"Wisdom Regarding Rulers"

Intro: An illustration used by Philip Ryken fits so well for this sermon that I have decided to use it as well: Helmuth Von Molteke was drafted to work in a counterintelligence for Nazi Germany; yet his Christian faith made him a resolute opponent of Adolf Hitler. He believed it was wrong to use violent force against the Nazis, yet he used his high position to rescue prisoners from certain death. He was eventually accused for treason and put on trial.

He described the dramatic moment in a letter to his wife Freya:

The judge launched a tirade against his faith in Christ. “Only in one respect does the National Socialism resemble Christianity,” he shouted: “we demand the whole man.” The judge then asked where his ultimate loyalty lie: “From whom do you take your orders, from the other world from Adolf Hitler? Where lie your loyalty and your faith?”

His loyalty was in Christ. He stood before an earthly judge as a Christian and nothing else. His faith caused him to wisely act in government service and as he faced his final hour. His face shined as he knew that there would be consequences. He lived wisely and obeyed Jesus above all else.

CTS: Shine brightly with godly wisdom by obeying God-given authorities with discernment.

We shine brightest when we..

I. Recognize God-Given Authorities (2)

A. The Divine Right of Kings (2 Sam 7:11-16)

B. Jesus Our King Commands Submit to Earthly Rulers (Rom 13:1)

II. Submit with Humble Discernment (3-5)

The Preacher tells us to keep the king’s command. Later on I will describe why I used SUBMIT rather than just OBEY, though obey is a good word to use in certain situations. Submit is more all encompassing, yet allows for disobedience (a certain kind).

Because the power that the ruler wields, we must be careful in how we engage with them. That’s the Preacher’s message here. Yet he acknowledges that they may do evil. So how do we engage with authorities that yield great power yet want to lead us to sin?

A. Obey when it is not sin

There are a lot of things that we may have different beliefs about in regards to our government. I don’t love taxes, and I absolutely despise income tax. But people have different beliefs than I do, and I know that it will never happen that we abolish the income tax. But I obey it anyway. Why? Because it is not sin. Jesus even tells us clearly in Luke 20:25 this truth.

Luke 20:25 ESV

25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

If the policy isn’t sinful, we must obey it. Why? Because God has put these rulers in their place? Not only in government, but also in the workplace, in our schools, and in our homes.

Romans 13:1–5 ESV

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. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 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, 4 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. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

The Preacher is giving us sound advice, just as Paul does. God has placed them there, we are to obey respectfully. When we obey our authorities, we obey God.

B. Pray for them

1 Timothy 2:1–3 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

Pray for their salvation

Pray that they lead righteously (which we know most likely comes if they know Christ).

B. Disobey peacefully and respectfully

But what about rulers that are wicked and go against God’s commands? How do we deal with this? Psalm 58 reveals this clearly. Wicked rulers exist. We ask God to deal with them and then obey Him.

Obey God rather than men. He is the higher authority

Acts 5:29 ESV

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Disobey peacefully and respectfully: Daniel disobeyed the order of King Darius in Daniel 6. Meshach, Schadrach, and Abendago disobeyed in Daniel 3. Esther in Esther 4:16 understood that she must respectfully engage the king in the midst of facing death.

We don’t use violence (DO NOT TAKE YOUR STAND IN AN EVIL CAUSE): We do not overcome evil with evil. All of these examples never used violence against others. They were willing to endure the persecution, the punishment if necessary to obey God. They left vengeance and justice up to God.

Romans 12:17–21 ESV

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

III. Remember God is in Control (6-9)

A. The reality of living under the sun

How can I know when it is right to obey?

We don’t know what will happen in the coming days. Life is uncertain and seemingly meaningless.

No power over life and death. We can’t retain our spirits or have power over the day of death.

We are at war with ourselves and with the Enemy, and we cannot escape it. We are soldiers in world full of wicked rulers. This is reality. How then do we carry on in such wickedness?

B. We have a perfect King

It can be incredibly frustrating to live in uncertain times with rulers and authorities that sometimes do incredibly wicked things. It’s hard to know how to react. But here’s one thing we can trust...

We have a perfectly righteous King. We do not have to worry about His commands being wicked. We can obey Him perfectly. We submit to our authorities unless they tell us to sin. We obey Jesus when we do that. We obey Jesus, the only King willing to come off His throne and fight the battle for us and die for us to forgive us and save us.

Conclusion: The wisest thing we can do in this world is to obey our one and true King, Jesus. Not to earn His favor. We couldn’t. He gave it to us anyway. We honor our King through our lives, and we shine brightest when we obey Him. Sometimes that is obeying things we don’t necessarily agree with and sometimes we don’t understand. But also means we obey Him in the midst of a dark world, sometimes in disobedience, but shining forth our joy to live for Him and willing to live in possible persecution and even death. That’s what submission truly is. Understanding and standing for what is right and then be willing to pay the consequences. Just as a good soldier never leaves the battlefield, faces death, we do so as well. We are at war against Satan until Jesus calls us home.

Coming back to Helmuth von Moltke, he experienced the comfort of knowing Christ. Although he was innocent of all charges, once he was convicted by the Nazis, he knew that he was a dead man. Any day could be his last. Yet his last letter was filled with joy. He suffered was Ecclesiastes 8:9 says. But yet he knew the true King of his life, Jesus. He was able to write to his wife these words: “The agony of parting, the terror of death, and the fear of hell” had no power over him. “I know that I am living only in his grace.” He quoted a line from his favorite hymn “He for death is ready, who living clings to Thee.”

We shine forth brightest when we cling to Jesus as our King and wisely live in this world in light of that truth.