Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

To be human is to be rebellious.

To be influenced by the flesh.

It’s in our nature—we see it start in the garden.

“Don’t eat that!

It’s bad for you.”

And then of course Adam and Eve eat that.

It didn’t stay in the garden.

Tell a toddler not to do something and the very mention of something that is prohibited makes it the most tantalizing thing in existence.

The effects of the “The Fall” are evident everywhere—and I’m not talking about Pumpkin Spice Latte.

And in America we have it even worse.

The history of our American culture IS rebellion.

“Don’t tell us what to do!

Or we’ll throw your tea in the harbor and create our own country.

Death to the tyrant King George!”

So it shouldn’t be surprising to us that God’s Word addresses the corrupting nature of the flesh.

Our text today is Romans 13:1-14.

I invite you to turn there or follow along on your digital Bible with us as we walk through God’s Word.

The last verse of our passage says, “Put on the Lord Jesus and to make no provision for the flesh.”

Our passage is about fighting the flesh that is all to ready to rebel, love itself, and live shortsightedly.

In our passage we are going to see that we make no provision for the flesh by I. Submitting to God’s Authority (1-7), II.

Loving Our Neighbor (8-10), III.

And Living in the Light of Eternity (11-14)

I. Fight the Flesh; Submit to Authority (1-7)

As we have been studying the 2nd London Baptist confession on Tuesday nights we have spoken a lot about God’s Sovereignty.

God being sovereign means that nothing is outside of his good governance.

That all things that have come to pass, all things that are, and all things that will come to pass do because God has decreed that they will.

Chapter 3, paragraph 1 of the confession says, “God has decreed in Himself, from all eternity, by his most wise and holy counsel…all things whatsoever comes to pass.”

The writers of the confession has Isaiah 46:10 in mind when they wrote it.

Which says, “declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”

This means friends, that as we read the first verse of our passage we find that government is not ultimately a creation of man, but the plan of God.

Read with me,

Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

What does this mean?

It means that when we think of government—if our first thought is that government is evil—that it is to be rebelled against, we better know who we are actually rebelling against.

The Word says, that the governing authorities—The President, his cabinet, Senators, Congress-folk (have to be PC), State legislatures, Mayros, Police officers—all governing authorities—are God’s idea.

And friends, if they are God’s idea, then it is a good idea.

Sometimes I have bad ideas, but God never has.

That should comfort you.

And I can almost hear your thoughts at this moment, “Pastor, what about corrupt authority, what about ‘evil’ government.”

Don’t worry, we’ll address that after verse 7.

But until we get there, trust me and track with me.

Amen?

As we consider the governing authorities in our life we must transform our thinking and know that the authority that they wield in our lives is ultimately God’s authority and it is for our good—that’s what God says.

This should cause us to pause as we consider how we respond to them then.

If this was God’s idea and it was instituted by God then you and I should have a godly posture towards government.

That’s what our text continues to say.

Look at verse 2 with me.

Romans 13:2 “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

“Therefore whoever--- “raise your hand if you are a whoever”--- resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.

So when I was a kid and I was breaking the law I wasn’t just “sticking it to the man”.

I was rebelling against the plan of God to keep peace and order in my society.

I was resisting God’s will.

So, that’s number one.

We don’t want to resist God.

But, number two, we don’t want to resist the authorities becasue there are consequences for doing so.

“…and those who resist will incur judgment.”

Let’s keep looking at the text.

Romans 13:3-4 “For 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.

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.”

First, notice that the authorities are “God’s servants for our good”.

For a moment imagine a society that had no governing authorities.

People are tempted to think that may be a good thing.

But without police, emergency services, and government to run and fund it we would live in a society of chaos where the strong take advantage of the weak.

Look at Haiti right now and you’ll get a picture of what this looks like today in 2022.

It would be like the book of Judges where everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

And if you think that sounds good—you have read the book of Judges—because when you leave fallen humanity to live by the laws of their own hearts you get misery and chaos.

Governance exists because God loves us.

Also, God tells us that if we don’t want to fear the authorities then we should commit to doing what is good.

To this day I get nervous when I see a police officer, (not you brother) because for a number of years in my life I did not have “good conduct and so I feared the authority” because I knew that there are consequences for breaking the law.

If we do bad then we need to know that the governing authorities don’t bear the sword in vain.

They are given the sword so that God’s wrath would be carried out on the evil doer.

Dispensing justice is part of God’s plan to care for those who are righteous.

By God’s design, that’s what government is supposed to do.

So what do we do?

Let’s keep reading...

Romans 13:5-7 “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, honor to whom honor is owed.”

Paul says that we not only submit to the authorities to avoid the wrath of God, but also so that we can have a good conscience.

Friends, you cannot have a good conscience as a follower of Jesus if you willingly break the law, if you rebel against good rulers.

Being subject to those who are in authority over you is your responsibility as a follower of Jesus with a witness of Christ.

One of the applications here in Romans 13 is that you and I should pay our taxes as we are supposed to because taxes fund the government which God says ministers for the good of His people.

God says to pay what you owe, taxes, revenue, but he also speaks to our heart attitude.

He says respect and honor those who are owed respect and honor.

What does this mean?

Don’t malign your leaders verbally.

God’s word tells us to do the opposite.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

Don’t talk about what an idiot the president is, or the mayor, or your local town official.

One time in the car one of my children said something about “Joe Biden being a moron.”

And I rebuked him.

Now listen, I’m not a fan of Joe Biden.

But he is my president, and he was put there by God and I will respect the office of the president.

He is a man made in the image of God and I will glorify God by loving those made in his image.

I’m not gonna vote for him, but I will love him.