Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Peter with the other apostles gave this answer before the council at a second hearing after they had been strictly forbidden to teach in the name of Jesus. When human authorities forbid what God commands or command what God forbids, obedience belongs to God rather than to people. Human government is ordained by God and is to be respected and obeyed within its legitimate sphere, but earthly rulers are supreme only in civil relations while God alone is supreme in moral and religious duties. Loyalty to God requires continuing the God-given work despite threats, imprisonment and punishment, even at the cost of property, liberty and life itself. That loyalty becomes the decisive final test when a spurious sabbath enforced by law is set against the seventh-day Sabbath commanded by God, so that keeping His commandments brings opposition, loss and danger yet distinguishes the faithful.
Trial Before the Council
Peter with the other apostles gave this answer before the council, the Sanhedrin, at a second hearing after they had been strictly forbidden to teach in the name of Jesus. The high priest charged them with disobeying his strict order, with filling Jerusalem with their doctrine, and with bringing Jesus' blood upon the leaders. They had been found preaching in the temple in that name and were brought without violence before the council.
An angel sent by God had freed them from prison and ordered them to go teach in the temple, so in continuing to teach they were obeying a divine command. Following that direction had to be kept at any cost to themselves, whatever danger or punishment they faced. It repeated the same defense Peter had used at his former trial, that when human rulers forbid preaching Jesus and God commands it, God must be obeyed. After his conversion Peter boldly followed this principle, and although the rulers threatened and forbade teaching in Jesus' name, the apostles continued preaching the message God had given them, even after imprisonment from which God sent an angel to free them and command them to speak to the people.
Their obedience was bold testimony under the Holy Spirit's power to Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, which they continued despite rejection and imprisonment without being intimidated into silence. They declared that the God of the fathers raised up Jesus whom the leaders slew and hanged on a tree. God exalted Him with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
The apostles with the Holy Spirit given to those who obey Him were witnesses to these things. Their authority and strength came from Christ, and their weapon was God's word, though they had no wealth or earthly honor. Their testimony was accompanied by signs and healings, so that many people believed and praised God. Under the Holy Spirit's power their witness exposed the rulers' guilt and called them to repentance, but the rulers resisted the Spirit's conviction and abused God's messengers.
The stand enraged the leaders because preaching His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension fastened guilt on them as His murderers, so they planned to kill the apostles again. But God sent His angel to move Gamaliel to counsel the council to refrain and leave them alone, so that the apostles were preserved. Although beaten and commanded to stop, they accepted suffering for His name and kept teaching and preaching Jesus Christ.
The same chapter shows that God will just as surely punish deceptive, unstraightforward, oppressive and unjust dealings in His work as He punished Ananias and Sapphira with death for lying to the Holy Ghost, keeping back part of the price and tempting the Spirit of the Lord. This includes using lawyers to take advantage of circumstances, exacting exorbitant prices, conniving at fraud, hindering the triumph of truth, and diverting His means into a wrong channel. The apostles' refusal to let human authorities silence their preaching and insistence on carrying the message God gave them followed earnest united prayer for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit's coming with power to heal the sick, arrest and imprisonment for that work, and miraculous release when angels opened the prison doors.
Obedience Belongs to God
When human authorities forbid what God commands, obedience to God must take precedence, and when they command what God forbids, obedience belongs to God first. The apostles lived this when ordered not to teach in the name of Jesus, for after God sent His angel to free them from prison and command them to go teach in the temple, they continued preaching in that name despite the council's order to stop. Their answer before the council, given after being brought without violence for preaching in the temple, was that no human authority can require obedience to a command that would make people disobey God, even under threat of punishment, imprisonment and every kind of oppression. The same rule applies when oppressive power sets up the spurious Sunday sabbath, which has no sanctity in the Word of God, against Christ and commands it under threats not to buy or sell, for Satan is always on the side of the oppressor while God does not force by persecution but lives to deliver those who obey Him. Respect for national laws does not require obedience when those laws oppose God, and when harmony would require surrendering principle, separation becomes a duty.
No human authority has any right to bind conscience to do what disobeys the rightful Sovereign, and no human law or church command may overrule God's word. God's law in both Old and New Testaments must be kept whole, and loyalty to that law requires sacrificing houses, lands, riches, liberty and even life itself rather than breaking the least commandment. Prophets and apostles endured imprisonment, torture and death rather than disobey, and their answer is an example of loyalty to God's commandments even at the cost of liberty or life. Human government is ordained by God and should be obeyed within its proper sphere, but the verse supports religious liberty and the right to follow conscience in matters of faith, which even a majority cannot decide. The principle was upheld by the apostles when forbidden to preach in Jesus' name and by the German princes who rejected restrictions on spreading the Reformation faith.
Loyalty to God requires continuing the God-given work despite threats, imprisonment and punishment, and obeying a divine command at any cost to self. The apostles' bold testimony to the resurrection continued under the Holy Spirit's power despite rejection and imprisonment, and they were not intimidated into silence. After the high priest charged them with disobeying his strict order not to teach in Jesus' name, filling Jerusalem with doctrine and bringing Jesus' blood upon the leaders, they kept teaching because God's angel had freed them and commanded them to teach in the temple. God's servants must remain loyal even when obedience brings imprisonment, loss of property or danger to life, continuing to proclaim salvation as God sent an angel to release the apostles and direct them to speak. Those who enforce human laws against God's law follow the course of the Jewish leaders who opposed the apostles.
After his conversion Peter boldly followed this principle, although the rulers threatened the apostles and forbade them to teach in Jesus' name. Once self-confident and afraid enough to deny Jesus, he became bold and testified before the rulers, showing that allegiance to Christ can hold firm under pressure. The apostles obeyed the angel's command to return to the temple and speak about Christ, despite threats and imprisonment, continuing to preach the message God had given them.
This stand does not require defying authorities or speaking carelessly, for human government is appointed by God and must be obeyed as a sacred duty within its legitimate sphere, while God's word stands above human law and the commands of church or state. Believers should act and speak with due regard for law and order, but if authorities forbid them to carry out their God-given work, they must continue to speak and act in Christ's name. Standing for what is right does not justify repeatedly pressing one's views, for unless the cause is in danger, a person who has presented the matter to counselors may keep silent. When authorities require a course contrary to right, truth and God's principles, obedience to God takes precedence.
Fear or favor of people must not turn God's servants from the truth entrusted to them, for under the Holy Spirit's power the apostles declared the truth despite the rulers' opposition. Their witness exposed the rulers' guilt and called them to repentance, but the rulers resisted the Spirit's conviction and abused God's messengers. Refusing a draft on conscience may require accepting imprisonment, torture or death, but genuine readiness to do so is marked by humility, careful thought, earnest prayer for wisdom and strength, and no boasting. Mere confidence in one's willingness to suffer is not faith if it is fanatical presumption, and those who cannot conscientiously take part in war should state their position quietly and make clear they do not support rebellion.
Conscience Scripture and Authority
Human government is ordained by God, and obedience to it within its legitimate sphere is a sacred duty, so laws and magistrates are to be respected and obeyed while they do not conflict with God's laws. When human laws conflict with God's claims, God's word must take precedence over all human legislation, and no human law or church command may overrule it. Christ's authority stands above that of earthly rulers, and God's law in both Old and New Testaments must be kept whole. This does not require defying authorities or speaking carelessly, for believers should act and speak with due regard for law and order, yet if authorities forbid the God-given work they must continue to speak and act in Christ's name.
Obedience to earthly rulers is owed only within the bounds of obedience to God. Civil rulers are supreme only within civil relations, while God alone is supreme in moral and religious duties, so the citizen is justified by a higher law in refusing what is wrong against conscience enlightened by the clear Word of God when a ruler goes beyond just and lawful civil power. Believers obey the emperor and seek peace in everything that maintains peace and honors God, but only so far.
Civil rulers have no right to govern divine things or to legislate in matters between the soul and God, and no church has arbitrary power over conscience. Conscience must not be subordinated to the State nor to the visible church, and all human teaching and authority must remain subject to Scripture. When preserving peace or harmony would require surrendering principle, separation becomes a duty, because even a small compromise with evil entangles in snares. Those whose hearts are shaped by God's law will obey every good law of the land, but will disobey rulers rather than violate even one of God's commandments, including refusing military orders and other commands that oppose faith.
In matters of faith and eternal life a person must obey God rather than submit to another person. Faith must not be submitted to religious councils or leaders when their demands conflict with God's word, and no one should speak against conscience when it is not convinced by Scripture or sound reasons. Subjects owe rulers reverence and in ordinary affairs of this life fidelity to rulers is proper, but they are not bound to shape their faith according to a prince's beliefs, since religious authority comes from God rather than civil power.
All human teaching and authority must remain subject to Scripture, which is sufficient and final in faith. People should believe what God plainly teaches in His Word, and interpret unclear passages by clearer passages, because the Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. Christ is to be exalted as supreme in the church and His word in the pulpit, and Scripture is the standard for deciding what to believe. Applied to the true Sabbath, this requires holding to God's command and refusing to depart from it to obey human religious law, even when called to account by persecuting church power and enduring condemnation, the pillory, public whipping, and prison without recanting.
Spiritual submission is worship and belongs to God alone, so bowing to human judgment in religion gives to people what belongs to God. The verse lifts Christ's crown above pope and emperor and affirms the right of all to believe, obey, worship according to conscience and freely teach Scripture without interference from priest or magistrate. That right to follow conscience in matters of faith cannot be decided even by a majority. Men placed in positions of trust may help the churches, but they must not lord it over God's heritage nor show favors expecting return, for to obey men when they lead away from God is to depart from God.
The law of God who rules heaven supplies the principles that must lie at the foundation of earthly governments, and earthly laws must be in harmony with Jehovah's law as the standard by which all will be judged. Where human laws directly oppose God's law, obedience belongs to God and no person should be forced to act in agreement with them. Laws made through reckless, unsound judgment that disregard God's law bring injustice.
Believers are not to accept human restrictions that God disapproves, but should follow God's direction while working in harmony with one another and the principles of His law. Those doing God's work must follow direction from above rather than accept plans from unbelievers who lack spiritual understanding, since such advice can weaken the work and set Christ's counsel aside. The Lord's word must be respected above men showing no living connection with God, especially when leadership is turned into selfish channels with selfish plans, robbery, dishonesty, cunning and double dealing. Leaders who direct others must guard against carrying out the plans of antichrist, and God rebukes those who lord it over others.
Final Test of Loyalty
Obedience to God rather than people is the searching decisive test that will come to every soul in the last great conflict, calling each person to choose whom to obey after hearing the truth for the time including the third angel's message. Those who endeavor to obey all God's commandments and defend the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be opposed and derided and have their way made very hard, and they can stand only in God. Enduring requires understanding His will as revealed in His word and honoring Him with a right conception of His character, government and purposes and acting in accordance with them, with intellect trained to grasp Bible truth and feet planted on the rock of His immutable word. The decisive hour is even now at hand, and in that final test loyalty means following God's Word and keeping His commandments, especially the Sabbath which He gives as a sign that He sanctifies His people.
God's servants must remain loyal even when obedience brings imprisonment, loss of property, reproach and danger to life, continuing to proclaim salvation as the apostles did when God sent an angel to release them and direct them to speak. This principle sustained martyrs through torture and death because they recognized that human authority cannot rule conscience, and those who enforce human laws against God's law follow the course of the Jewish leaders who opposed the apostles. In the coming Sunday-law crisis the spurious Sunday sabbath, which has no sanctity in the Word of God, is set up against Christ and enforced by persecution, oppression and bondage. Those who keep God's seventh-day Sabbath, whose command to keep the seventh day remains binding and central in the final conflict, will face threats, oppression, a ban on buying and selling and ultimately a death decree, but the saints remain faithful and gain victory over the beast, its image and its mark. Satan is always on the side of the oppressor, while God does not force by persecution but lives to deliver those who obey Him, and earthly authorities are to be respected only so far as they do not interfere with loyalty to God as the Supreme Authority.
When people know God commands the true Sabbath but obey a contrary religious precept enforced by law, they honor human authority above God, and after the choice is clearly explained such obedience receives the mark of the beast. In the coming test this choice will be pressed through the mark of the beast and threats of ridicule, insult, imprisonment and death, and loyalty to God will distinguish true godliness from its outward appearance. Their refusal will be met by miracle-working Spiritualism with messages from spirits declaring them in error and claiming the laws of the land should be obeyed as God's law. They will excite indignation by refusing that spirit testimony and will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down moral restraint, causing anarchy and corruption and calling down God's judgments, with conscientious refusal called obstinacy, stubbornness, contempt of authority and disaffection toward government, while ministers preach obedience to civil authorities as ordained of God and legislators and courts censure and misrepresent commandment-keepers, repeating the deception used against God's loyal servants and the gospel under Rome. This choice may bring accusations of lawlessness and summons to court, where believers are to stand on Christ and rely on what is written rather than their own claims, holding the wording of the fourth commandment as God wrote it and loving the truth because it is truth.
Believers must not remain silent while God's commandments are trampled, and in the coming Sunday-law crisis those who choose to obey God rather than people will face oppression. Ministers and all believers are to echo God's words with pen and voice, speaking as few words of their own as possible but answering as Christ did with It is written, with hearts supplied with God's sharp arrows, standing firm as a rock to principle through perplexing ordeals when called to violate the law of God. Keeping an eye single to God's glory and looking continually to Jesus as author and finisher of faith, with attention drawn by the world's Redeemer to the great future beyond this life and the eternal weight of glory the overcomer will share, God the Master Workman will be with them and give wisdom from above, and this attitude will bring victories that lack of faith had regarded as hopeless and impossible, an instruction belonging especially to those upon whom the ends of the world are come. It means fearing God instead of people even when it brings proscription, denunciation and speaking against by a time-serving generation, when the laws of the land are finally against the friends of truth and church and state unite to raise their own standard to measure conscience while God's law, the only standard of right, is trampled and despised.
Faithfulness has meant holding to God's command and refusing to depart from it to obey human religious law even when called to account by persecuting church power and tried for the Sabbath, enduring condemnation, the pillory, public whipping and prison without recanting, suffering on to win a martyr's crown, for the Scriptures are sufficient as a guide for religious faith and civil authorities must not control conscience in matters concerning salvation. Keeping the Sabbath holy, including refusing to send children to school on that day, may bring imprisonment, inconvenience or financial loss, but those costs do not justify disobedience to God. Brother Lord refused to give up Sabbath observance to keep his railway job because doing so would displease God. Every grown person was given a chance to tell this truth to others as part of Christ's message to John, the third angel's message, but older ones wrapped up in desire to be honored and glorified failed to voice it and will lose the chance to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony and to sit with Christ on His throne. In the near future very young women and maidens, girls and boys, even babies in years, from eight to fifteen and twenty years old, inspired and protected by their ministering angels as God's little prophets, will voice that call instead.
Faithful Witnesses Through History
Daniel lived the principle by continuing his customary open prayers despite the royal decree forbidding prayer to any but the king, accepting the consequences rather than abandoning trust in God. He was respectful and obedient to those in authority in matters that did not conflict with allegiance to God, but no pressure, threat, or selfish gain could turn him from duty, for neither king nor decree can come between a person and God. Choosing God's commandments over men's commands even unto severe testing and martyrdom requires close connection with God and doing all that can be done on the human part, breaking away from self-indulgence, love of the world and pride and standing for right because it is right. God does not leave the obedient but imparts sufficient wisdom, as He gave Daniel wisdom and knowledge above all the astrologers, and even martyrdom for truth may bring many more into truth.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego obeyed Babylon's laws when they did not conflict with duty to their Creator, but refused the king's decree to worship the golden image even under threat of death. God alone is to be worshiped, and no threat or personal cost — even imprisonment, exile or death — can justify yielding to false worship or disobeying God's word.
Jesus as a child showed that the heavenly Father's claims are first and must be kept distinct. Though always perfectly obedient, He remained behind in Jerusalem without telling Joseph and Mary because He had received communication from God, and the time had come for His earthly parents to learn to distinguish His heavenly Father's claims from their own and for His Father's purpose concerning Him to be opened before them. He would love, obey and honor earthly parents in all things not against duty to God, and so it is for all followers: parents, masters, guardians and monarchs cannot cross the barrier to interfere with actions as they relate to conscience and God's will, and no man-made laws or edicts of government or rulers can bind one who understands the duty given by God.
Wycliffe applied the principle when illness kept him from appearing before the pope, obeying God rather than men by writing that the pope and clergy were bound to follow the gospel and Christ's example. Huss lived it by refusing to place the Council of Constance above Scripture and refusing to accept any human council as infallible, putting God's voice in His Word above the voice of men. The same stand will be required again when human commandments are exalted above God's commandments and putting God above human laws is treated as a crime, and then the registered experience of righteous believers of past ages gives later believers examples to follow.
The German princes acknowledged an authority above earthly rulers, promising to obey the emperor only in what upheld peace and honored God. When demanded to surrender liberty of conscience and individual judgment and accept restrictions on spreading the Reformation faith, they calmly refused persuasion and stood faithful to God even under threat of condemnation and persecution. Human government is ordained by God and should be obeyed within its proper sphere, but no human law or church command may overrule God's word, and even a majority cannot decide what conscience must obey.
Later English reformers, Luther, the Pilgrim Fathers and martyrs upheld Scripture as the final standard and duty to God above human laws, supporting religious liberty despite persecution. Subjects owe rulers reverence and fidelity in ordinary affairs of this life, but they are not bound to shape faith according to a prince's beliefs, since true religion receives its authority from God rather than civil power. People should believe what God plainly teaches in His Word and interpret unclear passages by clearer passages, because the Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. In eternal and spiritual interests people must obey God rather than submit to human beings, for such submission is worship which belongs to God alone, and human authority cannot rightly rule conscience. This principle sustained martyrs through torture and death.
Rosqvist continued preaching despite a church decree against his views and refused to pay a fine for doing so, holding that money could not atone for sin against God and that if he had not sinned against God he had not sinned against people by preaching. Early Sabbath-keepers likewise chose to obey God despite having little support beyond faith and the Bible.
The same obedience requires ministers as sentinels to do God's work unflinchingly with moral courage, refusing self-love and selfish considerations, ambition, love of ease, desire to shun the cross, fear of man, and the soothing voice of evil that rocks to fatal slumber. They must sound the warning, crying aloud and sparing not and lifting up the voice like a trumpet, refusing to hush the voices that proclaim the third angel's message and defend God's sanctified Sabbath against contempt and trampling. Like the disciples after the resurrection who kept proclaiming Jesus though it was contrary to law, forbidden and punished by prison, those who carry aggressive truth against prevailing iniquity must keep preaching and letting light shine wherever they are, holding fast to truth whatever opposition, reproach, persecution and strait places come, even in the heated furnace, trusting the Lord will not leave and His strength is sufficient to sustain. God uses faithfulness in prison to bring light of truth inside prison walls to others, and failure to sound the warning makes lightbearers unworthy and causes the standard to fall, leading God to raise up others who will be faithful and loyal. Taunts or threats must not lead anyone to violate conscience, whether by giving fallible people flattering religious titles that belong to God alone or by weakening faith through reading infidel books, but choosing the Bible as guide and doing Christ's words. When human authority fails to correct a serious danger, those responsible must act on God's higher authority even without human authorization.
When a church refuses to abandon falsehood and idolatry, remaining united with it would require disobedience to God, so separation is then necessary. Peace and unity are not worth gaining by sacrificing truth and righteousness, and tolerating soul-fatal error can endanger the faith of future generations.
Family and Daily Obedience
Children owe their parents love, attention to their teaching, and obedience to their requirements, but only so far as what is asked agrees with God's will and commands, for parent and child alike must bow to a higher law. When a parent refuses allegiance to God or demands what would make obedience to parents into disobedience to Him, the child must obey God rather than parents and must not consent to disloyalty to God to concede to parental plans. Regard for principle forbids consent to any sinful custom even to please father or mother.
Obeying the Lord first in such a conflict does not cancel the duty to honor father and mother, even when the refusal is painful. The person and authority of father and mother are still to be treated respectfully, and they are to be cared for kindly whenever there is ability and opportunity.
A wife may respect her husband, treat him tenderly, seek his happiness, and accommodate his wishes whenever she can do so without dishonoring God and without violating conscience. Marriage does not erase her individuality nor cancel God's higher claim, so when a husband's requirements come between her and God she cannot obey him, for fidelity to God and the salvation of the soul must be supreme. She should not give up attending religious meetings merely to satisfy an overbearing husband, but remain kind, leave consequences with God, and trust Him to shelter and strengthen her under opposition.
When human authority commands giving up the seventh-day Sabbath or staying away from religious meetings, the believer must refuse, keep the Sabbath as long as life lasts, and keep attending meetings for truth. This holds even if husband, father, or any person orders otherwise, turns wife and child out of the home, begs for compromise, offers conditional return, or gains a minister's approval for his course. Such expulsion may require supporting self and children alone, yet faithfulness to God comes first, and being a faithful child to God is what makes one a faithful wife and mother rather than proving unfaithful.
The principle means fearing God's authority and displeasure more than a husband's displeasure, strong imperious overbearing will, and power to make life miserable. It refuses servile bondage to the will of finite rebellious man, refuses to sin against God to avoid collision, discord, strife, or blame, refuses consent to transgress the Sabbath God sanctified and commanded, and refuses to be placed where Sabbath keeping is made impossible, since such consent leaves guilt. It calls instead for being a brave soldier for Jesus who gave His life, willing to suffer to save the soul from ruin rather than submerging identity in a husband, fearing to displease God above all, following conscience even with foes in one's own household, and breaking with old friends and associates to follow the humble self-denying path Jesus traveled.
Such faithfulness uses great caution to avoid stirring up unnecessary strife, yet stands firm when Sabbath keeping is at stake because then the turning point has come. Strength is found in Jesus alone to live out faith, honor the Redeemer, and follow where Christ leads after He endured inconvenience and malice to save, rather than taking the easiest path and denying Christ and truth by action because man demands it. Even a very timid person is made strong by this obedience, and it is honored with vindication, restored home life, and greater respect, love, and liberty to do what is right.
The unbelief of brother or sister, father or mother, husband, wife, or children is no excuse for failing in duty, and seeking to please unbelieving friends more than God forfeits a share in Christ's glory. Obedience may require going alone and cutting clear of everything and everyone that hinders progress and will not walk godly, following Jesus who was rejected by His own nation and partaking of His sufferings. Natural ties between husband and wife and parents and children need not be severed, but loyalty to God comes first.
Keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment because God's law enjoins it is required even though the truth is unpopular, separates from the world, makes its keepers singular, and meets a world lacking courage to break from human custom. No human commandments are to be substituted for God's word even when urged under religious motives, as in efforts to replace the seventh-day Sabbath with Sunday, which sets Caesar's law against God's law. God's Word and His moral law alone is the test, so no extra duties, crosses, oddities, or repulsive undisciplined habits are to be made into tests, lest defenders of the faith lay a stumbling block before sinners by repulsiveness.
When human laws conflict with God's law, God must be obeyed whatever the consequences, including refusal to obey a law requiring return of an enslaved person to an enslaver. God alone is that person's rightful Master, and no human has the right to claim God's creation and workmanship as property.
Those whose hearts are shaped by God's law will obey every good law of the land, but will disobey rulers rather than violate even one of God's commandments, for God's law is supreme authority. In conflict between military orders and conscience, God's people cannot obey commands opposing faith, and those who cannot conscientiously take part in war should state their position quietly and make clear they do not support rebellion. Refusing a draft on conscience may require accepting imprisonment, torture, or death, but genuine readiness is marked by humility, careful thought, and earnest prayer for wisdom and strength without boasting, since mere confidence in willingness to suffer is fanatical presumption rather than faith.
Peter with the other apostles gave this answer before the council at a second hearing after they had been strictly forbidden to teach in the name of Jesus. When human authorities forbid what God commands or command what God forbids, obedience belongs to God rather than to people. Human government is ordained by God and is to be respected and obeyed within its legitimate sphere, but earthly rulers are supreme only in civil relations while God alone is supreme in moral and religious duties. Loyalty to God requires continuing the God-given work despite threats, imprisonment and punishment, even at the cost of property, liberty and life itself. That loyalty becomes the decisive final test when a spurious sabbath enforced by law is set against the seventh-day Sabbath commanded by God, so that keeping His commandments brings opposition, loss and danger yet distinguishes the faithful.
Trial Before the Council
Peter with the other apostles gave this answer before the council, the Sanhedrin, at a second hearing after they had been strictly forbidden to teach in the name of Jesus. The high priest charged them with disobeying his strict order, with filling Jerusalem with their doctrine, and with bringing Jesus' blood upon the leaders. They had been found preaching in the temple in that name and were brought without violence before the council.
An angel sent by God had freed them from prison and ordered them to go teach in the temple, so in continuing to teach they were obeying a divine command. Following that direction had to be kept at any cost to themselves, whatever danger or punishment they faced. It repeated the same defense Peter had used at his former trial, that when human rulers forbid preaching Jesus and God commands it, God must be obeyed. After his conversion Peter boldly followed this principle, and although the rulers threatened and forbade teaching in Jesus' name, the apostles continued preaching the message God had given them, even after imprisonment from which God sent an angel to free them and command them to speak to the people.
Their obedience was bold testimony under the Holy Spirit's power to Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, which they continued despite rejection and imprisonment without being intimidated into silence. They declared that the God of the fathers raised up Jesus whom the leaders slew and hanged on a tree. God exalted Him with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
The apostles with the Holy Spirit given to those who obey Him were witnesses to these things. Their authority and strength came from Christ, and their weapon was God's word, though they had no wealth or earthly honor. Their testimony was accompanied by signs and healings, so that many people believed and praised God. Under the Holy Spirit's power their witness exposed the rulers' guilt and called them to repentance, but the rulers resisted the Spirit's conviction and abused God's messengers.
The stand enraged the leaders because preaching His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension fastened guilt on them as His murderers, so they planned to kill the apostles again. But God sent His angel to move Gamaliel to counsel the council to refrain and leave them alone, so that the apostles were preserved. Although beaten and commanded to stop, they accepted suffering for His name and kept teaching and preaching Jesus Christ.
The same chapter shows that God will just as surely punish deceptive, unstraightforward, oppressive and unjust dealings in His work as He punished Ananias and Sapphira with death for lying to the Holy Ghost, keeping back part of the price and tempting the Spirit of the Lord. This includes using lawyers to take advantage of circumstances, exacting exorbitant prices, conniving at fraud, hindering the triumph of truth, and diverting His means into a wrong channel. The apostles' refusal to let human authorities silence their preaching and insistence on carrying the message God gave them followed earnest united prayer for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit's coming with power to heal the sick, arrest and imprisonment for that work, and miraculous release when angels opened the prison doors.
Obedience Belongs to God
When human authorities forbid what God commands, obedience to God must take precedence, and when they command what God forbids, obedience belongs to God first. The apostles lived this when ordered not to teach in the name of Jesus, for after God sent His angel to free them from prison and command them to go teach in the temple, they continued preaching in that name despite the council's order to stop. Their answer before the council, given after being brought without violence for preaching in the temple, was that no human authority can require obedience to a command that would make people disobey God, even under threat of punishment, imprisonment and every kind of oppression. The same rule applies when oppressive power sets up the spurious Sunday sabbath, which has no sanctity in the Word of God, against Christ and commands it under threats not to buy or sell, for Satan is always on the side of the oppressor while God does not force by persecution but lives to deliver those who obey Him. Respect for national laws does not require obedience when those laws oppose God, and when harmony would require surrendering principle, separation becomes a duty.
No human authority has any right to bind conscience to do what disobeys the rightful Sovereign, and no human law or church command may overrule God's word. God's law in both Old and New Testaments must be kept whole, and loyalty to that law requires sacrificing houses, lands, riches, liberty and even life itself rather than breaking the least commandment. Prophets and apostles endured imprisonment, torture and death rather than disobey, and their answer is an example of loyalty to God's commandments even at the cost of liberty or life. Human government is ordained by God and should be obeyed within its proper sphere, but the verse supports religious liberty and the right to follow conscience in matters of faith, which even a majority cannot decide. The principle was upheld by the apostles when forbidden to preach in Jesus' name and by the German princes who rejected restrictions on spreading the Reformation faith.
Loyalty to God requires continuing the God-given work despite threats, imprisonment and punishment, and obeying a divine command at any cost to self. The apostles' bold testimony to the resurrection continued under the Holy Spirit's power despite rejection and imprisonment, and they were not intimidated into silence. After the high priest charged them with disobeying his strict order not to teach in Jesus' name, filling Jerusalem with doctrine and bringing Jesus' blood upon the leaders, they kept teaching because God's angel had freed them and commanded them to teach in the temple. God's servants must remain loyal even when obedience brings imprisonment, loss of property or danger to life, continuing to proclaim salvation as God sent an angel to release the apostles and direct them to speak. Those who enforce human laws against God's law follow the course of the Jewish leaders who opposed the apostles.
After his conversion Peter boldly followed this principle, although the rulers threatened the apostles and forbade them to teach in Jesus' name. Once self-confident and afraid enough to deny Jesus, he became bold and testified before the rulers, showing that allegiance to Christ can hold firm under pressure. The apostles obeyed the angel's command to return to the temple and speak about Christ, despite threats and imprisonment, continuing to preach the message God had given them.
This stand does not require defying authorities or speaking carelessly, for human government is appointed by God and must be obeyed as a sacred duty within its legitimate sphere, while God's word stands above human law and the commands of church or state. Believers should act and speak with due regard for law and order, but if authorities forbid them to carry out their God-given work, they must continue to speak and act in Christ's name. Standing for what is right does not justify repeatedly pressing one's views, for unless the cause is in danger, a person who has presented the matter to counselors may keep silent. When authorities require a course contrary to right, truth and God's principles, obedience to God takes precedence.
Fear or favor of people must not turn God's servants from the truth entrusted to them, for under the Holy Spirit's power the apostles declared the truth despite the rulers' opposition. Their witness exposed the rulers' guilt and called them to repentance, but the rulers resisted the Spirit's conviction and abused God's messengers. Refusing a draft on conscience may require accepting imprisonment, torture or death, but genuine readiness to do so is marked by humility, careful thought, earnest prayer for wisdom and strength, and no boasting. Mere confidence in one's willingness to suffer is not faith if it is fanatical presumption, and those who cannot conscientiously take part in war should state their position quietly and make clear they do not support rebellion.
Conscience Scripture and Authority
Human government is ordained by God, and obedience to it within its legitimate sphere is a sacred duty, so laws and magistrates are to be respected and obeyed while they do not conflict with God's laws. When human laws conflict with God's claims, God's word must take precedence over all human legislation, and no human law or church command may overrule it. Christ's authority stands above that of earthly rulers, and God's law in both Old and New Testaments must be kept whole. This does not require defying authorities or speaking carelessly, for believers should act and speak with due regard for law and order, yet if authorities forbid the God-given work they must continue to speak and act in Christ's name.
Obedience to earthly rulers is owed only within the bounds of obedience to God. Civil rulers are supreme only within civil relations, while God alone is supreme in moral and religious duties, so the citizen is justified by a higher law in refusing what is wrong against conscience enlightened by the clear Word of God when a ruler goes beyond just and lawful civil power. Believers obey the emperor and seek peace in everything that maintains peace and honors God, but only so far.
Civil rulers have no right to govern divine things or to legislate in matters between the soul and God, and no church has arbitrary power over conscience. Conscience must not be subordinated to the State nor to the visible church, and all human teaching and authority must remain subject to Scripture. When preserving peace or harmony would require surrendering principle, separation becomes a duty, because even a small compromise with evil entangles in snares. Those whose hearts are shaped by God's law will obey every good law of the land, but will disobey rulers rather than violate even one of God's commandments, including refusing military orders and other commands that oppose faith.
In matters of faith and eternal life a person must obey God rather than submit to another person. Faith must not be submitted to religious councils or leaders when their demands conflict with God's word, and no one should speak against conscience when it is not convinced by Scripture or sound reasons. Subjects owe rulers reverence and in ordinary affairs of this life fidelity to rulers is proper, but they are not bound to shape their faith according to a prince's beliefs, since religious authority comes from God rather than civil power.
All human teaching and authority must remain subject to Scripture, which is sufficient and final in faith. People should believe what God plainly teaches in His Word, and interpret unclear passages by clearer passages, because the Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. Christ is to be exalted as supreme in the church and His word in the pulpit, and Scripture is the standard for deciding what to believe. Applied to the true Sabbath, this requires holding to God's command and refusing to depart from it to obey human religious law, even when called to account by persecuting church power and enduring condemnation, the pillory, public whipping, and prison without recanting.
Spiritual submission is worship and belongs to God alone, so bowing to human judgment in religion gives to people what belongs to God. The verse lifts Christ's crown above pope and emperor and affirms the right of all to believe, obey, worship according to conscience and freely teach Scripture without interference from priest or magistrate. That right to follow conscience in matters of faith cannot be decided even by a majority. Men placed in positions of trust may help the churches, but they must not lord it over God's heritage nor show favors expecting return, for to obey men when they lead away from God is to depart from God.
The law of God who rules heaven supplies the principles that must lie at the foundation of earthly governments, and earthly laws must be in harmony with Jehovah's law as the standard by which all will be judged. Where human laws directly oppose God's law, obedience belongs to God and no person should be forced to act in agreement with them. Laws made through reckless, unsound judgment that disregard God's law bring injustice.
Believers are not to accept human restrictions that God disapproves, but should follow God's direction while working in harmony with one another and the principles of His law. Those doing God's work must follow direction from above rather than accept plans from unbelievers who lack spiritual understanding, since such advice can weaken the work and set Christ's counsel aside. The Lord's word must be respected above men showing no living connection with God, especially when leadership is turned into selfish channels with selfish plans, robbery, dishonesty, cunning and double dealing. Leaders who direct others must guard against carrying out the plans of antichrist, and God rebukes those who lord it over others.
Final Test of Loyalty
Obedience to God rather than people is the searching decisive test that will come to every soul in the last great conflict, calling each person to choose whom to obey after hearing the truth for the time including the third angel's message. Those who endeavor to obey all God's commandments and defend the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be opposed and derided and have their way made very hard, and they can stand only in God. Enduring requires understanding His will as revealed in His word and honoring Him with a right conception of His character, government and purposes and acting in accordance with them, with intellect trained to grasp Bible truth and feet planted on the rock of His immutable word. The decisive hour is even now at hand, and in that final test loyalty means following God's Word and keeping His commandments, especially the Sabbath which He gives as a sign that He sanctifies His people.
God's servants must remain loyal even when obedience brings imprisonment, loss of property, reproach and danger to life, continuing to proclaim salvation as the apostles did when God sent an angel to release them and direct them to speak. This principle sustained martyrs through torture and death because they recognized that human authority cannot rule conscience, and those who enforce human laws against God's law follow the course of the Jewish leaders who opposed the apostles. In the coming Sunday-law crisis the spurious Sunday sabbath, which has no sanctity in the Word of God, is set up against Christ and enforced by persecution, oppression and bondage. Those who keep God's seventh-day Sabbath, whose command to keep the seventh day remains binding and central in the final conflict, will face threats, oppression, a ban on buying and selling and ultimately a death decree, but the saints remain faithful and gain victory over the beast, its image and its mark. Satan is always on the side of the oppressor, while God does not force by persecution but lives to deliver those who obey Him, and earthly authorities are to be respected only so far as they do not interfere with loyalty to God as the Supreme Authority.
When people know God commands the true Sabbath but obey a contrary religious precept enforced by law, they honor human authority above God, and after the choice is clearly explained such obedience receives the mark of the beast. In the coming test this choice will be pressed through the mark of the beast and threats of ridicule, insult, imprisonment and death, and loyalty to God will distinguish true godliness from its outward appearance. Their refusal will be met by miracle-working Spiritualism with messages from spirits declaring them in error and claiming the laws of the land should be obeyed as God's law. They will excite indignation by refusing that spirit testimony and will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down moral restraint, causing anarchy and corruption and calling down God's judgments, with conscientious refusal called obstinacy, stubbornness, contempt of authority and disaffection toward government, while ministers preach obedience to civil authorities as ordained of God and legislators and courts censure and misrepresent commandment-keepers, repeating the deception used against God's loyal servants and the gospel under Rome. This choice may bring accusations of lawlessness and summons to court, where believers are to stand on Christ and rely on what is written rather than their own claims, holding the wording of the fourth commandment as God wrote it and loving the truth because it is truth.
Believers must not remain silent while God's commandments are trampled, and in the coming Sunday-law crisis those who choose to obey God rather than people will face oppression. Ministers and all believers are to echo God's words with pen and voice, speaking as few words of their own as possible but answering as Christ did with It is written, with hearts supplied with God's sharp arrows, standing firm as a rock to principle through perplexing ordeals when called to violate the law of God. Keeping an eye single to God's glory and looking continually to Jesus as author and finisher of faith, with attention drawn by the world's Redeemer to the great future beyond this life and the eternal weight of glory the overcomer will share, God the Master Workman will be with them and give wisdom from above, and this attitude will bring victories that lack of faith had regarded as hopeless and impossible, an instruction belonging especially to those upon whom the ends of the world are come. It means fearing God instead of people even when it brings proscription, denunciation and speaking against by a time-serving generation, when the laws of the land are finally against the friends of truth and church and state unite to raise their own standard to measure conscience while God's law, the only standard of right, is trampled and despised.
Faithfulness has meant holding to God's command and refusing to depart from it to obey human religious law even when called to account by persecuting church power and tried for the Sabbath, enduring condemnation, the pillory, public whipping and prison without recanting, suffering on to win a martyr's crown, for the Scriptures are sufficient as a guide for religious faith and civil authorities must not control conscience in matters concerning salvation. Keeping the Sabbath holy, including refusing to send children to school on that day, may bring imprisonment, inconvenience or financial loss, but those costs do not justify disobedience to God. Brother Lord refused to give up Sabbath observance to keep his railway job because doing so would displease God. Every grown person was given a chance to tell this truth to others as part of Christ's message to John, the third angel's message, but older ones wrapped up in desire to be honored and glorified failed to voice it and will lose the chance to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony and to sit with Christ on His throne. In the near future very young women and maidens, girls and boys, even babies in years, from eight to fifteen and twenty years old, inspired and protected by their ministering angels as God's little prophets, will voice that call instead.
Faithful Witnesses Through History
Daniel lived the principle by continuing his customary open prayers despite the royal decree forbidding prayer to any but the king, accepting the consequences rather than abandoning trust in God. He was respectful and obedient to those in authority in matters that did not conflict with allegiance to God, but no pressure, threat, or selfish gain could turn him from duty, for neither king nor decree can come between a person and God. Choosing God's commandments over men's commands even unto severe testing and martyrdom requires close connection with God and doing all that can be done on the human part, breaking away from self-indulgence, love of the world and pride and standing for right because it is right. God does not leave the obedient but imparts sufficient wisdom, as He gave Daniel wisdom and knowledge above all the astrologers, and even martyrdom for truth may bring many more into truth.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego obeyed Babylon's laws when they did not conflict with duty to their Creator, but refused the king's decree to worship the golden image even under threat of death. God alone is to be worshiped, and no threat or personal cost — even imprisonment, exile or death — can justify yielding to false worship or disobeying God's word.
Jesus as a child showed that the heavenly Father's claims are first and must be kept distinct. Though always perfectly obedient, He remained behind in Jerusalem without telling Joseph and Mary because He had received communication from God, and the time had come for His earthly parents to learn to distinguish His heavenly Father's claims from their own and for His Father's purpose concerning Him to be opened before them. He would love, obey and honor earthly parents in all things not against duty to God, and so it is for all followers: parents, masters, guardians and monarchs cannot cross the barrier to interfere with actions as they relate to conscience and God's will, and no man-made laws or edicts of government or rulers can bind one who understands the duty given by God.
Wycliffe applied the principle when illness kept him from appearing before the pope, obeying God rather than men by writing that the pope and clergy were bound to follow the gospel and Christ's example. Huss lived it by refusing to place the Council of Constance above Scripture and refusing to accept any human council as infallible, putting God's voice in His Word above the voice of men. The same stand will be required again when human commandments are exalted above God's commandments and putting God above human laws is treated as a crime, and then the registered experience of righteous believers of past ages gives later believers examples to follow.
The German princes acknowledged an authority above earthly rulers, promising to obey the emperor only in what upheld peace and honored God. When demanded to surrender liberty of conscience and individual judgment and accept restrictions on spreading the Reformation faith, they calmly refused persuasion and stood faithful to God even under threat of condemnation and persecution. Human government is ordained by God and should be obeyed within its proper sphere, but no human law or church command may overrule God's word, and even a majority cannot decide what conscience must obey.
Later English reformers, Luther, the Pilgrim Fathers and martyrs upheld Scripture as the final standard and duty to God above human laws, supporting religious liberty despite persecution. Subjects owe rulers reverence and fidelity in ordinary affairs of this life, but they are not bound to shape faith according to a prince's beliefs, since true religion receives its authority from God rather than civil power. People should believe what God plainly teaches in His Word and interpret unclear passages by clearer passages, because the Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. In eternal and spiritual interests people must obey God rather than submit to human beings, for such submission is worship which belongs to God alone, and human authority cannot rightly rule conscience. This principle sustained martyrs through torture and death.
Rosqvist continued preaching despite a church decree against his views and refused to pay a fine for doing so, holding that money could not atone for sin against God and that if he had not sinned against God he had not sinned against people by preaching. Early Sabbath-keepers likewise chose to obey God despite having little support beyond faith and the Bible.
The same obedience requires ministers as sentinels to do God's work unflinchingly with moral courage, refusing self-love and selfish considerations, ambition, love of ease, desire to shun the cross, fear of man, and the soothing voice of evil that rocks to fatal slumber. They must sound the warning, crying aloud and sparing not and lifting up the voice like a trumpet, refusing to hush the voices that proclaim the third angel's message and defend God's sanctified Sabbath against contempt and trampling. Like the disciples after the resurrection who kept proclaiming Jesus though it was contrary to law, forbidden and punished by prison, those who carry aggressive truth against prevailing iniquity must keep preaching and letting light shine wherever they are, holding fast to truth whatever opposition, reproach, persecution and strait places come, even in the heated furnace, trusting the Lord will not leave and His strength is sufficient to sustain. God uses faithfulness in prison to bring light of truth inside prison walls to others, and failure to sound the warning makes lightbearers unworthy and causes the standard to fall, leading God to raise up others who will be faithful and loyal. Taunts or threats must not lead anyone to violate conscience, whether by giving fallible people flattering religious titles that belong to God alone or by weakening faith through reading infidel books, but choosing the Bible as guide and doing Christ's words. When human authority fails to correct a serious danger, those responsible must act on God's higher authority even without human authorization.
When a church refuses to abandon falsehood and idolatry, remaining united with it would require disobedience to God, so separation is then necessary. Peace and unity are not worth gaining by sacrificing truth and righteousness, and tolerating soul-fatal error can endanger the faith of future generations.
Family and Daily Obedience
Children owe their parents love, attention to their teaching, and obedience to their requirements, but only so far as what is asked agrees with God's will and commands, for parent and child alike must bow to a higher law. When a parent refuses allegiance to God or demands what would make obedience to parents into disobedience to Him, the child must obey God rather than parents and must not consent to disloyalty to God to concede to parental plans. Regard for principle forbids consent to any sinful custom even to please father or mother.
Obeying the Lord first in such a conflict does not cancel the duty to honor father and mother, even when the refusal is painful. The person and authority of father and mother are still to be treated respectfully, and they are to be cared for kindly whenever there is ability and opportunity.
A wife may respect her husband, treat him tenderly, seek his happiness, and accommodate his wishes whenever she can do so without dishonoring God and without violating conscience. Marriage does not erase her individuality nor cancel God's higher claim, so when a husband's requirements come between her and God she cannot obey him, for fidelity to God and the salvation of the soul must be supreme. She should not give up attending religious meetings merely to satisfy an overbearing husband, but remain kind, leave consequences with God, and trust Him to shelter and strengthen her under opposition.
When human authority commands giving up the seventh-day Sabbath or staying away from religious meetings, the believer must refuse, keep the Sabbath as long as life lasts, and keep attending meetings for truth. This holds even if husband, father, or any person orders otherwise, turns wife and child out of the home, begs for compromise, offers conditional return, or gains a minister's approval for his course. Such expulsion may require supporting self and children alone, yet faithfulness to God comes first, and being a faithful child to God is what makes one a faithful wife and mother rather than proving unfaithful.
The principle means fearing God's authority and displeasure more than a husband's displeasure, strong imperious overbearing will, and power to make life miserable. It refuses servile bondage to the will of finite rebellious man, refuses to sin against God to avoid collision, discord, strife, or blame, refuses consent to transgress the Sabbath God sanctified and commanded, and refuses to be placed where Sabbath keeping is made impossible, since such consent leaves guilt. It calls instead for being a brave soldier for Jesus who gave His life, willing to suffer to save the soul from ruin rather than submerging identity in a husband, fearing to displease God above all, following conscience even with foes in one's own household, and breaking with old friends and associates to follow the humble self-denying path Jesus traveled.
Such faithfulness uses great caution to avoid stirring up unnecessary strife, yet stands firm when Sabbath keeping is at stake because then the turning point has come. Strength is found in Jesus alone to live out faith, honor the Redeemer, and follow where Christ leads after He endured inconvenience and malice to save, rather than taking the easiest path and denying Christ and truth by action because man demands it. Even a very timid person is made strong by this obedience, and it is honored with vindication, restored home life, and greater respect, love, and liberty to do what is right.
The unbelief of brother or sister, father or mother, husband, wife, or children is no excuse for failing in duty, and seeking to please unbelieving friends more than God forfeits a share in Christ's glory. Obedience may require going alone and cutting clear of everything and everyone that hinders progress and will not walk godly, following Jesus who was rejected by His own nation and partaking of His sufferings. Natural ties between husband and wife and parents and children need not be severed, but loyalty to God comes first.
Keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment because God's law enjoins it is required even though the truth is unpopular, separates from the world, makes its keepers singular, and meets a world lacking courage to break from human custom. No human commandments are to be substituted for God's word even when urged under religious motives, as in efforts to replace the seventh-day Sabbath with Sunday, which sets Caesar's law against God's law. God's Word and His moral law alone is the test, so no extra duties, crosses, oddities, or repulsive undisciplined habits are to be made into tests, lest defenders of the faith lay a stumbling block before sinners by repulsiveness.
When human laws conflict with God's law, God must be obeyed whatever the consequences, including refusal to obey a law requiring return of an enslaved person to an enslaver. God alone is that person's rightful Master, and no human has the right to claim God's creation and workmanship as property.
Those whose hearts are shaped by God's law will obey every good law of the land, but will disobey rulers rather than violate even one of God's commandments, for God's law is supreme authority. In conflict between military orders and conscience, God's people cannot obey commands opposing faith, and those who cannot conscientiously take part in war should state their position quietly and make clear they do not support rebellion. Refusing a draft on conscience may require accepting imprisonment, torture, or death, but genuine readiness is marked by humility, careful thought, and earnest prayer for wisdom and strength without boasting, since mere confidence in willingness to suffer is fanatical presumption rather than faith.