A Christian's Response To The Election (part 2) - [Romans 13:1ff]

Well, it's been an interesting week with politics, I wonder how Christians should respond. I think everybody's attention is fixed on presidential elections and it's not like I have to create a need or a desire why you should pay attention.

Who said this and when did he say it? I am a believer in democracy because I believe in the fall of man.

I think most people are believers in democracy for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good so that everyone deserved a share in the government.

The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they're not true. I find that they're not true without looking further than myself.

I don't deserve a share in governing a henroost, much less a nation.

The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows.

Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him, but I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.

1943, C .S. Lewis, God graciously and generously has given us government so that we don't have the opposite and that is anarchy.

The problem is government reflects the people and the people are sinful and fallen and weak and therefore we have people with power who have the might, who have the right to enforce government and then we say, how can we submit to a person like that, a government like that, an institution like that?

And when I mean like that, I mean they're sinful. How do we submit to sinful people above us?

Let's turn our Bibles to Romans chapter 13 this morning and we'll hear from Jesus Christ Spirit, the Holy Spirit, through Paul, how do we respond to a government, whether we disagree with it or we love it, whether we love the new president or we do not, we still need to be

Christians following Christ's example and we'll look at him this morning for a little bit as well. How did

Jesus respond as a sin -less God -man to the sinful government and so too we are supposed to submit in almost the exact same way.

Romans chapter 13, we looked at the first few verses last week and so we'll have a quick review today and then we'll look at the

Christians call to be like Christ and submit to sinful government. Now, I'm not saying because of a certain person was elected this week, therefore

I'm calling it sinful government. I don't care who was elected in the last week, our response is still to submit to the government knowing that they are sinful people and we want government versus chaos and anarchy.

Last week we looked in detail that Romans chapters 1 through 16 is about the righteousness of Christ and when

Jesus Christ saves a person, they're different. They're different when it comes to the way they live, think and act but they're also different in God's eyes.

He counts them. He declares them righteous based on the work of Christ Jesus, his death, burial and resurrection.

These people are now counted as righteous and these people who are counted as righteous should live righteous lives and they're able to live righteous lives and they're able to live righteous lives when it comes to one another and under the government.

And so you can't say Romans chapter 13 is where we immediately go because the first 12 chapters teach us what is justification, how are we saved from our sins and ourselves and then because of that, how do we then respond to government?

Everything in Romans chapter 13 speaks of this one word, submit. To remember chapter 13 verse 1, let every person be in subjection to governing authorities.

And as you remember from last week, it's a continual imperative over and over and over. When one government comes and goes, we still are to submit.

When the centuries come and go, we still are to submit. This is a very universal principle for justified people.

And he says, I want you to get underneath them. The Greek word is hupotasso. It's a military word and it just means to fall in line.

When it comes to government authorities, the Christian, the regenerated Christian says, I fall in line.

You say, how could Paul say that? He never suffered under sinful government. Act 1637, don't go there.

But Paul writes Romans 13 after this happened. But Paul said to them, they have beaten us in public without trial, men who are

Romans and have thrown us into prison. This is the principle from God and it transcends, oh, what happens to the apostle or doesn't happen to the apostle.

Everything in the Christian should say, I have been loved by God, therefore, I want to love him in response.

And part of that love is obedience. And so God says through the Spirit, submit to the government. And then for today,

I'll really see if I can get all these done, 11 truths regarding submission.

How to submit? Why to submit? But just general truths about submission. The point of this passage is, justified

Christians, like their Savior, submit to the government even though the government has fallen.

Let me give you 11 helpers from Romans 13 and then Titus chapter 3.

Are you ready? Buckle your seat belts. Number one, recognize that all government authority comes from God.

God established government authority. We saw that last week. Verse 1, there's no authority except from popular vote, electoral college.

And those which exist are established by God. They're not only from God, but they're established by God.

It was God's idea. It was his plan. He's the one who thought up of government. And it's for our good as he regulates the affairs of sinful humans.

And Paul is arguing much like he did in Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11 for the future of Israel.

He also argues here that the fundamental premise, that's the foundation, that's the rebar to all this thought is

God is sovereign over everyone. So if he's sovereign over government, we can line up under government because God's sovereign over even sinful government.

It's like Daniel chapter 4, the most highest ruler over the realm of mankind and he bestows it on whom he wishes.

Submission to the government shows our submission to Christ Jesus, our Lord. Number two, remember that opposition to God's established government is really opposition to God himself.

So this is the converse of number one, we don't want to oppose God. Number two,

I found in verse 2 rather, therefore he who resists authority, God -ordained authority, established by God authority, established from God authority, has opposed the ordinance of God.

They who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Christians submit, hupotasso, they put themselves under.

Christians don't, antitasso, reject, go against, I'm against you.

It's delegated authority and Christians just say, I'll fall in line, otherwise

I'd oppose God. Number three, again moving quickly, but if you want the expanded version you can get last week's 8 -track tape, cassette, whatever they call them these days.

Is it digital? Digital world, all right. Number three, believe God when he says that there are consequences to rebelling against sinful government.

The Christian who's had their eyes open, their mind open, they can see spiritual truths as they have the resident truth dweller, the spirit of God in them, say to themselves,

I'm going to submit. Why? God figured out government and ordained it, I don't want to go against God.

Number three, there are consequences and who wants temporal consequences?

Verse three and four, Romans chapter 13, for rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior but for evil.

Do you want to have no fear of authority and we know the answer, well then keep on doing what is good. You'll keep on having no fear and you'll have praise from the same.

For it, the government, is a liturgy of God. It's a minister of God to you for good.

If you do what is evil, keep being afraid. For it does not bear the sword up to capital punishment for nothing.

It is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Are you afraid of those over you in government and you're doing righteous things?

Don't be afraid. There's no need to be afraid. If you're evil and doing wicked things, sinful things, then be afraid.

Policemen today carry handcuffs and maybe some mace and a gun and those would all be very useful practically but they're also symbols of authority.

You look at someone back in the old days and they would have a knife or a dagger or a sword saying this is the authority

I have vested in me by the government able to kill and to take your life. I love what

Emperor Trajan said to a governor on his first day in office.

He said, here's a dagger for you, read what's on the dagger, inscribed on the dagger for me if I deserve it in me.

God is going to get his people and if you remember back in Romans chapter 12, verse 19, 20 and 21, you might think that evil is going to run them up because Christians are supposed to overcome evil with good.

But there's a reckoning day and God will ultimately do that in heaven but also on earth. He uses sinful government to curb and to check sin.

Number four, how do we submit? Why do we submit? One of the reasons you ought to submit is you want a clear conscience, don't you?

That's number four. If you'd like a clear conscience, then you submit to sinful government. Who wants a conscience trying to get after us?

Verse five, wherefore it's necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake.

Internally, we've got this God -placed conscience in us that checks moral good and moral evil and it's kind of like a little litmus test so we can distinguish between right and wrong in us.

What does our conscience have to do with submission to human government? Everything, because we can obey on the outside but internally say,

I don't care what you want God, I don't care what government wants. I could put it very simply, you shouldn't be able to sleep at night if you cheat on your taxes because your conscience should be getting you.

Speaking of taxes, number five, pay your taxes. We want to submit to the government as justified people, as people bought by Christ Jesus.

And as we do that, we need to make sure we pay our taxes. In this particular case, Paul is saying, oh, you do pay your taxes, keep on paying, verse six, for because of this, you also pay taxes.

Because of all the stuff that's gone on before, including conscience, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

You're paying your taxes, keep on paying your taxes. True or false, a laborer is worthy of his wages.

Even in government, that's true. They work, they clean, they do all kinds of things, sweat and toil.

We pay our duty. One man said tax evasion is not only a crime, it's also a sin.

So we pay taxes to these who rule over us. Now we're just going to take a little detour. Please turn with me to Mark chapter 12.

Everything that we've been talking about so far can be seen in the person of Christ Jesus. And if you're not careful, you're going to miss the very end of this.

And I think too often we miss the final point that Jesus is trying to make because we get caught up in taxes and what do we do and what does the coin look like?

There is a killer ending to this that everyone here needs to hear. Mark chapter 12, verse 13 and following.

There's a surprise truth at the end of this. By the way, here's what's going on in Jesus' day.

If you live in a Gentile country outside of Israel, pay taxes.

And there was this kind of crazy zealot running around, probably appropriately named Judas. It was a different Judas though.

And he was running around saying, if you live outside of Israel, pay taxes because the people deserve it.

But if you live in Israel, this is God's country, don't pay your taxes. If you live in Australia, pay your taxes.

But if you're a Jew living in Israel and you have the Roman oppressors here, don't pay taxes.

Judas the Galilean is running around stirring up trouble. Pagan rulers don't deserve our taxes.

This is God's holy land. And so it's in light of that where we see these insidious men try to trap

Jesus. And I just love to study the life of Christ Jesus. I'm so impressed by who

He is and what He said. There's nobody like Jesus. Let's just look at Him in this context, Mark 12, verse 13.

And they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement.

And my notes say, some people never learn. It's like hitting their head against the cement cinder block over and over and over as they send another delegation to try to trap

Jesus. They're going to try to trap Him like you would an animal in some kind of little snare.

Luke 20, it says, they sent spies who pretended to be righteous. Oh, we're the pious ones, they've got their backward collars on or whatever they wear back there, back then.

And you have the Pharisees and the Herodians, the religious leaders and the political leaders, they don't even like each other, but if it's to destroy

Jesus, perfect bedfellows. We're going to catch Him. And here we have this, as one man said, a collaboration in wickedness.

I call it caustic collusion. We're going to catch

Jesus off guard one of these times. Verse 14, they came, said to Him, now listen to what they say, it's actually true.

It's true of Jesus what they say, and by the way, it's not true of them what they say, but they really tried this sick, sweet flattery.

This is like molasses all over. Teacher, we're going to try to soften you up a little bit for the fastball coming down the pipe.

We know you're truthful. By the way, was he truthful? Did he teach true doctrine, true, true teaching, truly from God?

Yes. No lies about God with complete biblical fidelity and integrity. And you defer to no one.

You don't flatter Jesus. You don't play up to people. You're not an enabler.

He cares for no man, one translation says. You're not a people pleaser, Jesus, for you're not partial to anyone.

When you look at someone's face, Jesus, you see the truth, and you don't say, well, I'm going to give partiality based on who someone is, how they look, or how much money they have or don't have, what their position is or isn't.

You're not moved by that. But teach the way of God in truth. You teach them how to live biblically, the manner of life and faith and conduct.

Is it lawful to pay a poll tax to Caesar or not? They think it's no win, and I don't like to play around with words that much, but I think it's going from a no win to chagrin.

We go from trapping Jesus to Jesus opening up the trap door for them. Is it lawful to pay a poll tax to Caesar or not?

There are civil issues involved and there are theological issues involved. If you have a coin, what does that coin show?

What does that poll tax coin say? Well, we'll get to that in a minute. So what does

Jesus say? If he says yes, what will happen? If he says no, what will happen? If he says yes, pay the tax, the

Pharisees will say, how could you pay the tax so you have this Roman people over us?

The coin's got a picture of Caesar, who's a god, and a picture of a judge on the other side,

Pontifus Maximus. No, it's not Maximus. What am I doing? I'll get to that in a second.

You have too many things in your mind. On one side of the coin is

Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus. On the other side is Livy, Caesar's mother, who claimed that Caesar was the high priest.

We're going to use this coin. It's an idolatrous coin. If Jesus says yes, it's going to the emperor's treasure box for his sinful government.

But if Jesus says no, don't pay, punishable by death, sedition from the

Roman government. So what happens? You know what's going to happen.

The question, do you want me to hit you with my fist or my backhand, seems to have no way out.

Hunter said they were trying to impale Jesus on the horns of a dilemma. What would you say?

Verse 15, shall we pay or shall we not pay? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them,

John 2 says he knew what was in the man and he knew all their hypocrisy, all their tricks.

He perceived their wickedness, Matthew says, Luke says he perceived their craftiness and trickiness.

And for those of you that like older English, A .T. Robertson said they were sly, shrewd, slick, but they did not deceive

Jesus with their pious palaver. And now

Jesus is going to rip the mask off of their face in front of everyone.

Why are you testing me? Same word used when Satan was testing Jesus in the wilderness.

You're basically the pawn of Satan. Why are you doing that? They brought a coin, verse 16.

By the way, did they have a coin or did they have to go to the money changers? If they had a coin, how stupid can you get? It's almost

Laurel and Hardy stupid where they have coins, they use coins, and so they'd be using the emperor's coin that had an emperor on it and the high priest on the back.

And so maybe they went and got one. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this?

Well, they know that answer. And they said to him, Caesar, whose image, whose icon, whose likeness is this?

It's Caesar who claims to be God. On the other side, by the way, on the throne is

Pontiff Maximum, high priest. They said to him, they piped right up, okay, we've got him.

Caesars, they blurred it right out, kind of acting innocent and harmless.

Jesus is falling for it. He's going to speak out against Rome right now.

And then verse 17, where in this is that surprise

I was talking about? Things we might look past too quickly. And Jesus said to them, render to Caesar the things that are

Caesar's. When it comes to giving back taxes, render means to give back.

They pay for services, you owe them. Taxes are a duty, they're not a gift.

They make the Roman roads, they have the government, they protect from the crazy

Gauls coming up to try to attack, and you're paying back them what they owe.

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. It's a debt we pay for services rendered.

Jesus says, pay that. But then he has another obligation, and this is what we go by too fast.

And to God, here's the second obligation, the things that are God's, whose image is on this coin,

Caesar's, then pay everything that Caesar demands you to pay now.

Then he looks and he says, and to God, the things that are God. If you look at a human being, what image does a human being show forth?

God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him.

Male and female, he created him. Listen to Sinclair Ferguson speaking for what

Jesus would say. I see another coin bearing a different image. I see you men, the image of God stamped on your lives.

So I conclude you must give to God what belongs to him the whole of your lives.

This is Caesar's coin, pay it to Caesar. You are from the mint of God, he has made you, and now you're trying to destroy the

Son of God? No, your image and likeness bears which should worship the Son. Not giving

God what is due him as they plotted to kill Jesus Christ himself.

You, I could say, are image bearers. It's one thing to say, I got to make sure I pay my tax fully and completely, but also,

I'm made in the image of God and rendered to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God, render the things to God.

This is Romans chapter 12, 1 and 2. Give yourself what? Present yourself as a living sacrifice.

I think there's almost too much talk about paying taxes, and we sit there and, should we pay taxes, shouldn't we pay taxes?

Okay, I think we should pay taxes. The whole time, we should think on the other side of the coin, as it were, we should be living all out for Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 18 .4, behold, all souls are mine. A service was provided by the government.

And Jesus says, pay back, render to that government what you owe. A service has been provided, as it were, by God the creator.

He has made us in his likeness and image. He owns us. He sent his son to die on our behalf and has raised him from the dead.

What do we owe back to Christ Jesus? Everything. And what did they do afterwards?

And they marveled greatly at him. They kept on marveling with the preposition to make it intensive.

They just were out of their minds. If I could say the word, they were out of their gourds, learning that people are

God's coins. You bear God's image, and you owe him total allegiance.

So now when we go back to Romans chapter 13, of course, if God owns us, then we can say to ourselves, then if you say, submit to the government and fall in line, okay.

All right, now we come to a few new ones. Number six, pay your government leaders taxes, but pay them something more than that.

Pay taxes, but pay something more than that. Submission truth number six, verse seven,

Romans 13. Render to all what is due them, and then he gives four breakdowns.

Tax to whom tax is due. By the way, in verse six, you are paying your taxes. Now he says, keep doing it,

I'm commanding you to continue. Custom to whom custom is due, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Verse six, you do pay your tax. Verse seven, continue. What day is tax freedom day, by the way, today in our country?

It's like August 28th or something like that? I don't know, it's a long time.

And here Jesus says, pay back, fulfill your duty, wives and husbands to each other, same word in 1

Corinthians chapter seven. It's not an option. Tax to whom tax is due, by the way, that's like an income tax, personal tax, property tax.

This is the tax that if a nation comes and takes over, you pay to them. So if Russia comes and takes us over and says,

I got a new tax for all you people that are American citizens, this is what we pay. Custom to whom custom, this is like import, export, taxes, tolls, and tariffs, and other things.

Fear to whom fear, now we're moving away from something not just money, but also some kind of attitude, of respect, of awe.

They're able to punish us, they're able to reward us. Proverbs 24, my son, fear the Lord and the king.

And then lastly, why did he have to write this? Honor to whom honor, just like in 1

Peter chapter two, honor the king. Taxes isn't enough. Esteem is what

God's after. Value is precious. Do you consider the government in America now, and the government that will be there in January next year, and you esteem that as precious, or are you like your forefathers in New England?

This is a way not to honor those who take taxes from you. 1766,

John Gilchrist, a Norfolk merchant and ship owner, came to believe that Captain William Smith had reported his smuggling activities to British authorities.

In retribution, Gilchrist and several accomplices captured Smith, and they daubed his body and face all over with tar, and afterwards threw feathers on him, and then they threw him into the sea.

This tar and feathering went through the colonies quickly, and Massachusetts was number one in 1770 for tarring and feathering a particular kind of person.

Not a blasphemer, not a witch, but those who would take taxes and customs.

Tar was reserved exclusively for British custom inspectors and informers.

One time they hated a guy so much they even tarred and feathered his horse. Turn with me to Titus, and we'll see the same thing here from a pastoral perspective.

You say, pastor, we know these verses, and I understand Romans chapter 13. Do you know as a pastor I'm supposed to remind you?

Because we are people who are prone to forget. We are people prone to forget. How do we act towards the government?

And so we've deviated from Matthew because this is important for us, and I am under the call of God to remind you what you're prone to forget.

Titus chapter 3, we go into this pastoral epistle. Many things have been said earlier, but we see a very new context in chapter 3.

The chapter break is actually right here. And it says in Titus 3, 1, remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient.

Now, I find it interesting, Paul is writing to a group of people who are where? He's writing to Titus who lives in Crete.

You know what Cretans do? They lie, they eat too much, they are sinful, sinful people.

And there are some Christians now at Crete, but if they're not careful, the way they used to treat rulers over them was wrong.

And now they've become Christians, and they might still treat them the same way if they're not careful. And so Paul says to Titus, I want you to remind those rebellious people, who now have been saved by the grace of God, to act a certain way when it comes to government.

Which leads us to submission truth number seven, found in verse one. Be ready for every good deed.

When it comes to our view of government, of course, we're to submit for lots of reasons, but this is almost now the how of submission.

Truth number seven, be ready for every good deed. Remind them to be subject to rulers, Titus 3, 1, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed.

I used to have a slogan that I stole from Jack MacArthur, preach, pray, or die with a what? Minutes notice.

You know what he's trying to say here? He's trying to say, be a good deed doer with a minutes notice when it comes to civil government and what they do.

To be ready, to be a minute man, ready in a minute. That word ready means to be prepared.

As a battleship stands ready to defend the country, so Christians who have been justified by Christ Jesus' perfect work, declared forensically righteous by God, they should be good deed doers.

This is very convicting for me because I sometimes think, you know, the world's going to hell in a handbasket, and one day, we're going to have global warming to a massive sense.

It's going to be the elements roaring with heat in second Peter, so whatever. I mean,

I don't throw trash out the window kind of thing, but when there's a blood drive, a park clean up, the flood is coming into town.

Christians are to be, according to Paul, writing to the saved Cretans, through Titus, the first ones there.

Girl missing in the neighborhood, the first to look. Community cleanup, the first to help. Book drive so people can read, the first to help.

I could ask it this way. Are you so heavenly minded that you're no earthly what? Good. We're to be good deed doers.

Same word ready found in 1 Peter 3, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense.

He says, just be ready to do good works. We know that's not how people get saved, but you'll sure meet a lot of unsaved people when you do those.

My error for a long time was not to do anything, and so I don't think it's that big a deal, but just an illustration.

So now when I go visit somebody in the hospital, and make my call, and go visit, then I walk down to the blood place, and then give some blood, and they give me some free snack wells, and some other soda, and stuff like that.

And off I go, I think, you know what, I've got blood, the community needs blood. Now I've been to countries where they have malaria, and they don't accept my blood, so I've got to have a different mindset, and do something differently.

Civic duties are not spectator sports for Christians. It doesn't say do good just to Democrats, do good just to Republicans, do good just to Tories.

If you want something better in society, be better in society. False teachers, on the other hand, in Titus chapter 1, are worthless for any good deed.

That one's convicting, but I've been preaching all morning for number eight. All right, number eight, malign no one when it comes to submitting to God as a justified person, following the footsteps of Christ Jesus, who certainly paid taxes, who certainly was ready for every good deed, and he certainly didn't malign the sinful government.

Look at verse two, this one hurts. Titus chapter 3 verse 2, malign no one.

Now the context is a little bit wider than leaders, but leaders are certainly involved. Chapter 3 verse 1, submit to the government and those in authority.

Chapter 3 verse 1, chapter 3 verse 2, now it's maligning no one, but the context must include verse 1 where we have the government.

Don't malign anyone, those who assault truth, those that are anti -Christian, those that kill babies while the foot is still in the womb and they take the scissors and jam it into the forehead of the baby.

Those who speak contemptuously of politicians, of their person, are in sin, malign no one.

Friends, unbelievers malign everyone. And as God has redeemed us and saved us and given us a new nature, like Christ, we are to malign no one.

The word malign means to blaspheme, to slander, to treat with contempt.

We are to speak evil of no person. If you want to say I disagree with the policy of abortion, I disagree with redistribution of wealth,

I disagree with this or that, that's fine. But once it becomes a personal issue, it becomes a personal sin.

We confront sin, we confront error, but we don't blaspheme the people.

Blasphemes means to slander, to injure, to harm.

And by the way, some people like to hide behind the lawyerese of, it's not slander if it's true.

They're cowardly when they do that and unbiblical. And certainly this verse would take care of all those issues. Even if something is true, we don't malign and speak evil of a person.

Malicious representation, we do not do. You see the text? No one. We don't talk that way about anybody in church, let alone those who are leaders.

One man said verbal abuse is practiced as a fine art in the east. J. Vernon McGee, who just has a way of saying things, he talked about gossip.

He said, it has been said that you can't believe everything you hear, but you can repeat it. He also said, some people will believe anything if it's whispered to them.

When your words attack the reputation and the character and the standing of a person, especially in government,

God says, that's not how I act. That's not how you're to act. You aren't to injure.

You aren't to try to speak down upon them. You're to do other things, and we'll look at that next week. Let me read you these words of our

Lord and Savior. First Peter 2 .23, and while being reviled, he did not revile in return.

While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

For those of you years ago that have Clinton bashing T -shirts, stopalgorg .com kind of attitude,

Obama Nation quotes, hanging Palin in effigy, jokes about Bush, jokes about President -Elect

Obama. Those things should all come to the category of we won't let one unwholesome word proceed from our mouth.

But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priest and all the councils to assemble and brought

Paul down and set him before them. And Paul, looking intently at the council, said, brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.

And the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike Paul in the mouth.

Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Do you sit to try me according to the law and in violation of the law order me to be struck?

And the bystander said, I forgot something, Paul. Do you revile God's high priest? It was his position.

Paul said, I was not aware, brethren, that he was a high priest, for it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

It's so freeing to say, my guy won, my guy lost, my gal won, my gal lost.

And then say, you know, God, you're in charge, and why do I have to speak poorly of them?

That's what I did when I was an unbeliever. If you want to critique their views, fine, but it can't be some ad hominem personal attack, malign no one.

Number nine, be uncontentious. Number nine, be uncontentious.

Number one, we recognize all authority that government has comes from God. Number two, we don't want to go against authority because that's against God.

Number three, there's consequences when we rebel. Number four, we want a good conscience. Number five, we ought to pay taxes.

Number six, we ought to give more than taxes, honor and fear. Number seven, we want to be good deed doers.

Number eight, we want to not malign people, we're justified people. And number nine, be uncontentious.

This is an incredible Greek word, A -M -A -C -H -O -S, transliterated.

Machos is to fight. You put an A in front of it, not a fighter.

Somebody who's not a fighter. And the words don't mean this, but in my mind, I think of what a machete would do.

And he's like, don't be some guy walking around with a machete all the time, who's always fighting, quarreling, strife, contentious.

This word means, you want to fight? I'm ready to step into the ring at any time. I'm a

WWF Christian. What's the new thing? WWE.

Who said that? All right, thank you. Quarrelsome fighting people, especially under the context, chapter 3, verse 1, and submission to the government, obedient to the government, ought not to act like Jesus didn't act.

They have to be on a positive side of the things. We'll get to that in a minute. Listen to Lenski.

People who are ever fighting are wretched citizens and neighbors. It doesn't mean we won't stand for truth and fight for the word of God and earnestly contend, but when it comes to our submissive hearts under government, we don't have to fight to get our way.

We said, you don't have to go around with a chip on your shoulder. What kind of Christian are you when it comes to the government?

Protester? Don't like what happened and I'm going to march in the streets. Rude, rough, aggressive.

Did you know the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God? Are you the one at a town meeting who is stomping and yelling, ranting and raving?

Congregational meetings, same kind of person. Protest, rallies, marches, sit -down strikes.

They'll know we are Christians by our love to fight. Number 10, be gentle.

Here's the positive side. Be gentle, found in verse 2. Again, you can apply these principles in the local church, outside the church, at work, at home, but I believe chapter 3, verse 1, the context is in submission to the government.

We are to be gentle. We are to be yielding people, kind people.

We aren't the first to call the lawyers. I've had a little bit of experience in my life the last 20 years where there are church lawsuits.

Believe me when I say it, the first group that calls the lawyers first, they're the sinful group.

Gentle, it means to be forbearing, fair, easy to live with.

You have rights but you don't have to exercise them. You can go first,

I don't have to go first kind of attitude. Mild and tolerant, controlling, forbearing, that's gentleness speaking.

Matthew Arnold called it sweet reasonableness. And this

Paul writes to Titus who lived in a society filled with liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.

Who wants to be peaceful towards them? Paul uses the same word in 2

Corinthians 10, now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness, that's the word of Christ.

How about this? Matthew 11, you know the verse, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am,

Jesus said, gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, my load is light.

Finally, how do we act towards the government? Number 11, found right there in verse 2, showing every consideration for all men.

Be considerate of everyone, found in verse 2. King James translates it, showing all meekness.

New King James says, showing all humility and IV says, to show true humility toward all men.

Put on a demonstration, show, always put on the demonstration, always point this out, always live like this, that you are considerate.

It means a gentle friendliness, a gentleness. It's an inward act that the spirit of God does in our hearts where we just have the right kind of temper.

We aren't self -assertive, it's not always about our self -interest. You go, why would

I ever do any of these things? Verse 3, Paul gives the resume of the

Cretans and I give your resume to you. By the way, when I give a testimony, this is the testimony of my life, verse 3.

For we also once were foolish ourselves. We couldn't discern spiritual truth.

We weren't wise about God, we were foolish. More than that, we were disobedient.

We saw government, we saw those over us. We saw God in such a way where we said, you won't rule over us.

We were deceived, we were deluded, we couldn't figure out the truth. We wandered far from it even if we found it.

Our world was one of make -believe, our world was one of imagination.

I'm going to die and be in heaven, I'm a good person. We live like what we want to do.

We live like, you know, as we please rather. Enslaved to various lusts.

We had no free will. We had one master and that master was please ourselves. And what did we do?

We were living our leading a life, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

The list goes on and on and on. We used to do those kind of things. That was the old person.

The old person in chapter 3, verse 3, used to not submit to government, used to malign, used to not be ready for any good work, used to be the opposite.

And then here comes the great Calvary, verse 4, but because of God the

Father's grace, but when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us.

Of course, from our sins, but also acting out on those sins like chapter 3, verse 1 and 2 talk about. And how did he save us?

Not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the

Holy Spirit. He did it all by grace alone. And he did it through a person, verse 6, whom he poured out richly through Jesus Christ our

Savior, that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is a trustworthy statement. Do you want to live like Jesus lived?

Do you want to live in a way that would honor God who justified you? Then you submit to the government and you say,

God, you'll take care of the rest. I submit to you by submitting to the government. Next week, we'll talk about civil disobedience, praying for those in government.

Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for this day. I pray again for those who are elected to rule and reign over America.

We pray for President -elect Obama, that he would have wisdom when it comes to selecting his cabinet.

I pray for those new senators as well as they gather people around them. And Lord, we would pray that you would help us to see past these people and see you the king, the king of kings.

Lord, certainly many of those who lead us need salvation. And we would ask that you would grant them salvation.

If you can save us, you can certainly save them. And Lord, we would ask as a church and as a congregation that you would help us to speak well of people.

And Lord, help us not to malign. Help us not to be contentious.

Lord, we want to live like Christ. And you've enabled us to do that by the work of the Spirit of God. We are now justified people.

And Lord, you are sanctifying us. And in the meantime, I pray that our church would stick out amongst the conversations at work and at home, at school.

We are different people. We just don't talk that way. We don't need to joke about things and malign and deride.

We want to act like Jesus did, who always spoke righteously. And we want to do it so people will see the excellencies of Christ Jesus and how he can save and redeem and change a people like us.