The leader as servant

Now we are going to study something of the word of the Lord and we are going to continue with the topic that I started last Sunday about authority. I want to invite you to look in the book of Romans, or the Letter to the Romans in Chapter 13, again, there are always so many texts, there are so many passages that we could use to base ourselves on what we want to discuss that I could pick several, but this is a very appropriate passage and the Lord placed this passage on my heart.

As you remember, and for the brothers who are visiting today or who were not there last Sunday, I undertook this sermon because it is linked to the sermon of the Sunday before, that is, two years ago. Sundays ago, I preached about obedience as a protection for the people of God, being obedient to the Father, being obedient to the word of the Lord.

We said that obedience is not a substitute, or rather, worship is not a substitute for obedience. It is good to adore the Lord, it is good to give to the Lord, but obeying is better than sacrifices, says the word of God. And when we obey the commandments of the word of the Lord, when we adhere to the principles of the word of God, all those beautiful commandments and principles that the Bible contains, we have blessed, prosperous lives, we have the coverage, the protection of God over our lives. .

And from there a number of things stuck with me from that sermon I preached on obedience, and it led me to the concept of authority, of also obeying authority. But I am referring above all to human authority, governmental authority, ecclesiastical authority, parental authority, that human authority under which we too, as Christians, are supposed to walk.

And I said that walking under authority is something precious, it's something that beautifies, not impoverishes. I believe that in the modern century, in modern times, as I also said last Sunday, for many people being subject to authority is almost humiliating. Many people conceive respecting authority, and submitting to authority as an impoverishment of one's dignity. In the modern century, more emphasis is placed on questioning authority, not trusting the authorities, always demanding, give me an account of everything, the initial position of people, or of many people in our time, I do not want to generalize too much, from the Modern culture is more about questioning authority and how people look at authority with suspicion. We look at institutions with suspicion, many people do not want to know about religion, they say, I submit to God but I do not submit to any church, I do not submit to any pastor, I do not submit to any denomination and that is not biblical.

I know that there have been many abuses of authority and there are, but we cannot go to the other extreme either because by doing this we are in conflict with very fundamental principles, both of the universe itself and of spiritual life, of the spiritual world . And that is why it is so important that the children of God learn to live in a position of respect for human authority, because obviously under God we always have to live under his authority. But there is more that still.

Now, I have also said that just as I am talking about subjecting ourselves to authority, we authorities must also learn to handle authority in a Christ-centric way, we cannot abuse our authority, we cannot make use of others and our authority God gives it to us so that we may be servants rather, so that we think about the welfare of those over whom we exercise authority. That is why authority must always be exercised with a spirit of meekness and service and consideration and respect for those over whom we exercise authority.

How many can say amen to that? That is to say, that both those who are under authority must submit to authority and those who are in authority must adhere to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Christ was a leader who was also a servant.

In English we speak of servant leadership, leadership of servants, or servant leadership, the person who is a leader is first and foremost a servant, a person who serves others, and that then makes people subject to authority much more easily, with much more good will because he knows that he is not going to be abused, oppressed, exploited, and that is valid for any area where authority is exercised, be it the church, be it a work, be it the civil governmental authority, whatever, always those principles of subjection to authority and of authority used in an appropriate way.

And I'm, before I even get into the text, but it comes to mind about that, the passage where, so I tell you there are so many beautiful passages in Scripture about authority. When the disciples, the sons of Sebedeo, approach Jesus with their mother to ask him that when the Lord is in his glory one sits to his right and another sits to his left, they come to ask Jesus Christ as a political favor . Lord, when you are already there in your kingdom, why don't you allow us to be your vice president and your co-director or whatever, they wanted, and they tried to do that covertly so that the other disciples would not notice . The other disciples noticed and got angry with these two because surely they also wanted the same thing. There was a heart to command, to exercise authority, but there was not a heart of humility and simplicity.

The Lord sensed that carnality that was in them wanting to exercise spiritual authority in a carnal and human way. Then the Lord told those who were asking him for this favor, he told them, well, first of all, it is not for me to grant it to you, it belongs to the Father. I don't have that... look at that, the Son says, what you are asking of me is not in my sphere of authority, the Father is the only one who can do that. Notice that the Lord there acknowledging the authority in his incarnation, acknowledging the authority of his Father who was in heaven. And secondly, he asks, can you drink from the cup that I am going to drink? What was that cup he was going to drink out of? The cross, the crucifixion. And they foolishly tell him, yes, we can because they didn't know what he was saying.

Then he says, well, it's true, you're going to drink from that cup because the Lord knew they were going to suffer when they were persecuted, when they were tested in their ministry later on, but he tells them, but you know what? So he called for a basin, like a punch bowl or whatever, and water and a towel and he told everyone, sit there and he proceeded to wash everyone's feet. Washing feet in the Hebrew culture was a matter of slaves and servants, very poor people and very low on the social scale. And the Lord washed the feet of each one of them. When he got to Peter, Peter was shocked that his Lord, who he knew was the Son of God, was going to wash his feet, and he said, no, Lord, I can't let you do that. because? Because Peter was still functioning according to the human scheme, where someone who is in such a high position is not supposed to be doing something so low. The Lord told him, Peter, if you don't allow me to do that, you won't have a part in my kingdom.

Come, because Peter was projecting his own concepts of authority. In other words, a person who is in authority should never humble himself before the person who is under his authority and the Lord said, in the kingdom of heaven it is not so. You have to stick to the principles. And it is another thing too, that many times we have to understand that unless the leader does not humble himself to another who is above him, or even humbles himself before those whom he directs, he or she cannot exercise authority. That is a very beautiful principle of Scripture.

I believe that a person who one day wants to exercise authority should always begin by being very respectful of the authority that is above him or her. That is why I believe that many times children, when they do not respect their parents and when they do not submit to their parents, I believe that they are creating traps for their lives in the future and creating the bases for suffering because many times a rebellious child will have rebellious children because that is a cycle. The universe is always in charge of ordering things and establishing balances. I believe that a son who has been subject to his parents and who has honored his parents has a better chance of having subject, submissive and obedient children than one who has been rebellious and careless with the authority of his parents.

So, we see that in that scene that I haven't read but it's already part of our sermon, there are very big, very powerful principles of authority involved. And it is that that is throughout the entire Bible, the idea of living under authority. So at the end of that drama the Lord tells the disciples, he tells them, look, you call me Lord and you say well, because I am the Lord, but if I, being the Lord, have washed your feet, what you are my disciples, you also have to be willing to do the same with others. The Lord established there a powerful principle of what authority is in the Kingdom of God, that we should not abuse others, we should not try to find shortcuts to reach authority.

Whenever a person legitimately reaches authority, it is because they have been broken, tested, humiliated, punished. It is the only legitimate way for one to come to authority through the cross, the crucifixion. We cannot reach authority simply, well, because I know, I am, I do, I have. Many people believe that this is enough for them to have authority. There are people who come to the churches and believe that because I have a degree and because I was this and that in another church, they have to make me do it... I have never believed in that. You have to win people over. How many can say amen to that? You have to acquire credibility, you have to make yourself known, you have to know the people you are going to lead. In the best of cases, that is what should happen and people should say to you, come, get up here, get on and direct us because you have earned the respect and affection and trust of the people. That is the way one comes to authority.

Well, that sermon is free for you. But let's go to the word of the Lord for a moment, again, look at Romans Chapter 13. That's why I say from Genesis to Revelation the principle of living under authority is there, everywhere, when one opens up to that idea of subjection to authority one finds everywhere throughout Scripture. Romans, Chapter 13, among the beautiful advice that the Apostle Paul gives to his readers, he says here;

“... everyone must submit to the superior authorities... “

Look, everyone says, there is no exception, we all have to submit to the superior authorities.

“... because there is no authority except from God and those that exist by God have been established...”

Now, let me tell you that this verse is very problematic but we don't have time to unravel everything, because let's say Idi Amin, in Uganda, a terribly dictatorial and cruel and bloodthirsty man, I don't necessarily believe that God has said, in fact he is already dead, he has been dead for years, but a person like that is simply a criminal who is out there taken power over a nation, in my opinion, is not actively placed there by God. And I believe that a people has the right to resist that authority because I do not think that is why the passages of the Bible must be taken in their context and there are many passages that qualify one another, but Paul is speaking of an authority legitimately constituted and of an authority, because if we start to question all authority, where is the order going to be? Every authority always has imperfections, has defects, it is impossible for there to be a perfect authority and not make mistakes.

So you have to be careful to strike a balance as well. But interestingly Paul is talking here mostly, I think, about Roman authority. Paul is writing to Christians who were under the authority of Rome, they lived in Rome and the Roman empire was a very strong empire, very dictatorial. However, it is interesting that Paul does not say to rebel against the Romans, nor does he tell the Jews who are under the Roman empire, in Palestine, to rebel against this authority which is an empire.

That is to say, that for me, it is important if I believe that this is the word of God speaking, that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to me and that this is not a mistake of a man writing in the light of his time, I have I have to realize that even sometimes when there are authorities with whom I disagree, I have to submit and submit to them. Now, there will be extreme cases in which I believe that then it is necessary to ask for more illumination from God. but here it says:

"... submit everyone to the superior authorities because there is no authority except from God and those that exist by God have been established..."

There is a principle there that I believe that every Christian should respect. For example, the state troopers that are directing the federal highways, Route 93, don't have policemen, they have state policemen specifically, those people are perhaps not the nicest people in the world, right? and I wish they had a pretty little bow that would inspire confidence, but they come with their boots and their very strong suit calculated to inspire respect and fear and all these kinds of things. If I wonder who this man is to command me, and if they stop me, or whatever, and I start to speak badly to him or in my heart I have a root of bitterness against him or whatever, what will happen? . Rather, I am going to get into trouble with that person and what is more, I am going to be operating under a principle of rebellion. This person, whoever he is, represents something that protects the community. These people are necessary and they have a very difficult job to do, and I imagine they meet all kinds of strange people, there are policemen who lose their lives on the roads, and they have to exercise their authority in a strong, clear way. , decisive and I cannot question, perhaps there is someone who is abusing his authority a bit, or is hateful, whatever, but my position as a Christian is, this person represents the government, represents order, I must I hold on to her and I have to thank God that this person is there because otherwise it would be chaos on the road. And I must, in a sense, in my heart conceive rather sympathy for this man who is doing a very difficult job and give him the respect he deserves.

I like when I approach a police officer, I treat him as an officer, the first thing I say is, officer, before I address him or her, because I believe in respecting authority and that that person is doing important, serious, dangerous work, and that person protects the community and deserves special respect. And I delight in giving that person his rank and his respect and as a Christian I want that person to feel honored. And I like to respect authority and I think that's good. And so a young man, for example, I tell young Christians, look, when you approach an older person, an old man or an adult who is older than you, how good it is when you greet that person with respect and you show that young person that you respect them, that you value their age and you treat them with respect. That is beautiful and that blesses the young and blesses the adult as well and there is an order.

I believe that in the Church of Jesus Christ those values should prevail, that's beautiful. And I, as pastor of this congregation, there are people to whom I must also pay respect in spiritual authority. There are people who are above me in knowledge, in experience, in exercising authority over larger people or broader areas of the church, and I as a pastor must have the joy of giving that person special respect and recognizing his authority. I don't have to say, no, because I am a pastor of a church, I don't know, I don't know how much. No, it's a lie, one is nobody, one always has to... how can I give him the respect that a person deserves, and we always have to live in that spirit of respecting the authority of others, submitting to superior authorities. We all have authority over one another.

I think that this world has so many problems, this society because it has changed the principle of subjection to authority for the principle of questioning authority and when that happens all kinds of problems begin to be created, culture begins to be questioned, it begins to question the moral values we have received, it begins to question even the myths that a culture needs to inspire. You see that today, for example, in the study of history, writers delight in finding fault with the great heroes of the nation. Ah, they say over there, one thing that children were taught a lot is that this story about, I think it was George Washington, who refused to cut down a cherry tree when he was a boy because it was a cherry tree, was used This is to talk about the character of George Washington, who was a respectful man and who, even as a child, was a great leader.

Well, today, it has already been proven that this was not true, that this was an invention of people, that George Washington did not even have a cherry tree, that this is a lie that was told. And the myths we are continually destroying to lower the heroes to the human level, to turn them into mere human beings. That, to me, is a rebellious, diabolical spirit, which is what led Satan to be thrown from heaven when he rebelled against God as Lucifer. And that has been translated to humanity, the rebellion against authority.

And that, brothers, look, I'm not getting off topic, I hope you see that, because this topic is so broad and I like to qualify it with many things. Throughout history, the great cultures have always understood the importance of submitting to authority. The Greeks have a myth, in Greek mythology there is the myth of Sisyphus, you can read it later in your encyclopedia. Sisyphus rebelled against the gods in Greek mythology, he rebelled against the gods and the gods condemned him for all eternity to roll a round stone, like a wheel, climb it up a mountain, himself with his own effort and that rock always it got off and he had to go back up again and got off again, and that was his sentence. For all eternity he had to climb that rock and watch it come down and come back. And I think there is, by the way, a moral lesson and that is that the person who rebels against authority ends up repeating the same mistakes, always, over and over again.

When cultures rebel against authority and operate under a principle of rebellion, they end up continually making mistakes, continually because they never learn. They are always questioning the wisdom that comes from the past. There is no accumulated wisdom, they are always knocking down all the myths, knocking down all the moral examples, like a son too, a young man who does not respect gray hair, a young man who does not get away from authority, a parishioner who does not respect the authority of his pastors or their spiritual leaders does not grow. He is always making the same mistakes, climbing the same stone to the top of the mountain to come back down and start building again in life. Whereas when the person respects the myths of their culture, respects the heroes of their culture, celebrates the gray hairs and the achievements of those who have come before one, that is a culture that accumulates wisdom and is blessed and each time is wiser and better, as is the individual.

I think that is why the Apostle Paul says here in Romans 13, “.,.. submit every person to the superior authorities because there is no authority except from God and those that exist by God have been established. ..”

Again, I believe that if the Apostle Paul had had time he would have written much more to qualify what he was saying there. But the Bible is not written for lawyers, it is written for people who understand what it is saying. Most of the authority is constituted by God, the principle of authority comes from God and we have to see our rulers, we have to see our leaders as representing a principle that God has established. And we must not only submit to man, to the state police, for example, but to the God who is above the state police who allows the concept of police to exist in the world. I am respecting God through that policeman, who has already established his authority.

Now, in verse 2 it says, “... so whoever opposes authority resists what is established by God...”

In other words, when you resist the authority of those who are above you, you are not only resisting that person but you are resisting God who made you. That is a very strong statement but it is made by the word, not me. Then, he says:

"... and those who resist bring condemnation to themselves...."

Brothers, that is very true, the person who lives questioning authority, the rebellious person, the disobedient person , the hard-working person, the person who doesn't take advice, the person who is always fighting against the authorities, always gossiping about the authorities. You know that there is always a person at work who is always complaining about the bosses and the things they do and is always criticizing and always has a better opinion and a better way of doing things. How many have come across this like this at work?

That kind of attitude is what God condemns. Look, the person who operates in an attitude of rebellion in any field, does not understand that he is carrying evil and failure and himself. My brothers, I prefer to err on the side of being too subject to authority and not questioning authority enough than to go the other way and be in rebellion and question authority more than necessary. I believe that if we are going to sin, we err on the side of excessive respect for authority than on the side of excessive questioning of authority, because when we rebel against authority we bring condemnation, we are under judgment.

The young person who does not submit to paternal, maternal authority, has a kind of pressure in front of him that does not let him progress, life will always be against him or her. I have said before, many of the people that I see, for example, in prisons, when I have visited prisons, know all the men that I have met in prisons who are very attractive people. There are many handsome men in prisons. I have wondered why that is and I think that, look at my theory, this is a little unhealthy perhaps but I must say what my theory is: and it is that many times and also strong, it is that many times that type of person is created If you are not careful, you can create a pride that they are better than others and they are cunning and many of these men are very smart. Many criminals are well above the average intelligence of the regular person. And when an attitude of rebellion or pride is created, life then throws itself at them and they begin to stumble, they begin to question authority, they begin to stray from the safe boundaries of respect for authority, they begin to want to change a little things and adjust the laws to their own convenience, they rebel against their parents, they rebel against people, they are conceited, proud, and what happens: a millstone ends up falling on their heads and many times they end up in jail, they end up in crime, they end up doing wrong things because pride was born in it.

Before the act of rebellion comes pride, believing that one is better than the authority that is above one. And one has to be careful with that. Many people on the street, when I see people sometimes, those poor people that I always pray for when I come here to church, that I pass by the Boston Medical Center, many of those people that are already completely fallen into the life, you see that they have been drug addicts for many years, or they are homeless, or they are devastated, but look, they get into you, sometimes the light is green for the driver and they don't care, they care they get on top and if you look at it wrong, if you honk at it or something, many of these people do not respect the laws, they do not respect public order, the social order and I think that rebellion comes from children, from young people and for that fail in life.

While the person who girds himself with truth and justice and authority has God's blessing on him, if he is not going to have God's condemnation, he is going to have God's judgment, he is not going to progress , you will be fighting against the current. Because as I was saying last Sunday, the universe itself is constituted according to laws of authority and we have to flow according to those laws of authority and by doing so we are blessed. Instead of fighting against the nature of existence, we are working with the wind behind us, taking our ship to a safe harbor.

You can say amen if only to show me you're there. I see their bodies but I want to make sure they are listening.

"....Those who resist bring condemnation to themselves because magistrates are not there to instill fear in those who do good but in evil..."

In other words, if you are respecting the laws you You don't have to be afraid of a cop, but if you're pulling into the lanes and running, how's one? Looking in the mirror to see if there is a police officer behind or to the sides or hiding, and I confess that sometimes I fall into that category. But if you're going over the speed limit, what are you going to be doing? Looking to see... that car that is back there, it seems to have something on it, it seems to be a policeman, it will be gray or it will be blue. Is it a volkswagen or will it be a ford. One is afraid. Now, when one is respecting authority, one is very calm, a policeman standing there, crossing, oh, hello, how are you. You are still happy. Now, what happens if you go faster, you see a policeman, your heart wants to jump out of your mouth, you hit the brake right away, the car jerks to the side of the brake so hard that you hit because you saw the policeman, but if you are well, happy, you are doing well, the policeman is not a problem for you.

And that's what the Apostle Paul says here. The magistrates are not there to instill fear in the one who does good, but in the bad. If I am calm in my heart, I do not have to fear the authority, the police authority that all this is against chaos, it is to oppose chaos, oppose evil, but if you are good, respect, love, cooperate with authority.

“..Want, then, not to fear authority, do what is good and you will have praise from it because it is God's servant for your good but if you do what is bad, fear it, because it does not carry the sword in vain because it is servant of God, an avenger to punish those who do wrong..."

I, brothers, I don't know about you, but I believe that the police are a blessing, I believe that Christians can serve in the police, I believe in armies, I am not a pacifist. I bless the Lord for the United States Army, and for the soldiers, I bless the Lord for the policemen who have their good gun there, the bigger the better, God bless them. I don't have a problem with that, it's not the best obviously, I wish we didn't need police, I wish we didn't need armies but as long as there are ruffians in this world, and as long as there are chaotic governments, as long as there are evil people and armies used in an inappropriate way, The armies will be needed, the police will be needed and I believe that a Christian can be in an army and I bless him in the name of the Lord and some young people from our church are or have been in the army, what a blessing, we must pray for them.

Now let them exercise authority properly. Because I think that sometimes in today's progressive Christian world, there is a kind of disdain for people who are in the police or in the military. You know, it's been created as something that having a police son, or a son in the military is like, I don't know, it's like having the one who works at a gambling house or something. No, I think that's part of it, it's very good, it's necessary. In this world we need those authorities and we must respect them, we must thank God for them, we must pray for them, we must pray for God to enlighten them, we must pray so that they exercise their authority in a healthy way. That is, be careful that a root of bitterness against authority in its different manifestations gets into our minds. We have to thank God because we live in a sinister world where authority is necessary and God has established it for the blessing of humanity and people need to carry the sword, so to speak. The sword is necessary and they carry the sword because God allows it and it must be understood that this is part of the human reality that we inhabit.

"He is a servant of God, an avenger to punish those who do evil, for which it is necessary to be subject to him, not only because of the punishment but also for reasons of conscience..."

in other words, respect Not the policeman because he has a baton in his hand that will hit him over the head if he doesn't do it. No, respect him simply because he is an authority and because he is under divine authority and his Christian conscience dictates that this is the way it should be.

“... well, for this you also pay taxes, because they are servants of God who continually attend to this very thing....”

Who pays the policemen? Who pays the soldiers and armies? The state, and who pays the state? You and me. Remember, April 15, I'm sorry to spoil your day, but it comes around at some point, when you pay your taxes and then you pay for electricity, you pay for gas, for the street, for the sidewalks on which you walk , by the highways, by all these things including the police and the ambulances and the fire brigade, all of this. You pay because they are servants of God who continually attend to the order of humanity.

So look at what verse 7 says, it's the summary of everything he's saying here, he says.

“... pay everyone what you owe....”

Brother, don't be left owing anyone anything, if you owe people money, pay them money. If you owe people respect, pay them respect. If you owe people obedience, pay them obedience, what you owe, and that is something very important, in general it is not just authority, any area of life. If you owe someone praise, give them praise. If someone did something good, look, you tell that person, listen to me, what you did was good, I congratulate you, you did it well. Let's be people who always give people what they deserve, especially the good.

and Paul sums it up, “... pay everyone what they owe...”

In other words, be the boss at your job, give him what he's owed; be it the elder in a congregation, or the elders in a congregation, give him; be your Sunday school teacher, pay him what you owe him; be the teacher in the secular school where you are, pay him what you owe him; be the cop on the street, pay him what you owe him, be the president of the United States. Look, there are people today, for example, forgive me, I know that many disagree with President Bush and all that, what he has done and you can have your opinion, but I don't think we have the right to be laughing. and making ridiculous of our president. I believe that if we are going to criticize him, let's criticize him in a respectful way. That's my opinion, I don't know how you feel about it, but I think it's important.

Nowadays, in the United States there has been an industry of ridiculing this man and using forms, the American loves, as I say, to lower their leaders. That is something of the secular American culture above all that I find horrifying where we talk about our leaders in totally disrespectful ways. I believe that we have to cultivate adequate forms. Those people are there, they deserve respect. We can criticize them, we can disagree with them, but let's use appropriate forms, because we owe them a certain respect for what they represent. It is not the man, that is not a man, only the one who is there. That man represents the nation, he is an incarnation of the nation and he must be treated with a certain respect.

The Bible says, look at something interesting, another concept of authority, it says that when Archangel Michael fought with Satan, we don't know what it specifically refers to, but at some point there was a hand-to-hand fight between that powerful angel of God that it is Michael and Satan, he says that Michael did not dare to utter a curse against Satan but rather said that the Lord rebuke you, and then the writer adds, that is in Judas, let us be careful, because there are people out there who are speaking ill of the principalities and the powers and the authorities, and they do not know that they are getting into a tremendous mess.

He knows that there are Christians out there that the devil, I don't know what, that I have him under my feet, that I kick him and hook him around here and I don't know what, look, be careful and that's why you see that they are running around with black eyes and with problems in life and failures and things, because that being, Satan, is a being, yes, he has offended God, God has thrown him out of his presence, but he is a general, and it is a general that a God is going to put in his place, but meanwhile you treat him with, not with respect, but with deference. I don't have to be speaking ill of the principalities, if they attack me, I'll see what I do in the name of the Lord and I defend myself, but I don't have to be there talking about the devil in disrespectful ways or whatever. No, that is a being that must be given its rank and dealt with according to biblical principles, refer the cause to the Lord, Christ. I miss Christ, Roberto Miranda can't fight him and you have to respect authority.

Notice that, not even Archangel Michael dared to curse Satan, he used a proper formula, a proper protocol, may the Lord rebuke you. It's like armies. You know that in the armies a general of an enemy army is treated with great courtesy when he is captured, normally if he leaves according to the rules of war, a captured general has to be treated according to his rank. Because? Because the one who uses authority knows how authority moves, knows that there is a certain respect for ranks, symbols have a certain power and that is understood by the human people there, the human being in human institutions, how much more should we Christians understand those spiritual principles.

I believe that many of the things that the church suffers at this time is because they have lost the understanding of those mysteries of the spiritual life. I am closing this completely.

Why am I preaching these things, brothers? Because I believe they are valuable, they are important for your blessing, for your prosperity, for your benefit. As your pastor, I want to bless you, giving you things that I think are important because in the church of Jesus Christ much of the understanding of these mysteries has been lost. We have mixed culture with revelation and then we have taken out things that are against the culture in which we live because they clash with it, and then we stop preaching it so that people don't get upset, they don't get offended and this and that, and you know, we don't do it good, we do it bad, on the contrary, we steal the knowledge of how the universe works and how to move prosperously in life.

The father who doesn't teach his children to respect authority and doesn't discipline them and doesn't confront them and doesn't speak straight to them, besides loving them and affirming them and giving them affection and everything else, but the father who doesn't teach his children to walk under authority and respect authority and doff your hat to gray hairs, you are stealing from your child, and you are doing him harm, and you are setting conditions for his future failure.

As a Christian people we have to teach our children to be respectful of authority and in the church we have to operate according to rules of authority because I believe the churches are very, very, sometimes poorly taught regarding this. That concept has been lost, that healthy fear of authority. God has put in my heart, brothers, at this time an ardor, so to speak, a zeal to teach these principles that are countercultural, they go against the current that I see in the modern church but they are principles that have to be rescued and put back in the place of prominence so that the people of God can be blessed, so that the Holy Spirit can manifest freely, so that the gifts of the Holy Spirit can flow freely because I believe that the spirit of God is offended by all the liberties we have allowed ourselves in the church. We have lax churches, churches that have lost that vigilance, that healthy fear of the mysteries of the Holy Spirit and that is why the spirit of God has moved away and by the Holy Spirit does not manifest itself with more power and more freedom in the midst of His people because each one is like a lawless goat, as we say out there, each one by his side, running around, doing what he wants and we do not operate according to principles.

And God wants to restore the mysteries of his kingdom, God wants to restore a supernatural mentality to the people of God and that sound advice from the word of God is needed, that teaching is needed that is like lye soap that scratches when touched it puts, but cleanses the skin, cleanses the pores and allows there to be a blessing.

I end with a dream that I had last night that has something to do with what I am telling you here and feel the Lord share it, because I have had some dreams that I believe are from the Lord and this is the second time in these months that I dream in this manner, concerning the same subject. I don't have much time to explain it, but I did see in the dream, it was like I was seeing a street, as if they took this street here and opened it up and I could see inside and what I saw was like, it was like a pipe that it began to come out of the earth, it came underground but it began to emerge on the surface. I thought it was a tube, but I realized that it was more like the body of a snake, very long, very big, about 8 or 10 inches in diameter, very thick. When I began to follow it and to follow its current there at the end you could see completely that it was the body of a snake. When I got to where the head of the snake was, it was a church, I entered the church and there was the head of the snake, it wasn't a snake's head, it was like a horse's head, it was a little animal, but big, the head was big. And next to it was another head, it was a male and a female and they were both lying there sleeping and when I asked the person what that was. It was like a shepherd, a priest, he told me, well, this is a very beautiful animal, we don't know where it comes from but we are taking care of it and look how beautiful it is, how noble it looks.

It was obviously a sinister being. He was tucked there, both heads, asleep in the most comfortable way inside that sanctuary. And it is the second time that I have dreams similar to this of a church where the devil is involved in it, he is giving way and the church has no knowledge of what it is dealing with due to its ignorance of spiritual principles. He doesn't understand that he is dealing directly with something demonic and therefore the demonic spirit has free rein to do whatever he wants in the realm.

Those two beings that were there were evidently contaminating that place and they didn't care that they were very active. They were not moving, they were asleep, but why did they have to be very active if with their presence they were dominating and contaminating everything. And this pastor, or priest, or whatever, ignorant, with his mystical teaching, did not understand that what he had was the very presence of evil within his congregation.

And I believe that the universal church of Jesus Christ at this time, brothers, is like this. there are doctrines of demons in the church, there is a demonic presence in the churches. There is Satan's domain in many churches and there are people, and there are leaders who are ignorant of the rules and laws of spiritual warfare and of how evil moves in the world and within the church, who cannot discern, who do not know the God's word.

And we are allowing our churches to be contaminated, the spirit of the Lord does not move, there is no authority, we have exchanged the eternal truth of God for principles of men and so we are not surprised that there is no power, rather what is it is pollution and the devil has free rein to do whatever he wants in the midst of God's people. The only thing that will rescue the church is sound teaching, recovering the eternal principles of the word of God, putting in their place the profound laws of the spirit and that we Christians can walk as the first Christians walked two thousand years ago, knowing the mysteries of the word of the Lord and then God will be able to manifest his power in our midst.

How many can say amen to what I'm saying? Amen. That is what is behind this sermon. If the Lord gives me space, I think there is still one more sermon on this topic because it is a very important topic and I want to put all the necessary nuances on it and you will see, I am going to work with other texts because I want to present my case like a good lawyer so that there is no doubt in the jury that this is according to the law of God, according to the principles of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And I want this to be a blessing for our youth, for our leaders, for myself who am preaching this sermon, for our entire church, that our church be blessed through these principles that God wants us to re-establish in the midst of his people.

Let's lower our heads for a moment, ask the Lord to give us wisdom to navigate these deep waters. Father, we give this time to you, help us Lord to operate according to your mysteries, these things so deep that many times we do not even understand when we say them. Forgive us for our rebellious spirit, forgive us many times because we have gambled with your glory and your authority, forgive us for exchanging your eternal truth for cultural principles, many times. Help us to be a sober people, a simple people, a meek people, a people subject to authority. We surrender our church to you, Lord, to be governed by your eternal principles. We thank you, Lord. Thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.