Godly Disobedience

Coronavirus lockdowns have forced many places to close or change how they do business. For two months now, I haven’t been able to get a haircut, hang out at coffee shops, or attend most church services in person. Nevertheless, there are Christians who are quick to preach about “obeying the laws of the land” (Romans 13:1-6, Titus 3:1-2). I agree with that to a point. For example, no one should violate the speed limit except for policemen catching criminals and first responders trying to save lives.

Sometimes civil disobedience is necessary when a law contradicts the higher laws of God. These individuals in the Bible wouldn’t have fulfilled their divine destinies had they followed every man-made ordinance…

• The Hebrew midwives were ordered to throw newborn boys into the Nile River (Exodus 1:16). One mother hid her son for three months and then sent him floating down the river. Moses eventually led the Israelites out of captivity. 
• Esther went against protocol by appearing before King Ahasuerus even though it could have cost her life. Her actions prevented the Jews from being killed.
• Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to worship the king of Babylon and instead prayed to the true God. All of their lives were supernaturally spared.
• The early apostles were commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus. Peter responded in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Yesterday I exchanged emails with a fellow American who claimed we aren’t living in times of persecution. Baloney! For the past few years, Christian business owners refusing to support homosexual events have been harassed and fined. Lately we’ve had governors and mayors issuing threats against pastors and churchgoers just for having worship services. This goes against the First Amendment of the Constitution, which is the highest law of the land.

God hates rebellion but He is also against cowards tolerating godlessness. 500 years ago, a German priest named Martin Luther opposed corruption by the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in religious freedom for multitudes of people. This same country later allowed an Austrian named Adolf Hitler to gradually take away personal freedoms. Think that can’t happen here in the United States? Bad things happen when good people do nothing. 

A future law people should not obey is taking the mark of the beast. As A. W. Tozer once said, “To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men.”

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.” - Acts 4:19

Supernatural Speeding

Christians are living epistles according to 2 Corinthians 3:3. Non-Christians carefully observe the actions of professing believers to see if they are “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk.” One thing that leaves a bad witness is when God’s people don’t obey traffic laws. Imagine what an unbeliever thinks when he sees a Christian speeding with a “What Would Jesus Do” bumper sticker on the back of his car.

I’ve met a few Christians who tried justifying their need to speed but still found themselves in trouble. One morning I rode with a pastor who was running behind schedule and drove well over the posted speed limit on our way to his church. Despite having a radar detector in his car, this pastor got pulled over. Since I was from out of state, the patrolman searched my luggage to make sure I wasn’t transporting drugs. Fortunately for the pastor, all he got was a warning ticket. In spite of this, we arrived at his church much later than had he obeyed the speed limit in the first place.

There was another incident when a friend of mine went past the speed limit while driving me to the airport. When I suggested he slow down, my friend claimed speeding would help him avoid flying rocks. A rock hit and cracked his windshield just before we exited the freeway.

Then there was the time a man asked me to use his car to drive a female friend of his to work. When I showed up at this woman’s house, she insisted on driving since she knew the way to her workplace. Once we got on the freeway, she started going 80 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. I politely asked her to slow down. She replied, “I don’t want to lose the job God gave me.” I reminded her what the Bible says about obeying the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-2). She got more defensive and so I quietly prayed in the Spirit. This woman was forced to slow down due to heavy traffic and still arrived late for work.  

Daniel 12:3 says that in the last days, “many shall run to and fro.” In today’s society, multitudes are constantly rushing to go somewhere. While street evangelizing, many people I approach won’t stop to talk with me because they claim to be in a hurry.

Christians don’t have to live under that kind of pressure. God can translate us if He needs us to be somewhere when we cannot be on time by natural means. Personally I know at least two people who experienced translations while driving. In 1992, a former girlfriend testified how God supernaturally got her to church one night faster than the 15 minutes it normally took to get there. When she left her house, the clock in her car read “6:25.” When she arrived at the church, her clock read “6:31.” She got to the church in six minutes without speeding.

Another friend of mine who was on staff at Calvary Campground emailed me a testimony of her being translated. One morning she drove 90 miles from Ashland, Virginia to Washington, DC where she was scheduled to speak at a church. She was running late and had to drive slower than the posted speed limit due to heavy traffic on Interstate 95. While driving through Northern Virginia, God suddenly moved her forward several miles and got her to the church on time.

Don’t let the busyness of this world prompt you to break the speed limit or do other foolish things that can create additional problems. Trust in the Lord and He will always help you be in the right place at the right time.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way.” – Psalm 37:23

Unchangeable

Nonbelievers will often attempt to discredit God’s word.  While street evangelizing, I occasionally run into individuals who claim the Bible is full of contradictions.  When I ask them to name one, many times they cannot do so.  They simply believe what somebody else told them.

Recently in the Fargo Forum (my hometown newspaper), a man supportive of same-sex marriage wrote a letter to the editor claiming, “God’s laws change all the time” without citing an example.  He went on to write, “Just go to any bookstore and see all the different Bibles, each one a different interpretation.”  What does he mean by “different Bibles?”  Was he comparing the Holy Bible to non-Christian books such as the Koran?  That’s like comparing apples to oranges.  Muslims believe Jesus was only a prophet and not God’s Son.  John 3:16 says otherwise.

This letter writer might have referred to different Bible translations you find at Christian bookstores.  The English language has changed over the years but God’s word hasn’t.  Legitimate renderings of the original Hebrew and Greek texts all teach the same message.  The covenants God made with man in the Old Testament and the New Testament may have differences.  Nevertheless, Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change.”

If anything has changed, it’s our history and science textbooks (which the letter writer touted as his “holy books”).  Many of them nowadays don’t acknowledge God at all.  True science will not contradict the Holy Bible.  As Albert Einstein once said, “Science without religion is lame.  Religion without science is blind.”

Sometimes God will “change His mind” and relent from bringing judgment when His people intercede for others (such as Moses for the Israelites in Exodus 32:14) or when sinners repent like those in Nineveh (Jonah 3:10).  However, God’s character and moral laws remain constant.  Can you imagine God telling us someday that it’s now okay to rape, murder, and steal?

God is not fickle like most people.  He will always be faithful and act consistently with His word in response to our actions.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” - James 1:17 (NIV)

The Promise of Persecution

Leonard Ravenhill once said, “You can’t develop character by reading books. You develop it from conflict.” While God is not the one who brings calamity into people’s lives, sometimes He allows challenging situations to manifest so we develop a greater trust in Him and become more Christ-like.

2 Timothy 3:12 promises, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” If you are truly living for the Lord, then you should expect people to occasionally call you names like “religious fanatic”, “Bible thumper”, and “Jesus freak.” (My brother-in-law thanks people who call him the latter). Unfortunately some believers who are not grounded on the word of God will draw back when persecuted. Jesus talked about this in Mark 4:17, “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.”

How should a Christian respond to persecution? Our natural human tendency is to answer likewise when people act ugly towards us. But Romans 12:14 says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” 

One minister I know often jokes about “Percy” (his nickname for persecution) being an employee on his payroll. The Apostle Paul wrote about taking pleasure in persecutions in 2 Corinthians 12:10. But that doesn’t mean we are to be Christian masochists and purposely look for opportunities to be persecuted. When I’m out street evangelizing, sometimes the Lord will instruct me NOT to talk to certain people. Some folks are so hardhearted; they won’t be receptive to the gospel no matter how you present it to them.

Unless the Lord instructs you to remain at a particular place for a season, persecution may be a sign that it’s time to leave. One day a man who had invited me to stay in his home for a season suddenly started criticizing my ministry. Rather than waste time defending myself, I went out and won more souls for the Lord. Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” The next day I moved out of this man’s house. As Mike Murdock says, “Go where you are celebrated instead of where you are tolerated.”

Other times, you might need to stay and confront the persecution. I once lived with a professing believer who had serious personal issues. He would often get drunk on beer and then hurled strange accusations against me. In response, I sang songs about the blood of Jesus and the man backed off. 

So the next time you are persecuted, keep in mind that the battle is never with flesh and blood but wicked spirits manifesting through people whose lives are not submitted to the Lord. As long as you are not opening doors to the devil, receiving persecution is probably a sign that you are doing something right.

“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” - Matthew 5:12