Government

We now begin a new chapter and this chapter has a lot of differing thoughts and the reason for that is because we all have Blinders on and those Blinders are determined by the culture we are born in comma the culture we are raised in comma and the culture that we perceive around us.

And we will get into all of that and get down to the nitty gritty of it all. As you can tell based on the text that we have just read we will be talking about government stuff . Politicians and how Christians should handle or deal with them.

And the timing really could not be better. We are not only watching debates take place but we are getting ready for another presidential election. the issue I take with politics is that politics is very narrow visioned.

I don't care what party you represent I don't care how old you are I don't care what generation you belong to, politics is very narrow visioned.

And what I mean by that is that our vision in our memories only go back so far when it comes to politics and politicians that not only are we narrow visioned it creates a narrow mindness when it comes to politics.

And so to use a current example there are a lot of things that the Obama administration did that most left wing people were not upset about that the trump administration is currently doing that just about every left wing person is suddenly upset about.

The reason why this is, is because politics are very narrow visioned. Conservatives do the same thing, nobody is immune to this. Myself, well most of you know I enjoy history an part of enjoying history is you have to look at the historical politics of everything.

And anyone who does this on a healthy and continual basis knows that anyone who does not know history is doomed to repeat it. And so those who do not know history , pretend to know history and make accusations and claims they should not be making.

So because people do not know history anybody they do not like automatically becomes Hitler.

And it was not that long ago I shared with you all a very bizarre piece of history that took place in the 1500s. How could it be that in the same country history would repeat itself in the form of Hitler. We discussed the religious cult in Munster Germany, it was essentially the same thing that Hitler did.

He was a man who came in with powerful speech, with real charisma and he was fascinated with the occult. He was building a new world religion. The swastika was meant to replace the cross. Very similar. Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. He was also known as a fascist but it was communist thinking that got him to the rise of power.

He gathered up the Jewish people and made them live in ghettos. And after he robbed them of their dignity he came in and stole all their possessions and was going to distribute them among the people.

Meanwhile the Jewish people would go off into camps. That was essentially what happened in Munster Germany with the story I shared with you all just a few weeks back.

And so this is what we see on television, we see history repeating itself period we see people conveniently forgetting what they used to support or perhaps what they did at one time support but no longer supports anymore. And all of this narrow vision stirs up division within us. we grow to detest the party we oppose. Therefore there is absolute rebellion against the party we oppose.

But I tell you, there is one thing in the realm of politics that makes my skin crawl. It makes me shudder. And it may be perhaps something some of you have said in this room. And if you have, I don't intend this to be offensive. But it is one thing that just drives me bonkers.

Donald Trump when's the presidency and some people say, I think God allowed him to be president. That statement coming out of the mouths of Christians makes my skin crawl. Oh you Think? I know. And I remember , years ago, sitting in a Mens Bible study and somebody asked the question why did God Put Obama in office?

And the response to that question was somewhere along the line of, God was not the one who put him in office he was clearly not answering our prayers for whatever reason.

Now if you are wondering why this makes my skin crawl it is because the last people who should question God's sovereignty is God's people. And yet God's people question it more then the unbelievers. Something is wrong with that, something is wrong there.

How do I know question mark because the text that we just read informs us of this. not only the text that we just read but the text that we have been covering since chapter 8.

We will not cover all of the verses that we read, we read the first 7 verses so we can have context. But we do not have the time to cover everything. And the reason is because we are taking on a subject that is pretty big and we have our cultural Blinders on at all times.

and for that reason there are a lot of questions period what are we to do as Christians in this situation? What are we to do as Christians with this person in office? And we need to take the time to answer those questions. So today's sermon will be , in a sense, an introduction to this topic and then we will go into the breakdown of the verses.

Now the first 7 verses of this chapter is the relationship Christians have with the civil authorities. That means the government. Some people feel that verses one through 7 don't fit in with the flow of what Paul is saying. That Paul had a specific flow at the end of chapter 12 and it seems that in chapter 13 verse 8 the flow continues. But in verses one through 7 that flow is interrupted.

And so there are some people who honestly believe that verses one through 7 is not a legitimate tax for Christians to read. They believe some scribe wrote it on his own without any authority and it just got added into our English translation.

That is a view I fully reject, I think the people who hold to that view do not want to submit to these verses, they do not want to submit to the commands of God so they will act like God never made such commands.

Some people believe that verses one through 7 are not talking about political powers but angelic powers. It's an argument that holds no water, it's one that really cannot be made. Some people believe that it is a divinely inspired writing from Paul But somebody put it in the wrong location and that is the reason why there is this disrupt a flow.

I also disagree with that period I do not believe there is a disrupt in flow. I think talking about the government comma the civil magistrates is very appropriate given what was discussed at the end of chapter 12 which was do not take revenge, leave room For God to have his vengeance , do not repay evil with evil and do not allow evil to overcome but fight evil with good.

In light of that , when we are wrong that is why God instituted governments was for our protection. This is the reason why we emphasize that justice is the appropriate response given whatever circumstance we may be in and that justice goes through the government.

Now what I want you to do is toss out everything you're thinking about and how the government has failed in justice, how the government has failed to protect Christians, how the government has just failed to do a lot of things. We're talking about what the government is made for not how we see it today.

Another thing to keep in mind as we are moving through these verses is that we are looking at a different culture and we're trying to apply what was said in an ancient culture to our own culture. Democracy did not exist in Paul's day.

so For these reasons a lot of questions pop up and I will try to cover them all. so I will ask that you be patient with me these next few weeks And I ask that you take this ride with me for the next few weeks.

But while we are speaking about the culture, you have to understand that Paul is addressing Jewish believers and this is something that we have seen Throughout this epistle.

The church in Rome was made up of both Jew and gentile and Paul addresses things that appeal to the Jewish mind then appeal to the gentile mind and then tries to bring them both together. And this is something we have already seen him do.

So the Jewish people thought that their Messiah would be this earthly political Liberator and instead of turning to the real Messiah they wound up executing him. But the ones who did believe still had this mindset that they are to serve no other King who is not Jewish.

And so you typically had Jewish people causing a lot Of problems. And now you have these Jewish people who have converted to Christianity and some people are considering them as anarchist.

This was the reason why the Jews we're so heavily attacked and persecuted, because they were always going against the powers that be. This is why Paul has to instruct people how they should act towards those in civil authority.

And this brings me to the one last thing we have to introduce before we can dive in. the reason why God instituted government was for order. God is a god of order and when we begin to see chaos we know that it's a sign of Satan. because Satan is the author of chaos and God is the author of order.

And we see this throughout the scriptures. This is why church has a specific kind of government period the Bible tells us how a church is supposed to be functioned how a church is supposed to be governed. And the reason why God designed church government the way he designed it was for the sake of order.

He didn't just do it with church he did it within the family period he created order in the family and we read about this in the New Testament period husbands are to love their wives like Christ loves the church and wiser to submit to their husbands like the church submits to Christ.

That is proper order and when somebody in that party tries to do things differently chaos happens. Keep in mind that what we're reading in this chapter an when I bring up order in the family unit, that's meant to be followed biblically, when someone tries to take it and act on it sinfully it's not proper.

So if there is a husband involved that is demanding that his wife submit and never shows his wife any love, there is chaos that takes place. and men are the type of people who say the phrase you give respect in order to get respect. But the scriptures say that the man is to love the wife 1st like Christ love the church and that is a sacrificial love.

And if a man cannot be like that yet demands that his spouse follow the next line , he is exercising this in a sinful way not a biblical way. Therefore it is not the proper way an we have chaos and what you have is a marriage inspired more by Satan than the scriptures.

Likewise, the government has a specific role they are meant to play but when that is used sinfully chaos happens , spoiler alerts are we seeing the chaos? Now the reason why we are instructed to behave a certain way, to act a certain way is because everything we do brings glory to God. One misstep can derail how we glorify God and that should bother us.

We should not take comfort in hiding behind well i'm not perfect you shouldn't focus on me. Scriptures actually tell us eyes will be on us and we are to be the light on the Hill and to be the salt of the earth. This is why we have to glorify God in all things because eyes are on us.

And it's not because we are afraid of our own failures and we fail often. It's because it can hurt the gospel period that's another thing that should bother you , you should not be doing anything that can hurt the gospel.

You should not have actions that people dislike and then you finally give him the gospel message and they want nothing to do with the message you are saying because of the way you have been acting. This is why Paul gives instructions to those who are slaves on how they should be with their Masters.

A lot of people take issue with the fact that slaves were given instructions on how to act but there are masters and some people take that as God's approval for slavery.

Historical narrative is never approval for something, it's just simply the history that took place. But the reason why Paul instructs slaves to behave a certain way is so that it does not hinder the gospel.

There are even instructions for a saved master and a saved slave where that master is owner of that slave. Cannot have disorder, cannot have chaos that could hurt the gospel instead you are to behave this way so the gospel can go forward.

In other words, life is not about you. People are dying, people are going to hell and they're going to hell fast, stop worrying about yourself, stop worrying about your status and do whatever it takes to get that gospel message out.

And if you were doing something that puts up a wall to that person for potentially hearing the gospel then you must stop doing that. and if your actions create disorder or chaos and nobody wants to hear the gospel from you then you need to stop with the disorder and chaos and bring order do your life.

Now that we have that out of the way let us go through and look at these verses in detail and begin to answer some questions within our own culture.

Romans 13:1 NASB95

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Now right out of the gate we see every person period a better translation would be every soul. Every soul is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. Paul is not making the claim that just Christians are to be in subjection to the governing authorities but that every soul must be.

Well we all know this to be true. In our land we have laws that we are required to obey regardless of what our religious beliefs are. and so Paul is making it clear that he is talking about everybody with their relationship to the government authorities.

Now the translation that I am reading from translates it as governing authorities. But other translations would say higher authorities or higher power. Or governing power , or Supreme power. Something along that lines.

The phrase simply means a power above you, it does not mean angelic beings as some has argued. It does not mean God himself in this context as some has argued. It simply means somebody who holds a position higher than you and so it is historically understood as governing authorities. Or the governing power period those who are in charge of the land.

and we are told we are to be in subjection to them. This is where we need to apply proper language and a proper understanding because what Paul does not say is that we are to obey them. Being in subjection to them and obeying are not the same thing. They echo each other and they are closely related at times but they're not the same thing.

This is not the only section where we see that word to be subject to something or someone. I will use an example that I talked about earlier where it says wives are to be subjected to their husbands or that wives are to submit subject to the same thing.

Men who read that gladly think it means that the wives are to obey and often to obey without question. that is not what is strictly means. We also read just recently too be subjected to one another or submit to one another. Now imagine if that really didn't mean obey, obey one another. Now that's a little different.

in all these cases we are not talking about blind obedience period when we read that women are to subject themselves to their husbands , it is not referring to blind obedience. when we read that we should subject ourselves to one another or submit ourselves to one another, the scriptures are not talking about blind obedience.

Likewise, here Paul is not talking about blind obedience. While the word does convey an act of obedience it does not give us an action of blind obedience.

As a matter of fact we never see any descripcion of blind obedience in the pages of scripture. It is a military word that tells us that we are under somebody's guidance and we are to show proper respect.

This is basic common sense when you interact with somebody who you know has authority. For example, if a police officer pulls you over, chances are you are going to interact with that police officer in a respectful manner.

If the cop approaches your window and you are immediately hostile telling the officer you're not the boss of me, you have no authority over me. Well, when you begin that way you just may be a lucky duck who finds out what a teaser feels like if you keep it up.

Because, depending on the situation, that police officer does have authority. And so, when we read the first verse of this chapter we should not conclude that Paul is arguing that we have blind obedience to the governing authorities but we are too recognize that they are a person of authority and we are to show respect and understand that we are under there authority or leadership.

Then Paul says for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God. Paul is making it clear who the authority is an the authority, the only authority we follow is God.

But God is the one who designed government, God is the one who created this and uses the earthly government for his purposes period because he is the only authority.

And as the one and only authority he gives authority 2 people in these offices. So not only is Paul declaring that the government system throughout time in every part of the world is something that's created by God but those which exist are established by God.

Now some take that to mean that those governments that do exist are governments that are established by God. I see this as more personal. I don't disagree with that, but it just seems more personal therefore we should not just conclude that these offices are created by God but the officers that are in these offices were also established by God.

Pastor, are you saying that God deliberately put somebody like Barack Obama or deliberately put somebody like Adolf Hitler into control for his purposes? Not exactly.

This is where the doctrine of the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of Providence comes into play which is something we looked over as we were looking at the theological side of this letter.

The doctrine of the sovereignty of God is that God is the source of all creation and that he sustains all things. When we go to the gospels we learn when Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were upset Jesus let the Pharisees know that while the father did rest from creating he does not rest.

God is always active and he not only created all things but he sustained all things. Providing food for the birds in the air, providing all the elements that we need to exist. So the sovereignty of God and the Providence of God go together period the sovereignty of God is that his will will be done.

I cannot override his will. you cannot override his will. Satan cannot override his will. There is no living thing that will ever override God's will because God's will will be done. That's not up for debate. that is not up for argument.

God is in control or he's not. you serve a sovereign or you don't. The Providence of God is that God uses the natural things that he created to accomplish his will. And that can be a number of different things. It could be that God wanted to remind you of let's say a doctor's appointment.

He knew you would forget and so by Providence he makes sure that a doctor walks by you and your brain clicks and you say Oh yeah I have a doctor's appointment.

Or perhaps God wants you to call a friend of yours and so you're sitting in a coffee shop one day and you hear somebody you don't even know ordering coffee. Maybe they ordered the exact coffee of your friend.

Or perhaps the guy you don't know ordering the coffee has an accent similar to your friend. An it sets off something in your brain that says no I better call that person.

This is God working through natural means to accomplish his will. And it could be something as small as reminding you to call somebody or it can be something major where God uses weather elements to move his people to where he needs them to be.

And a lot of this stuff is what we call the hidden will of God. the things that God reserves for himself to know an accomplish that he does not explain to us. Sometimes it is God for seeing and for knowing the actions of evil.

And he will either intervene and stop the evil or he will allow it for whatever purposes. God allowing this to take place does not mean he is directly the one doing it. But he allows it to happen for whatever purposes he has in mind.

Now there in that are also multiple things to talk about. And there in that there are R multiple reminders to give that will make you realize what I'm talking about. For example, a long time ago a man named Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers.

And what his brothers did was pure evil. It was mean, it was on loving, it showed that they are not trustworthy people, And it was completely unjust. And while Joseph was enslaved to Egypt things get way worse for him before they get better.

But they do get better, and Joseph had the ability and the opportunity to save his family from famine. Which he did. And he was reunited with his family and he told his brothers what you intended for evil God intended for good.

God did not deliberately cause people to do evil things because God would not do such a thing but he allowed it to take place for his purposes ultimately him being glorified through Joseph and establishing the Israelites In Egypt where eventually he will allow them to be enslaved. Again , for his purposes and ultimately for his glorification.

So, did God put these evil men in positions of authority? Not actively but God did allow it for a purpose. To think that we serve a God who is watching and saying man I do not like that they're doing that and it's too bad I can't do nothing about it I hope these people figure it out. No.

Another reminder is with job period we see that God allowed Satan to do these things but gave restrictions. God did not deliberately cause these terrible things upon job but God did allow it for his purposes.

And we also see this with rulers. God used the enemies of Israel to accomplish his will. It was God who allowed nebuchadnezzar to reign. It was also God that made it nebuchadnezzar think he was a cow and eat the grass.

I throw that in there just in case you still think that God cannot work against your will , he most certainly can period if he wants to, he can make you think you're a cow and you will be outside eating the grass.

God is also the one that puts saul in charge even though Saul became an evil bitter man. So we should not conclude that God actively puts everybody into these positions but we should conclude that God is sovereign, that he will work through Providence and sometimes he allows these things to happen.

Now why does he allow these terrible people and situations to happen. I don't always know. Sometimes a land gets a corrupt an evil leader because it is a land that is under judgement. Sometimes it could be for the sake of the world to watch a nation rise back up again when they were under such a heavy foot.

I do not know all the motives and I won't pretend like I do period but I will rest in God's sovereignty and I may see something that I do not like the I find unfair that I think is wrong. but i am going to stop i am going to recognize that god is sovereign comma that he is in control and i have no reason to fear.

And when we are in those situations. We need to be figuring out how can we glorify God in the situation that we're in. how can we uphold the gospel in the situation that we are in. if God allows some left wing nut case to be in charge of this next election I will not be surprised.

And the reason why I will not be surprised is because I know this land deserves judgment. I know it. But the last attitude we should have if that does take place is that we are ruined.

No rather we need to recognize that God is sovereign and if there are leaders in place that our enemies to God we need to ask why was this allowed. And sometimes we have to come to the harsh conclusion because we allowed so much depravity to reign in our culture.

or, maybe it's none of that. Maybe God has different reasons why he allows these leaders in the positions that they are in. I don't make it a habit to question God's motives.

but I do make it a habit to acknowledge that he is in control, that he is sovereign, that there is such thing as his divine Providence and because of those things I have no reason to fear.

And neither do you. So no more of the wishy washiness when it comes to God's sovereignty and those who are in power. There is not one thing that has unfolded or has been done outside of God's permission and knowledge.

And if you think that God was caught off guard somehow or he is surprised by something I think we got bigger issues.

But praise God for his sovereignty. Because of God is not in control then I do have every reason to fear. And not only would I have every reason to fear but I would have every reason to question him. And I would have no reason to pray if God is not in control. You see usually people argue the opposite.

If God is sovereign then why pray, he already knows what's going to take place. If God is not sovereign then why pray? According to you he doesn't have the ability anyway.

But the word Lord actually means something. It's not a title, it actually means something. and it means lordship. it means he is King. It means he is overall an all are in submission to him whether they know it or not or whether they like it or not.

Only those who have faith in Jesus will know him not only as Lord overall, which the scriptures proclaim that he is Lord overall, but we are the ones who also know him as savior and not everyone will have that pleasure. Do not let that be you.

Do not be the one to sit here and not know Jesus as savior. Because everyone will confess he is Lord and only those who are his will know him as savior and the rest will know him as judge. Do not sit here in judgment but no Jesus as savior the one who came to save you from the wrath to come. Let's pray