to Himself the right to govern man and has given us a divine rule-book, the BIBLE by which He seeks to govern man.  Because we are human beings, made in the image of God, we must: know God, believe Him, respect His will, be grateful for His plans and provisions for us and obey Him, and teach others about Him.  No man can fail to respect the authority of God without suffering tragic consequences—both here and hereafter. In the second place we must respect CHRIST, Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God.  Before His earthly ministry He was pre-existent with the Father, co-equal and co-eternal.  In harmony with divine Will He took the position of “Son”, came to earth to live as a human being.  In time, the Father gave all authority to the Son.  This is the burden of  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  In Matt. 28:18 “…all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”  God speaks to us today through His Son. (Matt. 17:5; Acts 3:22, 23; Heb. 1:1; 2:1-4; 12:25)  We must recognize and respect the authority of the Son. Thirdly, I like to mention we must have respect for the Bible.  God speaks to us through His Son.  The Son speaks to us through the Holy Spirit inspired  WORD.  The Old Testament was written for our learning Rom. 15:4), but we live in the time of the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We must respect the basic principle of listening to and being governed by the Word. 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 10:17; Heb. 11:6)  Numerous are the passages in Holy Writ that show the sin of disregarding Bible authority.  (2 Jno. 9; 1 Cor. 4:6; Gal. 1:8-9; Rev. 22:18-19)  We must be ready at all times to affirm the proposition that everything we do in matters religion must be authorized by the New Testament. In the fourth place, we must respect the CIVIL AUTHORIES.  Holy Writ teaches us that the civil powers are “ordained of God Rom. 13:1.  They also teach that we are to be in “subjection to the civil powers”.  The Christian should be the best citizen he can be and by doing so he honors God’s law in this regard.  The Christian must respect the laws which have been made for our protection.  We, as Christians, must honor and respect those persons who shoulder the responsibility in civil government.  We must obey the laws of the land unless, the government demands something of is which is contrary to God’s law. Acts 5:29.  We have no passage in Holy Writ that authorizes Christians to rebel against civil powers.  We can seek to bring change if changes need to be made and we must do this through the available provisions made by the civil powers.  We need to respect civil authority (Rom.    13; 1 Pet. 2:13), honor our civil rulers (1 Pet. 2:17), and pray for those in authority 1 Tim. 2:1,2). In the fifth place, we need to respect the ELDERS.  It is God’s plan that there be a plurality of elders in every church (Acts 14:23).  These men are “overseers”, “charged with the duty of seeing to it that things done by others are done rightly.”  There is a false doctrine, being taught even today, that an eldership has no authority.  It has wrought havoc in the church.  We need to keep in mind such passages in Holy Writ, as Acts 2:28-31; 1 Thess. 5:12- 13; Heb. 13:7).  Elders, according to God’s plan are not dictators, but they have the authority in the Lord’s church to overseer the flock. This sixth one needs a lot of work today and that is we must respect our PARENTS.  Parents have a frightening responsibility in the rearing of their children.  As parents we must bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. (Eph. 6: 4)  Children are to be obedient to their parents—just because it is RIGHT. (Eph. 6:1)  They are to “honor” their parents. Eph. 6:2)  Parents, on the other hand, have the God-given responsibility of  teaching their children to respect authority.  The first authority to which a child is exposed to is that of their parents.  Parents, we must begin early—say, age two weeks—teaching the child to respect authority.  As parents we must love our children enough to exercise proper discipline.  If children learn the basic lesson of respect for parental authority they will have the solid foundation upon which to learn respect for Divine authority and for civil authority Last of all, God’s Word teaches that the HUSBAND should be respected.  It is God’s plan for the husband to be the head of the family unit. (Eph. 5:23)  It is also God’s plan for the wife to be in subjection to her husband. (Eph. 5:22- 24; 1 Pet. 3:6)  It is a tragic fact that in our day there are some married men who refuse to be the head of the family unit, and there are some married women who refuse to allow the husband to be the head of the family unit.  America is plagued with the sin of matriarchy, and the sin of matriarchy could well destroy America.  May God help us to see to it hat husbands are husbands and wives are wives, according to Holy Writ.  Let us quit trying to make wives out of husbands and husbands out of wives.  We need to stop trying to make women out of men and men out of women.   Regardless of “women’s lib” or anybody else’s lib, the BIBLE still teaches that the husband is head of the family unit. Brethren, the popular philosophies, attitudes, and conduct so prevalent in our day are the same as those that destroyed, the ante-diluvian world, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Canaanites, the Northern Kingdom of O.T. History, the Southern Kingdom of O.T. History, the Babylonian Empire, the Roman Empire, and twenty-one more civilizations.  It is important that we learn anew, and that we re-emphasize, the basic principle of respecting legitimate authority.  If we respect the authority if the BIBLE we will respect the authority of God, Christ, Civil powers, the elders, parents, and husbands.  The Bible is the Word of God and is right and sets before us the right way.  It will guide us aright in this life, and will take us to heaven when we die.  Thank God for the Bible—the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. Bill Young