submit to each other

I want you to go with me to the word of the Lord in Ephesians Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 as well, part of them. It is a whole subject that has to do with it, as you know we are talking about the subject of authority and we have been working on it for a few weeks, and since I was away these days I could not continue with the subject, but there are many things that the Lord has put on my heart, and I feel that this is a seminal sermon series in the sense that they are laying a foundation for the life of our church.

Rarely do I feel like, I mean, I feel so convinced that I am preaching in the spirit in a prophetic attitude and that God is speaking to our church and is speaking to my life as with this series of sermons on authority, which I didn't really have in mind going in that direction. But God is speaking to us because God wants to prepare us as a church, God wants to prepare us as a community.

You will remember that on October 5th, God changed my sermon and I was talking about how God is preparing to unleash an authority over his church such as he has not had up to now, the church, or at least in many, many centuries and that the The church of Jesus Christ has to prepare itself to exercise that authority that we are going to exercise over nations, over governments, over cultural lives and many things, because I believe that there is a revival that is coming. And the church of Christ is going to have authority in this time and we have to handle that authority correctly, God wants to develop an apostolic authority over his church. I told them about how in the origins of the church of Christ, for example in the book of Acts, we see that the Apostles had an authority that Christ had given them and they were the authority that God used to give his instructions to the first Christians, when there was a doctrinal controversy, when there was a need for direction about some decision that was going to govern the life of the Christian community, they went to the Apostles who were in contact with God in a special way and they gave the advice that then he had to follow the church.

That has been lost over time, there is still something of that in the Catholic Church, in fact, it has a very clear hierarchy and there is a direction, there is a very defined structure in the Catholic Church. And when the Pope speaks from a chair, sitting in his chair of authority, it is the guideline that goes through the entire church. That comes from those ancient backgrounds, very ancient, where there was that sense of authority.

Well, I believe that God wants to do something similar at this time, but it is necessary that the leaders who are going to exercise that authority have it according to the spirit of Jesus Christ, a spirit of serving the people whom they lead, and that on the other Part also those who are led know how to submit to the authority of their leaders, so that there can be harmony.

The church cannot function efficiently and effectively unless there is a change in the operating mentality at this time. People like each one want to do their thing and each one has a different opinion and we are in a culture that greatly exalts opinions and human rights in which I absolutely believe, democracy, criticism of institutions, skepticism towards institutions. As I have been told so many times, it is the modern spirit, it is a critical spirit towards institutions and towards leaders.

Leaders have failed us so many times, why do we have the crisis that we currently have in the economy of this country, and in the world economy. Because our leaders have been driven by greed. The financial leaders, the economic leaders of this nation have exploited us to a certain extent, and they have given us wrong leadership, one of the great scandals of this time has been, these executives who give themselves salaries of millions and millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars and they also assign it to them and often manipulate the numbers and the financial books, they have created all kinds of false systems that have established a failed, fragile foundation and for now everything has collapsed, everything has collapsed and We have discovered that these leaders have been making pyramids and all kinds of inventions based on greed, on the exploitation of people and have not been attentive to the needs of their clienteles. They've been selling counterfeit products, in other words, and that's been one of the big scandals.

Unfortunately, even at the government level there has not been adequate supervision and we suffer a lot in the world, even in this country, which is relatively benign in its governmental direction, because there are countries much worse than the United States, let me tell you, but still here our leaders many times they have conspired with financial interests to enrich themselves around the world. This is a big conspiracy and sometimes there are even Christian leaders in the government who exploit us and misuse their authority. And so that often discredits those people who call themselves Christian, people say, look at that senator, look at that congressman saying that he is a Christian and look at how he behaves.

And this has done a lot of damage in our times because that is what causes so much suffering, people who are not attentive to the needs of the people and who deceive themselves to get rich by pretending that they are looking out for the interests of the people.

And the Lord Jesus Christ already saw those centuries ago, and that is why he spoke of a leadership that would serve the people, a leadership that would not rule over it, that would not exploit those it led, but would serve them and take care to pay attention to their needs.

When I was now in Africa, the subject on which they asked me to speak to these young African university leaders was precisely the subject of servant leadership, leadership of servants, leadership that serves, leadership that is given to people over whom there is authority. . The Christian leader is a leader who is supposed to bless and serve those over whom he has authority, not take advantage of them. They told me, in Africa, as also happens in Latin America and in other parts of the world, there are many leaders, they said, even Christians who when they come to power then what they want is to grow up and other Christian leaders who when they come to power forget of their Christian roots and they forget the poor, they forget the needy, and they simply want them to pay homage and to give them a lot of respect and a lot of things, but they forget that they are servants so they said, please talk about the leadership that serves others.

Let me tell you, a leadership that doesn't work, doesn't work. That occurred to me now. If one doesn't work, it doesn't work. You have to serve others to truly have authority in the Kingdom of God. And from that, I already entered the sermon, by the way, but it is very important that we understand this part.

Now, of course, just as I say one thing I say the other, one must also submit to authority. When there is legitimate authority, when there is biblical authority, when there is authority based on solid spiritual and Christian values, one must submit and one must make life simple and pleasant for their authorities.

There are people who are like a nation, do you know what a nation is? We Dominicans say, it is like a tumor on the side that we leaders suffer and we say, Lord, what a pity, what a guilt I am paying that you have put on me. Moses, the poor fellow, had a lot of difficulty in that area, but I am not referring to you, brothers, you are a great blessing, always, always have been. I thank the Lord, by the way for my brothers from León de Judá. There's every now and then a little thing here and there, but no, usually thank the Lord it's a great blessing.

I'm looking for a quote, Hebrews 13:17 I think it is, where the Apostle Paul says for example, look, this is nothing new. The struggle of the pastors with the congregations and all this is nothing new. This has to be taken with a grain of salt. That comes with the territory and that's fine, but God tells us to hold on.

Look at what verse 17, Chapter 13 of Hebrews says: "... obey your shepherds and submit to them because they watch over your souls as those who will give an account so that they do it with joy and not complaining because this is not profitable for you …”

You see? This is nothing new. Already in the first century of the church, the writer of Hebrews was telling the congregations that read his letter, look, make life easy for your leaders, don't make them always flinch and complain. They remember poor Moses, what happened to him, that they took him to such anger that he hit the rock with the stick, and the rod, and what happened to poor Moses? He could not enter the promised land. They bothered the poor man so much that his fuses blew.

I am speaking, brothers, that is why no, in the Bible there is a scheme of authority, you have to exercise authority correctly and you have to submit to authority correctly. And that's why I believe that God set me up and got me to talk about this and I have discovered all the deep dimensions and layers that there are concerning the issue of authority. And I believe that God wants to bless our church, God wants the Holy Spirit to move more freely among us, for our different departments and ministries to run smoothly, efficiently, when there is that sense that one leader is subject to another and that it is subject to another and the other to another, and there is a glorious chain of authority where none of us exploit one another but we are all subject to the head that is Christ Jesus. Amen.

I am the first one that I have to submit to, I have to submit to the church, I have to submit to Christ, I have to submit to the word, so that I can direct you. The other pastors have to do the same too. In the praise group those who direct the praise, let's say brother Gonzalo, has authority, the pastor has delegated to him the direction of the ministry of praise, so he must first pray, he reads the word, makes sure he is exercising his authority with meekness, with love and then he gives instructions, the others can dialogue with him if something is not right. Sure, you can talk to your leader, but there has to be a clear direction. If everyone is saying, no, I want this chorus to be sung in A minor and the other one is not, no, it has to be in A major, and this and that, then there is no harmony, then everything is blocked.

The same with the hujieres, the hujieres have their role. There are different groups of hujieres, Sister Cecilia López leads the team and there are about 6 or 8 different teams that take turns every Sunday, those teams have their leader. Well, those leaders must rule in authority, subject to their head and those below them must also move in harmony, and in that way the glory of God is manifested. Amen.

The church has to learn to move in authority and we are not always going to agree with the people who lead us. That is where one has to, so I am not saying that there is no process, that there are no questions, that one does not agree with something, no, but instead of talking about their leader behind their backs and gossiping and making life difficult for him. Look, go to your leader, speak to him at the appropriate time, in private, speak respectfully, clearly, and then that leader will listen. He is going to tell you, look, I see it this way and then with the Lord's help everything will be fine even if you don't agree one hundred percent but at least we know that I have already discharged my responsibility and now I am going to hold on and there is blessing in that, brothers.

A church is blessed, that must also happen at work, at school, in the context of the family, everywhere there must be people who know how to relate to the authority structures that exist. That is a great blessing for the church.

Look here in Ephesians Chapter 5, I think it's beginning with verse 21, if I'm not mistaken, look how, I chose this passage specifically because I want to illustrate to you how concepts of authority penetrate the most normal things in life, at home, at work, in the relationship between parents and children. I have told you, remember this, that the Bible is founded on a structure where the concept of authority is taken seriously, where God is a God who establishes authorities and he expects those authorities to be respected. Everything in the Bible sort of conjugates, it is interpreted in a context of authority and then there are words that are addressed to leaders and there are words that are addressed to those under their leadership. And there is like a loving dance between the two, the directed and the leaders. And each one submits to the other and that allows for harmony at home, at school, at the workplace, at church.

And if you are going to see here where the Apostle Paul speaks in the context of the authority of family and work, how these things are illuminated. Look at the first thing that the Apostle Paul says in verse 21, Chapter 5 says:

"... submit to one another in the fear of God..." Submit to one another, the issue of authority is already prefigured there. How interesting, he says, submit to one another, what follows in the rest of this passage, in the rest of Chapter 5 and in Chapter 6 is also an elaboration in detail of that general word that he just gave, submit to one another. others in the fear of God. What follows is an illustration of these concepts in different aspects of life, it is an elaboration of that general concept. First it says:

"submit to one another..." to submit means to accept the authority, submit, abide by the command or direction of a person. The Apostle Paul is not saying here, as has sometimes been interpreted, that there are no differences in the family, for example, or that there are no relationships of authority because it has been interpreted sometimes in certain theologians and certain Bible scholars and sometimes feminist literature particularly or the egalitarian wing, are terms that I don't have time to explain, the egalitarian wing of the church has said that when the Apostle Paul says, submit to one another, that means there is no difference, for example , in the home, between the man, as the head of the home, and the woman as the one who is subject to the man. Here everyone is equal, there is no difference, there are no relations of authority, everything is democratic and everyone is at the same level of authority. That is not what the Apostle Paul means and I hope to show it to you.

Now, that word of submitting to one another, what it's saying is, look, in the home, for example, the man as the head of the home can't just say, well, I'm the boss here and I'm the giver. orders and what I say is fulfilled. Spot. But the man has, as we're going to see in a moment, he has to consider his wife and he has to consider the fact that his wife is a daughter of God and that she is equal to him in terms of her dignity and her standing before of God. She is not inferior to him at all. The man cannot use the woman, the wife must not abuse his wife, he must not exploit his wife, he must not ignore the rights and dignity of his wife, but he submits to her in a sense because he has He has to talk to her, he has to consult her, he has to recognize that she is another human being like him, he has to respect her dignity before making decisions, he must take her and sometimes his wife into account, he will have every right to world to say, look, you know what? You watered it there, you were wrong. As my wife sometimes with her characteristic meekness does. And the man is going to have to hold on to the truth that she embodies at that moment.

That is to say, marriage is not a unilateral thing, from top to bottom, but rather there is mutual support and in all these passages, in all these different relationship situations husband, wife, children, parents, employer, worker, the Apostle Paul always use the same scheme. First he says, acknowledge the authority of your leaders in that context. And second he tells the leaders, now, don't abuse your authority, submit to the dignity of God that is in those people you lead and make sure you are using their authority in an appropriate way.

And I think that submitting to the fear of God is very revealing, because brothers, I believe that when one is going to exercise authority or submit to authority, look, nobody likes to submit to authority, right? The wife does not like it, be honest brothers, be sincere, they do not like to acknowledge the authority of their husbands but they say here in the fear of God, sometimes it is the word, it is what God has devised and then there is a healthy fear that guides us to hold on. But you know what? The husband when exercising authority has to do it in the fear of God as well. Woe to the man who abuses or exploits or oppresses his wife. He has God's judgment on him, you know?

And we have to exercise authority with healthy fear before God and continually check ourselves in the light of the word. Am I correctly using the authority that God has given me to bless my wife, to bless my home? So that healthy fear of God should govern exercising authority and submitting to authority.

So Paul says, submit to one another in the fear of God… now, look at what follows, in the case of wives and husbands. He tells women, married women are subject to their own husbands as to the Lord, that hurts, right, brothers? It hurts, admit it.

“…for the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church which is his body and he is her savior. So just as the church is subject to Christ, so are married women to their husbands, and here comes the hard part, in everything.

Say ouch, sisters. That hurts, someone said around here, that hurts. But don't worry sisters, hold on there a little bit, grit your teeth because something is coming for you in a moment.

Now, what do I do with this word, I can't remove it, I can't delete it, I can't choose wipe out and remove it or tear out the page, it's there, as a pastor I have to decide what I'm going to do with that word. Either Paul was having a bad day and was upset with women and wanted to make life difficult for them or he was speaking in the spirit and something secret that God has in mind when establishing this relationship. I believe there is something that blesses a woman of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, capable of even earning more money than her husband, and sometimes more intelligent. Sometimes there has been a woman more intelligent than the man, it is rare but it does happen. I have to admit that they are generally smarter than us, that's true.

But God has been pleased by those mysterious things in life, to give corporate authority to man in the home. Now, you know what? Brothers, look, as I have told you before, if men understood what it is to exercise authority in the spirit of Jesus Christ, we would continually flee from... no, no, I don't want to be the head of the home, no, no, give it to her Let her take care of it. Because look, that function of authority has more responsibilities than privileges. I believe that the only thing that God gives you when he tells you that you are the head of the home, is the obligation to go out of your way so that your home is blessed through your leadership. It is the only privilege that you have. It is the responsibility to lead your home in the ministerial spirit of Christ Jesus.

And sisters, I know that this first part is difficult, but the bitter pill is over, now let me speak to the men. And it is interesting that the Apostle Paul dedicated three verses to the responsibility of women and 9 to the responsibility of men. I think he knew that men are more stubborn and clumsy and more brutish than women and we needed to be made very clear about what it is like to lead the home in the spirit of Jesus Christ. So to those men who were a little inflated because they are supposedly the head of the home, Paul in that spirit of submitting to one another, already said to the woman, but now he says to the man, husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for them.

Men say auch, now. Interestingly, the verb to love that is applied to men, husbands, love your wives, is the same verb that is used for Christ, as Christ loved the church. Agapote is the verb of love and agapesen is the verb of how Christ loved the church.

And what he is saying is that the same style, the same essence, the same attitude with which Christ loved the church is what you must exercise in your relationship with your wife. How did Christ love the church? The Apostle Paul does not want there to be any doubt about it and says that he also gave himself up for her. When you analyze what Christ did for his church, brothers, Christ fiercely defends his church, he is the Lion of Judah. Christ said, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Christ said, I am leaving but I am going to send a dildo to instruct the church and to lead it towards all truth, and he delegated that to the Holy Spirit. Christ gave himself up for the church, he left his glorious, divine height, he became a man, he left the church instructions, teachings, he lived with them for 3 years, he left apostolic leaders to direct it, he left his word, he got on the cross , he let his body be broken, he shed blood for his church to exist and after that he has been interceding for it every day.

And one day he finally comes to marry her, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. And man of God, I have to ask you, just as I have to ask myself, am I loving my wife, my wife as Christ loved the church? Every day is a question that the Christian leader has to ask himself, the one who is exercising authority in the spirit of Jesus Christ has to ask himself, can I truly say that my wife considers that I am loving her in the style of Jesus? It is a serious question that we have to ask ourselves because that is the way to defuse authority.

And the Apostle Paul, wanting these dense men to understand what he says, adds even more, he says, "...to sanctify it, having purified it by the washing of water by the word in order to present it to them, even a glorious church..."

Look at that, brothers, that is, everything that Christ does, purify her, present himself, the goal of the Christian leader in the home must be to take his wife and make sure that in the performance of his leadership, his wife reaches everything that God wants her to arrive. The husband must clear space in front of his wife so that she can educate herself, so that she can grow as a leader, so that she can heal from the wounds of her childhood and the past, God makes you shepherd of your wife, servant of God, man of God, leader of God.

And God wants you to make sure that when the day comes that God calls you to chapter, he tells you, ok, what did you do with the leadership that I gave you in your home? That you can tell her, well, Father, I did everything possible so that my wife who is here, with a big smile because her husband treated her well, to become that glorious and brilliant woman that you see there. I did everything possible for that.

And the Apostle Paul says, he adds here also, inspired by the Holy Spirit, "... that she had no spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but was holy and without blemish...."

So brothers go quickly and buy two pots of cream for your wife for the skin, spend 40, 50 dollars so that your wife does not have a spot or a wrinkle. That is what the word of God says. We have to make sure, husbands, that the defects that exist in our wives, the wounds of the past, the deformities, the complexes, the fears that God allows us to help our wives so that all these things disappear and our dealings with them must, rather, to orient in that direction, rather than the opposite, as we can often do, which is rather to strengthen the defects and the complexes and the fears that our wives have. This says here, that there be no spot or wrinkle, or anything like that, just in case something was missing there, or anything like that.

"...so also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies..."

You see all the images that the Apostle Paul uses to make sure there is no question as to how a man should exercise that authority in the home. Now, I say, I believe, brothers, that a man who treats his wife like this, I believe that this woman would have to be perverse to try to hurt that husband who is loving her in this way or to try to saw the stick on his authority, or make him some kind of difficulty. No, I believe that if that woman says, Father, you have called me to submit to my husband's leadership, and that husband says, Father, you have called me to bless my wife and make sure that I watch over her, that no trace of selfishness, manipulation, deceit, or falsehood intervene in my dealings with her, but that I perform that task well.

Brothers, I believe that it is the glory of God. Divorce lawyers would starve, there would be no job other than marriage counselors, because it would be blessing, glory. Because? Because there are leaders who are authorities in the spirit of Christ and there are directed or directed, in this case, joyfully submitting to the authority of their leaders, their heads, and there is blessing, the grace of God flows. The children are blessed in the home, the household economy is blessed, that man is praying for the Lord to give him wisdom, so that he treats him, so that his character is more and more like that of Christ, that wife is trying to bless her husband, respecting her husband, honoring him, raising his dignity.

You know what, brothers? Men have the most fragile ego of all humanity. God has made man avid for honor and respect. Man is like a lion who needs to be respected. And you know what? The woman, broadly speaking, what is it that the woman wants the most? Affection, affection and validation in her role as a wife, as a mother, as a home manager. The man thrives on respect, that's why he says, the woman should respect her husband. The woman is nourished by the love and affection that is so difficult sometimes for us men to give, I raise my hand first.

And then God says, the woman give her husband that sense of wow, you are my man, you are my macho. I respect you and abide by your leadership. And that the man tells her, you are my mommy, I love you, I prefer you over all women and that there is harmony in the home, and that both feel like they are taking their place, one in front of the other . And that's why he says, submit to one another. There is blessing and the home is going in a wonderful way.

I don't have time, but look let's go with the children for a moment. The children are there very calmly, saying well, that's dad and mom but it's not my turn. Now, Paul turns to the children, Chapter 6 says:

“…Children, obey in the Lord…”

The parallel is set, submit to one another in the fear of God. Here it says, obey in the Lord. Why does the Apostle Paul use these spiritual phrases, why does he put obeying and exercising authority in the context of, in the Lord? Because it is that authority cannot be exercised properly, not one can submit to authority except in the spirit of Jesus Christ because it is a biblical truth, because only the Lord can help us to exercise and obey authority correctly.

And that is why he says, obey the Lord, children. I want to address you young adults, young people, adolescents who are here. Let me speak to you for a moment in English because I don't want to give you any opportunity to resist what I'm saying. Oh, I don't speak Spanish, therefore I don't have to pay attention to the pastor.

No, I want to tell you, the Bible says here, children, obey in the Lord, your parents. There is a special blessing, you see. I mean we have to acknowledge the concept of authority in the home and when a young person submits gladly, willingly, proactively to the leadership of their parents, to their exalted station, as parents in the home, there's such a blessing for the daughter, for the son, I think we have done a great harm to our children by denying them an understanding of the structures of authority that govern life and govern the biblical world view. And there is blessing when a son or a daughter actively honors their parents, when they gladly submit to their authority and their teaching. It is a spiritual thing, that is why he says, in the Lord. It is difficult in this modern age that exalts so much individuality and criticism of authority and the rights of the individual, it is very difficult for young people who have been bread and disciples in that secular mind frame, to adhere themselves to this ancient model which is the only model really of authority to parents. I tell you there is such a huge blessing in that, young people, I want to encourage you, I want to bless you by giving you something that is a secret to blessing, prosperity and long life, honor and obey your parents, even if you're in college, even if you're in graduate school, even if you're an accomplished professional, when you honor your parents and when you enter into this stream of thinking which is so powerful of honoring your authorities, there's a huge blessing involved. The blessing of God is released, the prosperity, the good wind of the spirit starts blowing in your back and advances you in life. It's a beautiful thing and you know, it begins by submitting to the wisdom and honoring. Honoring means, actively prefer, actively give obedience to, proactively recognize the exalted state of a person and in a sense, bow before their authority, there's a blessing in that.

You know, many parents, for many parents in the modern world, it is a burden to be a father or a mother. Many parents do not enjoy being a parent these days because many times children have not been quick to give their parents the kind of blessing that they so deserved and so parenting has been subverted and we have unwilling parents, and we have children who are therefore also not being served well by their parents, who are secretly resistant of their role as parents.

And so I think, you know, it behooves young people and it behooves me, whoever it is, if you have an elder over you bless them, acknowledge their authority and make sure that you make it easy and joyful, enjoyable for them to exercise authority in your life and you'll be blessed by it, I assure you that.

Then he says, children, obey your parents in the Lord because this is just.

It is the right thing to do. It is just it says.

It is fair that our children to their parents. Look, you know what? Let me get out for a moment, I'm going to finish, don't worry, but there is a passage that was what touched me, one of the passages that touched me the most when I began to preach about authority and that passage has always impressed me. , it's in Proverbs Chapter 30, verse 11, because it reminds me so much of one aspect of this modern generation and it says,

"... there is a generation, there is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother..."

And I would say that there are certain aspects of the modern generation that resemble that attitude that we see here, where there is a rebellion against parents today, and there is a society that inspires children not to give due honor to their parents. . And the proverb writer says:

“…there is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother, there is a generation that is clean in its own opinion, although it has not been cleansed from its filth, there is a generation whose eyes are haughty and whose eyelids are lifted up, there is a generation whose teeth are swords and their molars knives to devour the poor of the earth and the needy of men..."

God has something against that kind of generation that looks a lot like this generation that we are in. And God does not want his church to participate in that mentality, God wants a church that blesses its authorities, blesses its elders, blesses its parents.

Look at what verse 17 says in that same passage, it says, "...the eye that mocks its father and despises the teaching of its mother..." look how terrible this is, it says, "...the ravens of the glen take them out and let the children of the eagle devour him..."

Wow, that's God's attitude against the rebellious heart against parents. If I said that, they would tell me, the pastor is crazy, we have to take him elsewhere. But thank God that it is the word, he says, my brothers, God looks very severely at the rebellious heart of the son who does not bless his mother, does not listen to his mother's advice, has God's judgment against him, but has the blessing of God who is subject to and honors his father and mother.

We are talking about very serious things, brothers, and that is why I do not want our young people in this church, at least, to stop understanding and listening to this message that it blesses me, those young people that I see in my congregation bless me. They love and respect their parents. Listen to me, what a great blessing, it is an honor for this church to have you young people. Do not let anyone change that opinion, do not be ashamed to submit to your parents because there is a blessing in that, I assure you, for the future.

Now, what he says, with this I finish, he says "... now, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord..."

Just as he tells children, hold on to your parents, he tells parents, but parents, don't abuse your authority. There are parents who say, well, I am the father and what I say is done here and you have to wear those tennis shoes because I bought them for you even though the poor are there in all shame at school, because they are tennis shoes of the year 1945 but no, that's what you have to wear and the dress full of flowers and dolls and the poor girl embarrassed there in the classroom, but that's what her mother bought her and that's what she has to to put on.

Brothers, be careful. I am not the owner of my daughters, nor are you the owner of your children, the owner is God. He created them, he has given them to you and me so that we can take care of them and so that we can train them, but know well that your son is a human being, he has rights that you should not touch. There is a soul there, there is a destiny that God has with that life, and you are the custodian of that destiny but you are not going to determine it. You have to discern God's secret gift in that child and then make sure that this gift is shepherded and brought to its fullest expression. Always treat your children with authority but with immense respect, because the image of God is portrayed in them. Remember that. Do not abuse your children, do not oppress your children, do not enlarge on your children, do not take them to anger, there are so many children hurt today because their parents abused them, did not affirm them, did not treat them with the dignity that they deserve .

All of that goes into this submitting to one another. I have to submit to my daughters in certain areas, I have to listen to their words. Sometimes they have told me something that I have made a mistake and I flinch and get upset but then I listen and reconsider and try to adjust in certain areas because I know they have something they can tell me too. And then you have to hold on, my wife, the same.

In other words, all this is a love game, it is a beautiful dance where one holds on to the other, sometimes one leads and the other follows, and sometimes the other continues and the other leads, and it is a great blessing. But when the Holy Spirit is moving in a family it is the glory of God, we subject one another, we exercise authority, we submit to authority, we delegate authority, we decentralize authority, we train people so that they can then exercise authority, a great blessing .

Do I make myself understood, brothers, or did the Holy Spirit make himself understood in us? God willing that our family life, our church life, our lives as leaders in the church, wherever if you are a boss or a supervisor in a school, or in a factory, make sure that you are using your authority in the spirit of Jesus Christ and that Reasonable people in your environment, where you work, or where you exercise authority, can say, you know what? This man, this woman, is not perfect, he is not perfect, but he is doing his best and I feel that I am well directed and I owe respect to him or her. There is a big blessing in that.

God willing, brothers, that our church can every day go more and more in the direction of directing and submitting to authority in the spirit of Jesus. Amen. We are going to stand up, we are going to give glory and honor to the Lord on this day, we are going to tell him, Father, thank you for your word, thank you because we have been in your house and you have spoken to us, you have ministered to us. I bless you in the name of Jesus, my brothers, may God guide us more and more.