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If we understand doctrines of election and predestination, then we know that every person who is in a position of authority has been given that authority by God. He is using them to accomplish His will.
So we must respect that authority when we understand the text.
You are listening to When We Understand The Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website www .tt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. It's being called the worst mass shooting in American history, a shooting that took place at a gay bar in Orlando yesterday, the late night hours of Saturday, early morning hours of Sunday, 50 dead, at least as many injured.
And I've been watching news reports come out about this. I heard about the president's address yesterday. I've been following things that people have said on Twitter, and I don't really have any commentary to add at this particular time.
I'm kind of collecting my thoughts. I'll maybe say something about it in greater detail at a later time. But I will say this. I saw a comment yesterday on Twitter by a fellow by the name of Joshua Walk.
He is the executive director of Baylight Counseling there in Florida. And he said this, Church, the world will respond to Orlando with endless resolutions that cannot save. Don't be distracted. We preach Christ and Him we proclaim.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Perhaps now more than ever. Must we understand the thesis statement that Paul gives to the Romans in Romans one sixteen where he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes in Romans chapter 13, a section that we're going to begin studying today or that that particular chapter will begin studying it today.
Paul says, you know, the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone. The day is at hand. So let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.
Folks, it is so important for us to understand a charge that Paul gave to the Philippians that they do everything without grumbling and quarreling so that they may be blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which we shine as lights in the world.
If we are going to hold out the gospel of Jesus Christ to a dark and dying world, we need to not be carousing in the same sins that they are or we will look like hypocrites. We must be set apart, living lives of holiness so that it verifies the message that we share of this Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins so that all who believe in him have right standing before God.
Our sins have been forgiven and it is only in Christ have we received eternal life, an eternal imperishable kingdom where there will be no more death, no more dying, no more tears, no more evil such as the events that we saw take place over the course of the weekend.
It is only those who have Christ who will inherit that perfect, holy, righteous kingdom. And so let us preach the gospel of Christ so that those who hear it would repent of their sin and the darkness in which they live.
They would come into the light and believe in Christ Jesus our Lord. I would like to pray and I would ask you to join me in prayer and my prayer is going to be based on Psalm 11. O Lord our God, in you do we take refuge.
How it is said to our souls, flee like a bird to the mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow. They have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
You are in your holy temple God. Your throne is in heaven. Your eyes see, your eyes test the children of man. You test the righteous. But Lord we know your soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
On him you rain coals, fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For you are righteous and you love righteous deeds. The upright shall behold your face. Lord, we pray for your peace in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, amen.
Let us be diligent and let us now more than ever understand that we must be bold with the gospel of Jesus Christ, carrying it out to a dark world. The events that we saw happen in Orlando, Florida yesterday, the things that are going to continue to be said about it and will come out about it as the news unfolds.
Let me just say to you, the worst is yet to come. There will be evils far greater than what we saw in Orlando, Florida yesterday. They will be perpetrated against both the upright in heart and those who walk in evil.
Be ready for the things that are going to come out. And we as Christians need to be ready to understand we will be smeared. We will be spoken of in an ill way, but we cannot revile those who revile us.
We cannot revile in return. As we talked about in Romans chapter 12 yesterday, we must have this spirit of peace and as much as it depends on us living peaceably with all. Let's continue on into Romans chapter 13.
We read the following beginning in verse one, we're going to go through verse seven. 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.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?
Then do what is good and you will receive his approval for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.
Pay to all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. As we go back to verse one here, 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.
Doesn't matter what you think of our elected officials, doesn't matter what you think of the president, our senators and representatives, the governor of your state, if you live outside of the United States, whatever system of government you live under and whoever it is that is in charge, it doesn't matter what you think of them.
You as you know, personally, according to your personal views, what you would think of that particular person, you must be submissive to the governing authorities because that person has received their authority by God.
If we understand doctrines of predestination and election, then we understand that a person who has been placed in a position of authority has been predestined for that authority for the purpose and the will of God.
He ultimately has something he is accomplishing through that person in that particular position. And so we must be submissive to that authority, understanding that for such a time as this, God has that person in that place to accomplish his will.
We cannot take it upon ourselves to assert that authority or be anarchist against that authority, to rebel against that authority, because to do so would be to rebel against God. You look at the situation that the apostles were in at the time that the gospel was first going out, constantly being arrested and brought before authorities who are telling them to stop saying the things that they said.
But we read in Acts chapter five, Peter said, we must obey God rather than men. And then when they were beaten for proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.
But Peter would stand before the council and he would say, you must do what you think is right. But as for us, we cannot remain silent because of the things that we have seen, knowing that Jesus Christ was crucified and that he was buried in a tomb and he was risen again to life and it is those who believe in Christ will have eternal life.
We can't keep silent about that message. And so we cannot either. We must continue to preach with boldness the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is in that message a person finds salvation and peace with God.
So regardless of what you think of the situation that is in our government right now, whatever government you live in, we must be subject to the governing authorities. God is accomplishing a work through those individuals.
We have this charge given by Paul to his servant Timothy, first Timothy chapter two. First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So we must pray even for those who are kings and those who are in high positions.
Because I think that one of the reasons why Paul emphasizes governors in particular, in that particular passage, is I think that we have a tendency to look at those people as objects of a of a political viewpoint instead of people who have been made in the image of God.
Like you look at President Obama and you think of him as being kind of a mascot for the Democratic Party or liberalism and progressive ideas. But do you understand that he is a man that has been made in the image of God and he must be prayed for, that he might repent of some of the evil things that he has done as president of the United States so that he would know Jesus Christ as Lord and thus be forgiven of his sins.
We saw some amazing things happen with Nebuchadnezzar. When we read the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar became one of the authors of the Bible. And yet he was a person at one point who was commanding people to bow down to a golden statue and if they didn't, he would throw them into a fiery furnace.
Yet Nebuchadnezzar would come to a place of repentance and he would become one of the authors of Scripture himself. He wrote a portion of the book of Daniel. Can you imagine the same thing happening to our president of the United States?
Not that he would write a portion of the Bible, but that he would repent of his sins and that the Spirit of God would use him to lead this country to revival. I think that it can happen. The Spirit of God can do amazing things, but we must obey the charge that has been given to us that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and even thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions.
Are you thankful for those who are our elected officials? Yes, even being thankful for President Barack Obama. One of the things that we're going to come to understand as we continue to study here in Romans chapter 13, civic government is a blessing from God and we'll talk about that more as we continue on.
Lord, we thank you for these passages and we pray for our president who in the midst of this national unrest over this massacre that occurred over the weekend, I pray that he would be given wisdom, that he would lead this nation in repenting of sins.
This nation is being judged for its sins and it's only going to get worse. We know that. And so Lord, please lead us in righteousness and let our leaders, our elected officials be guided according to the wisdom of God, that they might lead this people in an upright way.
Lord, whatever laws are passed against those of us who are the people of God, who are your children, may we live peaceful lives. We share the gospel in a peaceful way, knowing that people are going to revile us for the gospel that we follow, but we cannot revile in return.
But answering each one peacefully, our speech always seasoned with salt, as Paul said to the Colossians, give us wisdom in knowing how to respond to each person. With the gospel of Jesus Christ, we pray this in his name.
Amen.
Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.