TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
THE DOCTRINE OF
AUTHORITY ORIENTATION
Part 4
August 12, 2018
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
Now we are going to look at Spiritual Authority. Our directives concerning Spiritual Authority come from The Word of God and its communicator, the Pastor-Teacher. Spiritual Authority also belongs to the church’s Deacons to whom the Pastor delegates authority. The Evangelist also has authority over those unbelievers to whom he communicates the Gospel. Delegated authority is also given to those who are using their spiritual gifts in the administration of the church.
The Pastor-Teacher’s authority is limited to his own sheep. Pastor-Teachers are told by Jesus Christ to teach and nurture their sheep in JOH 21:15-17: So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep. Peter teaches the same thing in 1PET 5:1-3: Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over [a]those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. We should note that the Pastor-Teacher’s sheep do not need to be under his face-to-face ministry.
Now let’s look at the Royal Family Honor Code. The Royal Family Honor Code is a system of spiritual integrity mandated by God and revealed by the Mystery Doctrine of the Church-Age. It relates to your personal integrity (honesty) in your relationship with other people. In that sense, the Honor Code is a supplement to impersonal love for all believers. That is to say, you should have impersonal, unconditional love for all people in addition to having integrity and being honest with all people. PHIL 2:15 teaches this: … prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world… The Royal Family Honor Code demands authority orientation in the form of academic discipline when the Pastor is teaching Bible doctrine. This academic discipline is the authority which the believer imposes upon himself during the teaching of the Word of God so that others may be free to learn without distraction. To say that in a more simple way is that you are your own authority during Bible class and you should make yourself be quiet and focused! This includes no talking, no unnecessary movement, or anything that would break the concentration of those positive toward Bible doctrine. The Royal Family Honor Code recognizes common sense and good manners, thoughtfulness of others, and respect for The Word of God.
Now, the Pastor cannot communicate what he doesn’t know. Therefore, his life must be devoted to studying and teaching God’s Word. What he teaches should be the result of many agonizing hours of study under the Ministry of God The Holy Spirit. Therefore, you are required to respect and listen to his teaching, at which point you choose whether to metabolize it or not.
The Pastor’s personality is not the issue. His Authority is. If you follow the Royal Family Honor Code, you will respect him and his authority. This hold true to anyone in authority whether it’s at school, at work or in the government. HEB 13:17 teaches: Obey your leaders [Pastor-Teachers] and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. The Pastor is responsible to the Lord and not to the congregation, so, when he gets out of line, he gets double discipline.
It is inevitable that certain members of the congregation will become dissatisfied with their Pastor-Teacher and will seek to discredit him. They will also judge, malign, and slander him. Because of this, in ISA 54:17, there is a warning not to tamper with God’s communicator: “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.” This verse explains the protection of the Pastor’s authority. The Pastor is responsible to the Lord for the function of his ministry; this is why, when a Pastor is out of line, he receives double discipline from The Lord for his failure. In the event that believers judge their Pastor-Teacher, when he gets out of line, they get his discipline doubled.
It is inevitable that a certain number of believers will become disenchanted with their Pastor-Teacher for many different reasons – some legitimate and some not. The temptation will arise, under these conditions, to slander, malign, judge, and to enter into a conspiracy against him. This will result in triple-compound discipline for the offender.
When it comes to ANY person in authority over you, always remember what we are taught by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in MAT 7:1-2: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” There will be discipline if you judge or conspire against authority. You will be disciplined for the arrogance of assuming you can do a better job of judging the Pastor than God can. You will be disciplined for the sin or sins related to gossiping, maligning, or slandering; and if what you’re saying happens to be true, the discipline for the person you are talking about is transferred to you!! Since the Pastor gets double discipline, triple-compound discipline times two intensifies your discipline beyond anything you can imagine. So, if for any reason you are dissatisfied with your Pastor-Teacher, the best advice is to quietly leave that church and find a church which makes you happy.
Now we are going to look at Christ’s Authority over the Church. Jesus Christ is called the last Adam as The Ruler of the Church. Believers are called the new spiritual species, as found in 2COR 5:17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. This “new creation” is important, because it focuses attention on the Church during the intensified stage of the Angelic Conflict. As we have learned, the Angelic Conflict is the result of prehistoric creatures being in opposition to God, which began with the fall of Satan and continued until all angelic creatures had made a decision for or against God. It refers to the two trials of Satan and fallen angels, one in prehistoric times, the other during human history. In the head and the body analogy, Christ is the Head and the Royal Family of God is the body. This speaks of Christ’s Authority. Get it? The head rules the body!!
The Shepherd and the sheep analogy is found in 1PET 5:4: And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Look at the first page of this Tree of Life for the perfect verse in which believers are referred to as Our Lord’s sheep. This analogy connotes the security and great blessings that come to us as members of the Royal Family of God. The analogy makes total sense, for like us, sheep have no sense of direction, are helpless, and therefore need the guidance, sustenance, and protection of the Shepherd. And the sheep must be guarded and fed by the under-shepherd, the Pastor-Teacher of the local church.
{to be continued}