Order in the Church
Pastor Gerald D. Branch
Hebrews 13:17-18
Sunday Sept. 13, 1998
Copyright 2000 Feel free to use this message in your ministry. In those instances where the work of another may have helped give inspiration, I have tried to give credit to such. This message may not be reposted or published without permission
I'd like to share with you something I learned while serving in the Army. I remember when I was serving on Division staff in Germany. It was an interesting time because I got to see just how all the various orders came about a lot more clearly. Sure, we read about it when I was in various officer schools, but seeing it in operation first hand was something else. First there would be an alert order that came down from Army headquarters to our Corps. Then the Corps would reformulate the orders for each of the divisions, making sure each division had a mission and area of operation. Our division commander would then give us his orders for implementation, and then we in the operations section, at division headquarters would do the same for our subordinate units. Then, the process was repeated down through the chain of command, all the way to the smallest unit. And then together at the appointed time, we would all implement our parts of the operation.
In all this, though, there was an authority that had been established. None of us were left to 'do our own thing.' That's because we were all needed, and we all needed to be about doing our assigned duties, in order for an operation to be successful.
So what has this got to do with the church?
The Bible tells us in Romans 13, we find, beginning in verse 1---13:1 "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves."
This means that God has ...
Pastor Gerald D. Branch
Hebrews 13:17-18
Sunday Sept. 13, 1998
Copyright 2000 Feel free to use this message in your ministry. In those instances where the work of another may have helped give inspiration, I have tried to give credit to such. This message may not be reposted or published without permission
I'd like to share with you something I learned while serving in the Army. I remember when I was serving on Division staff in Germany. It was an interesting time because I got to see just how all the various orders came about a lot more clearly. Sure, we read about it when I was in various officer schools, but seeing it in operation first hand was something else. First there would be an alert order that came down from Army headquarters to our Corps. Then the Corps would reformulate the orders for each of the divisions, making sure each division had a mission and area of operation. Our division commander would then give us his orders for implementation, and then we in the operations section, at division headquarters would do the same for our subordinate units. Then, the process was repeated down through the chain of command, all the way to the smallest unit. And then together at the appointed time, we would all implement our parts of the operation.
In all this, though, there was an authority that had been established. None of us were left to 'do our own thing.' That's because we were all needed, and we all needed to be about doing our assigned duties, in order for an operation to be successful.
So what has this got to do with the church?
The Bible tells us in Romans 13, we find, beginning in verse 1---13:1 "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves."
This means that God has ...
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