I've heard of your Bibles through Romans 13.
I'm going to apologize right now because I have some sinus stuff going on.
! It's really messed my throat up.
So the college students who heard me on Thursday night, they're probably like,
Oh no, listening to this for another hour.
So I apologize, but I trust that God will work despite of my voice.
But just join me in prayer real fast.
Father, I'm just thankful to be with your people this morning.
Thank you for your word and how it ministers to our souls.
Show us how important it is that we learn how to relate to our authorities in a manner that glorifies you.
And Lord, this is written for our good and you have great purpose and reason, Lord.
So help me just be able to communicate what's true.
And Lord, what's not really my own opinion, Lord, but just to focus on what your word says.
And for you to receive the glory this morning.
In Christ's name, amen.
Well, we're in Romans 13 now.
And for those of you who have been following along in Romans, these latter chapters of Romans are focused mainly toward the practical outworking of the gospel in our lives.
He spent a huge number of chapters covering biblical doctrine on salvation, the gospel, the sinfulness of man, the grace of God, justification by faith in Christ.
And now, like in response to that, how does that look like in our lives?
And so that's kind of where we're going today.
It's where we were last week.
We talked about letting love be genuine and the outworking of love in our lives to others.
And now we come to the topic of government.
But before we get going, I just want to say that my goal this morning is not to give a situational ethics course on government.
Like if this happens, how do we respond in any little small particular way?
But more or less just about the overall biblical teaching about what government is.
We do have like more specifics about that in ethics and how we respond when government does this or government does that.
Those kind of ideas, but really not the goal this morning.
And also to remember that like government is going to be a gift to us.
It is a gift from the Lord.
We're going to look at that this morning.
But I only have two questions this morning to kind of split this text up, verses 1 through 7.
But underneath those, we have some sub points, if you want to call them that, as answering those questions.
But just getting into it, the first question is, what is the divine purpose of government?
What is the divine purpose of government?
And we see this in verses 1 through 4.
Let every person be subject to governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
When you have no fear of the one who is in authority, then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.
For he is God's servant for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid.
For he does not bear the sword in vain.
For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
So, verses 1 through 4 kind of give us a place to kind of say this is what God's divine purpose for government is.
So, the little sub points under this.
The first one, the sub point under this is government is by divine decree.
And we see this in verse 1.
No authority except from God.
And those that exist have been instituted by God.
So, all human governments, regardless of their form, have been ordained by God.
And he's ordained them ultimately for the good of all societies.
And to protect them, to serve their good.
And, but they're all, regardless of what government in history, ones today, ones that will be eventually.
We need to understand that like all of them, regardless of how evil they may be,
are still under the sovereign control of God.
Still under the providence of God.
And he uses them for his own means.
Even, it's kind of the mystery of how God's sovereignty works.
He even allows the actions of evil men to play right into his plan every time.
And learning that whatever we intend for evil, God intends for good.
And there's nothing that we can do.
The cross being the ultimate example of that.
When evil men crucified the Son of God, it actually played into God's plan in destroying evil.
And so like God has a plan A, there's no plan B.
He's working it all out.
And he uses governments to achieve that.
And turning the book of Daniel real fast.
I'm just going to show you two passages in Daniel.
But Daniel was an amazing book to go to in relation to how we should live in government.
And he himself saw many kingdoms come and go.
Many empires rise and fall in his own life.
And even foresaw the future.
But Daniel chapter 2, go there first.
Daniel chapter 2 verse 20.
So we're going to learn here that God sovereignly works in and through both good and evil governments to accomplish his purposes.
Things don't just happen.
So Daniel 2 verse 20.
Daniel answered and said,
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons.
He removes kings and setups kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals the deep and hidden things.
He knows what is in the darkness and the light that dwells with him.
So, one example.
We'll flip over just two chapters to Daniel 4 real fast.
And this is a confession of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
And who himself was a very powerful ruler over men.
And he had great wealth and great power.
And God ended up humbling him through a series of events.
And to kind of show him that he really didn't have any power in and of himself.
That it was all granted by God.
And so Nebuchadnezzar, in verse 34, if you go to verse 34, says,
At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven.
And my reason returned to me.
And I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever.
For his dominion is an everlasting dominion.
And his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.
And he does according to his will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And no one can stay his hand or say to him,
What have you done?
And that's a picture of, like, unrivaled sovereignty.
God himself, you know, we talk about the kingdom of God.
And we tend to think as Westerners, as Americans, that democracy is the best form of government on the planet.
That can be argued in a lot of ways.
I would say that it's probably one of the best in the broken, sinful world we live in.
But the majority can be wrong, as we've learned throughout history and other things.
But the kingdom of God, not our democracy, is a monarchy.
But not even just a monarchy, but an absolute monarchy, where he rules over all things.
And we would have reason to fear if he was an unjust and harsh and not a good God.
But he's perfect in all his ways.
So regardless of those who are in governing positions today and in the past,
God has used them for his own purposes to play right into what his ultimate plan is.
Both good and evil governments.
And there's a verse in Proverbs 21 that you can just write down if you don't want to turn there.
Proverbs 21, verse 1.
It says,
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
And he turns it wherever he will.
This idea that God even can control the kings of the earth to accomplish what he wants.
So, but here's what we see in Scripture.
God can grant good authorities as a blessing to people.
But he also can grant and allow evil wars to be over people as a means of judgment.
And an example of this is when both Israel and Judah, the northern, southern kingdoms that were split,
were in rebellion against God and had a lot of sinful things going on.
And God constantly kept calling them back to repentance.
It's like, repent, come back, do not do this, or I'll have to judge you.
And they continued to resist God.
And so eventually God sent prophets to them.
One of them he sent was Amos.
Turn to Amos chapter 2.
I only have a few places for you to look this morning.
But look at Amos chapter 2.
But God called out Israel and Judah for a lot of things.
Social injustice, corruption like in the judicial system kind of thing,
gluttonous living, and religious hypocrisy.
It sounds a lot like where our country could be going in a lot of ways.
And in a lot of ways it's already arrived.
So this is what happened.
God sent Amos to the northern kingdom of Israel to call them back
and basically to say God's done with you guys.
Like he's had it.
Like you guys have been in rebellion for far too long
and you've ignored all his calls to repent.
And this is what he says.
Look at verse 4, chapter 2.
Thus says the Lord,
For three transgressions of Judah and for four,
I will not revoke the punishment
because they have rejected the law of the Lord
and have not kept the statues,
but their lives have led them astray,
those after which their fathers walked.
So I will send fire upon Judah
and devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
And this is God saying,
my response to this is going to be judgment, discipline.
And flip over to chapter 3 real fast in Amos.
I'll read just one verse out of this.
But we have to understand that this is the same God who's alive and at work today.
The God of the Old Testament was not a different God than we have today.
And when some calamity happens,
regardless of whatever it is,
when some tragedy happens in the government or in a nation,
it's not just randomly happening.
God is at work.
He is the one who's allowing things to happen
and bringing them about himself as a means to call people to repentance,
to show them that their life is fleeting
and they need to repent and believe the gospel,
which was Jesus' response to what people asked him in the gospels.
So look at verse,
sorry, look at verse 6,
I believe.
Yeah, verse 6.
It says,
Is a trumpet blown in a city and the people were not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it?
You know,
and so we see that God even judges nations
by allowing them to be ruled over wicked men.
And in this case, it was Assyria.
God had like protected Israel from Assyria
and like said, you know,
come back to me, repent.
And they refused.
It was like blatantly refused them,
but acted like they still belonged to them,
like gave God a lot of lip service,
but their hearts were far from him.
So what he did to judge them and to discipline them
was to remove his hand of protection
and to allow Assyria to pretty much destroy
the northern kingdom of Israel.
And so that's just an example,
a example of how God uses even evil men
to accomplish his purpose.
And so that's sub-point number one
is that government is under divine decree.
So the second sub-point
is that government is a restraint
on the depravity of man
or the sinfulness of man.
Government is a divine restraint
on the depravity of man.
I'm going to go back to Romans 13 again.
Back to Romans 13,
look at verse 2.
It says,
Therefore, whoever resists the authorities
resists what God has appointed,
and those who resist will incur judgment.
For the rulers are not a terror to good conduct,
but to bad.
Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?
And then jump over to verse 4,
the second part of verse 4.
But if you do wrong,
be afraid,
for he does not bear the sword in vain,
for he is a servant of God,
an avenger,
who carries out God's wrath
on the wrongdoer.
So we've got to understand that,
you know,
if there's anything
that really is,
that we don't really need to prove
or really search for much evidence,
it's so funny that,
like when you're sharing the gospel
with somebody,
that, like they often have a hard time
understanding this,
when there's so much evidence of this
surrounding us every day.
But we don't need a lot of evidence
to prove that
we live in like a very
corrupt world,
very fallen,
very broken,
very sinful world.
And
government is a divine restraint
against the sinfulness of man.
Martin Luther said,
government is a sign
of divine grace,
of the mercy of God,
who has no pleasure
in murdering,
killing,
and strangling.
If God left all things
to which they would,
as he has among other nations
without good government,
we should quickly dispatch
one another
out of this world.
And
remember that government
was not an institution
in the pre-fall
sinless world.
You know that?
Like you remember
the story.
There was no need for it.
If man
was inherently good,
selfless,
humble,
always seeking the good
of his fellow man,
we wouldn't really
need much government
at all.
But
this is not the case.
Humans are not that way.
We're all the exact opposite.
We're
we have
original sin,
we are selfish,
and we always
look out for number one.
And
that's not
a
good combination
for people living
in harmony
with one another.
So
government is
a restraint
on the rebellion
of man.
And
without which
we would have
no peace,
no stability,
chaos,
anarchy
would pretty much
rule.
And we can see that
in different nations
throughout the world
where there's no
real stable government
and how people
just kind of do
whatever they want
and no one's
safe,
there's no peace
and protection
for people at all.
And even
little moments,
little windows,
places that we can
look in
in our own country
when we see
like a national,
like a disaster
hit,
like Katrina,
and they would say
that so many people
were just running
around rampant,
stealing things,
shooting at
helicopters flying by,
where there's not
like a lot of
law enforcement.
People left
to their own
devices will always
go the other way.
And chaos
and anarchy
would be the result.
And as someone
who really loves
to study empires
of the past,
like I can tell you
like that's just true,
like it's the same
story over and over.
And so,
you might not agree
with this,
it could be argued
that an imperfect
order is better
than no order
at all
in a lot of
situations.
But government
is a mercy
from God
to keep order
and to rule
over the
sinfulness of man.
I have a,
I started trying
to paraphrase this
in my own words,
but as when you're
writing a paper,
if you really can't
do that that well,
you should just
state what's there.
And this is just
a quote by a guy
named Robert Hadlin
on government.
He said,
the institution
of civil government
is a dispensation
of mercy.
And it exists
and its existence
is so indispensable
that the moment
it sees under one
form,
it reestablishes
itself in another.
The world,
ever since the fall,
when the dominion
of one part
of the human race
was over another,
immediately introduced,
that's in Genesis 3,
if you want to know
Genesis 3,
16,
has been in such
a state of corruption
and depravity
that without
the powerful obstacle
presented by government
to the selfish passions
of men,
it would be better
to live among
the beasts of the forest
than in human society.
So he's saying
like in a pre-fall condition,
without government,
we might as well
go out and live
in the woods.
Some of us
would rather do that anyway.
But it says,
as soon as its restraints
are removed,
man shows himself
in his real character
when there was
no king in Israel
and every man did
what was right
in his own eyes.
We see the last
three chapters
of the book of Judges
which were
the dreadful consequences
when everyone just did
what was right
in their own eyes
and there was no ruler
over them.
So,
and as it says
in our text,
back in Romans,
it says that they
wield the power
of the sword.
What does that mean?
It means they have
weapons.
It means that
they have,
if you take away
the sword
from the government,
they don't have
any authority
at all.
They can't make you
do anything.
They can't control
sinful men
or protect
those who are
law-abiding citizens
without the sword.
And so,
going on,
like,
it says that the
governing authorities
are God's servants
carrying out
his judgment
and his wrath
against the evil
actions of man.
and if we look
on and,
no,
don't turn here,
but I was going
to say,
I'll read this to you
from 1 Peter
chapter 4,
verse 15.
Let no one
suffer as a murderer
trouble with the government.
Let it be for something
righteous,
not for doing evil,
not for,
like,
attacking,
trying to rebel
against the government
in some sinful way.
He's like,
don't be in trouble
by that,
but a major difference
between Romans
and 1 Peter
is that when the book
of Romans was written
historically,
the persecution
from the empire
had not really
started yet,
officially,
and it came
probably the second time
Paul came to Rome
and,
but around 1 Peter
it was already happening,
so Peter's like saying,
in these cases,
you know,
do not suffer
for doing evil,
like,
if you're going to suffer,
suffer for the cause
of Christ,
in the name of Christ,
for loving people
and for laying down
your life for people,
like,
suffer in that way,
so,
you know,
we don't really,
like I said,
this isn't going to be
a situational ethics
mourning,
but,
but also,
the power of the sword
refers to war,
the state has a right
to defend itself,
but also refers to
the idea of capital punishment,
which you can read about
in Genesis 9,
5 through 6,
if you want a basis
for why God commands that,
and it's a large deterrent
for people to do evil,
it doesn't deter everybody,
but it is a deterrent,
and in the,
the means of exercising
that authority
are important,
and even though
sometimes innocent people
suffer,
and may be falsely accused,
the overall institution
is more important
than,
than doing away with it,
and so we look at,
that'll bring us
to the next thing,
which these kind of
go hand in hand,
but government resists
to,
to keep in check
the sinful actions
of man,
but also on the other hand,
this is the last sub point
under this question,
government
is a divine means
to promote good,
if you look at
verses 3 and 4
back in Romans 13,
for the rulers
are not a terror
to good conduct,
but to bad,
would you have no fear
of the one
who is in authority,
then do what is good,
and you will receive
his approval,
for he is God's servant
for your good,
that's what he,
what he says,
so as a general rule,
as a general rule,
the peaceful,
law-abiding citizen
should have no reason
to fear the government,
and it exists
as the deterrent
for evil
and the promotion
of what is good,
seeking,
seeking the good of,
and welfare
of that nation
is what a government
exists for,
it doesn't always do that,
but it does
in a large way,
and like we got
to remember that
no government system
is going to be perfect
because it's made up
of sinful men,
and just like the church
is not perfect
because though we are
born again,
we still sin,
we're made up of people
that have a lot
of issues,
and so,
but we would have,
I'll read you
this little statement
that I think sums up
these two points
in the old
Westminster confession
from the 1600s,
God,
the supreme
Lord and King
of all the world,
has ordained
civil magistrates
to be under him
over the people
for his own glory
and the public good,
and to this end
he has armed them
with the power
of the sword
for the defense
and the encouragement
of them that are good
and for the punishment
of those who do evil.
So,
they're to uphold justice,
they're to seek
the welfare
of their nation,
of their people,
and if they
abuse that authority,
God is very clear
that he will hold
them accountable
for that
and that he will judge
them if they abuse
that authority,
and that's why
we see,
like,
why nations
have destroyed
other nations,
you know,
like,
though God
used Assyria
to punish Israel
and to punish Judah,
like,
eventually,
I mean,
it seems like,
well,
God is on the side
of the Assyrians,
right?
No,
because eventually
God judged the Assyrians
with the Babylonians
and the Babylonians
with the Persians
and the Persians
with the Greeks
and so forth,
so God always
is going to punish
the men in government
who use their power
for evil,
always.
He's going to hold
them accountable
for that.
So,
this brings us
to the second question,
the other half
of this,
is,
how can we glorify
God
in our government
as believers?
How can we glorify
God
in our government?
And this is verses
5 through 7
in Romans.
Therefore,
one must be
in subjection,
not only
to avoid
God's wrath,
but also
for the sake
of conscience.
For because of this,
you also pay taxes,
for the authorities
are ministers
of God
attending
to this very thing.
Pay to all
what is owed
to them,
taxes to whom
taxes are owed,
revenue to whom
revenue is owed,
respect to whom
respect is owed,
and honor to him
honor is owed.
So,
he tells us
in this context
how we should
relate to the government,
and this would have
been a big question
to the church
in Rome.
How do we,
because they had
like the Roman
government
in their faith.
They had the senate
that was there,
they had the
Palatine Hill
where the emperor
lived,
and all these things.
They had to learn
how do we,
how do we actually
act within this
context
in regard
to our rulers,
and so
the practical
outworking of it,
and this is
sub-point number one.
Humbly submit
to the government.
Citizens
that are
under civil law
are to be
in submission
to their authorities,
even as
believers.
In the midst
of a lot
of people
under governments
who are
slandering the
government
and like
attacking the
government,
we're to place
ourselves in
humble submission
to the government.
And it's a
military term
there,
subjection,
to place
yourself
underneath the
command of
someone who
has a higher
rank than you
and to do
what they say
and to do it
willingly.
It kind of
carries a picture
of like a
willingness,
not being
forced to.
Because Paul
also says
in verse 5
there,
do it for
the sake
of conscience.
So if you
are in direct
rebellion against
the government,
your conscience
will condemn
you.
And it's
because
it's clearly
a command of
God that
you're not
to do that.
And so
I'll read you
from Titus
chapter 3,
or Titus 3,
chapter 3,
says,
remind them
to be submissive
to the rulers
and authorities,
to be obedient,
to be ready
for every good
work,
to speak evil
of no one,
to avoid
quarreling,
to be gentle,
and to show
perfect courtesy
towards all
people.
So,
this is
not
like debatable.
Like God
says,
be humbly
submitted to
your authorities.
So then the
question will
arise,
is there ever
a time that
we don't
obey the
authorities?
Like,
what if they're
asking us to
do something
that's like
really evil,
really simple?
What do we
do?
Well,
that doesn't
always play out
really pretty,
but here's
the deal.
We obey
the laws
and commandments
of our
authorities
as long as
they are not
in direct
opposition to
God's commands
and God's
laws.
And we
should refuse,
in fact,
to submit
to anything
that would
cause us to
sin against
God and
breaking His
commandments.
I'll give you
three examples
of this.
One was
in Exodus,
the Hebrew
midwives who
were told to
make sure that
the male
children were
killed.
It says this,
it says the
midwives,
well,
I mean,
back up,
Pharaoh commanded
them to do
this.
So their
governing authority
commanded the
midwives to
like play
into the
scheme to
kill all
the male
children.
It says,
but the
midwives feared
God and
did not do
as the
king of
Egypt
commanded,
but let
the male
children live.
That's
Exodus 1,
15-17.
Another
example is
Shadrach,
Meshach,
Abednego,
or you
want their
Hebrew names,
which are
much cooler.
Hananiah,
Mishael,
Azariah,
who were
exiles in
Babylon,
and they
convinced the
king,
Nebuchadnezzar,
to build
this big
statue of
himself.
His guys
convinced him
to do that.
And when the
music sounded,
you were to
bow down and
worship this
statue of the
king of
Babylon,
of Nebuchadnezzar,
and to
give your
worship and
your homage
to him.
So,
very symbolic,
yes.
A really
hard place,
but they
refused to
bow down
to that
image because
it was
idolatry.
It was
turning their
back on the
true and
living God.
That's found
in Daniel 3,
15-18.
Great story
there.
God ends
up delivering
them,
but they
just openly
defied Nebuchadnezzar,
but they
did it in
a very
humble way.
They did
it like,
we love
you,
but we're
not going
to do
that kind
of thing.
And a guy
ended up
delivering them
from the
hands of
Nebuchadnezzar.
But turn to
Acts 5 real
fast.
Acts 5,
verse 27.
Acts 5,
verse 27.
A third
example.
Acts 5,
verse 27.
And this
is when
Peter and
the apostles
were taken
before the
Jewish council
to be judged
for preaching
the gospel,
for telling
people about
Christ.
It says,
when they
had brought
them,
they stood
them before
the council.
The high
priest questioned
them,
saying,
we gave
you strict
orders not
to continue
teaching in
this name,
and yet
you have
filled
Jerusalem
with your
teaching,
intended to
bring this
man's blood
upon us.
Okay,
so we
told you
to shut
your mouth,
and you're
not shutting
your mouth
about Jesus.
Their
response,
but Peter
and the
other apostles
answered,
we must
obey God
rather than
men.
So,
ultimately,
our ultimate
citizenship
and our
ultimate kingdom
is the
kingdom of
God.
And as we
read earlier,
even he
rules over
the nations
and governments
of men,
even he does.
So,
which one
are we
going to
submit to?
Always the
law of
God,
as long
as it's
not in
contradiction
to what
the laws
of man
would say.
that's the
sub-point
number one,
humbly
submit to
the government.
And,
sub-point
number two,
back in our
text in
Romans,
pay taxes,
right?
For it
says,
for because of
this you pay
taxes for the
authorities or
ministers of
God,
attending to
this very
good.
And it
says to
give taxes
to them,
taxes to
their own,
honor to
honor his
own,
so forth.
And so,
we're
commanded in
scripture to
pay taxes to
our government.
And God
will hold
them accountable
again and
judge them
for how
they're using
that money.
If they're
doing it in
a sinful,
unlawful
way,
God will,
what goes
around comes
around.
They'll get
what's coming
to them if
they're abusing
that authority.
And so,
just because we
disagree with
the way that
some taxes are
being spent or
whatever,
it doesn't give
us the right to
refuse to pay
taxes.
Consider the
context in which
Romans is
written.
You know,
the Christians
there are
taxing so
Caesar can
throw people in
the amphitheaters
and watch them
die,
and paying
taxes so
Caesar can go
and conquer
more lands
for Rome.
So,
we see that.
Can you
imagine what
it would have
been like living
under the
Assyrians or
Babylonians?
If we think
our government
is bad,
like,
man,
just go and
read a little
bit,
read a book.
I'll recommend
some good history
books for you.
But,
like,
paying taxes
under those
empires,
far more
terrifying.
Far more
terrifying.
So,
if you don't
believe me,
let's just ask
Jesus himself,
so,
those of you
who have a
skewed view
of how to
read scripture
sometimes,
like,
Paul said
this,
but Jesus
said this,
kind of thing,
they say the
same things.
I'll read
something right
out of the
mouth of
Jesus.
They ask
him,
is it
unlawful to
pay taxes
to Caesar?
And,
he understands
that they're
trying to test
him and
cause them
hypocrites.
And then he
says,
throw me a
coin,
so they
give him
a denarii,
and he
says,
he says
on there,
like,
whose likeness
inscription is
on this
coin,
and they
say Caesar's,
then he
says,
alright,
then render
to Caesar
the things
that are
Caesar's,
and to
God the
things that
are God's.
Pay your
taxes to
Caesar,
and what's
owed to
God,
give to
God.
And so
Jesus himself
says to
submit in
the government
that way.
sub-point
number three
is,
use your
freedoms to
do good.
Use your
freedoms to
do good.
we live
in a
nation
where,
unlike any
other in
history,
we have
so many
rights that
have been
granted to
us by
government
and freedoms
that we
can operate
within.
So,
Christians should
seek the
good of
their nation
by operating
within their
legal boundaries
as citizens
granted to
them by the
government.
So,
we even see
this by
Paul.
He exercised
his rights
in a context
as a Roman
citizen in
many,
many different
cases.
He would
say,
hey,
I'm a
Roman
citizen,
the law
says this.
And they
would be
like,
you're right.
And they
would always
be used
for good.
And also,
to vote.
Like,
we've been
given a
chance to
vote against
things that
are evil
and vote
for things
that are
good.
Sometimes
there's,
it's the
less of two
evils in
some situations.
And I leave
that up to
your conscience
whether you
decide to
vote on
things like
that or not.
But,
at the end
of the day,
we have
the ability
to have
some influence
on our
government.
And also
the ability
to speak
out against
things that
are sinful
and unrighteous.
And,
but,
here's,
I don't want
to give you
a bad
impression.
I think
the way
that we're
going to
change the
nation as
believers
is not by
getting,
going and
picketing,
you know,
like,
no more,
whatever,
rah,
I don't
really think
that's going
to change
anything.
But,
there's ways
that we
can fight
for righteous
causes.
And we
have to
understand that
even when we
speak out
against things,
we have to
do it with
humility and
gentleness,
not,
you guys are
evil and,
you know,
whatever.
It's not a
picture of that.
And an
example,
I don't have
time to get
into this,
would be like
William
Wilberforce
in the
19th century
when he
was a
British MP
in the
House of
Commons and
God used
him at
times almost
single-handedly
over a huge
period of
time to
bring down
the slave
trade in
the British
Empire.
And even
when he was
in Parliament
arguing with
the other
guys in there
about slavery,
he had like
such a kind
and humble
spirit as he
did it.
He never
attacked them
personally.
They attacked
him personally
a lot.
And it's
just amazing
to go back
and read
how he
dealt with
those situations
in a way
that glorified
Christ.
And God
used him to
destroy slavery
in the British
Empire.
Eventually that
would spill
over into
America again
many years
later.
An example
of that today
is abortion.
We've been
talking about
that a lot
at Christ's
Family to
stand up for
the unborn.
So in all
these things,
we're to use
our freedoms
to do good,
but not
boast about
our freedoms
like we're
free and
we have a
right to be
a pain in
the neck.
No we're
not.
We have
freedom to
influence our
government and
our nation in
a humble way.
And to speak
about those
things with
them, to go
to our
congressmen, to
our senators,
whatever, and
try to influence
them for good.
So another
sub-point
underneath this
is to pray
for the
government.
Pray for
the government.
So instead
of slandering
and speaking
out against
and hatred
towards our
leaders, we're
to pray for
them.
That's what
the command
is.
1 Timothy
chapter 2
verse 1.
First of
all, then I
urge you that
supplications
and prayers,
intercessions,
and thanksgiving
be made for
all people.
So pray for
these people.
It says for
kings,
and all
those who
are in
high positions,
that they
may lead a
peaceful and
quiet life,
godly and
dignified in
every way.
That's 1
Timothy 2,
1 through
2.
So the
last point
here, the
last sub-point,
I think is
probably the
greatest influence
we can have
on the
government,
have on our
nation,
preaching the
gospel.
This is it,
preaching the
gospel.
realize that
the gospel is
what changes
societies.
The gospel is
what changes
societies,
always has.
Let me give you
an example.
When Christ
came into
the world,
he came into
a very, you
know, broken,
sinful world,
just like we
did.
Rome was the
existing ruler
and authority,
and slavery
was going on,
you know,
obviously,
in the Roman
Empire in a
legal way.
So all these
things, all
these things
that existed
when Christ
came into
this sinful
world,
what did he
do?
Did he, like,
take up a
picket sign
and start,
like, charging,
you know,
the Senate and
saying, you
know, hey,
stop slavery,
hey, you
know, like,
this needs to
stop these
unjust things
that you're
doing?
No.
But what
did he do?
He submitted
to all the
institutions,
even to the
Mosaic Law,
because at
that time,
the fullness
of it had not
come.
Like, he
hadn't died,
he hasn't
resurrected yet,
so he even
submitted himself
to that,
to the Roman
government,
political,
economic systems.
He submitted
to that,
but here's the
deal.
He stayed
focused on
his mission
while he was
here,
and his
mission was
not to
overturn
the Roman
government.
It took
his disciples
forever to
figure that
out, like,
not why I'm
here, guys.
And so,
so what if
the government
was replaced?
Okay?
We learn from
history that
if a bad
system can be
overturned or
overruled,
it usually can
be replaced
with another
bad system
right after
that.
So, is
that really
the answer
to the
problem?
No.
So, Christ
came to
focus on a
much bigger
problem,
on the
spiritual
bondage
of man,
to focus
on the
sinfulness
of man,
and he
understood
that the
power of
the gospel
changes people
from the
inside out,
and he
understood
that if
he could
work in
their hearts
and their
minds,
the sinful
systems of
men would
be destroyed.
Well, like,
renewed hearts
that love
God and want
to worship
God in
spirit and
truth,
the overflow
of that
would be
the destruction
of sinful
governments
and sinful
laws,
and he
knew that
the greater
included the
lesser there.
So, as
his followers,
we're to
unleash the
power of the
gospel in
all areas of
society,
wherever we
work, in
our homes,
in our
government,
whatever we
do, we're
to, like,
unleash the
power of the
gospel.
We shouldn't
expect sinful
men to, like,
always act in
accordance with
God's law.
The power of
the gospel is
the only thing
that can free
them and
actually change
those societies
is Christ.
And as
people were
changed and
they love
God, they
also will
value their
fellow man
even more as
a result of
that.
And so, we
see that, you
know, I
guess Britain is
another example
to use of
that with what
Wilberforce was
doing, okay?
He was fighting
to end the
slave trade.
There were a
lot of
people,
who were
saying we
need to
just overthrow
the government,
overthrow
parliament,
overthrow the
king.
They did it
in France,
and France
was still
going chaotic
at the time,
wasn't really
a good model
to follow.
And so,
but he refused.
He was like,
no, like,
if we're going
to change
society, we're
going to do
it, like,
in a godly,
law-abiding
way with
humble submission
to our leaders.
And it
did.
Like, it
happened.
It took time,
but that society
was changed,
and slavery was
brought down
as a result.
Turn to 1 Peter 2,
and this is where
we're going to end.
1 Peter 2.
The gospel will
change hearts,
change minds,
and thus will
destroy the evil
actions of man.
1 Peter 2,
verse 13,
to kind of add
to what Paul
is saying,
Peter says
the same stuff
here.
Be subject
for the Lord's
sake
to every human
institution,
whether it be
to the emperor
as supreme,
or to governors
as sent by him
to punish those
who do evil,
and to the praise
of those who do
good.
For this is
the will of God,
that by doing
good you should
put to silence
the ignorance
of foolish people.
Live as people
who are free,
right?
It's us,
not using your
freedom as a
cover-up for evil,
but living as
servants of God.
Honor everyone,
love the brotherhood,
fear God,
honor the emperor.
I mean,
this is all
just very clear.
These aren't
negotiable things,
but as we draw
near to Christ
and the power
of the gospel
changes us,
the power of the
gospel changes
the lives of
people around us.
That's how
societies are
changed.
In other words,
we can't fix our
nation with a
bunch of,
at the end of
the day,
rules and laws
that are thrown
at them.
We have to
change people
for societies
to be changed
for the glory
of God.
So let me just
pray for us
and continue.
Father, I just
admit that this
is a hard
subject in
God.
I'm afraid that
even as believers
we can come
across very
simplistic and
very naive
about the
realities of a
sinful world
around us.
God, I know
that in
governments
today,
there's so
many hard
decisions that
have to be
made.
And sometimes
it really isn't
a choice of
good versus
evil.
It's almost
like what's
the lesser
of two evils.
They have
hard positions
that they are
in.
And Lord,
it's hard to
know what to
do.
So I pray
that you
would work
in them
and that
you would
work in
President Obama,
you work in
the House
and the
Senate and
the judicial
system.
Lord, I
pray that
you would
raise up
both
golly men
and women
to have
an influence
on the
government
for your
glory.
And as
citizens,
we would
glorify you
in how we
conduct our
lives under
the government
just as
law-abiding
citizens,
those who
pay taxes,
those who
don't slander
out hatred
against the
government.
But Lord,
for those who
are quick to
pray for the
government
and quick to
speak the
words of life,
the gospel to
the lost world
that surrounds
us.
And Lord,
just help us
to be humbled
by that,
that a lot
of us live
in a
simple world
and live
by simple
rules because
our world
is simple.
But Lord,
we often fail
to realize
that government
is an
instrument you
use to
protect that
world for
us.
And we're
just naive
about so
many things.
Lord,
just work in
the hearts
of our
leaders.
But above
all, we
give you
praise and
just thanksgiving
that one day
all governments
will be brought
under the
supreme rule
of Christ
and his
kingdom will
endure for
all generations
and from
everlasting to
everlasting we'll
have a king
that is worthy
to be praised,
worthy to be
loved and
followed for
all eternity.
And that's
where we're
going, Lord.
So until then,
help us to
know how to
live in this
life in ways
that glorify
you.
In Christ's
name,
Amen.
Thank you.