WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Our reading today is taken from Romans 13, verse 1 to verse 7, and is found on the Church Bible on page 1140. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:22.939 Let everyone be subjected to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:27.500 The authorities that exist have been established by God. 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:36.060 Consequently, whoever rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:40.439 and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 00:00:41.379 --> 00:00:49.699 For the rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. 00:00:50.979 --> 00:00:55.320 Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? 00:00:55.939 --> 00:00:58.780 Then do what is right, and you will be commended. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:04.599 For the one in authority is God's servant for good. 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:11.919 But if you do wrong, be afraid, for the rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:19.879 They are God's servants, agents of wrath, to bring punishment on the wrongdoers. 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:31.879 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:42.019 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servant, who give their full time to governing. 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:47.599 Give to everyone what you owe them. 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:50.299 If you owe taxes, pay taxes. 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:52.379 If revenue, then revenue. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:54.719 If respect, then respect. 00:01:55.299 --> 00:01:56.739 If honour, then honour. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:01:57.859 Amen. 00:01:57.859 --> 00:01:58.540 Great. 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:02.900 Thank you, Gloria, for reading for us. 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:04.560 Let's pray as we come to God's word. 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:05.239 Let's pray together. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:13.539 Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much for your word to us. 00:02:13.539 --> 00:02:19.979 And as we come to listen to it now, we recognise there is much to distract us. 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:29.959 And so we pray, please, that you would be at work by your spirit, that you would soften our hearts and open our ears. 00:02:30.799 --> 00:02:37.699 We pray that this wouldn't just be a kind of brain dump from my brain to other people's, but that this would be you speaking through your words, 00:02:38.399 --> 00:02:42.979 doing us good and transforming us into Christ-likeness, as we pray in his name. 00:02:43.539 --> 00:02:44.099 Amen. 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:53.879 Well, if you're visiting this morning, you find us in Romans chapter 13, which is the series that we have been working through together. 00:02:54.259 --> 00:03:00.659 And we have come to a really interesting section on how we deal with and relate to authority. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:10.599 In the opening chapter of his book on authority, a guy called Jonathan Lehman points out that Western culture is massively anti-authority. 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:11.699 Anti-authority. 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:14.419 And his proof is the movies, right? 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:25.419 So he says that if you look at the heroes in the movies that we make and that we watch, they are almost always anti-authority, rising up against the oppression of a tyrannical ruler. 00:03:25.799 --> 00:03:29.619 So Luke Skywalker fights against the Empire in the Star Wars trilogy. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.879 Never seen it, don't like it, but apparently it's true. 00:03:32.459 --> 00:03:35.539 Neo against the machines in the Matrix trilogy. 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:36.959 Have seen it, quite enjoyed it. 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:39.259 This isn't actually, why am I giving movie reviews on the way through? 00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:43.500 Jason Bourne against the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the Bourne trilogy. 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:48.359 Katniss Everdeen against the Capitol and President Snow in the Hunger Games trilogy. 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:51.799 Tristan Four against the Erudites in the Divergent trilogy. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:58.959 If all that's a bit too highbrow for you, he points out that we actually teach our children to be anti-authority. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:00.979 And he points that out from Disney movies. 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:07.780 Little Mermaid sings, Betcha on land they understand and they don't reprimand their daughters. 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:11.379 And she rebels against the authority of her father. 00:04:11.739 --> 00:04:15.739 Queen Elsa sings, No right, no wrong, no rules for me, I'm free. 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:19.159 As she flees from the expectation and authority of the people. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:26.120 Now perhaps there are good reasons this morning for you or me or any of us to be anti-authority. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:30.459 Perhaps you've had a bad experience of someone who was in authority over you. 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:32.280 And we'll think more of that in a moment. 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:37.379 But the truth is as you listen to Romans 13 being read and as Gloria read it to us earlier. 00:04:37.699 --> 00:04:42.340 What you cannot help but notice is that it is not anti-authority. 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:44.259 It's very pro-authority. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:47.939 If you look down at verse 1, it starts with, 00:04:48.259 --> 00:04:51.699 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. 00:04:51.699 --> 00:04:55.879 Literally, don't be anti-authority. 00:04:56.599 --> 00:05:01.000 Be not just pro-authority, but be subordinate to authority. 00:05:02.479 --> 00:05:06.899 In fact, when you look closely at the passage, really that is essentially the only instruction in the passage. 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:09.819 It gets repeated in slightly different ways at different times. 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:11.219 But basically it's the same idea. 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:13.099 So verse 1 is be subject. 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:17.339 Verse 3 is do what is right or literally do what is good. 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:19.959 And verse 7 is give what is owed. 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:24.719 But it's the same attitude and the same heart that's coming through in all those instructions. 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:27.899 So here's the thing for us this morning. 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:29.919 This is the shock. 00:05:30.459 --> 00:05:33.259 Paul thinks authority is good. 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:35.699 Given by God. 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:39.039 Now, not does he think that it's always used rightly. 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:43.419 But the abuse of authority doesn't mean that all authority is necessarily bad. 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:43.699 That. 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:52.860 And actually, authority and the right attitude and submission to authority is, says Paul, a central part of Christian discipleship. 00:05:54.540 --> 00:05:56.439 Now, I want to show you just how this works. 00:05:56.520 --> 00:06:01.340 So I think there are four ideas or four steps that Paul takes in this passage. 00:06:01.460 --> 00:06:02.460 Let me show them to you. 00:06:02.459 --> 00:06:03.379 Number one is this. 00:06:03.859 --> 00:06:05.539 All authority belongs to God. 00:06:05.719 --> 00:06:08.019 All authority belongs to God. 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:11.019 If you take another look at verse 1. 00:06:11.579 --> 00:06:13.759 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:17.279 For there is no authority except that which God has established. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:21.620 The authorities that exist have been established by God. 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:26.819 Now, the way our NIVs have translated this verse makes it sound like it's repeating itself. 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:31.079 No authority except that which God has established and authorities have been established by God. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:36.120 That doesn't quite capture the point because the first established isn't actually in the Greek. 00:06:36.740 --> 00:06:38.420 The NIV translations have added that. 00:06:38.780 --> 00:06:42.860 Literally, the sentence is, for there is no authority except from God. 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:50.000 Really, the point is that God is the one in the world to whom all authority belongs. 00:06:51.620 --> 00:07:01.340 In other words, like it or not, acknowledge it or not, you and I live in a world ruled by a God who has all authority. 00:07:02.340 --> 00:07:03.300 All authority. 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:05.100 Absolute dominion. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:07.420 Over all that he has made. 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:09.220 Including you and me. 00:07:09.939 --> 00:07:15.920 There is not one person or one place in this world that God is not in authority over. 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:17.300 He is not in charge of. 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:21.480 It's basically the same point that Paul was making at the end of chapter 11. 00:07:21.620 --> 00:07:27.680 When in verse 36, he says about God, for from him and through him and to him are all things. 00:07:27.819 --> 00:07:30.000 To him be glory forever and ever. 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:30.300 Amen. 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:35.100 Now, I think there are at least two implications of all authority belonging to God. 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:36.259 The first one is this. 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:40.379 Is that authority is not necessarily a bad thing. 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:41.040 It's not wrong. 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:43.300 Authority is actually a good thing. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.139 God only possesses good things. 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:52.279 And so for him to be the God of all authority means that he is good and authority is good. 00:07:52.279 --> 00:08:00.639 So whatever problems that we have with authority, whatever bad experiences we might have had with those who misuse it, the problem is not authority per se. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:09.279 Because authority, the power and commission to rule over someone or something is not itself a bad thing. 00:08:10.479 --> 00:08:15.919 And the other implication then is that actually the problem in the world is not a problem with authorities. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:18.639 The problem is really a problem with rebellion. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:20.899 That's the problem in the world, isn't it? 00:08:20.899 --> 00:08:25.979 We live in a world where the problem is not that God is in charge of all things. 00:08:26.299 --> 00:08:29.959 We live in a world where the problem is that people have rebelled against that. 00:08:31.139 --> 00:08:33.000 Sin is the Bible's word for it. 00:08:34.199 --> 00:08:37.579 And that means that sin is not kind of just naughtiness. 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:40.559 It's not disobedience to a few moral instructions. 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:45.600 Rather, sin is fundamentally rebellion against the authority of God. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.539 Sin says to God, okay, this might be your world. 00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:54.139 All authority might belong to you, but I'm going my way and doing my thing. 00:08:55.199 --> 00:08:58.419 I will not submit to you and I will not do what you say. 00:08:59.579 --> 00:09:04.639 And that sinful rebellion shows up in our culture, not only by what we say about God, 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:08.519 or even just our prevailing attitudes to the authority structures in our lives. 00:09:08.719 --> 00:09:13.159 It shows up, I think, in the fact that pretty much we're anti all authority except our own. 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:16.639 I only do what I say I'm going to do. 00:09:17.339 --> 00:09:18.319 I don't listen to anybody. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.600 I don't give an account to anybody. 00:09:21.280 --> 00:09:22.940 I will do what I want to do. 00:09:23.780 --> 00:09:29.320 We're like little mermaid who is largely positive about her own ideas and just really negative about her father's. 00:09:32.640 --> 00:09:34.360 Perhaps you've never thought about it like this. 00:09:35.280 --> 00:09:39.760 But I think this kind of comes into sharp focus when you see what God has done to save the world. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.039 You know, the heroes that we create, right, they're all anti-authority, aren't they? 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:48.159 But who is the real hero of history? 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:50.120 It's not Luke Skywalker. 00:09:50.819 --> 00:09:53.279 It's not Moana or Little Mermaid. 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:54.819 It's Jesus Christ. 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:57.920 And what is Jesus Christ like? 00:09:57.920 --> 00:10:06.940 Well, the eternal son of God puts on human flesh and is born as a baby, come as saviour. 00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:11.940 And he lives here in full submission to his father's plan. 00:10:11.940 --> 00:10:18.380 And not only that, Luke's gospel tells us that Jesus submitted to his parents as well. 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:21.960 We're told by the gospel writers that Jesus paid his taxes. 00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:27.060 Jesus prays then in submission to his father in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:10:27.059 --> 00:10:30.899 not your will, not my will, but yours be done, he says. 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:36.839 And then silently submits to the authority, even of the unjust Pilate, 00:10:37.719 --> 00:10:39.359 as he hands him over to be crucified. 00:10:40.699 --> 00:10:44.659 Jesus could have been anti-authority at any of those points, couldn't he? 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:48.799 He could have called down fire from heaven to destroy the chief priests or the Roman rulers. 00:10:49.199 --> 00:10:54.539 But instead, he submitted to them and to his father in heaven. 00:10:54.539 --> 00:10:57.159 And he didn't cry freedom. 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.500 He didn't burst into song about doing things his own way. 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:01.179 Why? 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:05.559 So that he might save you and me. 00:11:06.599 --> 00:11:12.139 Ironically, he submitted to save rebels like you and I. 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:16.120 That in our sin, which is not our personal battle with immorality, 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.459 but is a relational battle with the God who is in charge, 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:21.099 that in that battle I might be won back 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:24.840 and brought under the loving rule of my father in heaven, 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.259 that my sin might be dealt with and forgiven, 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:30.000 and I could come to him forgiven and cleansed, 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:35.340 living in submission like Jesus to those who he's put over me. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:36.860 So that's the first point. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:38.220 All authority belongs to God. 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:40.759 Second point, God delegates authority to others. 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:44.899 This is the next step that Paul makes, which is really the key to all of this. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:46.700 All authority is God's, verse one. 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:52.480 That means that the authority of others has to, by definition, come from God. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:57.020 In other words, God has established it, to use the words of the passage. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.120 So in verse one, we're told that any authority that exists, 00:12:01.280 --> 00:12:05.080 exists because God has delegated some of his authority to it. 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:09.200 Now, in giving authority away like that, 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:12.060 it doesn't mean that God is less authoritative. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.740 Rather, it means that the government or the ruler or whoever it is, 00:12:15.780 --> 00:12:19.960 is in a sense acting on ruling on God's behalf in that area. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.420 And this is repeated through the section. 00:12:22.540 --> 00:12:24.920 So look down, verse one, God has established authorities. 00:12:25.160 --> 00:12:27.720 Verse two, God has instituted them. 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:31.460 Verse four says that the one in authority is God's servant, 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:34.780 which is then repeated a couple of other times. 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:36.259 Here's the principle. 00:12:36.820 --> 00:12:41.300 The God of all authority has so set up the world in which we live 00:12:41.300 --> 00:12:46.340 that we experience his authority through the authority of others. 00:12:47.040 --> 00:12:48.960 Others that he has put in place. 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:52.379 Now, there are loads of authorities like that. 00:12:52.780 --> 00:12:55.220 That's the authority that parents have over their children, 00:12:55.700 --> 00:12:57.340 that bosses have over their employees, 00:12:57.720 --> 00:12:59.560 that teachers have over students. 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:02.920 Even controversially, husbands have over wives. 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:07.059 And not all of those authorities are exercised in the same way, right? 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:10.939 Sometimes authority is simply an authority of influence. 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.779 And other times it's an authority of command. 00:13:14.839 --> 00:13:19.079 So a husband is to influence his wife, not to command her. 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:24.040 But if you get stopped by the police for doing 90 miles an hour on the A406, 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:26.360 they are not just going to try and influence you, 00:13:26.560 --> 00:13:29.540 they are going to command you to slow down. 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:36.579 Now, in Romans 13, the focus is the government. 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:41.439 And they have a sort of authority, you find in verse 4. 00:13:41.699 --> 00:13:45.620 That is, they have the authority not of influence, but the authority of command. 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:53.839 It is right, says Paul, for the governing authorities to command their citizens to behave in certain ways. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:57.320 We'll think more about the limits on that in a moment. 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:00.759 But notice that they bear God's authority to command, 00:14:01.160 --> 00:14:04.960 and they are to give their full time to governing like that in verse 6. 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:06.759 So here's the principle. 00:14:06.940 --> 00:14:10.960 God's authority is delegated in part to those he places in charge. 00:14:11.300 --> 00:14:14.740 Not so that they have absolute authority, only he has that, 00:14:15.019 --> 00:14:20.040 but so that in a limited way they can rule on his behalf for the good of others. 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:26.159 Now, if that's right, God gives his authority to others that they might rule on his behalf, 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:29.259 you have to deal with a very obvious issue. 00:14:29.899 --> 00:14:34.339 Just think when Paul is writing this passage, right? 00:14:34.899 --> 00:14:37.860 It's about AD 57, something like that, he's writing in Rome. 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:43.240 And at the time, a young man called Nero has just been made the Roman emperor. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.639 And Nero was not selected in a vote of the people. 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:55.120 So Nero's mother poisoned her husband and then married her uncle, the emperor Claudius, 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:02.439 and then persuaded Claudius to appoint Nero as his successor over and above his own biological son, Britannicus. 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:07.480 And then when she persuaded him to do that, she poisoned Claudius and Britannicus. 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:15.799 So Nero came to power through the manipulative work of a serial killer. 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:17.719 Nero, not a democracy. 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:22.639 And yet Paul says, Romans 13, God put him there. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:24.620 God has established it. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:26.539 God has instituted it. 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:29.599 Nero is God's servant. 00:15:30.719 --> 00:15:31.679 Now, what does that mean? 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:36.120 Well, of course, it doesn't mean that God endorses how he got there or how he behaved when he was there. 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:37.759 God is really clear on that. 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:46.860 Nero is going to be guilty of some terrible things, not least dipping Christians in tar and setting them on fire to light up his garden parties. 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:49.039 And God does not approve of that. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:55.639 Rather, the point is that any authority that Nero has, he has on loan from God. 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:57.560 It's not an innate right of his own. 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:02.759 The fact that he abused his authority and misused it is another issue. 00:16:03.459 --> 00:16:05.539 But the authority he had was from God. 00:16:06.219 --> 00:16:12.139 And God sovereignly raises him up for a time and temporarily and partially invests him with an authority. 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:15.739 And Nero will have to give an account to God for how he used it. 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:19.379 Because he always remained under God's ultimate authority. 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:28.899 We were talking about this in the sermon read through on Friday and trying to think that actually illustrating this might be helpful. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:29.899 So here's an illustration. 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:34.440 And if it doesn't work, you can blame the others in my sermon read through group. 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:36.980 Imagine if I lent you my car. 00:16:37.259 --> 00:16:39.419 This is a fictitious thing because I'm not going to do it. 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:40.860 But imagine if I did, right? 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.360 I said, listen, I've got something in my car. 00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:45.720 It needs delivering to Luton. 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:51.100 Could you please take my car and deliver this box to Luton? 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:51.840 That's where it needs to go. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.700 And I said to you, listen, my car is precious to me. 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:57.320 I value it. 00:16:57.700 --> 00:16:58.820 Don't scratch it. 00:16:59.060 --> 00:17:00.019 Don't bend it. 00:17:00.259 --> 00:17:01.240 Drive straight to Luton. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.440 Drop off this package and then come back, please. 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:07.720 And you get in my car and you say, yeah, sure, I can do that. 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:12.339 And then you drive like a maniac, scratching the car, bending the car. 00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:17.139 And you end up in Brighton and you drop off the box on the beach and just kick it into the sea. 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:20.280 Now, what would I think about you then? 00:17:20.360 --> 00:17:21.500 I would be mad, right? 00:17:21.540 --> 00:17:22.360 I would be cross. 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:24.180 And I would be right to be cross. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.220 You know, and I would take my car off you and reprimand you sternly for what you did. 00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:31.819 But here's the point, right? 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:37.539 It was still always my car, right? 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:39.660 And you drove it to Brighton. 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:41.400 You didn't drive your own car. 00:17:41.600 --> 00:17:42.660 You took mine. 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.240 And just because you abused it didn't mean you owned it. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:51.980 And just because you drove it badly and knocked people over along the way doesn't mean that cars are bad. 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.400 It means you're a bad driver. 00:17:55.539 --> 00:17:57.700 Now, that's the point with authority here. 00:17:58.539 --> 00:18:00.680 Authority, all authority belongs to God. 00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:06.779 He loans it to people to whom he will hold account for a time, for a purpose. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:08.900 And he says, this is what it's for. 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:11.380 It's for the good of those that you will rule over. 00:18:11.780 --> 00:18:14.520 You will have to give an account to me for how you've used it. 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:20.920 And the fact that they then abuse it is not actually his fault. 00:18:21.020 --> 00:18:21.640 It's theirs. 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:27.480 Now, if you think about it like that, it brings real hope, doesn't it? 00:18:28.540 --> 00:18:31.060 Maybe you've got a really bad boss at work. 00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:34.500 Maybe you're at school and you've got a really grumpy teacher. 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:38.500 Or maybe you've met an unreasonable traffic warden this week. 00:18:39.020 --> 00:18:40.920 Or maybe it's even more serious than that. 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:44.279 And I know there have been experiences of great injustice in this room. 00:18:44.620 --> 00:18:49.460 Maybe you've come across a corrupt police officer or an unjust judge or a racist sister. 00:18:50.300 --> 00:18:54.560 You know, don't you, that all of those things will be held to account by God. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.539 He will call them to account. 00:18:57.259 --> 00:19:00.420 And it's right for us to use whatever voice we have to call them out. 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:06.640 But the real bite of this passage is not so much them and how they use their authority. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.279 It's about you and how you use yours, isn't it? 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:16.440 Because it means that any authority you have has been delegated to you by God and he will hold you to account for it. 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.340 Are you a parent? 00:19:18.340 --> 00:19:18.440 Are you a parent? 00:19:19.320 --> 00:19:25.840 That means God has given you authority, his authority in the family for the good and the blessing of your family. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:30.539 And you are not allowed to just take and use that in whatever way you will. 00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:34.799 Instead, you are to use it in the manner in which he has intended it. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.339 And he will hold you to account. 00:19:38.399 --> 00:19:41.519 It strikes me that there's two ways that parents go wrong with this, doesn't it? 00:19:41.579 --> 00:19:48.859 One is they become demanding and they exercise a greater authority than that which God has given them. 00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:50.000 That's one error. 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:56.299 The other error is they abdicate all responsibility and they pretend as if they're given no authority in their family at all. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:01.299 It's not just parents, though, is it? 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:03.879 Maybe you're in charge at work. 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.060 God has given you that authority for the good of those under you. 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:09.540 Perhaps you lead a ministry in the church. 00:20:09.840 --> 00:20:10.500 It's the same. 00:20:10.600 --> 00:20:13.720 You're given authority for the good of those around you. 00:20:14.320 --> 00:20:16.560 Perhaps you exercise an office in the local government. 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:21.180 Or maybe you just simply have the authority to keep your room tidy. 00:20:22.100 --> 00:20:24.260 That authority is given to you by God. 00:20:24.340 --> 00:20:26.480 And in an important sense, it's still his. 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:28.700 And he will ask you how you used it. 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:32.360 All authority belongs to God. 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.159 God delegates authority to others. 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:37.579 Thirdly, God's delegated authority has limits. 00:20:37.579 --> 00:20:43.240 Now, we are going to have to work a little bit hard to see this, but I think this is one of the most important things to see. 00:20:43.879 --> 00:20:46.859 So try and come back with me if you can. 00:20:47.159 --> 00:20:47.779 Verse 4. 00:20:47.939 --> 00:20:48.799 Let me read it to you. 00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:52.319 For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:54.740 But if you do wrong, be afraid. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.139 For rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. 00:20:57.919 --> 00:21:02.259 They are God's servants, agents of wrath, to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:04.900 Now, notice this carefully with me. 00:21:04.940 --> 00:21:05.980 We've seen this before, right? 00:21:06.059 --> 00:21:08.960 God establishes authorities as his servants, yeah? 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:12.559 And his design is for our good and not for our harm. 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:18.200 We've seen, too, that the servants in question in Romans 13 are the governing authorities. 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:19.900 That is, the government. 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:23.879 And they hold a sword, we're told, on God's behalf. 00:21:23.980 --> 00:21:27.640 They are agents of wrath to hold wrongdoing to account. 00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:31.880 But the key question that we need to ask, then, is, well, what is that good? 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:37.120 What is the good that God intends these authorities to bring about in the world? 00:21:39.080 --> 00:21:44.440 Well, it seems, doesn't it, that the focus of the authorities of government is for our good, verse 4. 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:49.820 It's a repetition of verse 3, where we're to do what is right or good, so that we don't get in trouble with them. 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:55.639 And good here seems to be exactly the same as what we were looking at last week in Romans 12, verse 9, 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:58.059 where we are told to love what is good and hate what is evil. 00:21:58.579 --> 00:22:00.480 In other words, this is moral good. 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:03.839 Put this together with me for a moment. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:14.639 God has delegated authority to governments for moral good, or to use another word, justice, right? 00:22:14.899 --> 00:22:17.639 The judgment between right and wrong. 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:23.280 And for that, the government bears the sword to punish wrongdoing and to protect the good. 00:22:24.220 --> 00:22:26.520 Now, notice then what it's not, right? 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:30.600 The government are not to judge between belief and unbelief. 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:32.880 That's really significant. 00:22:34.080 --> 00:22:36.640 The government are not to enforce faith. 00:22:37.020 --> 00:22:41.080 They have not been given authority to decide what is true faith and false faith. 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:49.419 There is no sword in Romans 13 for unbelief, but for injustice, wrongdoing. 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:51.019 That's what the sword exists for. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:57.179 Interestingly, in the New Testament, the authority to discern between belief and unbelief is not given to the government. 00:22:57.339 --> 00:22:58.480 It's given to the church. 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:07.799 And they're not given a sword to enforce that, but what Jesus calls keys to open and close fellowship around the Lord's table, it seems to me. 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:11.799 So the church has one kind of authority focused on faith. 00:23:11.919 --> 00:23:13.799 The state has another authority. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.240 There are limits. 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:17.960 And that works in lots of different areas, doesn't it? 00:23:18.159 --> 00:23:24.700 The authority of a parent is not the authority over all children everywhere, but is over their own children. 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:30.240 And it's not over their adult children in the same way as it is over their infant children. 00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:36.580 The boss is not the boss everywhere, but over their team at work. 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:42.660 And Paul's point about the government here is really just an outworking of what's been said in the Bible before. 00:23:43.360 --> 00:23:48.620 So God says to Noah in Genesis 9, you might remember that after the flood, they come out of the ark. 00:23:48.619 --> 00:23:52.759 And we're told that still the inclination of the human heart was evil all the time. 00:23:53.199 --> 00:23:58.659 And God says this, whoever sheds human blood by humans shall their blood be shed. 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:02.599 For in the image of God has God made mankind. 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:11.239 And Paul says, by that, that authority to hold blood to account, that is given to the government. 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:15.740 And on the one hand, that limits the power of the government. 00:24:15.859 --> 00:24:19.980 They're not given authority over all things in our lives, over what we believe or what we wear or what we say. 00:24:20.779 --> 00:24:24.779 Or even over what life is or why life is precious. 00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:26.559 God has told them that. 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:28.460 It's not their decision. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:31.620 It's because people are made in his image. 00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:37.799 But in those limits, the government are given the authority to protect and preserve life. 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:44.579 And they are given that role to punish blood for blood and promote good. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:53.619 Now, perhaps you can see then, can't you, that authority goes wrong, not only when it's abused, when it's used to support evil and not good, 00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:58.579 but also when it's extended beyond the limits or the boundaries which God has set. 00:24:58.579 --> 00:25:09.419 So the North Korean government, who force atheism on their citizens, are outstepping the boundary of the authority that God has given them. 00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:12.179 God has not given them authority to do that. 00:25:12.919 --> 00:25:18.000 The medieval church that punished unbelief with the sword was also operating beyond its limits. 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:22.759 And in our own country, I think you see it really clearly too, can't you? 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:31.519 The government's failure to protect the life of the unborn child, or seemingly its desire to legalise assisted suicide for the sick and the elderly, 00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:34.160 is an abdication of responsibility. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:39.779 When I wrote to my MP, or our MP, if you live in the same neighbourhood as I do, 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:43.960 when I wrote to our MP about the assisted suicide bill, I wrote and I said, 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:46.460 this is not your right to choose this. 00:25:46.879 --> 00:25:50.940 You don't have the authority to decide what life is or isn't. 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:54.480 You are way beyond the realms of governing authorities. 00:25:55.600 --> 00:25:56.320 She disagreed. 00:25:59.080 --> 00:26:04.900 And so we see, don't we, that the government is given the responsibility to promote and protect life. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:11.720 And so it also means that it's to fight poverty and oppression that prevents people from making a living and feeding their families. 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.640 It's to provide a stable economy that rewards hard work. 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:20.400 It's to uphold marriage as the union of a man with a woman for the continuation of life. 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:26.420 Ultimately, this is why we pray for those in government, as Paul tells us to in 1 Timothy. 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:30.380 Not praying, oh, will the government make disciples of all nations? 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:31.620 That's not their job, is it? 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:32.380 That's our job. 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:33.480 That's the church's job. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.160 But praying that they would rule in such a way that we are able to preach the gospel and make disciples of the nations. 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:42.940 And so if you don't pray for the government yet, do start. 00:26:43.320 --> 00:26:45.019 This is the responsibility God has given you. 00:26:45.019 --> 00:26:51.759 And if you don't write to your MP when they are on the cusp of doing something that is threatening life, then start doing that. 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:53.480 That's your responsibility. 00:26:54.619 --> 00:26:55.799 Authority belongs to God. 00:26:55.879 --> 00:26:57.299 He set limits for it. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.740 Which leads us to the final step. 00:26:58.859 --> 00:27:05.139 And perhaps the most difficult, not complicated, it's dead simple, but the most difficult to follow through on is this. 00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:10.780 My Christian life, your Christian life is lived in submission to authority. 00:27:13.080 --> 00:27:19.460 Hopefully this final step makes some logical sense, but perhaps you can see it explicitly in the passage as well. 00:27:20.780 --> 00:27:22.900 These are the instructions, aren't they, that we started with. 00:27:22.980 --> 00:27:23.660 Be subject. 00:27:24.140 --> 00:27:25.340 Do what is right or good. 00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:27.560 And give what is owed in verse 7. 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:32.159 Pay taxes, give revenue, give respect, and give honor. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.079 Verse 5, though, spells it out really clearly. 00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:44.619 Therefore, it says, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. 00:27:46.019 --> 00:27:47.179 Here it is there, right? 00:27:47.559 --> 00:27:53.500 We not only submit to the authorities God has placed over us because we are fearful of the punishment of their sword, right? 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:54.720 We don't want to be cut with that. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:59.700 We might want to be free from fear, as verse 3 puts it, so we do what is right. 00:28:00.460 --> 00:28:02.460 But we also do it as a matter of conscience. 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:10.579 Because our conscience are beholden to God, and he tells us to submit to them and to obey them. 00:28:11.819 --> 00:28:13.759 So much so, and I say this not flippantly, right? 00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:20.700 But if you drive a car, keeping to the speed limit is part of what it means to be a Christian. 00:28:21.120 --> 00:28:22.759 It's discipleship. 00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:23.200 Right? 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:28.799 Paying your taxes is discipleship. 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:34.759 Turning up to work on time, listening to the teacher, listening to your parents. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:37.819 That is Christian discipleship. 00:28:39.339 --> 00:28:44.000 Respecting those that God has put in charge of you is how we love God and please him. 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:46.539 Think about that some more. 00:28:46.579 --> 00:28:47.279 What does that mean? 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:51.420 Especially what does it mean if I'm used to not trusting authority? 00:28:52.579 --> 00:28:52.700 Right? 00:28:52.799 --> 00:29:02.519 I think if you're raised, like all of us are, I think really, in a kind of anti-authority world where we're told that the highest good is to reject all authority, what does this look like and what does it mean? 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:16.039 Well, we're to submit, aren't we, to the authority of others, the authority of the state, the authority of teachers or parents or rulers or bosses, whatever it is, when it is used within the boundaries that God has set for it. 00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:24.119 If the state starts demanding that we stop being Christians, we should rebel against that authority because it's not right use of it. 00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:29.959 If authorities demand that we do something immoral, we should resist that. 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:35.579 If the state sanctions racism or the killing of innocent people, we're not to submit to that. 00:29:37.019 --> 00:29:41.419 Because the state is using its authority in the opposite purpose for which it's intended. 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:51.160 But still, it's really important we do not reject all authority as bad because authority is from God. 00:29:51.460 --> 00:29:55.519 It's still his car, even when it's been driven badly. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.180 And so I submit to it out of reverence for God. 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:05.380 So a Christian disciple is known as someone who respects authority. 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:11.000 Not someone who sticks it to the man, just quote, quote, school of rock, right? 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:18.940 But someone who is rightly submissive, seeing that their attitude to authority is really their attitude to God. 00:30:20.520 --> 00:30:22.880 I wonder if this is perhaps really helpful for you at work. 00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:26.500 Maybe you've got a bad boss or you run in a poorly run workplace. 00:30:27.140 --> 00:30:30.060 Maybe you're in a place where everybody moans about the management. 00:30:32.300 --> 00:30:34.580 Maybe you are the management, people moaning about you. 00:30:35.380 --> 00:30:36.740 And you just feel like giving up. 00:30:37.520 --> 00:30:43.320 Well, remember how you act there is massively driven by who you think is ultimately in charge. 00:30:44.580 --> 00:30:49.100 Perhaps you're at school and it's cool at school to not listen to the teachers. 00:30:50.540 --> 00:30:54.660 It's cool at school to be the person who doesn't ever listen to their parents. 00:30:55.600 --> 00:30:59.960 Well, listen, if you're a Christian, you must recognize that submission to the teacher's authority 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:03.920 is really about what your attitude is to God, not your attitude to them. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:07.860 Being told what to do is not wrong. 00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:09.740 It's given for your good. 00:31:09.960 --> 00:31:15.120 And we flourish best when we submit to authority that's well used. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:18.979 Let me finish with a story. 00:31:19.699 --> 00:31:25.119 About 20 years ago, a friend of mine set up a business in a country in Eastern Europe. 00:31:26.119 --> 00:31:30.099 He and I, we've both been involved in student ministry in universities. 00:31:30.459 --> 00:31:34.639 And we've done some stuff overseas in Eastern Europe with university students. 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:37.180 And he'd been to this particular country a number of times. 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:40.740 And he noticed just how hard it was for young graduates to get jobs. 00:31:41.540 --> 00:31:42.860 I mean, some things don't change, do they? 00:31:42.940 --> 00:31:44.980 But right, it was really difficult for them. 00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:49.680 And lots of them were trying to leave the country all the time to go and find jobs elsewhere. 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:54.539 And that was really ruining the church because you would spend ages discipling these students 00:31:54.539 --> 00:31:55.620 who'd come to faith in Christ. 00:31:55.720 --> 00:32:00.000 And as soon as they'd become Christians and got their degrees, they would just leave the country 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.360 and then the church would be no better off. 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:08.000 So my friend, who was a pretty sharp guy, much sharper than me, decided that the best way to do it 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:12.539 would be to set up a company in that country for the young graduates to work in. 00:32:12.539 --> 00:32:16.480 So he set about establishing an IT company that became very successful. 00:32:18.359 --> 00:32:23.659 And as they set up this company, they did something extraordinary in this East European country. 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:24.740 And that was this. 00:32:25.399 --> 00:32:26.559 They paid their taxes. 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:29.279 They paid their taxes, all of them. 00:32:30.159 --> 00:32:33.099 They paid them on time and in full. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:39.039 And in fact, it was so extraordinary at the time for a firm to set up a business like that 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:43.359 and to pay its taxes that it caught the attention of the president of the country. 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:49.399 He was like, wait, most Western businessmen and women come to this country to set up business 00:32:49.399 --> 00:32:51.299 to avoid paying taxes. 00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:55.799 And it strikes me that you are doing the opposite of that and you are paying your taxes. 00:32:56.619 --> 00:33:04.539 So the president called him up and brought him to a meeting to explain why his company is paying his taxes. 00:33:04.539 --> 00:33:10.019 Explain to me what is different about your company that means you're paying your taxes. 00:33:10.819 --> 00:33:13.879 My friend said, oh, I'm so glad you asked. 00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:21.539 It's because I'm a Christian and I believe that paying my taxes is the way I honor the Lord and not just you. 00:33:22.099 --> 00:33:23.700 What a great opportunity for the gospel. 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:26.079 And maybe you'll get one like that at work. 00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:28.220 Maybe you'll get one like that at school. 00:33:28.220 --> 00:33:34.740 Maybe you'll get one like that in your wider family as we submit to the authorities that God has placed over us, 00:33:35.180 --> 00:33:37.480 acknowledging that he will hold them to account. 00:33:37.900 --> 00:33:38.539 Let me pray. 00:33:39.220 --> 00:33:39.680 Let me pray. 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:54.160 Heavenly Father, we do admit and confess to you that we are often anti-authority. 00:33:54.160 --> 00:34:02.259 And not really so much always because we're concerned about justice and we see authority used badly. 00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:03.180 Sometimes it's that. 00:34:03.259 --> 00:34:05.720 But often, Lord, it's just that we want to be in charge ourselves. 00:34:06.540 --> 00:34:10.200 And we resent the authorities that you have given and put over us. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.320 Please forgive us for that, Lord. 00:34:13.700 --> 00:34:21.039 Please help us as a church to be people in the world who rightly submit to the authorities that you've put over us. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:25.880 That we would be a blessing to this corner of northwest London. 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:33.300 And, Lord, that others might see that our submission and willingness to live quiet lives trusting you 00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:35.980 is because of what we believe about Jesus. 00:34:37.099 --> 00:34:41.739 The submissive Savior who died to forgive us for our rebellion against you. 00:34:42.259 --> 00:34:47.320 And so we trust in his name and we ask that by your spirit you give us power to live for his glory. 00:34:48.019 --> 00:34:49.679 As we pray in Jesus' name. 00:34:50.279 --> 00:34:50.599 Amen. 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:51.440 Amen. 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:51.739 Amen. 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:34:51.739 00:34:51.739 --> 00:35:21.719 Thank you.