Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need

When Disobedience Becomes Obedience

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2022-07-05

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines Daniel 3 and related passages to argue that when human authority contradicts God's law, disobedience to man becomes obedience to God. He contrasts God's objective standard (His law-word) with subjective humanistic standards and authoritarianism, using biblical examples like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, the apostles, and Moses' parents. Weaver applies this principle to contemporary issues, urging believers to resist unlawful authority and return to God's standard.

[John Weaver] It's to the book of Daniel chapter 3, Daniel chapter 3. And we're going to be reading verses 13 through 23. Here's a passage that everyone is familiar with, but it probably will be just a little different application today. So the title of the message is When Disobedience Becomes Obedience. So in Daniel chapter 3, notice if you would, verse 13, Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

[John Weaver] Then they brought these three men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

[John Weaver] Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour in the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

[John Weaver] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

[John Weaver] And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." We have been taught the concept of obedience all of our lives. And we've also been taught the concept or the destructive power of disobedience. In fact, as you read through the Bible, there are many blessings that are pronounced upon our obedience. And there's also curses pronounced upon our disobedience. And practically everyone can quote a passage in which you find these blessings and these curses mentioned. One such passage Ephesians chapter 6 verses 1 through 3.

[John Weaver] Let me begin quoting it. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with the promise, listen carefully now, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth. So you have a positive, you have a blessing there. If we honor our father and our mother, that is if we're obedient, then God's blessing is that we live long upon the earth, and it will be well with us.

[John Weaver] But on the other hand, by clear implication, there is also the curse of disobedience. If we fail to honor our parents, if we fail to obey, then we are not going to live long upon this earth, and it's not going to be well with us. So you have both the positive and the negative. You have the blessings and the curses in this one simple passage. In light of this passage, there is a pressing question that I must ask. And I'm asking this question not because I don't think you know the answer. I believe you do know the answer. But I'm asking this question to set up what is going to follow. So here's my question.

[John Weaver] Is it ever right or can it ever be right for a child to disobey his parent. We could ask this question in a different way. Is it right to not obey a parent? So once again, I'm asking these questions in order to set up a biblical principle. You have to understand that parental authority is delegated. In fact, the truth of the matter is all authority is delegated.

[John Weaver] There's only one sovereign, there's only one supreme, and that is God himself. So any authority that anyone has on earth, whether it is parental, pastoral, governmental, whatever it is, is always delegated. Delegated authority is always limited. It is defined and is always confined. It's kind of like the ocean. When God said to the waves in Job 38 hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thou proud waves be stayed So let me just try to set this up for you.

[John Weaver] And I know that you know the answer this Suppose I had a teenage son. I do not but suppose I did and I looked at my teenage son and I said to him Well, I'm low on money this month and I do not have enough money to pay all my bills So son, I want you to take this pistol and go rob the bank and bring me the funds so I can pay my bills. And the child looks at me and he says, no, daddy, I'm not going to do that.

[John Weaver] And I look at him, I said, you don't understand. I'm commanding you to rob that bank. And the Bible says, children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. So I'm commanding you to do that. So my question would be, is that child disobedient to me? And the answer would be, yes, he would be disobedient to me, but would he be disobedient to God? And the answer is no, because God is the sovereign supreme authority and God has said, thou shalt not steal. So his disobedience to me would become obedience unto God at that particular point. Now, no parent has any right or any authority to ask their child, no matter how young or how old, to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God. If I did ask my child to do something that was contrary to the Word of God, then I'm the one in rebellion and not the child. So it would be right in that instance for the child to disobey me if I'm violating the law of God, because his disobedience then would become obedience to God.

[John Weaver] Years ago, Dr. R.J. Rushdoony wrote a book titled by what standard? There's another man by the name of Jared Longshore who's also written a book by the same title, by what standard? Both of these men point out that this is God's world and God has set the rules. God has established the standard and that his word is law.

[John Weaver] Now let me just mention this. It is obvious that everyone must have a standard. In fact, everyone does have a standard. The problem is not everyone has the same standard. There are subjective standards, and there is God's objective standard. These subjective standards are humanistic, and those subjective standards could be based upon pride, popularity, fleshly desires, our goals, our desire for prosperity, anything that promotes us and helps us.

[John Weaver] In other words, let me put it like this. Our subjective standard is always selfish and it's always humanistic. All of our subjective standards arise and originate from within. That is, they're based upon our desires and our determination. God's objective standard is His law word. It is the only objective standard, and it is a standard which He has laid down for individuals, for families, for churches, for societies, for governments, for everything that exists. So if someone asked, by what standard then should we live, the answer is going to be, were to live by God's objective standard, which is His law word. Now, Christians, especially Baptists, and then Presbyterians as well, to a good extent, but especially Baptists, have always confessed that the only standard that we have for faith and practice is the Word of God. In other words, it's the Bible that teaches us what we are to believe, And it's the Bible that also teaches us how to apply the truth that God has revealed in His Scripture.

[John Weaver] Here's where we are today. We have erred and we have sinned greatly in the fact that we have forsaken God's standard, the goal of every Christian, the goal of every believer. should be to bring our lives into conformity to the Word of God, to be as obedient and as holy as we could possibly be by the grace of God. The goal of every biblical church is to preach and teach the pure Word of God, and to show people not only the truth of God's Word, but how to apply that truth as well.

[John Weaver] All of this is just simply called exercising dominion. And dominion is nothing less than bringing everything into captivity and subjection to Jesus Christ. So let me show you. If you will hold Daniel 3, but turn very quickly in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and let's begin reading there verses 4 and 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and look if you would please beginning there with verse 4.

[John Weaver] The Apostle Paul writes and he says this, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now Paul is not denigrating what you and I would call physical or carnal weapons. The only thing he's saying is those kind of weapons will not work in the warfare that we are fighting. So he says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, But they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

[John Weaver] Now, what is your stronghold? It's your place of defense. And it's where you hide. It is where you run when you're in danger. So watch carefully now. He says it's mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So what is the stronghold of man? Here it is casting down imaginations and every high thing or literally every high thought. that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." So notice, if you would, our stronghold is our thinking. It's our mind. And he says that we are to cast down that stronghold. How? By casting down every imagination, and every thought that is contrary to God, and bring every thought into captivity and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if we brought every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ, that means then we would be thinking biblically when it comes to our individual lives, we'd be thinking biblically when it comes to our families, We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to our churches.

[John Weaver] We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to economics. We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to government. Let me mention something. When this country was founded, it was basically founded upon the Word of God. I have copies of practically every colony that was begun in this country, that is the constitutions, the charters, and the agreements of the colonies between themselves and the king. And interestingly enough, each one of these proclaim the Word of God basically as the standard, the objective standard.

[John Weaver] Let me give you three illustrations. The first one is the first charter of Virginia found in 1606. This was where Jamestown was to be settled, and here is what the charter says. We, greatly commending and graciously accepting of their desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of his divine majesty, in propagating the Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human civility and to a settled and quiet government." So that was in the charter of the founding of Jamestown. How about this one in New Hampshire in 1639? And in 1639, they are defining the purpose of government. And here's what the article says.

[John Weaver] Considering with ourselves the holy will of God and our own necessity that we should not live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are altogether destitute, do in the name of Christ and in the sight of God combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us as such governments as shall be, to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of God." So they said, we want our government to be agreeable to the Word of God. Well, how in the world, or the will of God, how in the world would they know what is agreeable to the will of God? And the answer is, it is revealed in His Word.

[John Weaver] And here's the third one. This is the New Haven colony in 1644, and they were adopting rules for their judicial system. This may shock you, but here it is in one simple sentence. The judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses, are to be a rule to all our courts in this jurisdiction. So the courts then were to rule based upon biblical law.

[John Weaver] Now I could go on for hours because these charters and these constitutions are very plain, but I think those three are sufficient for you to understand one general concept, and that is that we've turned from the Word of God as our standard, and we have followed humanistic standards for years, consequently We find ourselves today in an extremely deplorable situation and a situation in which most people are going to become probably absolutely destitute. And what we've done is we've quietly submitted to the tyranny of man. Now, I'm sure that every one of you have heard the motto, the saying, resistance to tyranny. obedience to God. You may not know the sources of that saying, but I'm going to give them to you. First of all, the phrase, or the sentence, resistance to tyranny is obedience to God, was from William Tyndale, who was the Bible translator, and if you want to call him an agitator, at least one who provoked the government of England to righteousness, From 1494 he lived to 1536 and that's why he was

[John Weaver] saying resistance to tyranny is obedience to God. Benjamin Franklin in August of 1776 proposed that the motto for the seal of the United States should be rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Isn't that interesting? And then, of course, it was Thomas Jefferson, who was the third president of the United States, who lived from 1743 to 1826. He adopted as his personal motto, resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.

[John Weaver] Now, if you have never seen a picture of the state flag of the state of Virginia, I would encourage you to get on the Internet and get a picture of the flag of Virginia. Because that state flag features a woman who is personifying virtue. She is dressed as an Amazon. She is wearing a helmet. She holds a spear and a sword above. And there's the Latin motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis.

[John Weaver] which means thus always to tyrants. At her feet, she is standing on the crumpled figure of a fallen king. His crown is lying by his side, thus carrying out the theme of popular victory over tyrannical government. And the whip and the chain which the king had used is now laying helplessly by his side. And of course it's 6th Semper tyrannists thus always to tyrants.

[John Weaver] Now, I told you a lot of those things to give you something to really think about. Many of you have heard the name Omar Bradley. Omar Bradley was a five-star general who died in 1981. Here is what Bradley said. Listen. America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America. When you stop and think about that one statement, and that is true, we have been running and living on what we were and what our founding fathers And those who followed them gave us, which we have forsaken and turned from, and now that momentum is about to expire. When we think of our history as a nation, we can only exclaim with David in 2 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 19, how are the mighty fallen.

[John Weaver] And the truth of the matter is we've given up our liberties. We've given up our freedom. We've given up self-defense. We've given up personal responsibility. We've given up accountability. And we've given all these things up to be ruled by a handful of petty, unsaved, unelected, egocentric bureaucrats that are sociopaths who think that they have the ability to rule the world and desire to rule the world. So we have basically descended from a Bible-believing people and from our constitutional republic to an authoritarian rule.

[John Weaver] If you don't believe that, all you've got to do is look around and try to analyze what has happened in the last two years, especially in relationship to the pandemic. Now I want you to think with me because I'm going to mention some things that you're totally familiar with. You've heard the phrase, follow the science. That was the admonition. I saw a cartoon. It was Mr. Bean. He was saying, I keep trying to follow the science, but it always brings me back to the money. Well, you've heard follow the science. That's the admonishment, but no one asked which or what science it was.

[John Weaver] The unelected and unaccountable CDC in our age who fortune friends who were calling all the shots, listen carefully. And hardly anyone questioned their pronouncements. The people simply obeyed. Most did not question. Most did not research. Most did not ask. Most did not investigate. Most did not think for themselves. Most did not contemplate. They simply obeyed. This is what is called the tyranny of the experts. I've heard two good definitions of expert in my life.

[John Weaver] The first one is simple. An expert is anyone 50 miles from home with a briefcase. And the second one I even like better, an X is a has-been and a spurt is a drip under pressure. But no one has asked, what are the qualifications of these experts? No one has asked about collusion. No one has asked about credentials. No one has asked about verification. No one has asked about conflict of interest. No one has asked about the contents of the vaccines.

[John Weaver] Most simply rolled up their arms and took the shots. Why? And the answer is because of the appearance of authority. So let me spell it out for you. We're not only no longer ruled by the Word of God as our standard. We're no longer ruled by the Constitution, which is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. We're not only not ruled by the Word of God and not ruled by the Constitution, we're not even ruled by law. We're being ruled by what is known as authoritarianism.

[John Weaver] I'm going to show you this in the Bible in just a few minutes. So you're going to ask me, what is authoritarianism? I want to give you the definition. We're going to see this from the Bible, but I want you to listen very carefully and think about what has been going on in the last number of years in this country. Here's the definition of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is the principle of blind submission to authority as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action.

[John Weaver] In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people. Authoritarian leaders often exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing bodies of law, and they usually cannot be replaced by citizens choosing freely among various competitors in elections. The freedom to create opposition political parties or other alternative political groupings with which to compete for power with the ruling group is either limited or non-existent in authoritarian regimes. So what is authoritarianism? It's when you're not ruled by law. You're not ruled by any objective standard. You're ruled by the whim of one man or the whims of several small groups.

[John Weaver] Mean just simply let me break this down for you. You understand this if I were to come in this room and I said I am the authority You do what I tell you and when I tell you to jump you ask how high Don't you talk back to me? Don't you disobey me? you have to do what I'm telling you because I am the authority and I You must remember that I have the force on my side. So if you disobey me, there are going to be consequences. That's authoritarianism.

[John Weaver] It doesn't matter whether it's one man or several men. It is not a rule by law. It is not a rule by constitution. It's not a rule by the word of God. It is rule by the whim of man. Thomas Jefferson, said this, listen carefully, single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day, but a series of oppressions pursued unalterably through every change of ministers or administrations to plainly provides a deliberate systematic plan of reducing us to slavery.

[John Weaver] So let me ask you something. If you think back over the last couple of democratic administrations, the Republican administrations, What has changed? And the answer is nothing. Everything continues down the line. I'm absolutely astounded today to see people that are still wearing masks. I see people riding down the road in a car by themselves wearing a mask. I've seen them riding a bicycle. In the sunshine with a mask Brother Chrisman told me this past week that he stopped at an Arby's to get a sandwich for his noon meal and he said there was a black girl that was the cashier and Her mask had broken on one side the rubber straps And so she was trying to hold up the rubber, the mask where the rubber strap had broken and work the cash register with one hand. He said in front of him was a white lady who saw who saw the girl struggling. And so she took her mask off and offered it to the black girl.

[John Weaver] He said it was as dirty as it could possibly be. And I said, Well, did the black girl graciously accept it? He said, no. I said, she has more sense than the white woman who offered it. I mean, come on. I mean, if you're going to wear a mask, you're not going to want to inhale what everybody else has exhaled. I'm just simply saying it's just so difficult for me to conceive.

[John Weaver] And yet, you have to understand, most of these people do nothing but watch TV all the time, and they hear it pounded in their heads. Now, what I want to show you is this. The Bible gives us prime examples of authoritarianism. I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Daniel chapter 3, and the very first illustration we have is that of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was basically a law unto himself.

[John Weaver] What he had done, he had set up an image in the plain of Dura, and he expected everyone to worship that image. Now, in all probability, this image was an image of himself. So he gave the command and everyone was to worship. You did not have a choice. Well, you did have a choice. But if you didn't do what he said, you would be executed, you'd be put to death.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to give you a quote from John Trapp, the old Puritan commentator, and he's telling you why this image, he believes, was an image of Nebuchadnezzar. He says, quote, Having taken Tyre, which was that great service spoken of in Ezekiel 29, verses 18 and 19, God gave him Egypt as his pay for his pains at Tyre and the overthrow of Nineveh, as Nahum had foretold. He was so puffed up with this great success that he set up this monstrous statue of himself to be adored by all on pain of death, that it was his own image which he here erected for such a purpose, as did afterward Gaius Caligula, the Roman emperor, It is gathered, number one, because he did not worship it himself, and number two, because of Daniel 3.12, it is distinguished from his gods, and number three, because this was long since foretold of him in Isaiah 14 and verse 14. And when you get to Isaiah 14 and verse 4, you find that he is indeed talking about the king of Babylon.

[John Weaver] So if you look back in verse 12 of Daniel chapter 3, There are certain Jews which thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee, now watch, they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. And if you skip down to verse 14, the latter part, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up. So the gods and the golden image are separate. So obviously this was indeed an image of the king of Babylon.

[John Weaver] Now, authoritarians not only like to think they are God, they like to play God. You have to remember now that God is sovereign. God has all power. He is omnipotent. And if I'm going to play God, that means you must obey me or else. I could say, Steve, do this. Gary, do that. I mean, I can give commands left and right. And if you don't obey me, then I cannot ascertain that I am really a God. And so I have to force you to obey me upon pain of death.

[John Weaver] Now, interestingly, when this image was set up and the music played, only three refused to bow. They not only refused to bow, They were determined and they were willing to face the consequences. It should also be noted, and you know the story, that they were delivered from the consequences because of their obedience. And it was their obedience and their deliverance that helped change the mind of Nebuchadnezzar. So, here's why these three Hebrew children did not bow down.

[John Weaver] They had a totally different standard. Their standard was the law of God. The law of God says, I shall have no other gods before me. And when he said, you must bow down and worship this image that I have made, they said, no, we do not. And we will not. I want you to learn something right now. Listen carefully. Those that follow God's inspired, inerrant, infallible standard will always act differently from those who have a subjective humanistic standard. And those who follow God's objective standard are always willing to suffer the consequences for their obedience unto God. Their obedience to God is demonstrated by their disobedience to man. Now, in Daniel chapter 3, it is none other than Nebuchadnezzar, one man saying, you will do this or else. That is authoritarianism.

[John Weaver] His authority was self-assessed. God did not give him that authority. It was usurped.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will look in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6, you're going to find that in this instance, it is a small elite group. that's trying to exercise authoritarianism. Let's read, first of all, Daniel 6, verses 6 through 11. We'll come back and catch the rest of it. Look in verse 6. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, King Darius, sign the writing and the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house with his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God."

[John Weaver] Now, let me just emphasize this. In Daniel 3, authoritarianism was displayed in one man, and Daniel 6 authoritarianism is displayed in a number of men. So look back to Daniel 6 beginning there with verse 1. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. And over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give an account unto them, and that the king should receive no damage, or have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel, they were envious, but they could find none occasion or fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, Neither was there any error or fault in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. So these men now come together and they come to the king and they deceive him and they lie to him to get his stamp of approval and his signature upon this insane law that no one could ask a request of any man or God, save the king for 30 days.

[John Weaver] That would mean, Steve, I couldn't ask you to come look at my lawnmower. I couldn't ask you to loan me 10 bucks. I couldn't ask you to do anything. I would just have to ask the king. You know, because he's going to sit there and pretend to be a God. So, so it's basically insane. Now watch this. If you would, they lied to him because they said, uh, that verse seven, all the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors, the captains have consulted together. That's not true. Daniel was not included. And so what did Daniel do when he found that there was a law passed that you could not ask any petition of any man or God, save the king, for 30 days? Well, look in verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime.

[John Weaver] So let me ask you this question. Why did Daniel open his windows? Was he flouting his resistance? Was he being brazen? Was he challenging? Was he daring these men to try to throw him into the den of lions? And the answer is no. What he was doing was being biblical. If you would hold Daniel 6, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 8, because in this passage, Solomon is dedicating the temple.

[John Weaver] And I want you to note part of his prayer. We're not going to read all of it, but in 1 Kings 8, beginning there with verse 41, He says, moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of far country for thy name's sake. For they shall hear thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, when he shall come and pray toward this house. Heareth thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all the stranger call it to thee for. that all the people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name."

[John Weaver] And so, Daniel knew the Scriptures, and all Daniel did was open his window. He knew which direction Jerusalem was, which direction the temple was, and that's what he did. He prayed toward that temple. That was based upon the prayer of Solomon. Now, did Daniel suffer the consequences for his resistance to an ungodly law? Yes, is the answer. Did God deliver him from those consequences? Yes, is the answer. Well, why did Daniel keep doing what he was doing?

[John Weaver] And by the way, I've said this before, I'll say it again. The way to pray effectively when you're in trouble is to be used to praying before you get into trouble. And so when Daniel knew that writing was signed, he just prayed three times as he did it four times. Now, why? Because his standard was the Word of God. His standard was not the rule of man. His standard was not based upon authoritarianism. His standard was based upon the Word of God. Here's a truth.

[John Weaver] You have to grasp the absolute superiority of God's law to man's law. Let me repeat this. All authority is delegated. That means all authority is limited. God is the one who gives authority. He is the one who gives delegated authority and God always defines and confines and limits that authority. So let me put it to you like this. No parent has authority above and beyond the word of God. No pastor has authority above and beyond the word of God. Hmm. No church has authority over and above and beyond the word of God. No government has authority over and above and beyond the Word of God. It's impossible. And if someone claims that authority, then they are usurping, they are stealing that which God has not given to them. Let me show you.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 5 and verse 29. Look in Acts 5 verse 29. We'll come back and catch the context. Acts 5, look in verse 29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. What was Peter and the other apostles saying? God is sovereign. God is supreme. God alone is to be obeyed first. foremost and always When men and authority go against God and his standard God is to be obeyed rather than man and God enforces this principle Let me show you what I'm talking about Look in Acts chapter 5 and let's begin there with verse 17 watch Then the high priest rose up and all

[John Weaver] they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. What were the apostles doing? They were preaching. And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

[John Weaver] You may not understand the significance of that at this point. So I want you to go back to Acts 5 in verse 27. Here is what they had done. When they had brought them, that is the apostles, they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.' Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

[John Weaver] Now here's what had happened. The apostles were preaching and teaching, and they were preaching in the name of Jesus Christ and preaching the resurrection of the dead. And so the Sadducees and the religious rulers had caught them and threw them into prison for doing What they had forbidden them to do Now look back in your bibles To verse 18 Acts 5 verse 18 And laid their hands on the apostles that is the sadducees the rulers and put them in the common prison what happened?

[John Weaver] But the angel the lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life I want you to understand this. God sent an angel, delivered them out of prison and told them to go do exactly what the rulers had told them not to do. And so they obeyed God and preached. And so the rulers got upset.

[John Weaver] Did we not straightly command you not to preach anymore in this name? We ought to obey God rather than man. Here's a principle. God's word and God's law is supreme and sovereign. It is above the rule and will of man. Authoritarianism is contrary to God's sovereignty. And when man's law conflicts with God's law, we must obey God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 2. Because if you do not know who Amram and Jochebed were, you're going to find out. Their names are given later in the Bible. But Amram and Jochebed happened to be the father and mother of Moses. So look in Exodus chapter 2 beginning there with verse 1. there went a man out of the house of Levi and Ram and took a wife a daughter of Levi a chocobit and the woman conceived and bear a son and When she saw him that he was a goodly child She hid him three months and when she could not longer hide him she took for him an arc of the bulrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch and Put the child therein and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink So why did she hide Moses for three months? And after that, when she could no longer hide him, why did she make the little ark of bulrushes? Well, if you will go back to Exodus 1 and verse 22, and Pharaoh charged all his people saying, every son that is of a Hebrew that is born, you shall cast in the river and every daughter you shall save alive.

[John Weaver] So Watch carefully now, and Pharaoh charged all his people. Now it is true the Egyptians were his people. But it is equally true the Hebrews were his people because they were his slaves. So the Egyptians then had the authority of the Pharaoh to murder any male child of the Hebrews. And the Hebrews were expected to murder their own male children. You say, how in the world can you say that?

[John Weaver] Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, and look if you would please there at verse 19. And I will tell you up front, this is a hard pill to swallow. But here it is. Acts chapter 7 and verse 19, Stephen is giving his defense. And look at verse 18, Till another king arose which knew not Joseph. Watch verse 19, The same dealt suddenly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they, that is the fathers, the Hebrews, cast out their own children to the end that they might not live. Wow! How in the world could these Israelites Cast out their own children. How could they murder them at their own hand? How could you do such a thing? It is still, it is still outrageous when you and I hear of a mother murdering her own children or a father murdering his own child.

[John Weaver] I just read this week. where one man murdered his eight-month-old pregnant 22-year-old girlfriend, and not only murdered her, he cut her head off and threw it in the dumpster. How can you do things like that? And the answer is, they have a standard, but it's not God's standard. It's their own subjective standard. It's based upon their own desires, their own feelings, their own wants, their own wishes. In other words, God's standard is different from fallen man's. God's standard is different from a single authoritarian ruler. God's standard is different from an elite group of rulers.

[John Weaver] So here's a good question. Why did Amram and Jochebed not murder Moses? You say, well, I just read it because he was a goodly child. Oh, there's more. If you'll look in your Bibles, Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, and look if you would please at verse 23. Hebrews 11 and verse 23. Watch this. Hebrews 11 verse 23 by faith Moses When he was born was hit three months of his parents. They were children of faith.

[John Weaver] They didn't obey the King why? Because they saw me as a proper child. That's one thing and They the parents were not afraid of the King's commandment They were not afraid Now the word afraid is the Greek word phobeo. It is where we get our English word phobia from. And the word phobia means to fear, to be afraid, and to reverence. So Amran and Jachobed did not reverence the king's ungodly command. They had no fear of that ungodly reprobate when he had ordered that all the male children be slain. Why did they not fear? Why did they not reverence?

[John Weaver] Why did they not submit to Him? The answer is because they had a totally different standard. Their standard was indeed the Word of God and therefore they were not about to bow to a wicked corrupt ruler. It's just that simple. So the point I want you to see is this. Where we are today in this land We've rejected God's law as our standard. Consequently, the rulers have rejected the Constitution as a standard. And consequently, the rule of law now is no longer in existence.

[John Weaver] And what we're being ruled by is an elite group of authoritarians who believe that they have the absolute right to take your life, to take your possessions, to take your occupation, to take whatever they want to take. just so that they can play God. So let me make a couple of applications. The first one is based on the question, what is your standard? When you stop and think about this, we either must submit to God's standard, His law word, or we're going to submit to the standard of man. And we must understand that man's authority is always limited. have a t-shirt that was given to me years ago and on the front it has this written question authority and that's true we should do that question authority by what authority do you have to direct me to do anything who gave you that authority how did you derive that authority you can find out whether or not that authority is is legitimate or not. The United Nations has no authority over the American people.

[John Weaver] I don't care what anybody says. Neither does Fauci, neither does who, neither does the CDC, neither does George Soros, neither does Klaus Schwab. I'm just simply saying we have to understand we are where we are because we've rejected God's standard and we have submitted to man's standard. This is one of the reasons we're seeing so much wickedness, violence, murder, and genocide is because we've left God's standard and we're following man's standard. Here's the next one. When we refuse wickedness, when we disobey ungodly and wicked laws, it is not rebellion, it is resistance. There is a vast difference between rebellion and resistance. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen. So we may resist unlawful authority.

[John Weaver] Have you ever stopped to think about this? What in the world could the United Nations, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Yuval Noah Harari, Biden, Pelosi, Harris, Schumer. What could these people do if everybody just stopped obeying them? I mean, their game would be up. So what we've got to come back to in saying this, we have an objective standard. It is God's law. And by His standard, you are illegitimate. You have no authority.

[John Weaver] You have stolen and usurped. Do you realize even by our own Constitution, Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3, the Constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. Not what Congress wants, not what Congress says, not what Biden said. I'll use my power. He has no power. No ruler has any power above that, which is written in the constitution. So I'm just simply saying where we are now is because we've given into authoritarianism rather than the word of God.

[John Weaver] So here's my last one. Standards do matter. When we reject the law of God, we reject it at our own peril. When we leave his law, we head straight for destruction. It is impossible to have civil liberty without spiritual liberty. The Bible says in second Corinthians chapter three in verse 17, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty where the spirit of the Lord is not. There is no liberty. So.

[John Weaver] The conclusion is this, if we want our liberty, if we want our freedom, if we want our country, our homes, our families, our churches, our society, we have to come back to God's objective standard and obey it and be willing to suffer whatever consequences that comes around because His Word is right and His Word is true. When we disobey man in order to obey the Word of God, our disobedience becomes obedience.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we pray, Lord, that you would indeed help us to see the absolute importance of your law, your law word, your written word, your commands. Help us to bring our lives in conformity. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

[John Weaver] so so

When Disobedience Becomes Obedience

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	pNun-pH0Hts
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-07-05
Dictation Name
Book	Book 043: Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	76

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver introduces the topic from Daniel 3:13-23, reading the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar's image.

It's to the book of Daniel chapter 3, Daniel chapter 3. And we're going to be reading verses 13 through 23. Here's a passage that everyone is familiar with, but it probably will be just a little different application today. So the title of the message is When Disobedience Becomes Obedience. So in Daniel chapter 3, notice if you would, verse 13,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:13-23

"Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." "Then they brought these three men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?" "Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour in the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego."

The Blessings and Curses of Obedience

Using Ephesians 6:1-3, Weaver explains that obedience to parents brings blessing, while disobedience brings a curse, setting up the question of when disobedience might be right.

"And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." We have been taught the concept of obedience all of our lives. And we've also been taught the concept or the destructive power of disobedience. In fact, as you read through the Bible, there are many blessings that are pronounced upon our obedience. And there's also curses pronounced upon our disobedience. And practically everyone can quote a passage in which you find these blessings and these curses mentioned. One such passage Ephesians chapter 6 verses 1 through 3. Let me begin quoting it. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with the promise, listen carefully now, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth." So you have a positive, you have a blessing there. If we honor our father and our mother, that is if we're obedient, then God's blessing is that we live long upon the earth, and it will be well with us.

But on the other hand, by clear implication, there is also the curse of disobedience. If we fail to honor our parents, if we fail to obey, then we are not going to live long upon this earth, and it's not going to be well with us. So you have both the positive and the negative. You have the blessings and the curses in this one simple passage. In light of this passage, there is a pressing question that I must ask. And I'm asking this question not because I don't think you know the answer. I believe you do know the answer. But I'm asking this question to set up what is going to follow. So here's my question.

Is it ever right or can it ever be right for a child to disobey his parent? We could ask this question in a different way. Is it right to not obey a parent? So once again, I'm asking these questions in order to set up a biblical principle. You have to understand that parental authority is delegated. In fact, the truth of the matter is all authority is delegated.

Delegated Authority and Its Limits

Weaver teaches that all authority is delegated by God and therefore limited; no human authority can command what God forbids.

There's only one sovereign, there's only one supreme, and that is God himself. So any authority that anyone has on earth, whether it is parental, pastoral, governmental, whatever it is, is always delegated. Delegated authority is always limited. It is defined and is always confined. It's kind of like the ocean. When God said to the waves in Job 38, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." So let me just try to set this up for you. And I know that you know the answer this. Suppose I had a teenage son. I do not but suppose I did and I looked at my teenage son and I said to him, "Well, I'm low on money this month and I do not have enough money to pay all my bills. So son, I want you to take this pistol and go rob the bank and bring me the funds so I can pay my bills." And the child looks at me and he says, "No, daddy, I'm not going to do that."

And I look at him, I said, "You don't understand. I'm commanding you to rob that bank. And the Bible says, 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.' So I'm commanding you to do that." So my question would be, is that child disobedient to me? And the answer would be, yes, he would be disobedient to me, but would he be disobedient to God? And the answer is no, because God is the sovereign supreme authority and God has said, "Thou shalt not steal." So his disobedience to me would become obedience unto God at that particular point. Now, no parent has any right or any authority to ask their child, no matter how young or how old, to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God. If I did ask my child to do something that was contrary to the Word of God, then I'm the one in rebellion and not the child. So it would be right in that instance for the child to disobey me if I'm violating the law of God, because his disobedience then would become obedience to God.

God's Objective Standard vs. Subjective Standards

Weaver contrasts God's law-word as the only objective standard with humanistic, selfish subjective standards, citing Rushdoony and Longshore.

Years ago, Dr. R.J. Rushdoony wrote a book titled "By What Standard?" There's another man by the name of Jared Longshore who's also written a book by the same title, "By What Standard?" Both of these men point out that this is God's world and God has set the rules. God has established the standard and that his word is law.

Now let me just mention this. It is obvious that everyone must have a standard. In fact, everyone does have a standard. The problem is not everyone has the same standard. There are subjective standards, and there is God's objective standard. These subjective standards are humanistic, and those subjective standards could be based upon pride, popularity, fleshly desires, our goals, our desire for prosperity, anything that promotes us and helps us. In other words, let me put it like this. Our subjective standard is always selfish and it's always humanistic. All of our subjective standards arise and originate from within. That is, they're based upon our desires and our determination. God's objective standard is His law word. It is the only objective standard, and it is a standard which He has laid down for individuals, for families, for churches, for societies, for governments, for everything that exists. So if someone asked, "By what standard then should we live?" the answer is going to be, we're to live by God's objective standard, which is His law word. Now, Christians, especially Baptists, and then Presbyterians as well, to a good extent, but especially Baptists, have always confessed that the only standard that we have for faith and practice is the Word of God. In other words, it's the Bible that teaches us what we are to believe, and it's the Bible that also teaches us how to apply the truth that God has revealed in His Scripture.

Dominion and Bringing Thoughts Captive

From 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Weaver explains that spiritual warfare involves casting down imaginations and bringing every thought into obedience to Christ.

Here's where we are today. We have erred and we have sinned greatly in the fact that we have forsaken God's standard. The goal of every Christian, the goal of every believer, should be to bring our lives into conformity to the Word of God, to be as obedient and as holy as we could possibly be by the grace of God. The goal of every biblical church is to preach and teach the pure Word of God, and to show people not only the truth of God's Word, but how to apply that truth as well. All of this is just simply called exercising dominion. And dominion is nothing less than bringing everything into captivity and subjection to Jesus Christ. So let me show you. If you will hold Daniel 3, but turn very quickly in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and let's begin reading there verses 4 and 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and look if you would please beginning there with verse 4.

The Apostle Paul writes and he says this, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now Paul is not denigrating what you and I would call physical or carnal weapons. The only thing he's saying is those kind of weapons will not work in the warfare that we are fighting. So he says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, what is your stronghold? It's your place of defense. And it's where you hide. It is where you run when you're in danger. So watch carefully now. He says it's mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So what is the stronghold of man? Here it is: "Casting down imaginations and every high thing," or literally every high thought, "that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." So notice, if you would, our stronghold is our thinking. It's our mind. And he says that we are to cast down that stronghold. How? By casting down every imagination, and every thought that is contrary to God, and bring every thought into captivity and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if we brought every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ, that means then we would be thinking biblically when it comes to our individual lives, we'd be thinking biblically when it comes to our families, we'd be thinking biblically when it comes to our churches.

Historical Examples of Biblical Standards in America

Weaver provides colonial charters (Virginia 1606, New Hampshire 1639, New Haven 1644) showing America's founding on biblical law, contrasting with today's departure.

We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to economics. We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to government. Let me mention something. When this country was founded, it was basically founded upon the Word of God. I have copies of practically every colony that was begun in this country, that is the constitutions, the charters, and the agreements of the colonies between themselves and the king. And interestingly enough, each one of these proclaim the Word of God basically as the standard, the objective standard. Let me give you three illustrations. The first one is the first charter of Virginia found in 1606. This was where Jamestown was to be settled, and here is what the charter says: "We, greatly commending and graciously accepting of their desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of his divine majesty, in propagating the Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human civility and to a settled and quiet government." So that was in the charter of the founding of Jamestown. How about this one in New Hampshire in 1639? And in 1639, they are defining the purpose of government. And here's what the article says.

"Considering with ourselves the holy will of God and our own necessity that we should not live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are altogether destitute, do in the name of Christ and in the sight of God combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us as such governments as shall be, to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of God." So they said, we want our government to be agreeable to the Word of God. Well, how in the world, or the will of God, how in the world would they know what is agreeable to the will of God? And the answer is, it is revealed in His Word. And here's the third one. This is the New Haven colony in 1644, and they were adopting rules for their judicial system. This may shock you, but here it is in one simple sentence: "The judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses, are to be a rule to all our courts in this jurisdiction." So the courts then were to rule based upon biblical law.

Now I could go on for hours because these charters and these constitutions are very plain, but I think those three are sufficient for you to understand one general concept, and that is that we've turned from the Word of God as our standard, and we have followed humanistic standards for years, consequently we find ourselves today in an extremely deplorable situation and a situation in which most people are going to become probably absolutely destitute. And what we've done is we've quietly submitted to the tyranny of man. Now, I'm sure that every one of you have heard the motto, the saying, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." You may not know the sources of that saying, but I'm going to give them to you. First of all, the phrase, or the sentence, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God," was from William Tyndale, who was the Bible translator, and if you want to call him an agitator, at least one who provoked the government of England to righteousness. From 1494 he lived to 1536 and that's why he was

Resistance to Tyranny as Obedience to God

Weaver traces the motto 'Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God' from Tyndale, Franklin, and Jefferson, and discusses the Virginia state flag's symbolism.

saying "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." Benjamin Franklin in August of 1776 proposed that the motto for the seal of the United States should be "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Isn't that interesting? And then, of course, it was Thomas Jefferson, who was the third president of the United States, who lived from 1743 to 1826. He adopted as his personal motto, "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Now, if you have never seen a picture of the state flag of the state of Virginia, I would encourage you to get on the Internet and get a picture of the flag of Virginia. Because that state flag features a woman who is personifying virtue. She is dressed as an Amazon. She is wearing a helmet. She holds a spear and a sword above. And there's the Latin motto, "Sic Semper Tyrannis."

which means "thus always to tyrants." At her feet, she is standing on the crumpled figure of a fallen king. His crown is lying by his side, thus carrying out the theme of popular victory over tyrannical government. And the whip and the chain which the king had used is now laying helplessly by his side. And of course it's "Sic Semper Tyrannis"—thus always to tyrants.

Now, I told you a lot of those things to give you something to really think about. Many of you have heard the name Omar Bradley. Omar Bradley was a five-star general who died in 1981. Here is what Bradley said. Listen. "America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America." When you stop and think about that one statement, and that is true, we have been running and living on what we were and what our founding fathers and those who followed them gave us, which we have forsaken and turned from, and now that momentum is about to expire. When we think of our history as a nation, we can only exclaim with David in 2 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 19, "How are the mighty fallen."

Modern Authoritarianism and Blind Submission

Weaver defines authoritarianism, critiques modern submission to unelected bureaucrats during the pandemic, and warns of the loss of liberty.

And the truth of the matter is we've given up our liberties. We've given up our freedom. We've given up self-defense. We've given up personal responsibility. We've given up accountability. And we've given all these things up to be ruled by a handful of petty, unsaved, unelected, egocentric bureaucrats that are sociopaths who think that they have the ability to rule the world and desire to rule the world. So we have basically descended from a Bible-believing people and from our constitutional republic to an authoritarian rule.

If you don't believe that, all you've got to do is look around and try to analyze what has happened in the last two years, especially in relationship to the pandemic. Now I want you to think with me because I'm going to mention some things that you're totally familiar with. You've heard the phrase, "follow the science." That was the admonition. I saw a cartoon. It was Mr. Bean. He was saying, "I keep trying to follow the science, but it always brings me back to the money." Well, you've heard "follow the science." That's the admonishment, but no one asked which or what science it was.

The unelected and unaccountable CDC in our age who fortune friends who were calling all the shots, listen carefully. And hardly anyone questioned their pronouncements. The people simply obeyed. Most did not question. Most did not research. Most did not ask. Most did not investigate. Most did not think for themselves. Most did not contemplate. They simply obeyed. This is what is called the tyranny of the experts. I've heard two good definitions of expert in my life.

The first one is simple. An expert is anyone 50 miles from home with a briefcase. And the second one I even like better, an X is a has-been and a spurt is a drip under pressure. But no one has asked, what are the qualifications of these experts? No one has asked about collusion. No one has asked about credentials. No one has asked about verification. No one has asked about conflict of interest. No one has asked about the contents of the vaccines.

Most simply rolled up their arms and took the shots. Why? And the answer is because of the appearance of authority. So let me spell it out for you. We're not only no longer ruled by the Word of God as our standard. We're no longer ruled by the Constitution, which is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. We're not only not ruled by the Word of God and not ruled by the Constitution, we're not even ruled by law. We're being ruled by what is known as authoritarianism.

I'm going to show you this in the Bible in just a few minutes. So you're going to ask me, what is authoritarianism? I want to give you the definition. We're going to see this from the Bible, but I want you to listen very carefully and think about what has been going on in the last number of years in this country. Here's the definition of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is the principle of blind submission to authority as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action. In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people. Authoritarian leaders often exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing bodies of law, and they usually cannot be replaced by citizens choosing freely among various competitors in elections. The freedom to create opposition political parties or other alternative political groupings with which to compete for power with the ruling group is either limited or non-existent in authoritarian regimes. So what is authoritarianism? It's when you're not ruled by law. You're not ruled by any objective standard. You're ruled by the whim of one man or the whims of several small groups.

Mean just simply let me break this down for you. You understand this if I were to come in this room and I said, "I am the authority. You do what I tell you and when I tell you to jump you ask how high. Don't you talk back to me. Don't you disobey me. You have to do what I'm telling you because I am the authority and you must remember that I have the force on my side. So if you disobey me, there are going to be consequences." That's authoritarianism.

It doesn't matter whether it's one man or several men. It is not a rule by law. It is not a rule by constitution. It's not a rule by the word of God. It is rule by the whim of man. Thomas Jefferson said this, listen carefully, "Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day, but a series of oppressions pursued unalterably through every change of ministers or administrations too plainly provides a deliberate systematic plan of reducing us to slavery."

So let me ask you something. If you think back over the last couple of democratic administrations, the Republican administrations, what has changed? And the answer is nothing. Everything continues down the line. I'm absolutely astounded today to see people that are still wearing masks. I see people riding down the road in a car by themselves wearing a mask. I've seen them riding a bicycle in the sunshine with a mask. Brother Chrisman told me this past week that he stopped at an Arby's to get a sandwich for his noon meal and he said there was a black girl that was the cashier and her mask had broken on one side the rubber straps. And so she was trying to hold up the rubber, the mask where the rubber strap had broken and work the cash register with one hand. He said in front of him was a white lady who saw the girl struggling. And so she took her mask off and offered it to the black girl.

He said it was as dirty as it could possibly be. And I said, "Well, did the black girl graciously accept it?" He said, "No." I said, "She has more sense than the white woman who offered it." I mean, come on. I mean, if you're going to wear a mask, you're not going to want to inhale what everybody else has exhaled. I'm just simply saying it's just so difficult for me to conceive. And yet, you have to understand, most of these people do nothing but watch TV all the time, and they hear it pounded in their heads. Now, what I want to show you is this. The Bible gives us prime examples of authoritarianism. I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Daniel chapter 3, and the very first illustration we have is that of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was basically a law unto himself.

Biblical Examples of Resisting Authoritarianism

Weaver examines Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3, the elite group in Daniel 6, the apostles in Acts 5, and Moses' parents in Exodus 2 and Hebrews 11 as models of obeying God over man.

What he had done, he had set up an image in the plain of Dura, and he expected everyone to worship that image. Now, in all probability, this image was an image of himself. So he gave the command and everyone was to worship. You did not have a choice. Well, you did have a choice. But if you didn't do what he said, you would be executed, you'd be put to death.

Now, I want to give you a quote from John Trapp, the old Puritan commentator, and he's telling you why this image, he believes, was an image of Nebuchadnezzar. He says, quote, "Having taken Tyre, which was that great service spoken of in Ezekiel 29, verses 18 and 19, God gave him Egypt as his pay for his pains at Tyre and the overthrow of Nineveh, as Nahum had foretold. He was so puffed up with this great success that he set up this monstrous statue of himself to be adored by all on pain of death, that it was his own image which he here erected for such a purpose, as did afterward Gaius Caligula, the Roman emperor. It is gathered, number one, because he did not worship it himself, and number two, because of Daniel 3:12, it is distinguished from his gods, and number three, because this was long since foretold of him in Isaiah 14 and verse 14." And when you get to Isaiah 14 and verse 4, you find that he is indeed talking about the king of Babylon.

So if you look back in verse 12 of Daniel chapter 3,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:14

"There are certain Jews which thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee,"

now watch,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:14

"they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

And if you skip down to verse 14, the latter part,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:14

"do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up."

So the gods and the golden image are separate. So obviously this was indeed an image of the king of Babylon. Now, authoritarians not only like to think they are God, they like to play God. You have to remember now that God is sovereign. God has all power. He is omnipotent. And if I'm going to play God, that means you must obey me or else. I could say, "Steve, do this. Gary, do that." I mean, I can give commands left and right. And if you don't obey me, then I cannot ascertain that I am really a God. And so I have to force you to obey me upon pain of death.

Now, interestingly, when this image was set up and the music played, only three refused to bow. They not only refused to bow, they were determined and they were willing to face the consequences. It should also be noted, and you know the story, that they were delivered from the consequences because of their obedience. And it was their obedience and their deliverance that helped change the mind of Nebuchadnezzar. So, here's why these three Hebrew children did not bow down. They had a totally different standard. Their standard was the law of God. The law of God says, "I shall have no other gods before me." And when he said, "You must bow down and worship this image that I have made," they said, "No, we do not. And we will not." I want you to learn something right now. Listen carefully. Those that follow God's inspired, inerrant, infallible standard will always act differently from those who have a subjective humanistic standard. And those who follow God's objective standard are always willing to suffer the consequences for their obedience unto God. Their obedience to God is demonstrated by their disobedience to man. Now, in Daniel chapter 3, it is none other than Nebuchadnezzar, one man saying, "You will do this or else." That is authoritarianism.

His authority was self-assessed. God did not give him that authority. It was usurped. Now, if you will look in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6, you're going to find that in this instance, it is a small elite group that's trying to exercise authoritarianism. Let's read, first of all, Daniel 6, verses 6 through 11. We'll come back and catch the rest of it. Look in verse 6.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 6:6-11

"Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, King Darius, sign the writing and the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house with his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem."

"He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God." Now, let me just emphasize this. In Daniel 3, authoritarianism was displayed in one man, and Daniel 6 authoritarianism is displayed in a number of men. So look back to Daniel 6 beginning there with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 6:1-5

"It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. And over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give an account unto them, and that the king should receive no damage, or have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel, they were envious, but they could find none occasion or fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God."

So these men now come together and they come to the king and they deceive him and they lie to him to get his stamp of approval and his signature upon this insane law that no one could ask a request of any man or God, save the king for 30 days.

That would mean, Steve, I couldn't ask you to come look at my lawnmower. I couldn't ask you to loan me 10 bucks. I couldn't ask you to do anything. I would just have to ask the king. You know, because he's going to sit there and pretend to be a God. So it's basically insane. Now watch this. If you would, they lied to him because they said, uh, that verse 7, "All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors, the captains have consulted together." That's not true. Daniel was not included. And so what did Daniel do when he found that there was a law passed that you could not ask any petition of any man or God, save the king, for 30 days? Well, look in verse 10. "Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime."

So let me ask you this question. Why did Daniel open his windows? Was he flouting his resistance? Was he being brazen? Was he challenging? Was he daring these men to try to throw him into the den of lions? And the answer is no. What he was doing was being biblical. If you would hold Daniel 6, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 8, because in this passage, Solomon is dedicating the temple.

And I want you to note part of his prayer. We're not going to read all of it, but in 1 Kings 8, beginning there with verse 41, he says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:41-43

"Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of far country for thy name's sake. For they shall hear thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, when he shall come and pray toward this house. Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all the stranger calleth to thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name."

And so, Daniel knew the Scriptures, and all Daniel did was open his window. He knew which direction Jerusalem was, which direction the temple was, and that's what he did. He prayed toward that temple. That was based upon the prayer of Solomon. Now, did Daniel suffer the consequences for his resistance to an ungodly law? Yes, is the answer. Did God deliver him from those consequences? Yes, is the answer. Well, why did Daniel keep doing what he was doing?

And by the way, I've said this before, I'll say it again. The way to pray effectively when you're in trouble is to be used to praying before you get into trouble. And so when Daniel knew that writing was signed, he just prayed three times as he did it aforetime. Now, why? Because his standard was the Word of God. His standard was not the rule of man. His standard was not based upon authoritarianism. His standard was based upon the Word of God. Here's a truth.

You have to grasp the absolute superiority of God's law to man's law. Let me repeat this. All authority is delegated. That means all authority is limited. God is the one who gives authority. He is the one who gives delegated authority and God always defines and confines and limits that authority. So let me put it to you like this. No parent has authority above and beyond the word of God. No pastor has authority above and beyond the word of God. Hmm. No church has authority over and above and beyond the word of God. No government has authority over and above and beyond the Word of God. It's impossible. And if someone claims that authority, then they are usurping, they are stealing that which God has not given to them. Let me show you.

I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 5 and verse 29. Look in Acts 5 verse 29. We'll come back and catch the context. Acts 5, look in verse 29.

Scripture Reading — Acts 5:29

"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

What was Peter and the other apostles saying? God is sovereign. God is supreme. God alone is to be obeyed first, foremost and always. When men and authority go against God and his standard, God is to be obeyed rather than man and God enforces this principle. Let me show you what I'm talking about. Look in Acts chapter 5 and let's begin there with verse 17, watch. "Then the high priest rose up and all

they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation." What were the apostles doing? They were preaching. "And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." You may not understand the significance of that at this point. So I want you to go back to Acts 5 in verse 27. Here is what they had done. "When they had brought them," that is the apostles, "they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Now here's what had happened. The apostles were preaching and teaching, and they were preaching in the name of Jesus Christ and preaching the resurrection of the dead. And so the Sadducees and the religious rulers had caught them and threw them into prison for doing what they had forbidden them to do. Now look back in your Bibles to verse 18, Acts 5 verse 18, "And laid their hands on the apostles," that is the Sadducees, the rulers, "and put them in the common prison." What happened?

Scripture Reading — Acts 5:17-21

"But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life."

I want you to understand this. God sent an angel, delivered them out of prison and told them to go do exactly what the rulers had told them not to do. And so they obeyed God and preached. And so the rulers got upset.

"Did we not straightly command you not to preach anymore in this name?" "We ought to obey God rather than man." Here's a principle. God's word and God's law is supreme and sovereign. It is above the rule and will of man. Authoritarianism is contrary to God's sovereignty. And when man's law conflicts with God's law, we must obey God.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 2. Because if you do not know who Amram and Jochebed were, you're going to find out. Their names are given later in the Bible. But Amram and Jochebed happened to be the father and mother of Moses. So look in Exodus chapter 2 beginning there with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 2:1-3

"There went a man out of the house of Levi, Amram, and took a wife a daughter of Levi, Jochebed. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink."

So why did she hide Moses for three months? And after that, when she could no longer hide him, why did she make the little ark of bulrushes? Well, if you will go back to Exodus 1 and verse 22, "And Pharaoh charged all his people saying, Every son that is of a Hebrew that is born, you shall cast in the river and every daughter you shall save alive."

So watch carefully now, "And Pharaoh charged all his people." Now it is true the Egyptians were his people. But it is equally true the Hebrews were his people because they were his slaves. So the Egyptians then had the authority of the Pharaoh to murder any male child of the Hebrews. And the Hebrews were expected to murder their own male children. You say, how in the world can you say that? Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, and look if you would please there at verse 19. And I will tell you up front, this is a hard pill to swallow. But here it is. Acts chapter 7 and verse 19, Stephen is giving his defense. And look at verse 18, "Till another king arose which knew not Joseph." Watch verse 19,

Scripture Reading — Acts 7:19

"The same dealt suddenly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they,"

that is the fathers, the Hebrews,

Scripture Reading — Acts 7:19

"cast out their own children to the end that they might not live."

Wow! How in the world could these Israelites cast out their own children? How could they murder them at their own hand? How could you do such a thing? It is still, it is still outrageous when you and I hear of a mother murdering her own children or a father murdering his own child.

I just read this week where one man murdered his eight-month-old pregnant 22-year-old girlfriend, and not only murdered her, he cut her head off and threw it in the dumpster. How can you do things like that? And the answer is, they have a standard, but it's not God's standard. It's their own subjective standard. It's based upon their own desires, their own feelings, their own wants, their own wishes. In other words, God's standard is different from fallen man's. God's standard is different from a single authoritarian ruler. God's standard is different from an elite group of rulers.

So here's a good question. Why did Amram and Jochebed not murder Moses? You say, well, I just read it because he was a goodly child. Oh, there's more. If you'll look in your Bibles, Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, and look if you would please at verse 23. Hebrews 11 and verse 23. Watch this. Hebrews 11 verse 23,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 11:23

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents."

They were children of faith.

They didn't obey the king. Why? Because they saw he was a proper child. That's one thing. And they, the parents, were not afraid of the king's commandment. They were not afraid. Now the word afraid is the Greek word phobeo. It is where we get our English word phobia from. And the word phobia means to fear, to be afraid, and to reverence. So Amram and Jochebed did not reverence the king's ungodly command. They had no fear of that ungodly reprobate when he had ordered that all the male children be slain. Why did they not fear? Why did they not reverence?

Why did they not submit to him? The answer is because they had a totally different standard. Their standard was indeed the Word of God and therefore they were not about to bow to a wicked corrupt ruler. It's just that simple. So the point I want you to see is this. Where we are today in this land we've rejected God's law as our standard. Consequently, the rulers have rejected the Constitution as a standard. And consequently, the rule of law now is no longer in existence.

Applications and Conclusion

Weaver applies the principle: question authority, resist unlawful commands, and return to God's objective standard to regain liberty, concluding that disobedience to man for God's sake becomes obedience.

And what we're being ruled by is an elite group of authoritarians who believe that they have the absolute right to take your life, to take your possessions, to take your occupation, to take whatever they want to take, just so that they can play God. So let me make a couple of applications. The first one is based on the question, what is your standard? When you stop and think about this, we either must submit to God's standard, His law word, or we're going to submit to the standard of man. And we must understand that man's authority is always limited. I have a t-shirt that was given to me years ago and on the front it has this written: "Question authority." And that's true, we should do that. Question authority: by what authority do you have to direct me to do anything? Who gave you that authority? How did you derive that authority? You can find out whether or not that authority is legitimate or not. The United Nations has no authority over the American people.

I don't care what anybody says. Neither does Fauci, neither does WHO, neither does the CDC, neither does George Soros, neither does Klaus Schwab. I'm just simply saying we have to understand we are where we are because we've rejected God's standard and we have submitted to man's standard. This is one of the reasons we're seeing so much wickedness, violence, murder, and genocide is because we've left God's standard and we're following man's standard. Here's the next one. When we refuse wickedness, when we disobey ungodly and wicked laws, it is not rebellion, it is resistance. There is a vast difference between rebellion and resistance. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen. So we may resist unlawful authority.

Have you ever stopped to think about this? What in the world could the United Nations, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Yuval Noah Harari, Biden, Pelosi, Harris, Schumer—what could these people do if everybody just stopped obeying them? I mean, their game would be up. So what we've got to come back to in saying this, we have an objective standard. It is God's law. And by His standard, you are illegitimate. You have no authority.

You have stolen and usurped. Do you realize even by our own Constitution, Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3, the Constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. Not what Congress wants, not what Congress says, not what Biden said. "I'll use my power." He has no power. No ruler has any power above that which is written in the Constitution. So I'm just simply saying where we are now is because we've given into authoritarianism rather than the word of God.

So here's my last one. Standards do matter. When we reject the law of God, we reject it at our own peril. When we leave his law, we head straight for destruction. It is impossible to have civil liberty without spiritual liberty. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 17,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:17

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Where the Spirit of the Lord is not, there is no liberty. So.

The conclusion is this, if we want our liberty, if we want our freedom, if we want our country, our homes, our families, our churches, our society, we have to come back to God's objective standard and obey it and be willing to suffer whatever consequences that comes around because His Word is right and His Word is true. When we disobey man in order to obey the Word of God, our disobedience becomes obedience. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we pray, Lord, that You would indeed help us to see the absolute importance of Your law, Your law word, Your written word, Your commands. Help us to bring our lives in conformity. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Objective Standard vs. Human Subjective Standards

Summary: God's law-word is the only objective standard for faith and practice, while human standards are selfish and humanistic.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God's objective standard is His law word. It is the only objective standard... All of our subjective standards arise and originate from within... based upon our desires and our determination.'

Delegated Authority and Its Limits

Summary: All human authority is delegated by God and therefore limited; no authority can command what contradicts God's law.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'All authority is delegated... Delegated authority is always limited. It is defined and is always confined... No parent has authority above and beyond the word of God.'

Obedience to God Over Man

Summary: When human commands conflict with God's commands, believers must obey God, even if it means disobeying human authority.

Evidence: Weaver cites Acts 5:29, 'We ought to obey God rather than men,' and applies it to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, and the apostles.

Resistance to Tyranny as Obedience to God

Summary: Resisting unlawful, tyrannical authority is not rebellion but obedience to God, a principle affirmed by historical figures and Scripture.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Tyndale, Franklin, and Jefferson on 'Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God' and discusses the Virginia flag's motto 'Sic Semper Tyrannis.'

Authoritarianism vs. Rule of Law

Summary: Authoritarianism is blind submission to authority without regard to law, contrasting with biblical and constitutional rule of law.

Evidence: Weaver defines authoritarianism as 'the principle of blind submission to authority as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action' and critiques modern examples.

The Consequences of Forsaking God's Standard

Summary: Rejecting God's law leads to societal decay, tyranny, and loss of liberty, as seen in America's departure from its founding principles.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We've turned from the Word of God as our standard... consequently we find ourselves today in an extremely deplorable situation.'

Key Arguments

Disobedience to Man Can Be Obedience to God

Summary: When human authority commands what God forbids, disobeying that authority is actually obeying God.

Evidence: Weaver uses the hypothetical of a father commanding his son to rob a bank: 'His disobedience to me would become obedience unto God at that particular point.'

All Authority is Delegated and Limited

Summary: Since God alone is sovereign, any human authority is delegated and cannot exceed the bounds God sets.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'There's only one sovereign, there's only one supreme, and that is God himself. So any authority that anyone has on earth... is always delegated.'

Scripture Provides Examples of Righteous Resistance

Summary: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, the apostles, and Moses' parents all disobeyed human commands to obey God, and God honored their obedience.

Evidence: Weaver examines Daniel 3, Daniel 6, Acts 5, and Exodus 2/Hebrews 11 to show that these figures 'had a totally different standard' and were willing to suffer consequences.

Modern Authoritarianism Rejects God's Law

Summary: Today's rulers exercise arbitrary power without constitutional or biblical basis, and many Christians have submitted blindly.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We're not only no longer ruled by the Word of God as our standard. We're no longer ruled by the Constitution... we're not even ruled by law. We're being ruled by what is known as authoritarianism.'

Resistance is Not Rebellion

Summary: There is a difference between rebellion against lawful authority and resistance to unlawful, usurped authority.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen.'

Returning to God's Standard is the Only Solution

Summary: To regain liberty and avoid destruction, individuals and society must return to God's objective standard, the Bible.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'If we want our liberty... we have to come back to God's objective standard and obey it and be willing to suffer whatever consequences.'

Scripture References

Daniel 3:13-23

Context: Read as the main text, describing Nebuchadnezzar's command to worship the image and the three Hebrews' refusal.

Ephesians 6:1-3

Context: Cited to show the blessing of obedience to parents and the implied curse of disobedience.

Job 38:11

Context: Alluded to in describing the limits of delegated authority: 'Hitherto shalt thou come and no further.'

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Context: Explained as spiritual warfare, casting down imaginations and bringing every thought captive to Christ.

2 Samuel 1:19

Context: Quoted to lament the fall of America: 'How are the mighty fallen.'

Daniel 3:12

Context: Cited to show that the golden image was distinct from Nebuchadnezzar's gods, implying it was an image of himself.

Daniel 3:14

Context: Used to reinforce that the image was separate from the gods, supporting the idea it was an image of the king.

Isaiah 14:14

Context: Referenced as a prophecy about the king of Babylon's pride, connecting to Nebuchadnezzar's image.

Daniel 6:6-11

Context: Read to show the decree forbidding prayer to anyone but the king, and Daniel's continued prayer.

Daniel 6:1-5

Context: Explained to show the envy of the presidents and princes and their plot against Daniel.

1 Kings 8:41-43

Context: Cited as the basis for Daniel praying toward Jerusalem, following Solomon's dedicatory prayer.

Acts 5:29

Context: Quoted as the apostles' response to the council: 'We ought to obey God rather than men.'

Acts 5:17-21

Context: Described to show the apostles' imprisonment and angelic deliverance, with the command to keep preaching.

Acts 5:27-28

Context: Quoted to show the council's accusation and the apostles' reply.

Exodus 2:1-3

Context: Read to show Moses' parents hiding him and placing him in an ark.

Exodus 1:22

Context: Cited as Pharaoh's command to cast every Hebrew son into the river.

Acts 7:19

Context: Quoted to show that the Hebrews cast out their own children to comply with Pharaoh's command.

Hebrews 11:23

Context: Cited to show that by faith Moses' parents hid him, not fearing the king's commandment.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Context: Quoted: 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' to emphasize spiritual liberty as the basis for civil liberty.

Historical References

R.J. Rushdoony, 'By What Standard?'

Context: Mentioned as an author who emphasized God's world and God's rules.

Jared Longshore, 'By What Standard?'

Context: Mentioned alongside Rushdoony as writing on the same theme.

First Charter of Virginia (1606)

Context: Quoted to show the colony's purpose included propagating the Christian religion.

New Hampshire Colony Agreement (1639)

Context: Quoted to show they established government agreeable to the will of God.

New Haven Colony Judicial Rules (1644)

Context: Quoted to show they adopted the judicial laws of Moses as the rule for courts.

William Tyndale (1494-1536)

Context: Credited with the phrase 'Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.'

Benjamin Franklin (1776)

Context: Proposed 'Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God' as the motto for the U.S. seal.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Context: Adopted 'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God' as his personal motto.

Virginia State Flag

Context: Described with the motto 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' and symbolism of virtue over tyranny.

Omar Bradley (1893-1981)

Context: Quoted: 'America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America.'

Important Quotes

Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

Significance: Central thesis of the sermon, attributed to Tyndale and echoed by Franklin and Jefferson, encapsulating the principle that disobeying unlawful authority is obedience to God.

We ought to obey God rather than men.

Significance: Key biblical mandate from Acts 5:29, used to support the argument that God's authority supersedes human authority.

When we disobey man in order to obey the Word of God, our disobedience becomes obedience.

Significance: The concluding summary of the sermon's main point, directly tying the title to the application.

Authoritarianism is the principle of blind submission to authority as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action.

Significance: Definition used to critique modern governmental overreach and contrast with biblical obedience.

Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen.

Significance: Important distinction clarifying that resisting tyranny is not sinful rebellion but righteous resistance.

America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America.

Significance: Quote from Omar Bradley used to warn of the consequences of abandoning biblical foundations.

Discussion Questions

How does the concept of delegated authority affect the way we view commands from parents, pastors, and government officials?

Context: Weaver teaches that all authority is delegated by God and therefore limited; this question explores practical implications.

In what situations might a Christian be called to disobey human authority, and how can we discern if that disobedience is obedience to God?

Context: The sermon gives examples like the three Hebrews and Daniel; this question asks for personal application.

What is the difference between rebellion and resistance, and why is this distinction important for Christians today?

Context: Weaver explicitly differentiates the two, stating rebellion is against lawful authority while resistance is against unlawful authority.

How have we as a society 'rejected God's law as our standard,' and what are the visible consequences?

Context: Weaver points to the pandemic response and loss of liberties as evidence; this question encourages reflection on current events.

What does it mean to 'bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ' in the context of evaluating cultural and political messages?

Context: Based on 2 Corinthians 10:5, Weaver applies this to thinking biblically about all areas of life.

How can we cultivate the kind of faith that is 'not afraid of the king's commandment' like Moses' parents?

Context: Hebrews 11:23 says they did not fear the king's command; this question explores developing such courage.

What role should the historical founding documents of America play in our understanding of biblical standards for government?

Context: Weaver cites colonial charters that explicitly reference God's law; this question probes their relevance today.

Applications

Evaluate Your Standard

Summary: Examine whether your life is governed by God's objective standard (His Word) or by subjective humanistic standards.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'What is your standard? ... we either must submit to God's standard, His law word, or we're going to submit to the standard of man.'

Question Authority

Summary: Do not blindly submit to human authority; ask by what authority they command and whether it aligns with God's law.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Question authority: by what authority do you have to direct me to do anything? Who gave you that authority?'

Resist Unlawful Commands

Summary: When human laws or commands contradict God's Word, resist them as an act of obedience to God, not rebellion.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When we refuse wickedness, when we disobey ungodly and wicked laws, it is not rebellion, it is resistance.'

Be Willing to Suffer Consequences

Summary: Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, be prepared to face consequences for obeying God rather than men.

Evidence: Weaver notes they 'were willing to face the consequences' and 'were delivered from the consequences because of their obedience.'

Return to God's Law as the Standard

Summary: Individually and corporately, return to the Bible as the ultimate authority for faith and practice to restore liberty.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'If we want our liberty... we have to come back to God's objective standard and obey it.'

Cultivate a Habit of Prayer

Summary: Develop a consistent prayer life so that when crises come, you are already in communion with God, like Daniel.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The way to pray effectively when you're in trouble is to be used to praying before you get into trouble.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T17:26:16Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T08:21:17Z

Clean Transcript

When Disobedience Becomes Obedience

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It's to the book of Daniel chapter 3, Daniel chapter 3. And we're going to be reading verses 13 through 23. Here's a passage that everyone is familiar with, but it probably will be just a little different application today. So the title of the message is When Disobedience Becomes Obedience. So in Daniel chapter 3, notice if you would, verse 13, "Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego."
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"Then they brought these three men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?"
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"Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour in the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"
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"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego."
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"And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." We have been taught the concept of obedience all of our lives. And we've also been taught the concept or the destructive power of disobedience. In fact, as you read through the Bible, there are many blessings that are pronounced upon our obedience. And there's also curses pronounced upon our disobedience. And practically everyone can quote a passage in which you find these blessings and these curses mentioned. One such passage Ephesians chapter 6 verses 1 through 3.
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Let me begin quoting it. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with the promise, listen carefully now, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth." So you have a positive, you have a blessing there. If we honor our father and our mother, that is if we're obedient, then God's blessing is that we live long upon the earth, and it will be well with us.
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But on the other hand, by clear implication, there is also the curse of disobedience. If we fail to honor our parents, if we fail to obey, then we are not going to live long upon this earth, and it's not going to be well with us. So you have both the positive and the negative. You have the blessings and the curses in this one simple passage. In light of this passage, there is a pressing question that I must ask. And I'm asking this question not because I don't think you know the answer. I believe you do know the answer. But I'm asking this question to set up what is going to follow. So here's my question.
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Is it ever right or can it ever be right for a child to disobey his parent? We could ask this question in a different way. Is it right to not obey a parent? So once again, I'm asking these questions in order to set up a biblical principle. You have to understand that parental authority is delegated. In fact, the truth of the matter is all authority is delegated.
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There's only one sovereign, there's only one supreme, and that is God himself. So any authority that anyone has on earth, whether it is parental, pastoral, governmental, whatever it is, is always delegated. Delegated authority is always limited. It is defined and is always confined. It's kind of like the ocean. When God said to the waves in Job 38, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." So let me just try to set this up for you.
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And I know that you know the answer this. Suppose I had a teenage son. I do not but suppose I did and I looked at my teenage son and I said to him, "Well, I'm low on money this month and I do not have enough money to pay all my bills. So son, I want you to take this pistol and go rob the bank and bring me the funds so I can pay my bills." And the child looks at me and he says, "No, daddy, I'm not going to do that."
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And I look at him, I said, "You don't understand. I'm commanding you to rob that bank. And the Bible says, 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.' So I'm commanding you to do that." So my question would be, is that child disobedient to me? And the answer would be, yes, he would be disobedient to me, but would he be disobedient to God? And the answer is no, because God is the sovereign supreme authority and God has said, "Thou shalt not steal." So his disobedience to me would become obedience unto God at that particular point. Now, no parent has any right or any authority to ask their child, no matter how young or how old, to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God. If I did ask my child to do something that was contrary to the Word of God, then I'm the one in rebellion and not the child. So it would be right in that instance for the child to disobey me if I'm violating the law of God, because his disobedience then would become obedience to God.
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Years ago, Dr. R.J. Rushdoony wrote a book titled "By What Standard?" There's another man by the name of Jared Longshore who's also written a book by the same title, "By What Standard?" Both of these men point out that this is God's world and God has set the rules. God has established the standard and that his word is law.
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Now let me just mention this. It is obvious that everyone must have a standard. In fact, everyone does have a standard. The problem is not everyone has the same standard. There are subjective standards, and there is God's objective standard. These subjective standards are humanistic, and those subjective standards could be based upon pride, popularity, fleshly desires, our goals, our desire for prosperity, anything that promotes us and helps us.
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In other words, let me put it like this. Our subjective standard is always selfish and it's always humanistic. All of our subjective standards arise and originate from within. That is, they're based upon our desires and our determination. God's objective standard is His law word. It is the only objective standard, and it is a standard which He has laid down for individuals, for families, for churches, for societies, for governments, for everything that exists. So if someone asked, "By what standard then should we live?" the answer is going to be, we're to live by God's objective standard, which is His law word. Now, Christians, especially Baptists, and then Presbyterians as well, to a good extent, but especially Baptists, have always confessed that the only standard that we have for faith and practice is the Word of God. In other words, it's the Bible that teaches us what we are to believe, and it's the Bible that also teaches us how to apply the truth that God has revealed in His Scripture.
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Here's where we are today. We have erred and we have sinned greatly in the fact that we have forsaken God's standard. The goal of every Christian, the goal of every believer, should be to bring our lives into conformity to the Word of God, to be as obedient and as holy as we could possibly be by the grace of God. The goal of every biblical church is to preach and teach the pure Word of God, and to show people not only the truth of God's Word, but how to apply that truth as well.
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All of this is just simply called exercising dominion. And dominion is nothing less than bringing everything into captivity and subjection to Jesus Christ. So let me show you. If you will hold Daniel 3, but turn very quickly in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and let's begin reading there verses 4 and 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and look if you would please beginning there with verse 4.
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The Apostle Paul writes and he says this, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now Paul is not denigrating what you and I would call physical or carnal weapons. The only thing he's saying is those kind of weapons will not work in the warfare that we are fighting. So he says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
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Now, what is your stronghold? It's your place of defense. And it's where you hide. It is where you run when you're in danger. So watch carefully now. He says it's mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So what is the stronghold of man? Here it is: "Casting down imaginations and every high thing," or literally every high thought, "that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." So notice, if you would, our stronghold is our thinking. It's our mind. And he says that we are to cast down that stronghold. How? By casting down every imagination, and every thought that is contrary to God, and bring every thought into captivity and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if we brought every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ, that means then we would be thinking biblically when it comes to our individual lives, we'd be thinking biblically when it comes to our families, we'd be thinking biblically when it comes to our churches.
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We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to economics. We'd be thinking biblically when it comes to government. Let me mention something. When this country was founded, it was basically founded upon the Word of God. I have copies of practically every colony that was begun in this country, that is the constitutions, the charters, and the agreements of the colonies between themselves and the king. And interestingly enough, each one of these proclaim the Word of God basically as the standard, the objective standard.
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Let me give you three illustrations. The first one is the first charter of Virginia found in 1606. This was where Jamestown was to be settled, and here is what the charter says: "We, greatly commending and graciously accepting of their desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of his divine majesty, in propagating the Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages living in those parts to human civility and to a settled and quiet government." So that was in the charter of the founding of Jamestown. How about this one in New Hampshire in 1639? And in 1639, they are defining the purpose of government. And here's what the article says.
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"Considering with ourselves the holy will of God and our own necessity that we should not live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are altogether destitute, do in the name of Christ and in the sight of God combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us as such governments as shall be, to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of God." So they said, we want our government to be agreeable to the Word of God. Well, how in the world, or the will of God, how in the world would they know what is agreeable to the will of God? And the answer is, it is revealed in His Word.
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And here's the third one. This is the New Haven colony in 1644, and they were adopting rules for their judicial system. This may shock you, but here it is in one simple sentence: "The judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses, are to be a rule to all our courts in this jurisdiction." So the courts then were to rule based upon biblical law.
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Now I could go on for hours because these charters and these constitutions are very plain, but I think those three are sufficient for you to understand one general concept, and that is that we've turned from the Word of God as our standard, and we have followed humanistic standards for years, consequently we find ourselves today in an extremely deplorable situation and a situation in which most people are going to become probably absolutely destitute. And what we've done is we've quietly submitted to the tyranny of man. Now, I'm sure that every one of you have heard the motto, the saying, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." You may not know the sources of that saying, but I'm going to give them to you. First of all, the phrase, or the sentence, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God," was from William Tyndale, who was the Bible translator, and if you want to call him an agitator, at least one who provoked the government of England to righteousness. From 1494 he lived to 1536 and that's why he was
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saying "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." Benjamin Franklin in August of 1776 proposed that the motto for the seal of the United States should be "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Isn't that interesting? And then, of course, it was Thomas Jefferson, who was the third president of the United States, who lived from 1743 to 1826. He adopted as his personal motto, "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
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Now, if you have never seen a picture of the state flag of the state of Virginia, I would encourage you to get on the Internet and get a picture of the flag of Virginia. Because that state flag features a woman who is personifying virtue. She is dressed as an Amazon. She is wearing a helmet. She holds a spear and a sword above. And there's the Latin motto, "Sic Semper Tyrannis."
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which means "thus always to tyrants." At her feet, she is standing on the crumpled figure of a fallen king. His crown is lying by his side, thus carrying out the theme of popular victory over tyrannical government. And the whip and the chain which the king had used is now laying helplessly by his side. And of course it's "Sic Semper Tyrannis"—thus always to tyrants.
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Now, I told you a lot of those things to give you something to really think about. Many of you have heard the name Omar Bradley. Omar Bradley was a five-star general who died in 1981. Here is what Bradley said. Listen. "America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America." When you stop and think about that one statement, and that is true, we have been running and living on what we were and what our founding fathers and those who followed them gave us, which we have forsaken and turned from, and now that momentum is about to expire. When we think of our history as a nation, we can only exclaim with David in 2 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 19, "How are the mighty fallen."
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And the truth of the matter is we've given up our liberties. We've given up our freedom. We've given up self-defense. We've given up personal responsibility. We've given up accountability. And we've given all these things up to be ruled by a handful of petty, unsaved, unelected, egocentric bureaucrats that are sociopaths who think that they have the ability to rule the world and desire to rule the world. So we have basically descended from a Bible-believing people and from our constitutional republic to an authoritarian rule.
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If you don't believe that, all you've got to do is look around and try to analyze what has happened in the last two years, especially in relationship to the pandemic. Now I want you to think with me because I'm going to mention some things that you're totally familiar with. You've heard the phrase, "follow the science." That was the admonition. I saw a cartoon. It was Mr. Bean. He was saying, "I keep trying to follow the science, but it always brings me back to the money." Well, you've heard "follow the science." That's the admonishment, but no one asked which or what science it was.
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The unelected and unaccountable CDC in our age who fortune friends who were calling all the shots, listen carefully. And hardly anyone questioned their pronouncements. The people simply obeyed. Most did not question. Most did not research. Most did not ask. Most did not investigate. Most did not think for themselves. Most did not contemplate. They simply obeyed. This is what is called the tyranny of the experts. I've heard two good definitions of expert in my life.
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The first one is simple. An expert is anyone 50 miles from home with a briefcase. And the second one I even like better, an X is a has-been and a spurt is a drip under pressure. But no one has asked, what are the qualifications of these experts? No one has asked about collusion. No one has asked about credentials. No one has asked about verification. No one has asked about conflict of interest. No one has asked about the contents of the vaccines.
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Most simply rolled up their arms and took the shots. Why? And the answer is because of the appearance of authority. So let me spell it out for you. We're not only no longer ruled by the Word of God as our standard. We're no longer ruled by the Constitution, which is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. We're not only not ruled by the Word of God and not ruled by the Constitution, we're not even ruled by law. We're being ruled by what is known as authoritarianism.
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I'm going to show you this in the Bible in just a few minutes. So you're going to ask me, what is authoritarianism? I want to give you the definition. We're going to see this from the Bible, but I want you to listen very carefully and think about what has been going on in the last number of years in this country. Here's the definition of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is the principle of blind submission to authority as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action.
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In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people. Authoritarian leaders often exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing bodies of law, and they usually cannot be replaced by citizens choosing freely among various competitors in elections. The freedom to create opposition political parties or other alternative political groupings with which to compete for power with the ruling group is either limited or non-existent in authoritarian regimes. So what is authoritarianism? It's when you're not ruled by law. You're not ruled by any objective standard. You're ruled by the whim of one man or the whims of several small groups.
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Mean just simply let me break this down for you. You understand this if I were to come in this room and I said, "I am the authority. You do what I tell you and when I tell you to jump you ask how high. Don't you talk back to me. Don't you disobey me. You have to do what I'm telling you because I am the authority and you must remember that I have the force on my side. So if you disobey me, there are going to be consequences." That's authoritarianism.
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It doesn't matter whether it's one man or several men. It is not a rule by law. It is not a rule by constitution. It's not a rule by the word of God. It is rule by the whim of man. Thomas Jefferson said this, listen carefully, "Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day, but a series of oppressions pursued unalterably through every change of ministers or administrations too plainly provides a deliberate systematic plan of reducing us to slavery."
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So let me ask you something. If you think back over the last couple of democratic administrations, the Republican administrations, what has changed? And the answer is nothing. Everything continues down the line. I'm absolutely astounded today to see people that are still wearing masks. I see people riding down the road in a car by themselves wearing a mask. I've seen them riding a bicycle in the sunshine with a mask. Brother Chrisman told me this past week that he stopped at an Arby's to get a sandwich for his noon meal and he said there was a black girl that was the cashier and her mask had broken on one side the rubber straps. And so she was trying to hold up the rubber, the mask where the rubber strap had broken and work the cash register with one hand. He said in front of him was a white lady who saw the girl struggling. And so she took her mask off and offered it to the black girl.
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He said it was as dirty as it could possibly be. And I said, "Well, did the black girl graciously accept it?" He said, "No." I said, "She has more sense than the white woman who offered it." I mean, come on. I mean, if you're going to wear a mask, you're not going to want to inhale what everybody else has exhaled. I'm just simply saying it's just so difficult for me to conceive.
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And yet, you have to understand, most of these people do nothing but watch TV all the time, and they hear it pounded in their heads. Now, what I want to show you is this. The Bible gives us prime examples of authoritarianism. I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Daniel chapter 3, and the very first illustration we have is that of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was basically a law unto himself.
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What he had done, he had set up an image in the plain of Dura, and he expected everyone to worship that image. Now, in all probability, this image was an image of himself. So he gave the command and everyone was to worship. You did not have a choice. Well, you did have a choice. But if you didn't do what he said, you would be executed, you'd be put to death.
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Now, I want to give you a quote from John Trapp, the old Puritan commentator, and he's telling you why this image, he believes, was an image of Nebuchadnezzar. He says, quote, "Having taken Tyre, which was that great service spoken of in Ezekiel 29, verses 18 and 19, God gave him Egypt as his pay for his pains at Tyre and the overthrow of Nineveh, as Nahum had foretold. He was so puffed up with this great success that he set up this monstrous statue of himself to be adored by all on pain of death, that it was his own image which he here erected for such a purpose, as did afterward Gaius Caligula, the Roman emperor. It is gathered, number one, because he did not worship it himself, and number two, because of Daniel 3:12, it is distinguished from his gods, and number three, because this was long since foretold of him in Isaiah 14 and verse 14." And when you get to Isaiah 14 and verse 4, you find that he is indeed talking about the king of Babylon.
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So if you look back in verse 12 of Daniel chapter 3, "There are certain Jews which thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee," now watch, "they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." And if you skip down to verse 14, the latter part, "do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up." So the gods and the golden image are separate. So obviously this was indeed an image of the king of Babylon.
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Now, authoritarians not only like to think they are God, they like to play God. You have to remember now that God is sovereign. God has all power. He is omnipotent. And if I'm going to play God, that means you must obey me or else. I could say, "Steve, do this. Gary, do that." I mean, I can give commands left and right. And if you don't obey me, then I cannot ascertain that I am really a God. And so I have to force you to obey me upon pain of death.
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Now, interestingly, when this image was set up and the music played, only three refused to bow. They not only refused to bow, they were determined and they were willing to face the consequences. It should also be noted, and you know the story, that they were delivered from the consequences because of their obedience. And it was their obedience and their deliverance that helped change the mind of Nebuchadnezzar. So, here's why these three Hebrew children did not bow down.
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They had a totally different standard. Their standard was the law of God. The law of God says, "I shall have no other gods before me." And when he said, "You must bow down and worship this image that I have made," they said, "No, we do not. And we will not." I want you to learn something right now. Listen carefully. Those that follow God's inspired, inerrant, infallible standard will always act differently from those who have a subjective humanistic standard. And those who follow God's objective standard are always willing to suffer the consequences for their obedience unto God. Their obedience to God is demonstrated by their disobedience to man. Now, in Daniel chapter 3, it is none other than Nebuchadnezzar, one man saying, "You will do this or else." That is authoritarianism.
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His authority was self-assessed. God did not give him that authority. It was usurped.
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Now, if you will look in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6, you're going to find that in this instance, it is a small elite group that's trying to exercise authoritarianism. Let's read, first of all, Daniel 6, verses 6 through 11. We'll come back and catch the rest of it. Look in verse 6. "Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, King Darius, sign the writing and the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house with his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem."
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"He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God."
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Now, let me just emphasize this. In Daniel 3, authoritarianism was displayed in one man, and Daniel 6 authoritarianism is displayed in a number of men. So look back to Daniel 6 beginning there with verse 1. "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. And over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give an account unto them, and that the king should receive no damage, or have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel, they were envious, but they could find none occasion or fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." So these men now come together and they come to the king and they deceive him and they lie to him to get his stamp of approval and his signature upon this insane law that no one could ask a request of any man or God, save the king for 30 days.
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That would mean, Steve, I couldn't ask you to come look at my lawnmower. I couldn't ask you to loan me 10 bucks. I couldn't ask you to do anything. I would just have to ask the king. You know, because he's going to sit there and pretend to be a God. So it's basically insane. Now watch this. If you would, they lied to him because they said, uh, that verse 7, "All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors, the captains have consulted together." That's not true. Daniel was not included. And so what did Daniel do when he found that there was a law passed that you could not ask any petition of any man or God, save the king, for 30 days? Well, look in verse 10. "Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime."
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So let me ask you this question. Why did Daniel open his windows? Was he flouting his resistance? Was he being brazen? Was he challenging? Was he daring these men to try to throw him into the den of lions? And the answer is no. What he was doing was being biblical. If you would hold Daniel 6, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 8, because in this passage, Solomon is dedicating the temple.
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And I want you to note part of his prayer. We're not going to read all of it, but in 1 Kings 8, beginning there with verse 41, he says, "Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of far country for thy name's sake. For they shall hear thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, when he shall come and pray toward this house. Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all the stranger calleth to thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name."
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And so, Daniel knew the Scriptures, and all Daniel did was open his window. He knew which direction Jerusalem was, which direction the temple was, and that's what he did. He prayed toward that temple. That was based upon the prayer of Solomon. Now, did Daniel suffer the consequences for his resistance to an ungodly law? Yes, is the answer. Did God deliver him from those consequences? Yes, is the answer. Well, why did Daniel keep doing what he was doing?
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And by the way, I've said this before, I'll say it again. The way to pray effectively when you're in trouble is to be used to praying before you get into trouble. And so when Daniel knew that writing was signed, he just prayed three times as he did it aforetime. Now, why? Because his standard was the Word of God. His standard was not the rule of man. His standard was not based upon authoritarianism. His standard was based upon the Word of God. Here's a truth.
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You have to grasp the absolute superiority of God's law to man's law. Let me repeat this. All authority is delegated. That means all authority is limited. God is the one who gives authority. He is the one who gives delegated authority and God always defines and confines and limits that authority. So let me put it to you like this. No parent has authority above and beyond the word of God. No pastor has authority above and beyond the word of God. Hmm. No church has authority over and above and beyond the word of God. No government has authority over and above and beyond the Word of God. It's impossible. And if someone claims that authority, then they are usurping, they are stealing that which God has not given to them. Let me show you.
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I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 5 and verse 29. Look in Acts 5 verse 29. We'll come back and catch the context. Acts 5, look in verse 29. "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." What was Peter and the other apostles saying? God is sovereign. God is supreme. God alone is to be obeyed first, foremost and always. When men and authority go against God and his standard, God is to be obeyed rather than man and God enforces this principle. Let me show you what I'm talking about. Look in Acts chapter 5 and let's begin there with verse 17, watch. "Then the high priest rose up and all
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they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation." What were the apostles doing? They were preaching. "And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life."
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You may not understand the significance of that at this point. So I want you to go back to Acts 5 in verse 27. Here is what they had done. "When they had brought them," that is the apostles, "they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."
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Now here's what had happened. The apostles were preaching and teaching, and they were preaching in the name of Jesus Christ and preaching the resurrection of the dead. And so the Sadducees and the religious rulers had caught them and threw them into prison for doing what they had forbidden them to do. Now look back in your Bibles to verse 18, Acts 5 verse 18, "And laid their hands on the apostles," that is the Sadducees, the rulers, "and put them in the common prison." What happened?
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"But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." I want you to understand this. God sent an angel, delivered them out of prison and told them to go do exactly what the rulers had told them not to do. And so they obeyed God and preached. And so the rulers got upset.
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"Did we not straightly command you not to preach anymore in this name?" "We ought to obey God rather than man." Here's a principle. God's word and God's law is supreme and sovereign. It is above the rule and will of man. Authoritarianism is contrary to God's sovereignty. And when man's law conflicts with God's law, we must obey God.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 2. Because if you do not know who Amram and Jochebed were, you're going to find out. Their names are given later in the Bible. But Amram and Jochebed happened to be the father and mother of Moses. So look in Exodus chapter 2 beginning there with verse 1. "There went a man out of the house of Levi, Amram, and took a wife a daughter of Levi, Jochebed. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink." So why did she hide Moses for three months? And after that, when she could no longer hide him, why did she make the little ark of bulrushes? Well, if you will go back to Exodus 1 and verse 22, "And Pharaoh charged all his people saying, Every son that is of a Hebrew that is born, you shall cast in the river and every daughter you shall save alive."
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So watch carefully now, "And Pharaoh charged all his people." Now it is true the Egyptians were his people. But it is equally true the Hebrews were his people because they were his slaves. So the Egyptians then had the authority of the Pharaoh to murder any male child of the Hebrews. And the Hebrews were expected to murder their own male children. You say, how in the world can you say that?
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Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, and look if you would please there at verse 19. And I will tell you up front, this is a hard pill to swallow. But here it is. Acts chapter 7 and verse 19, Stephen is giving his defense. And look at verse 18, "Till another king arose which knew not Joseph." Watch verse 19, "The same dealt suddenly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they," that is the fathers, the Hebrews, "cast out their own children to the end that they might not live." Wow! How in the world could these Israelites cast out their own children? How could they murder them at their own hand? How could you do such a thing? It is still, it is still outrageous when you and I hear of a mother murdering her own children or a father murdering his own child.
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I just read this week where one man murdered his eight-month-old pregnant 22-year-old girlfriend, and not only murdered her, he cut her head off and threw it in the dumpster. How can you do things like that? And the answer is, they have a standard, but it's not God's standard. It's their own subjective standard. It's based upon their own desires, their own feelings, their own wants, their own wishes. In other words, God's standard is different from fallen man's. God's standard is different from a single authoritarian ruler. God's standard is different from an elite group of rulers.
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So here's a good question. Why did Amram and Jochebed not murder Moses? You say, well, I just read it because he was a goodly child. Oh, there's more. If you'll look in your Bibles, Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, and look if you would please at verse 23. Hebrews 11 and verse 23. Watch this. Hebrews 11 verse 23, "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents." They were children of faith.
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They didn't obey the king. Why? Because they saw he was a proper child. That's one thing. And they, the parents, were not afraid of the king's commandment. They were not afraid. Now the word afraid is the Greek word phobeo. It is where we get our English word phobia from. And the word phobia means to fear, to be afraid, and to reverence. So Amram and Jochebed did not reverence the king's ungodly command. They had no fear of that ungodly reprobate when he had ordered that all the male children be slain. Why did they not fear? Why did they not reverence?
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Why did they not submit to him? The answer is because they had a totally different standard. Their standard was indeed the Word of God and therefore they were not about to bow to a wicked corrupt ruler. It's just that simple. So the point I want you to see is this. Where we are today in this land we've rejected God's law as our standard. Consequently, the rulers have rejected the Constitution as a standard. And consequently, the rule of law now is no longer in existence.
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And what we're being ruled by is an elite group of authoritarians who believe that they have the absolute right to take your life, to take your possessions, to take your occupation, to take whatever they want to take, just so that they can play God. So let me make a couple of applications. The first one is based on the question, what is your standard? When you stop and think about this, we either must submit to God's standard, His law word, or we're going to submit to the standard of man. And we must understand that man's authority is always limited. I have a t-shirt that was given to me years ago and on the front it has this written: "Question authority." And that's true, we should do that. Question authority: by what authority do you have to direct me to do anything? Who gave you that authority? How did you derive that authority? You can find out whether or not that authority is legitimate or not. The United Nations has no authority over the American people.
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I don't care what anybody says. Neither does Fauci, neither does WHO, neither does the CDC, neither does George Soros, neither does Klaus Schwab. I'm just simply saying we have to understand we are where we are because we've rejected God's standard and we have submitted to man's standard. This is one of the reasons we're seeing so much wickedness, violence, murder, and genocide is because we've left God's standard and we're following man's standard. Here's the next one. When we refuse wickedness, when we disobey ungodly and wicked laws, it is not rebellion, it is resistance. There is a vast difference between rebellion and resistance. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen. So we may resist unlawful authority.
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Have you ever stopped to think about this? What in the world could the United Nations, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Yuval Noah Harari, Biden, Pelosi, Harris, Schumer—what could these people do if everybody just stopped obeying them? I mean, their game would be up. So what we've got to come back to in saying this, we have an objective standard. It is God's law. And by His standard, you are illegitimate. You have no authority.
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You have stolen and usurped. Do you realize even by our own Constitution, Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3, the Constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. Not what Congress wants, not what Congress says, not what Biden said. "I'll use my power." He has no power. No ruler has any power above that which is written in the Constitution. So I'm just simply saying where we are now is because we've given into authoritarianism rather than the word of God.
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So here's my last one. Standards do matter. When we reject the law of God, we reject it at our own peril. When we leave his law, we head straight for destruction. It is impossible to have civil liberty without spiritual liberty. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Where the Spirit of the Lord is not, there is no liberty. So.
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The conclusion is this, if we want our liberty, if we want our freedom, if we want our country, our homes, our families, our churches, our society, we have to come back to God's objective standard and obey it and be willing to suffer whatever consequences that comes around because His Word is right and His Word is true. When we disobey man in order to obey the Word of God, our disobedience becomes obedience.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we pray, Lord, that You would indeed help us to see the absolute importance of Your law, Your law word, Your written word, Your commands. Help us to bring our lives in conformity. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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so so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T17:26:16Z

When Disobedience Becomes Obedience

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines Daniel 3 and related passages to argue that when human authority contradicts God's law, disobedience to man becomes obedience to God. He contrasts God's objective standard (His law-word) with subjective humanistic standards and authoritarianism, using biblical examples like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, the apostles, and Moses' parents. Weaver applies this principle to contemporary issues, urging believers to resist unlawful authority and return to God's standard.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver introduces the topic from Daniel 3:13-23, reading the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar's image.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:13-23

"Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." "Then they brought these three men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?" "Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour in the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego."

The Blessings and Curses of Obedience

Using Ephesians 6:1-3, Weaver explains that obedience to parents brings blessing, while disobedience brings a curse, setting up the question of when disobedience might be right.

Delegated Authority and Its Limits

Weaver teaches that all authority is delegated by God and therefore limited; no human authority can command what God forbids.

God's Objective Standard vs. Subjective Standards

Weaver contrasts God's law-word as the only objective standard with humanistic, selfish subjective standards, citing Rushdoony and Longshore.

Dominion and Bringing Thoughts Captive

From 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Weaver explains that spiritual warfare involves casting down imaginations and bringing every thought into obedience to Christ.

Historical Examples of Biblical Standards in America

Weaver provides colonial charters (Virginia 1606, New Hampshire 1639, New Haven 1644) showing America's founding on biblical law, contrasting with today's departure.

Resistance to Tyranny as Obedience to God

Weaver traces the motto 'Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God' from Tyndale, Franklin, and Jefferson, and discusses the Virginia state flag's symbolism.

Modern Authoritarianism and Blind Submission

Weaver defines authoritarianism, critiques modern submission to unelected bureaucrats during the pandemic, and warns of the loss of liberty.

Biblical Examples of Resisting Authoritarianism

Weaver examines Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3, the elite group in Daniel 6, the apostles in Acts 5, and Moses' parents in Exodus 2 and Hebrews 11 as models of obeying God over man.

So if you look back in verse 12 of Daniel chapter 3,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:14

"There are certain Jews which thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee,"

now watch,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:14

"they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

And if you skip down to verse 14, the latter part,

Scripture Reading — Daniel 3:14

"do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up."

Scripture Reading — Daniel 6:6-11

"Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, King Darius, sign the writing and the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house with his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem."

Scripture Reading — Daniel 6:1-5

"It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. And over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give an account unto them, and that the king should receive no damage, or have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel, they were envious, but they could find none occasion or fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault in him. Then these men said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God."

And I want you to note part of his prayer. We're not going to read all of it, but in 1 Kings 8, beginning there with verse 41, he says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:41-43

"Moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of far country for thy name's sake. For they shall hear thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, when he shall come and pray toward this house. Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all the stranger calleth to thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name."

I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 5 and verse 29. Look in Acts 5 verse 29. We'll come back and catch the context. Acts 5, look in verse 29.

Scripture Reading — Acts 5:29

"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

Scripture Reading — Acts 5:17-21

"But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 2:1-3

"There went a man out of the house of Levi, Amram, and took a wife a daughter of Levi, Jochebed. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink."

Scripture Reading — Acts 7:19

"The same dealt suddenly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they,"

that is the fathers, the Hebrews,

Scripture Reading — Acts 7:19

"cast out their own children to the end that they might not live."

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 11:23

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents."

They were children of faith.

Applications and Conclusion

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:17

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Where the Spirit of the Lord is not, there is no liberty. So.

When Disobedience Becomes Obedience

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	pNun-pH0Hts
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-07-05
Dictation Name
Book	Book 043: Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	76

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Weaver introduces the topic from Daniel 3:13-23, reading the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar's image.
The Blessings and Curses of Obedience: Using Ephesians 6:1-3, Weaver explains that obedience to parents brings blessing, while disobedience brings a curse, setting up the question of when disobedience might be right.
Delegated Authority and Its Limits: Weaver teaches that all authority is delegated by God and therefore limited; no human authority can command what God forbids.
God's Objective Standard vs. Subjective Standards: Weaver contrasts God's law-word as the only objective standard with humanistic, selfish subjective standards, citing Rushdoony and Longshore.
Dominion and Bringing Thoughts Captive: From 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Weaver explains that spiritual warfare involves casting down imaginations and bringing every thought into obedience to Christ.
Historical Examples of Biblical Standards in America: Weaver provides colonial charters (Virginia 1606, New Hampshire 1639, New Haven 1644) showing America's founding on biblical law, contrasting with today's departure.
Resistance to Tyranny as Obedience to God: Weaver traces the motto 'Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God' from Tyndale, Franklin, and Jefferson, and discusses the Virginia state flag's symbolism.
Modern Authoritarianism and Blind Submission: Weaver defines authoritarianism, critiques modern submission to unelected bureaucrats during the pandemic, and warns of the loss of liberty.
Biblical Examples of Resisting Authoritarianism: Weaver examines Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3, the elite group in Daniel 6, the apostles in Acts 5, and Moses' parents in Exodus 2 and Hebrews 11 as models of obeying God over man.
Applications and Conclusion: Weaver applies the principle: question authority, resist unlawful commands, and return to God's objective standard to regain liberty, concluding that disobedience to man for God's sake becomes obedience.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Disobedience to Man Can Be Obedience to God

When human authority commands what God forbids, disobeying that authority is actually obeying God.

Weaver uses the hypothetical of a father commanding his son to rob a bank: 'His disobedience to me would become obedience unto God at that particular point.'

All Authority is Delegated and Limited

Since God alone is sovereign, any human authority is delegated and cannot exceed the bounds God sets.

Weaver states, 'There's only one sovereign, there's only one supreme, and that is God himself. So any authority that anyone has on earth... is always delegated.'

Scripture Provides Examples of Righteous Resistance

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, the apostles, and Moses' parents all disobeyed human commands to obey God, and God honored their obedience.

Weaver examines Daniel 3, Daniel 6, Acts 5, and Exodus 2/Hebrews 11 to show that these figures 'had a totally different standard' and were willing to suffer consequences.

Modern Authoritarianism Rejects God's Law

Today's rulers exercise arbitrary power without constitutional or biblical basis, and many Christians have submitted blindly.

Weaver says, 'We're not only no longer ruled by the Word of God as our standard. We're no longer ruled by the Constitution... we're not even ruled by law. We're being ruled by what is known as authoritarianism.'

Resistance is Not Rebellion

There is a difference between rebellion against lawful authority and resistance to unlawful, usurped authority.

Weaver states, 'Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen.'

Returning to God's Standard is the Only Solution

To regain liberty and avoid destruction, individuals and society must return to God's objective standard, the Bible.

Weaver concludes, 'If we want our liberty... we have to come back to God's objective standard and obey it and be willing to suffer whatever consequences.'

Scripture References

Daniel 3:13-23: Read as the main text, describing Nebuchadnezzar's command to worship the image and the three Hebrews' refusal.
Ephesians 6:1-3: Cited to show the blessing of obedience to parents and the implied curse of disobedience.
Job 38:11: Alluded to in describing the limits of delegated authority: 'Hitherto shalt thou come and no further.'
2 Corinthians 10:4-5: Explained as spiritual warfare, casting down imaginations and bringing every thought captive to Christ.
2 Samuel 1:19: Quoted to lament the fall of America: 'How are the mighty fallen.'
Daniel 3:12: Cited to show that the golden image was distinct from Nebuchadnezzar's gods, implying it was an image of himself.
Daniel 3:14: Used to reinforce that the image was separate from the gods, supporting the idea it was an image of the king.
Isaiah 14:14: Referenced as a prophecy about the king of Babylon's pride, connecting to Nebuchadnezzar's image.
Daniel 6:6-11: Read to show the decree forbidding prayer to anyone but the king, and Daniel's continued prayer.
Daniel 6:1-5: Explained to show the envy of the presidents and princes and their plot against Daniel.
1 Kings 8:41-43: Cited as the basis for Daniel praying toward Jerusalem, following Solomon's dedicatory prayer.
Acts 5:29: Quoted as the apostles' response to the council: 'We ought to obey God rather than men.'
Acts 5:17-21: Described to show the apostles' imprisonment and angelic deliverance, with the command to keep preaching.
Acts 5:27-28: Quoted to show the council's accusation and the apostles' reply.
Exodus 2:1-3: Read to show Moses' parents hiding him and placing him in an ark.
Exodus 1:22: Cited as Pharaoh's command to cast every Hebrew son into the river.
Acts 7:19: Quoted to show that the Hebrews cast out their own children to comply with Pharaoh's command.
Hebrews 11:23: Cited to show that by faith Moses' parents hid him, not fearing the king's commandment.
2 Corinthians 3:17: Quoted: 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,' to emphasize spiritual liberty as the basis for civil liberty.

Historical References

R.J. Rushdoony, 'By What Standard?': Mentioned as an author who emphasized God's world and God's rules.
Jared Longshore, 'By What Standard?': Mentioned alongside Rushdoony as writing on the same theme.
First Charter of Virginia (1606): Quoted to show the colony's purpose included propagating the Christian religion.
New Hampshire Colony Agreement (1639): Quoted to show they established government agreeable to the will of God.
New Haven Colony Judicial Rules (1644): Quoted to show they adopted the judicial laws of Moses as the rule for courts.
William Tyndale (1494-1536): Credited with the phrase 'Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.'
Benjamin Franklin (1776): Proposed 'Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God' as the motto for the U.S. seal.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): Adopted 'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God' as his personal motto.
Virginia State Flag: Described with the motto 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' and symbolism of virtue over tyranny.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981): Quoted: 'America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America.'

Important Quotes

Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

Central thesis of the sermon, attributed to Tyndale and echoed by Franklin and Jefferson, encapsulating the principle that disobeying unlawful authority is obedience to God.

We ought to obey God rather than men.

Key biblical mandate from Acts 5:29, used to support the argument that God's authority supersedes human authority.

When we disobey man in order to obey the Word of God, our disobedience becomes obedience.

The concluding summary of the sermon's main point, directly tying the title to the application.

Authoritarianism is the principle of blind submission to authority as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action.

Definition used to critique modern governmental overreach and contrast with biblical obedience.

Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. Resistance is to authority that is unlawful and is usurped and or stolen.

Important distinction clarifying that resisting tyranny is not sinful rebellion but righteous resistance.

America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry. And when that momentum runs down, God help America.

Quote from Omar Bradley used to warn of the consequences of abandoning biblical foundations.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the concept of delegated authority affect the way we view commands from parents, pastors, and government officials?

[Context]

Weaver teaches that all authority is delegated by God and therefore limited; this question explores practical implications.

[Question]

In what situations might a Christian be called to disobey human authority, and how can we discern if that disobedience is obedience to God?

[Context]

The sermon gives examples like the three Hebrews and Daniel; this question asks for personal application.

[Question]

What is the difference between rebellion and resistance, and why is this distinction important for Christians today?

[Context]

Weaver explicitly differentiates the two, stating rebellion is against lawful authority while resistance is against unlawful authority.

[Question]

How have we as a society 'rejected God's law as our standard,' and what are the visible consequences?

[Context]

Weaver points to the pandemic response and loss of liberties as evidence; this question encourages reflection on current events.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ' in the context of evaluating cultural and political messages?

[Context]

Based on 2 Corinthians 10:5, Weaver applies this to thinking biblically about all areas of life.

[Question]

How can we cultivate the kind of faith that is 'not afraid of the king's commandment' like Moses' parents?

[Context]

Hebrews 11:23 says they did not fear the king's command; this question explores developing such courage.

[Question]

What role should the historical founding documents of America play in our understanding of biblical standards for government?

[Context]

Weaver cites colonial charters that explicitly reference God's law; this question probes their relevance today.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T08:21:17Z