Lord's Day Worship (May 17, 2020)

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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May 17, 2020

Sovereign Grace Family Church Message: Church and State Text: Romans 13:1-7

00:14: Water you turned into wine, open the eyes of the blind, there's no one like you, none like you.
00:37: Into the darkness you shine, out of the ashes we rise, there's no one like you, none like you.
00:57: Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other, our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God.
01:19: Water you turned into wine, open the eyes of the blind, there's no one like you, none like you.
01:39: Into the darkness you shine, out of the ashes we rise, there's no one like you, none like you.
01:59: Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other, our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God.
02:30: And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other, our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God.
03:32: Amen and good morning and welcome to Sovereign Grace Family Church.
03:35: I want to invite you to be seated as Brother Mike comes forward and he's going to open our worship this morning with a reading from God's word.
03:42: We have been reading through the New Testament and today we're reading in Romans 16.
03:47: There is no Romans 17 so that screen is incorrect.
03:52: There is no Romans 17, it's Romans 16 that we're going to be reading from today.
03:56: We're closing this book so I wanted a quick recap.
04:00: I'm not going to preach a sermon but I'll make it quick.
04:03: Chapter 1 verses 1-17 we have the exaltation of the gospel.
04:09: Chapter 1 verses 18 through the end of chapter 3 we have the condemnation of men before God and the righteousness of God being revealed.
04:17: Chapters 4 and 5 we have the justification by faith and its results of that justification.
04:24: Chapter 6 through 8 you have the believer's identity in Christ and 9 through 11 you have election and reprobation.
04:32: Chapter 12 we have the call for Paul for us to be living sacrifices.
04:37: Chapter 13 it is our submission to the governing authorities.
04:42: 14 is issues of conscience and Christian charity and chapter 15 would have been last week was self-denial encouragement.
04:51: I don't know if y'all caught this, Paul's reason for writing this last week as Andy read was for him to raise money to go to preach the gospel in Spain.
05:00: And we get to the last chapter and it's going to be Paul's expressed love to the saints and I'll pick up in chapter 16 verse 1.
05:09: I commend to you our sister Phoebe who is a servant of the church which is at Kentria that you receive her in the Lord and maintain worthy of the saints and that you help her in whatever matter she may need of from you for she herself has been a helper of many and of myself as well.
05:29: Greet Priscilla and Aquila my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who for my life risked their own necks to whom not only do I give thanks but also the churches of the Gentiles.
05:40: Also greet the churches that are in houses.
05:44: Greet Epinatius my beloved who is a who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.
05:51: Greet Mary who worked hard for you.
05:55: Greet Andronicus and Junius my kinsmen and fellow prisoners who are outstanding among the Apostles who also were in Christ before me.
06:05: Greet Amplitius my beloved in the Lord.
06:10: Greet Urbanus our fellow worker in Christ and Stiches my beloved.
06:15: Greet Apellas the approved in Christ.
06:18: Greet those who are of the household or of Aristobulus.
06:23: Greet Herodian my kinsmen.
06:25: Greet those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
06:30: Greet Triphenea and Trophus.
06:35: Workers also in the Lord.
06:37: Greet Perseus the beloved who worked hard for us in the Lord.
06:41: Greet Rufus a choice man of the Lord also his mother and mine.
06:46: Greet Asinicritus, Philegon, Hermas, Petrobus, Hermes and the brethren also who are with them.
06:55: Greet Phililogos, Julia, Nereus and his sister Olympias and all the saints who are with them.
07:04: Greet one another with a holy kiss.
07:05: All the churches of Christ greet you.
07:08: Now I urge you brethren keep your eye on those who cause dissension and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned and turn away from them.
07:18: For such men are slaves not of our Lord Jesus but are of their own appetites and by their own smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
07:29: For the report of our obedience has reached to you all therefore I'm rejoicing over you but I want you to be wise and what is good and innocent and what is evil.
07:40: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
07:45: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
07:47: Timothy my fellow worker greets you and so does Lucius and Jason and so does Hephaestus my kinsman.
07:56: Teretius who write this letter greet you in the Lord.
08:00: Gaius host to me and to the whole church greets you.
08:04: Erastus the city treasurer greets you.
08:07: Quartus the brother.
08:08: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
08:11: Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past but is now manifested by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God has been made known to all nations leading to obedience of faith to the only true and wise God through Jesus Christ to be the glory forever amen.
08:40: Amen.
08:41: What a wonderful passage and what a wonderful reminder of the importance of greeting the brethren isn't it wonderful that we can be together and greet one another this morning.
08:51: Well we're gonna stand again and we're gonna sing this is an old hymn it's a it's an old hymn that was brought back into a more of a modern praise chorus but I want you to encourage you to stand and sing with us now as we sing this this hymn together.
09:23: Depth of mercy can there be? Mercy still reserved for me.
09:32: Can my God your wrath forbear? Me the chief of sinners bear.
09:40: It's my only hope.
09:45: You're my only hope.
09:49: It's my only hope of heaven.
09:54: The cross forgiven.
09:56: I have long withstood your grace.
10:07: Long provoked you to your face.
10:12: Would not hearken to your calls.
10:15: Grieve you by a thousand falls.
10:20: It's my only hope.
10:25: You're my only hope.
10:29: It's my only hope of heaven.
10:34: At the cross forgiven.
10:36: And for me the Savior stands.
10:42: Shows his wounds and spreads his hands.
10:46: Face to face before the sun.
10:50: Like Isaiah I'm undone.
10:56: Depth of mercy vast and free.
11:00: So much deeper than the sea.
11:05: God of love you heard my cry.
11:09: Now into your open arms I fly.
11:18: It's my only hope.
11:22: You're my only hope.
11:27: It's my only hope of heaven.
11:31: My only hope.
11:35: My only hope.
11:39: It's my only hope of heaven.
11:50: At this time we're going to invite anyone who has brought with them today an offering that they would like to give.
11:57: Rather than passing the plates we're going to invite you to actually come and drop the offerings into the plates.
12:04: We have two plates at the front.
12:06: One on either end of our table.
12:09: We have one near this back door and one near that back door.
12:13: So as we sing this next praise song.
12:15: This is a newer praise song.
12:16: Some of you may not have heard this before.
12:18: So I encourage you if you if you have difficulty with it we're going to sing through it twice.
12:22: So just sing as best you can.
12:24: And while we're singing we invite you to come and give our offerings.
12:29: As the word of God tells us each of us should give what we have decided in our heart to give.
12:34: Not reluctantly or under compulsion.
12:37: For God loves a cheerful giver.
12:41: Let us give.
13:22: Why should I give up when your plans are full of love? In this world you will have trouble.
13:40: But you have overcome the world.
13:47: You shine brighter than the brightest stars.
13:55: Your love is purer than the purest heart.
14:03: You shine filling us with courage and strength to follow you.
14:20: Why should I fear man when you made the heavens? Why should I be afraid when you put the stars in place? Why should I lose heart when I know how great you are? Why should I give up when your plans are full of love? In this world you will have trouble.
15:01: But you have overcome the world.
15:10: You shine brighter than the brightest star.
15:17: Your love is purer than the purest heart.
15:25: You shine filling us with courage and strength to follow you.
15:41: Shine brighter than the brightest star.
15:46: Your love is purer than the purest heart.
15:54: You shine filling us with courage and strength to follow you.
16:10: Amen.
16:11: You may be seated.
16:15: And at this time I'll lead us in our time of corporate prayer.
16:25: It's good to see everyone.
16:26: I couldn't help but think as Brother Mike was reading the final chapter of Romans how so many people would say that Paul was some dry theologian.
16:35: And yet you read that chapter and you see how his heart's desire was to greet the brethren.
16:42: And I say it's good to see everyone here this morning.
16:44: And now as we as a people, as a body, have the great privilege and the great responsibility to come before our God together.
16:52: So with that, let us prepare our hearts and come before the great and glorious God of truth.
17:07: Oh our great and glorious God, again we come to you in Jesus name.
17:15: Not only Lord do we consider the name of Jesus, but the name of Jesus as it pertains to his person and his work.
17:26: That he so loved us that he gave himself for us.
17:32: We thank you Lord for saving our souls.
17:37: We confess Lord how often we take that for granted.
17:43: That you have shown mercy to us when you are not obligated to show mercy to any.
17:51: And as we were dead in sin, as we were willfully rebellious to you, you came.
18:01: You arrested us.
18:03: You turned us.
18:04: You gave us life Lord.
18:07: You put new hearts within us.
18:10: You gave us new desires.
18:11: You gave us a new principle of life.
18:13: Oh God thank you that you did not leave us to our own selves.
18:20: That you've had mercy on us and in that we have become the adopted sons and daughters of the living and true God.
18:27: And we shall be with you forevermore.
18:30: Oh God may our understanding of that truth grow more and more onto that day.
18:37: May we see the things of this world fade more and more.
18:42: May the things of yet what is yet to come become more desire and anticipation on our part Lord.
18:50: That we would not be weighed down with the affairs of this life.
18:54: And we would not be ignorant of the Lord, but we would not be overtaken.
18:58: We would see the Lord Jesus Christ as he will one day come with all his holy angels.
19:04: And then every nation and tribe and kindred and tongue will stand before him.
19:09: And he shall be exalted and admired.
19:12: And he shall separate the sheep from the goats.
19:15: The sheep will be gathered to be with him forevermore.
19:19: And the goats will be dispensed to that great place of torment.
19:25: Thank you oh God that we can pray.
19:28: Thank you that we know that you hear our prayer.
19:32: That you are not a God of wood or a God of stone, but you who made the eye shall you not see.
19:38: And you who made the ear shall you not hear.
19:42: We thank you oh Lord this day that we can gather.
19:46: We thank you Lord even that we live in a state that has allowed us to gather.
19:50: We thank you Lord that you have ordained governments and authorities and powers.
19:56: Even as we anticipate this morning as brother Keith would bring a message concerning governments and authorities and powers and rulers and and Lord they're all your servants.
20:08: Everything serves you God.
20:11: Help us this morning as your people to know even as our Lord Jesus Christ taught to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to render unto God the things that are God's.
20:25: And help us to discern Lord where that works out in our lives.
20:29: That we would not be rebellious and that we would be submissive and yet in that Lord that we would be even as those three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
20:45: That when they were threatened with with fire when they were threatened with with torture because they would not bow to to the graven image and and they said whether or not you delivered them they would still serve you.
21:00: Thank you oh Lord that you are still who you have always been.
21:07: The great and glorious God.
21:10: Be with our sick this morning.
21:11: Be with be with those that are hurting Lord.
21:13: Help us to minister to one another.
21:16: Be with Sharon as she continues to to seek to recover.
21:21: Be with Adam.
21:21: Be with that family.
21:23: Be with the others that are sick.
21:24: Be with Chuck's mom.
21:27: Lord so many issues that we have in our own lives.
21:31: The physical and Lord the spiritual as well the emotional.
21:36: Help us this morning as your people to to be those who will submit to your word.
21:43: Those that will follow your instruction.
21:46: That we would not be proud and rebellious but that we would be humble.
21:53: And that we would submit willfully and willingly to the Lordship of Christ in our lives.
22:01: Thank you again Lord for this day.
22:03: Be with Brother Keith.
22:05: Be with our thoughts this morning.
22:08: You know God change us.
22:09: Change us.
22:10: Help us to be more like the Son of God.
22:13: Help us to be more like Jesus.
22:14: Help us to be living epistles known and read and that when men see us they would see even just the mere beginnings of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
22:29: So bless us this morning.
22:31: Bless our prayers.
22:32: Bless our thoughts.
22:33: And may you be glorified this morning in all that we say and do in Jesus name.
22:38: Amen.
22:58: I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to the 13th chapter of the book of Romans and hold your place at verse 1.
23:08: Romans 13 verse 1.
23:17: Most of us who were alive remember with great clarity what we were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.
23:27: I was working in a bread truck.
23:29: I had just delivered some bread to Publix and had been told that a plane had hit the twin towers and it wasn't too long later that I heard that the second had hit.
23:41: It was a day that was etched into the minds of most of us and the images have been seared into our memories.
23:49: But one particular memory for me regarding this event was that it became the first time that I would ever preach a sermon.
24:01: I'd been saved for a few years.
24:02: I'd been working here at the church with young people and our pastor who had been many weeks earlier in a car accident had been unable to preach and so they needed someone to preach.
24:16: Tom Watts came to me who was an elder at the time and he asked if I would preach the sermon.
24:24: I knew that this was a time when the people of God were looking for answers.
24:29: The pain of a national tragedy was fresh in our minds.
24:33: Many were scared that worse attacks would be on the way.
24:37: Others were angry that such a terrible plot could be perpetrated.
24:40: They were demanding retributive justice and so I prayed, God give me what you want me to preach.
24:49: And I ended up preaching on this same passage that I'm going to preach on this morning.
24:55: This passage is Paul's explanation of the role and responsibility of government.
25:02: In 2001 I focused on the responsibility of the government to enact vengeance on evildoers and this passage says that.
25:12: I knew we were likely headed for a very difficult season of war and so I called on our people to pray for our leaders.
25:20: Today is almost 20 years later if you can imagine and I want to look at this passage again and I'm doing so because we are at a time of unprecedented change in our country.
25:34: Over the past several months things that seemed unimaginable just a year ago have come to pass.
25:42: The government for better or for worse has had a huge part to play in these changes.
25:50: And the question that I want us to ask today is how should we respond? How should the church respond? How should the individual Christian respond? How should we respond to the demands of government? How should we react when it seems to be that there is an overreach of power? How should we behave when injustice is being perpetrated against our neighbors? How should we react to the governing authorities? Well I hope to show that there is an unbalanced understanding on both sides and when we fall into unbalanced understandings that leads us into grievous error.
26:38: So I want to invite you again to open your Bibles if you haven't already and turn to Romans 13 verse 1 and I want to invite you to stand.
26:45: We stand when we prepare to study a passage.
26:48: We want to focus our minds and our attentions upon the word and we're going to read verses 1 through 7.
26:54: The title of today's message is Church and State.
27:00: 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.
27:09: Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment.
27:16: For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad.
27:20: 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.
27:28: 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 wrath God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
27:39: Therefore one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
27:48: For because of this you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.
27:55: Pay to all what is due or rather the ESV pay to all what is owed to them.
28:01: Taxes to whom taxes are owed.
28:03: Revenue to whom revenue is owed.
28:04: Respect to whom respect is owed.
28:07: Honor to whom honor is owed.
28:10: Father in heaven as as I preach I pray that you would keep me from error for Lord God I know that I am a fallible man and capable of preaching error.
28:18: I thank you Lord already that your Holy Spirit is here and I thank you Lord that your Holy Spirit is ultimately the teacher and I pray that he would teach hearts that he would open up minds and ears and Lord God that at the preaching of your word that you would be glorified.
28:36: We pray this in Jesus name.
28:39: Amen.
28:41: Please be seated.
28:49: I'll bring my trusty friend up.
28:51: I'm trying to make it to where everyone can see.
28:55: As you all know my my instinct is to teach even when I preach and so this morning you're going to get a little bit of that because I think it's necessary to understand what it is we're going to be talking about.
29:09: God has established three spheres of authority in this world.
29:17: Understanding these three spheres of authority is essential for the believer because these are not spheres of authority that man has produced.
29:28: These are spheres of authority that God has established and no it's not the judicial, the executive and that's not what I'm talking about.
29:40: I can't even come up with three branches of government.
29:42: It's not in my notes.
29:43: I don't know it.
29:45: It's not the judicial, the executive and the legislative.
29:48: Yes, thank you.
29:49: That's not what I'm talking about.
29:50: The three spheres of authority that God has established is first the home, the second is the church, and the final is the state.
30:04: Now one might argue there's also an individual authority.
30:08: Every man has the ability and the right to self-govern in a sense.
30:12: He has to make decisions and so you could say there's a fourth where every man has to decide for himself what he's going to do and every man has a certain amount of authority over his own body, his own life, but for the sense of what I'm talking about today I'm talking about spheres of government that God has established.
30:30: The first sphere of government that God has established is the government in the home.
30:36: The father in the home stands in a position of primary authority and responsibility.
30:41: His wife and children both are called to submit to his authority.
30:46: He is called to protect them, to provide for them, and to pastor them.
30:51: Every home stands as sort of a miniature government.
30:55: In fact, it has been recognized even in secular writings that the family is the smallest unit of government in a society and it is a building block upon which all the rest of society is built.
31:08: So the home stands as an established sphere of government.
31:12: The next is the church.
31:15: We might not consider the church as a sphere of authority, but the Bible certainly does.
31:19: The church has a responsibility in the lives of believers to exhort, to correct, and even to discipline its members.
31:28: The church also has a prophetic voice in the world.
31:32: We call all men to repentance, even men in authority over us in the state.
31:40: The head of the church is Christ.
31:42: The governing document of the church is the Bible.
31:45: The elders are God's appointed leaders responsible to teach and lead from the Bible.
31:50: The deacons are God's appointed ministers responsible to care for the members of the church.
31:55: And the members themselves are responsible as citizens of the church to use their gifts in service to God and to one another.
32:02: Therefore, the church functions as sort of a miniature government.
32:08: And then we have the state.
32:12: And people say, well, when did the concept of the state actually begin? Well, I would argue that the concept of men governing other men goes all the way back to Genesis.
32:24: When Noah came off of the ark, he was given the first form of governmental procedure that we see in the scriptures.
32:34: Genesis chapter 9 and verse 6, Noah is told this by God.
32:39: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
32:45: In that we have the constitution and the institution of capital punishment.
32:51: The most basic form of retributive justice.
32:55: If you kill someone maliciously and with the intent to murder them, then you have forfeited your life because you have attacked an image bearer of God and therefore you have sacrificed yourself.
33:06: You have forfeited your right to life.
33:11: But who would enact this justice? Moreover, who would be the person, how would the person be tried? How would the person be found guilty or innocent? This would require a position of authority, a government to ensure justice.
33:27: Therefore we can say government was instituted as far back as the time of Noah.
33:32: And it has evolved over the eons into various forms of government.
33:37: And now when we look out into the world, we see various ways that men govern themselves.
33:41: But we understand this, that the Bible tells us that governing authorities have been instituted by God.
33:48: That's what Romans 13 says.
33:50: It says that the governing authorities have been instituted by God.
33:55: Meaning that God has placed them where they are and he has placed them there for a purpose.
34:04: Now, all three spheres of authority are instituted by God, the home, the state, and the church.
34:12: And all three of them are liable to corruption.
34:16: The home can become corrupt.
34:18: Amen? The father can shirk his duties and his responsibilities.
34:22: The mother can seek to usurp the responsibilities and role of the father.
34:26: The children can rebel against their parents.
34:28: And we can see families that become corrupt.
34:32: And therefore that miniature government can become a corrupt government if it doesn't function properly.
34:38: Likewise within the church.
34:39: Within the church we see pastors misuse their pulpits and abuse their congregations.
34:44: We see congregations mistreat their pastors and abuse one another.
34:48: We see false doctrines perpetuated, finances mishandled, and ministries neglected.
34:54: The church can become corrupt.
34:57: That's the one that's hard to amen, but we ought to.
35:01: And the state, without a doubt, experiences various levels of corruption.
35:10: People with positions of power abuse their power.
35:13: As I have often said from this pulpit, power corrupts and what? Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
35:22: Citizens can also become corrupt, refusing to submit to even the most reasonable legal standards.
35:30: The weak become exploited, the powerful become untouchable, and injustice becomes commonplace in a corrupt government.
35:40: However, even within the possibility of corruption, the Bible calls Christians to be obedient in all three spheres.
35:50: In the home.
35:52: If you want verses for this, Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1.
35:57: Children, obey your parents in the Lord.
36:00: That's a command from God.
36:04: Ephesians 5, 22.
36:06: Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
36:10: There's one that everyone loves to hear, but yet it's there.
36:15: And it tells us there is a authoritative structure in the home, and we're called to submit in that authoritative structure.
36:23: Likewise, in the church.
36:27: Did you know that the church is called to submission to the leaders? It says in Hebrews 13, 17.
36:34: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who have to give account.
36:41: Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
36:47: You realize, church, that's your responsibility to the elders.
36:50: Your responsibility to the elders is to listen to them, understand that they're seeking to manage and shepherd your souls, and they should do that with joy and not with grief.
37:02: And oftentimes, it's not that way.
37:06: But that's the call, right? That's the call of submission.
37:10: And likewise, we have a call of submission in the government.
37:14: We've already read Romans 13, 1.
37:16: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
37:19: But there is this same, almost the exact same wording in 1 Peter.
37:23: So it's interesting.
37:24: This is one of those times when Peter and Paul are both in complete lockstep agreement on something, and they say it in almost the exact same way.
37:32: 1 Peter 2, verse 13.
37:35: Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to the governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
37:46: For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
37:51: Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God.
37:58: Honor everyone, love the brethren, fear God, honor the emperor.
38:04: Now, remember, this is the same emperor who would eventually put Peter to death.
38:12: When Paul says, submit to the governing authorities, this is the same governing authorities that would eventually behead him.
38:22: That kind of puts it into an interesting context.
38:28: So in the most basic sense, and without any reservation, we need to understand that Christians are called to obedience.
38:43: We are called to obedience to authority.
38:49: However, and this is a dangerous time to put in a however, because the problem with most of us is not that we're too obedient.
38:57: The problem is we're not obedient enough.
39:00: So when I give the caveat of the however, I was nervous.
39:03: I was like, maybe I should take a five-minute break, we all go get a cup of coffee, and then I'll come back and give the however, just so that my last statement that we're called to be obedient will sink in.
39:13: Because I know you're all waiting for the however.
39:17: I know you're all anxiously awaiting for me to give you the escape clause.
39:25: So please just understand that nothing I'm about to say is going to contradict what I've just said.
39:32: That we as Christians are called to be obedient people.
39:36: Obedient in our homes, obedient in the church, and even obedient citizens of the state.
39:44: Okay? This is important.
39:47: Because as I said, an unbalanced approach on either side is dangerous.
39:55: We can be unbalanced in our obedience, and we're going to see that to the point that we allow the state to perpetrate evil without any words of response.
40:04: That's not good.
40:05: But we can be unbalanced in our desire to rebel to the point that we are ungovernable.
40:12: And that's not good either.
40:14: We as Christians should be the best citizens.
40:19: And we'll see that.
40:23: So let me go back to the however.
40:26: Christians are called to obedience to authority.
40:29: However, the authority which is vested in these spheres is never absolute.
40:35: Because every authority, whether it is in the home, whether it is in the church, or whether it is the state, is always subject to a higher authority.
40:44: And that authority is God.
40:46: Therefore, there are times when God honoring resistance to authority is necessary.
40:56: Some might then say, but pastor, we just read Romans 13.
41:00: We read all seven verses of the introduction.
41:03: And doesn't it demand unquestioned loyalty to the governing authorities? And the answer is no.
41:11: Not when taken and considered with the context of all of the Bible and even all of the book of Romans.
41:21: The governing authorities have an important place.
41:24: They should be obeyed.
41:25: They should even be honored.
41:29: But they can never demand something contrary to God's commands and expect to be obeyed.
41:36: Let me say that again.
41:37: They can never demand something contrary to God's command and expect to be obeyed.
41:49: The government has a responsibility, even in Romans 13.
41:53: Do you notice here? It says that the government is from God.
41:56: It says that they have been appointed by God.
41:59: But it also says they've been appointed for a purpose and therefore they bear a responsibility.
42:04: And what is the responsibility of the government under God? To approve what is good and to punish what is evil.
42:14: The passage very clearly says that.
42:16: They have a responsibility to approve that which is good and to reward those who do good.
42:25: And to disapprove of that which is evil and to punish those who do evil.
42:32: Notice that the government is called God's servant three times in this passage.
42:39: Three times the word servant is used.
42:42: And that word servant in the Greek is very important because it is the same word for deacon.
42:49: The same word that we use in the church for a deacon of the church is used of the government.
42:55: And therefore, it could be rightly translated that the government serves as God's deacon to reward what is good and to punish what is evil.
43:07: And so my question would be this.
43:09: Who determines what is good and evil? The government? No, there is a higher standard of determining what is good and evil.
43:17: There is a higher standard than our legislature that determines what is good or evil.
43:22: There is a higher standard than our president that determines what is good or evil.
43:27: There is a higher standard than our senate that determines what is good and what is evil.
43:35: And as God's servant, they are responsible to that standard whether they believe it or not and whether they like it or not.
43:42: When the government is promoting evil and injustice, it is in rebellion against God.
43:47: Therefore, we call the government to repentance as we would any unbeliever.
43:55: We point them to their responsibility toward God and like the prophets of old, we say, woe to you who call evil good and good evil.
44:06: We cannot simply rubber stamp everything the government does as good if it is not good.
44:12: We have a primary responsibility to a higher authority and that authority is the God of heaven and earth.
44:19: And this may at times require that we take a stand against the earthly authorities and power.
44:27: Now, I want to quote a pastor.
44:32: Many of you have heard him.
44:33: His name is Jeff Durbin.
44:35: He is out in Phoenix and he said this and I thought it was a very good thought.
44:44: When we think about the issue of authority and we think about the issue of responding to authorities and we think about the issue of resisting authorities, he said this and I thought this just stuck with me.
44:55: It stuck in my brain.
44:56: It percolated for a while.
44:57: He said this, some of the greatest heroes in the history of the Christian faith are those who stood against authorities.
45:07: Some of the greatest heroes of the Bible are those who stood against authorities.
45:16: Open your Bible.
45:17: I want you to look at these because I don't want you to take my word for it.
45:20: Open your Bible back to Exodus and go to Exodus chapter 1 and go to verse 15.
45:43: Now, remember what the context is here in Exodus 1.
45:47: The Jews are multiplying in the land.
45:54: The Pharaoh sees them as a threat and so he gives the command to the midwives of Egypt, the ones who are helping to give birth to these newborn children, that they are to kill the male children because if you can destroy one sex or the other, you can destroy an entire generation and you can introduce the concept of mixing with the Egyptians and creating more Egyptians rather than more Jews.
46:24: So this is what he says in verse 15.
46:27: Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shifra and the other Pua, when you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and set them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him.
46:40: But if it is a daughter, she shall live.
46:43: Verse 17, but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.
46:58: They had an authority over them.
47:01: The authority was the king, unquestioned ruler.
47:04: We don't understand unquestionable rulers here in America because we live in a republic, a democratic republic where we vote for our representatives, but this was a time when the king was an unquestioned ruler.
47:15: His word was law.
47:17: He was considered to be divine.
47:19: And when he made a statement, it was a statement as if it were coming from almighty God himself.
47:24: And he said, when that baby is born and you look at that child and that is a male child, you will take that child's life.
47:31: And the midwives said no.
47:35: Now, if you go on into the story, you'll see they didn't say no to him directly, but they went behind his back and did what they were supposed to do.
47:42: And they honored God and not the king.
47:46: They feared God.
47:47: And I don't even know if these handmaidens really understood who God was at that point.
47:52: Maybe they had been introduced to the God of heaven by the Jewish women that they had been working with.
47:57: Maybe they had understood who God truly was because they had all the false gods.
48:02: They had all of the Egyptian gods, but they knew that the God of heaven and the earth had said this is wrong and I'm not going to do it.
48:12: Go a little further in your Bibles to the book of Daniel.
48:15: Brother Andy mentioned this in his prayer earlier.
48:20: I mean, we're skipping over many examples to get to Daniel.
48:25: But Daniel is one that I think is so, it sticks in the soul so much because of what happens in the book of Daniel.
48:34: In Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar sets up a statue to himself, a golden image, and he commands everyone to bow down to that golden image.
48:50: When the horn, the pipe, the lyre, and all of the bagpipes are played, then you are to get down and you are to worship the statue.
49:01: And here's the thing about this, and this is...
49:06: Boy, I don't want to go off on a rabbit trail.
49:08: I've got too much to say today, but very quickly, just how easy would it have been for everybody around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to say, hey, don't make waves.
49:19: It's not that big a deal.
49:20: All he's asking you to do is take a knee.
49:25: All he's asking you to do, you don't even have to mean it.
49:31: You don't even have to really worship.
49:34: All you've got to do is pretend.
49:40: Think about what social media would have said of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
49:44: They're just troublemakers.
49:47: They're just problems.
49:49: We don't need guys like that because they're just going to bring the whole world down.
49:53: We don't need those kind of voices in the Jewish community.
49:56: We don't need those kind of Hebrew rebels.
50:02: Listen to what they said.
50:03: Verse 16, Daniel 3.16.
50:06: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
50:07: And by the way, that isn't even their real names.
50:10: That's the names that they were given by the Chaldeans to try to rob them of their Hebrew roots, their Hebrew heritage.
50:18: They gave them names that honored the false gods.
50:23: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
50:31: I just always stop there and think, wow, you got to think of what Nebuchadnezzar might have thought when they said, we don't really have to give you an answer.
50:39: If this be so, our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
50:46: But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
50:55: You can tell us to do it, you can demand that we do it, but we will not do it, and God will save us, and even if He doesn't, we're not going to bow.
51:09: Go a few chapters over to Daniel 6.
51:14: In Daniel 6, Daniel is faced with almost the exact same situation.
51:20: Forbidden to pray to any god except the king.
51:25: And here's the part, I really, maybe I should have just preached this passage because I'm going to end up...
51:31: Here's the thing about Daniel's situation.
51:36: It's only temporary.
51:40: Read the story, it's only temporary.
51:43: The king is not asking you to obey forever.
51:48: He's only taking away a few weeks.
51:55: And Daniel, he's not saying that you can't hide away and pray in your closet.
52:05: You just have to be out of sight.
52:11: Don't you understand how important your life is, Daniel? Don't you understand how important public safety is, Daniel? Don't you know better than to do what you're about to do? Because read what he did.
52:24: In verse 10, when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he knew that a statement had been signed that if he prayed publicly to another god other than the king, he would be forfeiting his own life.
52:36: It says when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber, opened them toward Jerusalem, he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his god as he had done previously.
52:57: Again, think of what Facebook would have had to say.
53:01: Think of what the internet, think of what Twitter would have been a buzz.
53:07: Hashtag Daniel's a rebel.
53:13: Hashtag why can't he just submit.
53:18: Hashtag it's only temporary.
53:25: You might think to yourselves, well this is Old Testament, man.
53:29: This has nothing to do with us.
53:30: We are now called to absolute subjection to governing authorities.
53:35: Turn to Acts, which I do believe is firmly in the New Testament.
53:40: Just to make sure.
53:41: Yeah, I believe Acts is in the New Testament, right? Some of you are wondering.
53:46: No, it is.
53:49: Acts chapter 5 and verse 27.
53:57: Remember Peter and John, they had preached in the name of Jesus.
54:04: They had been imprisoned for it.
54:05: They had been miraculously released and therefore they're preaching again.
54:13: Verse 27.
54:16: And when they had brought them, they set them before the council.
54:22: And the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, that is the name of Jesus.
54:30: Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
54:38: But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men.
54:51: So the attitude of the New Testament apostles, who are the example of faith, who are the foundation stones of the faith.
54:59: These are the men who Christ raised up to be examples to us to establish the church.
55:04: The Bible says that the church is established on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and Christ is the chief cornerstone and therefore these men who are the foundation stones of the church, when they were commanded to listen to the government or obey God when it was in conflict, they said, We must obey God rather than men.
55:26: And their example has been followed down through the history of the church.
55:32: Remember earlier I said our heroes of the faith are men who resisted authority? Well, that doesn't happen just in the Bible.
55:40: We can follow the history of the church.
55:43: Men like William Tyndale, who was called God's outlaw.
55:48: Why was he God's outlaw? Because he translated, printed and smuggled the Bible in English when it was illegal to do so.
55:54: And had he not, we might not have an English Bible today.
55:58: Consider Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who not only wrote great theological writings, but he is best known for his staunch resistance to the Nazi dictatorship and his vocal opposition to Hitler's persecution of the Jews in Rome.
56:11: And he died for it.
56:12: He died for it.
56:18: And Tyndale died for it too.
56:22: Consider the Dutch Christian educator Johan van Hulst, who is known for having saved over 600 Jewish children, smuggling them in baskets and sacks so that they would not be detected by the Nazis and that they would be saved.
56:34: Consider Corrie ten Boom, who not only hid Jews in her home, but she herself was taken to a concentration camp where she was miserably treated and her life was terrible until such time as God released her from that captivity.
56:47: And she went on to become a great woman of service to the people of her nation.
56:52: Consider the fact that currently, as we speak, godly men and women in China are perpetuating an underground church in defiance of their government because the Chinese communist government has sought to replace the worship of Christ with the worship of the communist state.
57:09: That is not an exaggeration.
57:12: I'll read you a quote from the South China Morning Post.
57:17: It reports the Communist Party of China visited believers' homes in Yugan County in the Xinjiang province where about 10 percent of the population was Christian.
57:26: They urged the residents to replace religious displays with posters of President Xi Jinping.
57:32: More than 600 removed Christian symbols from their living rooms and in their place hung portraits of the communist leader.
57:41: So they took down pictures of Christ.
57:42: They took down their crosses and they put up a picture of Xi Jinping, the president.
57:48: In North Korea, it is illegal, it is illegal to worship any deity other than the Kim family.
57:57: You know Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il, that family? That family has been deified in North Korea and you are only allowed by law to worship the Kim family.
58:18: Think about our church.
58:21: Our church supports Scott Phillips.
58:25: Scott Phillips has preached right where I'm standing.
58:28: Scott Phillips has been here several times.
58:30: He is a missionary who goes into countries where the word of God is forbidden and we have supported his work of translation and printing Bibles for the Tao tribe and he hides these Bibles in his luggage and we pray.
58:45: What do we pray? God, give him safe passage.
58:49: Close the eyes of the authorities.
58:52: Blind them to what he is doing so that he might reach these people with the gospel.
59:02: How about this? How about the fact that we are called Protestants? What's the word Protestant? What's the root of Protestant? To protest.
59:18: Our very faith tradition is in the tradition of saying to the authorities, when you are wrong, we will let you know and we will not stand for it.
59:38: John Gill says this about Romans 13 and if you're unfamiliar with Gill, he was a tremendous writer, powerful exegete.
59:45: This way he says about Romans 13.
59:48: This is not to be understood as if magistrates were above the law and had a lawless power to do as they will without opposition for they are under the law and liable to the penalty of it in case of disobedience as others and when they make their own will the law or exercise a lawless tyrannical power in defiance of the laws of God and of the land and to the endangering of lives liberties and properties of its subjects they may be resisted.
01:00:20: Consider this, all laws that force us to disobey God must be resisted and those which set themselves in opposition to God must be resisted, should be resisted.
01:00:39: We stand at a point in history where the time may come when we are faced with the necessity to take a stand against governing authorities and it may come quicker than we think.
01:01:02: So long as what the government asks us to do is not ungodly or a call to compromise our faith, we must obey but when we are demanded to disobey God, to obey the government, we must obey God and not men and some of you might think well that'll never happen.
01:01:30: I would say to you, you are naive at best because there are places around the world, I've just mentioned places around the world where it's happening now and there are already pockets of this type of thinking in our own country.
01:01:47: I'm thankful brother Andy prayed earlier and I say with him yes and amen.
01:01:52: I'm thankful that we have a governor in Florida who did not close the churches.
01:01:58: He recognized the essential nature of the freedom to worship.
01:02:03: Our state provided guidelines and our elders sought as best as we knew how to be obedient to those guidelines and to work alongside the state with their sphere of authority and our sphere of authority to work together in ministry.
01:02:19: We even went as far as taking a few weeks where we did not meet personally and then we met for a few weeks outside and even now we have our chairs separated a little to continue to do what we've been asked to do.
01:02:33: However, across our land some churches have not had that benefit.
01:02:37: There are states which are still maintaining lockdowns which include the prohibition to gather for worship and it has been suggested by some that churches will not be allowed to gather again until a vaccine is developed, something which may or may not ever happen.
01:02:51: One state in particular and one governor in particular has said that it could be up to a year before he will open the door to allow churches to fully reopen.
01:03:04: Currently the governor of California is not allowing the churches in his state to open and as a result a group of 500 churches have gathered together to reopen in defiance of the governor.
01:03:20: I'll read to you a quote.
01:03:23: The churches are not asking for permission said Bob Tyler, a religious freedom attorney advising the pastors.
01:03:29: Quote, the governor is sitting here as a dictator trumping the constitution and is a kind of hanging on to the state of emergency for as long as he can hold it.
01:03:37: The pastors have signed a petition and said that they will let governor Gavin Newsom know their plans which include social distancing.
01:03:44: We'll give the governor an opportunity to amend his order said Tyler but if he does not these pastors have told me that they are committed to opening regardless of what the governor says.
01:03:57: Some of them may end up facing severe consequences.
01:04:00: Some of those men may lose their freedom albeit only maybe for a time but I believe we should pray for them.
01:04:11: I believe we should stand for them and with them because the call to gather in worship is not an option for the believer.
01:04:23: The call to gather together in corporate worship is a command of Almighty God.
01:04:30: Now can it be foregone for a season? Well in the past if a hurricane was bearing down on us we've taken a Sunday off and as I've already said there was a time during this season where we took a few weeks off but it cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.
01:04:49: Eventually the church must stand up and say we will obey God rather than men.
01:04:55: They may come with punishment.
01:04:57: They may come with persecution.
01:04:59: They may come with incarceration.
01:05:01: They may even include evisceration in the media and social media and that may mean that we become enemies of the people that we love even those in our own family but when it comes to the Christian's responsibilities we are called to worship together.
01:05:22: We are called to submit to government and we are called to submit to God but only one of those is ultimate.
01:05:32: Anyone demanding allegiance which violates God's authority must be resisted.
01:05:39: Now that doesn't mean we go march on Capitol Hill.
01:05:42: I could really don't care to go march anywhere but what it does mean is we do what God has commanded of us in spite of the prohibitions and in the face of the consequences.
01:06:00: God may one day call us to jail and the fear that I have seen in so many people showed me that not many people will be willing to go.
01:06:15: I told my wife one day I may have a prison ministry.
01:06:21: It's got to be what it is.
01:06:28: We must stand for God first and remember this sermon is a call for balanced thinking.
01:06:41: Since this virus has begun I have seen extremes on both sides within the church.
01:06:45: Those who would demand absolute and unquestioning obedience to the government no matter what they tell us to do and that's wrong but I've seen people on the other side who are so excited about rebelling that they would say no matter what the government tells us to do we ain't going to do it and that's wrong.
01:07:02: As believers we need to recognize that God has established the state for a purpose.
01:07:07: We need to be good citizens.
01:07:08: We need to not be known for rebellion and disobedience but when obedience requires disobedience to God we need to let it be known we will not stand or we will not fall.
01:07:20: We will stand.
01:07:21: We will resist.
01:07:23: When they say you can gather at church but you can't gather at Home Depot.
01:07:32: When they say you can't go to the church building but you can go to the Planned Parenthood building.
01:07:37: When they say you can't have the bread in the cup but you can go to McDonald's and get a Big Mac and fries.
01:07:42: Well sir we have a problem and this is my final thought.
01:07:51: I do not need permission from government to worship my God and to gather with others to do the same.
01:07:59: I have this command from God and therefore I have the only permit I need.
01:08:04: If the governing authorities choose to punish me for doing it I will receive that punishment for his glory but I will not beg Caesar to worship Christ.
01:08:14: Let's pray.
01:08:19: Father I thank you for your word.
01:08:21: I pray that your word has been proclaimed truthfully and I pray Lord that we would have the willingness to stand in the days where standing is necessary.
01:08:32: That we would not be rebellious citizens.
01:08:35: That we would be the best of citizens but at the same time Lord that we would never compromise our faith for the sake of safety.
01:08:46: That we would never compromise our faith for the sake of civility but Lord that we would always be willing to take a stand for the truth.
01:09:00: Understanding that you are the one who goes before us.
01:09:04: You are the one who fights our battles for us.
01:09:07: You are the mighty fortress that is our God.
01:09:10: You are a bulwark that never fails.
01:09:13: Lord thank you in Jesus name.
01:09:16: Amen.
01:09:17: Let's stand together and sing.
01:09:21: While we are singing we're going to prepare for communion.
01:09:25: You'll notice that we have the cup and the bread that is here.
01:09:28: The cup is the cups are separated where you can reach and grab just one for yourself and you can grab the bread and the little cups and please while we're singing come and get them because when we're done I'm going to lead us in the participation in communion.
01:09:41: Let us sing and prepare together.
01:09:49: A mighty fortress is our God.
01:10:02: A bulwark never failing.
01:10:08: Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
01:10:21: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe.
01:10:31: His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate.
01:10:41: On earth is not his equal.
01:10:48: Did we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing.
01:10:58: For not the right man on our side.
01:11:06: The man of God's own choosing.
01:11:12: Lost as who that may be.
01:11:17: Christ Jesus in his feet.
01:11:22: Lord Sabaoth his name.
01:11:27: From age to age the same.
01:11:32: And he must end the battle.
01:11:39: And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us.
01:11:51: We will not fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.
01:12:03: A prince of darkness grim.
01:12:08: We tremble not for him.
01:12:13: His rage we can endure.
01:12:18: For though his doom be sure.
01:12:23: One little word shall fail.
01:12:30: That word of all earthly powers.
01:12:36: No thanks to them abiding.
01:12:42: The spirit and the gifts are ours.
01:12:48: Through him who with us died.
01:12:54: Let goods and kindred go.
01:12:59: This mortal life also.
01:13:04: The body they may kill.
01:13:09: God's truth abide it still.
01:13:14: His kingdom is forever.
01:13:27: Well we have come to an interesting place where we have no bread.
01:13:34: So I will lead communion with having gone to my wife and asking her to break her bread in half.
01:13:41: Would you break your bread in half? It's okay.
01:13:45: Is there anyone who didn't get any? You guys? Yeah go ahead brother Mike.
01:13:50: I don't want.
01:13:50: This is important.
01:13:52: We want to make sure everybody.
01:13:53: No he's going to get some.
01:13:54: Thank you though.
01:14:00: Since we're not in a hurry I'll give me a moment to talk about communion.
01:14:05: We love the fact that we get to participate in communion together.
01:14:09: And for several weeks we did not meet.
01:14:11: And then for several weeks we met outside.
01:14:13: And we're not able to participate in communion.
01:14:15: What a time it was.
01:14:17: What a difficult time.
01:14:19: Many churches don't take communion every week.
01:14:22: But it is really the heart of the reformed tradition to maintain a remembrance of the body and the blood of Christ.
01:14:29: And so we do this as a weekly reminder of the gospel.
01:14:35: The gospel is the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
01:14:40: That he died for our sins according to the scripture.
01:14:44: That he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scripture.
01:14:49: And he lives forevermore to make intercession for those who believe in him.
01:14:55: The Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins until such time as God makes us alive by the work of his Holy Spirit.
01:15:04: And when the Holy Spirit makes us alive that is called regeneration or the new birth.
01:15:09: And Jesus said unless a man be born again he will not see the kingdom of heaven.
01:15:14: And so when we are born again into the family of God we become new creatures in Christ.
01:15:21: We become citizens of a new kingdom.
01:15:23: And we become servants of a new master.
01:15:27: Jesus Christ our King.
01:15:30: And so now if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
01:15:34: If you have received his forgiveness, his atonement by grace alone through faith alone.
01:15:45: Then you are welcome to participate in this communion with us.
01:15:49: The Bible says this time in the service is reserved for believers only.
01:15:55: And it says that we should examine our hearts to know whether or not we are truly in the faith.
01:16:02: So if you have done so and you have prepared yourself and you have heard the word of God.
01:16:07: And you now in response to the word of God are ready to receive.
01:16:10: Then I invite you to partake of the bread and the cup as we share together.
01:16:40: And now in response to having received the bread and the cup.
01:16:43: We're going to sing a chorus of awesome God.
01:17:13: Our God is an awesome God.
01:17:17: He reigns from heaven above with wisdom power and love.
01:17:24: Our God is an awesome God.
01:17:28: Our God is an awesome God.
01:17:32: Our God is an awesome God.
01:17:43: Amen now may the Lord bless you and keep you.
01:17:45: May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
01:17:49: May the Lord lift up his countenance to you and may the Lord continue to give you his peace.