«　WEEK 6　DAY 3　»

　　Rev. 4:2 Immediately I was in spirit; and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne there was One sitting.

　　Matt. 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I extol You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth…

　　Have you ever realized how much the universe was affected by the fall of the angels and man and how big a problem this made for God? God desired that His creatures would accept His authority; however, both kinds of creatures rejected His authority…Nevertheless, God did not call back His authority…On the one hand, God maintains His system of authority, and on the other hand, He establishes His kingdom. Although Satan rebelled against God’s authority, and although man daily violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will not let this rebellion continue. He will establish His own kingdom.

　　Whatever the Lord did on earth was entirely based on submission … Everything was in submission, in perfect cooperation with the authority of God. In this realm the Lord set up the kingdom of God and executed His authority. The church today must also allow God’s authority to have a free way and manifest His kingdom through submission. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 147-148)

　　The center of dispute in the whole universe relates to who has the authority. We have to contend with Satan by asserting that authority is with God. We have to set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and to uphold God’s authority.

　　Before Paul realized authority, he wanted to eradicate the church from the earth. But after he met the Lord on the way to Damascus, he realized that it was difficult to kick against the goads (God’s authority) with his feet (man’s energy). He immediately fell down, acknowledged Jesus as Lord, and submitted to the instruction of Ananias in Damascus [Acts 9:10].

　　Unless a man meets authority on the way to “Damascus,” he cannot submit to an insignificant, small brother in “Damascus.” This shows us that anyone who has met authority will deal with the authority alone; he will not deal with the person involved. We should only think of the authority, not of the person, because our submission is not to a person but to God’s authority in that person.

　　We who are so self-confident, but who are in reality so blind, have to come face-to-face at least once with God’s authority…Only when a man meets God’s authority will he submit to the deputy authority whom God appoints.

　　In Numbers 16 there are two rebellions. In verses 1 through 40 we have the rebellion of the leaders, whereas in verses 41 through 50 we have the rebellion of the whole assembly. A spirit of rebellion is contagious. The judgment on the two hundred fifty was not enough to warn the whole assembly. They saw with their own eyes fire coming forth from God to consume the two hundred fifty incense burners. Yet they still rebelled. They even accused Moses of killing them. Moses and Aaron could not open the earth; it was God who opened it. Moses could not consume people with fire; it was the fire that proceeded from Jehovah God that judged the people. Some men only see through their own eyes. They do not see that all authority is of God. Such people are very bold; they are not afraid even when they see judgment, because they do not have the knowledge of authority. This is a very dangerous matter.

　　God can bear many sins and can even pardon them. Once rebellion appears, however, God cannot tolerate it, for rebellion is according to the principle of death. It is according to the principle of Satan. For this reason, the sin of rebellion is more serious than any other kind of sin. Whenever someone opposes authority, God immediately comes in to judge. How solemn a matter this is! (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 111-112, 134-135)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” chs. 1—3