Why We Believe: Defiance to Tyranny is Obedience to God

Acts 17 and the Early Church’s Proclamation of Jesus as King

If you would turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17. If you're new to the scriptures, that's right after the four gospels, Acts chapter 17, you get Dr. Luke's historical narration of the events of the early church, the acts of the early church, specifically related to the apostles and those first Christians filled with the spirit of God out in the world, proclaiming the gospel.

We're in Acts 17, starting in verse one. Hear now the words of the living and the true God. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

And Paul went in as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah, the Christ.

And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar and attack the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them.

And they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things, when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Thus far as the reading of God's holy and inspired word, let's pray together as a church. God, we come before your throne, Lord, with bold and confident access as forgiven people, with your inspired word before us, this gift, this treasure of your revelation.

You've spoken, God, and these are your words. Lord, these are not just events in history, they're your revelation to us as to what is right and true and lovely and beautiful, what is just, what is faithful, what is obedient.

I pray, God, today, Lord, through an unworthy servant, you would speak by your spirit, that you would challenge us in our thinking, that you would embolden us, you grant to us the strength of your spirit to live lives that are faithful to you.

I pray that we would have the strength and the courage to say Jesus is Lord, he's the ultimate over Caesar. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So today we're talking about why we believe resistance to tyrants is obedience to God or defying tyrants is obedience to God.

Of course, that's a challenging thing, maybe not often preached today. Of course, in the history of the Christian church and in Christian tradition, it was something that was kind of understood, particularly in the Protestant tradition, understood in terms of the role of the civil magistrate, the king, the governors, the rulers, and the role of the church, the role of the family.

There's an understanding that God is the ultimate, Jesus is Lord. You understand, by the way, that that statement, Jesus is Lord, is not, I like to say this, is simply a pithy Christian slogan, he's Lord to me, he's the boss to me, he's the chief ruler to me, he's the king of kings to me and Lord of lords to me, he's Lord between my ears and in my home and in my church family.

We understand that when Christians early on were proclaiming that Jesus is the king and there's another king other than Caesar, he's the ultimate, Jesus, that was a profession and a confession, a proclamation that was treason in Rome.

You see, it's easy for us to say today with the blessings that we've inherited from our forebears, Christian missionaries and Christians, evangelists, pastors, believers, who laid down the solid blessings from God's word and justice in this particular nation that we live in, it's easy for us to go out into the marketplace and say, Jesus is Lord.

Now, mind you, yes, in the 21st century, that may cause a bit of a mob or a rabble, it could create some difficulties, say in Chaz, or Chad or Chop or Chunk or whatever the name of that city was, it changed a few times.

I understand there are some places in the West which was historically founded by believers with an understanding of Jesus's ultimacy. There are places today where if you say Jesus is Lord, it can cause trouble, but let's be honest right now, even where we're at today, we say Jesus is Lord and most people just give us a passing, you know, whatever, what a religious zealot or a weirdo, but we're relatively safe at the moment in a way because we have not understood this truth of Jesus's lordship in our generation the way that it really is, the way we ought to understand it, that the claim of the lordship of Jesus Christ is that Jesus Christ is king.

He's the ultimate, he's the ultimate standard, he's the ruler of the world, he's on his throne putting his enemies under his feet, and that proclamation that Jesus is Lord, he's the ultimate, he's the ruler, it is understood today in different parts of the world who have been overrun by communist regimes or by totalitarian governments or people who haven't yet received the gospel.

When they hear that proclamation, Jesus is Lord, they get it, they understand what it means, and we're gonna talk a bit about that, but why preach a sermon on resistance to tyranny as obedience to God?

I'm gonna say here it is, fundamentally, I hope you understand my heart on this, the reason as a minister of the gospel, as a pastor over this church, I'm preaching a sermon on resistance to tyranny as obedience to God is number one, love for God, love for God.

The two greatest commandments, love God and love neighbor, are what motivates a message like resistance to tyranny as obedience to God. For if we love God first and foremost, if he's the ultimate, if we can recite the Shema, Shema Yisrael, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh Echad, Hero Yisrael, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

That proclamation has the understanding there is only one God, none before, none after, he is the first and the last, he doesn't even know of any other gods, he is the ultimate, we are to have his authority, his lordship as a sign on our heads and on our hands.

He has the ultimate position in our lives and everything we do, all of our actions are in him. We love him supremely. Love for God is why I preach a sermon on resistance to tyranny as obedience to God, because any time a tyrant tries to usurp God's authority or take his position, it is my duty as a follower of Jesus Christ to resist that false God.

And number two, love for neighbor. We must resist tyrants as an act of obedience to God to love our neighbors, for if we turn our heads or act with indifference, when our neighbors are covered with the weight of tyranny or injustice, we are in fact hating our neighbors.

If I am not jealous for my neighbor's liberty, their freedom, and their protection, I hate my neighbor. Love for neighbor demands that we resist tyranny as an act of obedience to God. Now we need to consider this in the context of the early church.

A lot of times I think we miss this. So many of the statements from scripture about Jesus being king of kings and Lord of lords and Jesus as the ruler of the kings of the earth and statements like Jesus is Lord have been just simply the things we put on T-shirts or coffee cups, the sorts of things that Christians today just take for granted and we think, well, those are really just spiritual things.

They pertain just to our spiritual community. We don't quite understand the context of our faith in the early church. I wanna remind you of it. If you would, come with me in this. Remember that the early Christians were not killed by Rome because they worshiped Jesus.

Rome was pagan.

You worship what you like.

They had pagan temples where you could pay a fee and go in and do all manner of wicked and evil things. You could worship whatever you want, stone, stubble, hay, gold, anything. You could worship anything in Rome, but you had to recognize the ultimacy of Caesar, that Caesar is Lord, Caesar is God.

The state is ultimate. The early Christians, particularly in the book of Revelation referred to that kind of a state as a beast and we ought to as well. But remember, they weren't killed because they worshiped Jesus.

The early Christians were killed because of what we read here in Acts chapter 17 and other places. They were killed because they were saying that there's another King, Jesus. You understand that the statement, Jesus is Lord and he's the King in the context of Caesar's rule is treason.

You're saying that there's an ultimate that Caesar must yield to, Caesar must obey. The state must bow to Jesus. That was by the way, the claim of the early church. Jesus as King is not just a really cool CD cover from Kanye.

Jesus as King comes with implications. It comes with demands. You must obey Jesus. And I wanna remind us all that the great commission that the Lord Jesus gave to us, Matthew 28, 18 through 20, said all authority in heaven and on earth that pertains to the Caesar, civil governments, your family, my family, the world.

All authority belongs to Jesus. And he says, because of all that authority being mine, that's past tense, by the way, he says, therefore go, because of this, go. And he says, what? Disciple the nations.

Disciple the nations, baptize them and teach them to what? Obey. Obey who? Jesus, the one with all authority. That great commission is not about starting Bible studies in basements. That great commission is about winning the world to King Jesus.

They were saying there's another King, Jesus. By the way, that was, read it in Acts 17, that was the claim that was used as a way to get them into trouble with the rulers of that day. Jesus is the King.

Remember, Kaiser Kurios, that was the claim.

Just say it.

Just say it, Kaiser Kurios, Caesar is Lord. You can be a Christian and live a good life worshiping Jesus, no problems at all. All it takes is a little pinch of incense, just a little bit, just an acknowledgement that Caesar is Lord, that he is divine, that he has the ultimate say.

Early Christians died gruesome, gruesome deaths, because they wouldn't offer the little pinch, because they wouldn't let those words flow from their mouths. They wouldn't say Caesar is Lord, and they were seen as, are you ready, enemies of the state.

The Christian church from its inception was seen as an enemy of the state. And do not forget that our King, the ultimate, our Savior, the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, he was killed as an enemy of the state.

There is no way to get around the political implications of this gospel. It is a gospel of salvation, it is a gospel of forgiveness, it is a gospel of peace with God, but it is also gospel of a kingdom.

It's a message about what Christ has accomplished in salvation, defeating earthly powers, spiritual powers, and wickedness, and it is a gospel that we actually sang about right here, the kids did it. You ever think about that song?

Joy to the world, joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive, what? Let earth receive her King. Let earth receive her King. Well, who's that speaking to? The Christians, we've sang that song forever.

It's a Christmas song, right? Did you know that it wasn't created as a Christmas song at all? We sing it a lot at Christmas because it's about Advent, it's about Christ coming, his appearing as King, but that song is hashtag dat post mill.

I mean, it is straight post millennial.

It is.

If you've been singing it, welcome to the club, guys. But think about what the song says because it's deeply biblical. The song talks about Christ coming, joy to the world, and it says that he is going to defeat sin and darkness as far as the curse is, what?

And we rejoice today when we see these kids singing the song, joy to the world, but have we thought about the implications of what we're singing? As far as the curse is found, Jesus is gonna address it.

He's gonna wrap it up. Let earth receive her King. The early church understood the implications of Jesus as Lord. Let me ask you, what would it take for you to endure being flayed? Being flayed in the first century in Rome was a way of torturing people to just do it for sport or to get them to say something that they didn't wanna say.

Being flayed is where you have your skin cut from your body and pulled from your body while you're alive. Now, don't think about it in terms of theory, right? That would be a really gross thing. I want you to think about it as history.

It happens. Christians were flayed.

Why?

Not because they worshiped Jesus. They were flayed because they wouldn't say Caesar is Lord, that you're the ultimate. Now watch this. You are there before Roman soldiers and you have a way of escape.

I want you to consider it. You have a means of escape. All you must do is say Caesar is Lord and you keep your skin. What would it take for you to have your legs and arms pulled from your body and not recant to continue saying, armless and legless, Jesus is Lord because our forebears, the early Christians, they died those ways.

What would it take for you to be tied to a stake naked, to have Nero, Caesar, covered in a bear skin or a lion skin coming to eat your genitals? That was Caesar Nero. He was a disgusting, despicable, disgraceful man that considered himself divine.

He demanded worship. He said that he was the son of God. But these are the kinds of things that took place and all you must do to escape that kind of a beast, that kind of a state is simply say Caesar is Lord.

Early Christian says, no, Jesus is Lord. You can take my life. I have no fear of death. It has no power over me. I worship Jesus. He's the ultimate. That is, brothers and sisters, the beginning of the early church.

Christianity started as an enemy of an ungodly, idolatrous, pagan state from the very beginning. And everywhere we've gone, by the way, people have recognized always the threat of King Jesus.

Always.

I'm gonna point you to a little bit of a history here. I think it's important. This from R .J. Rush Dooney. Tell me if this sounds familiar to you. Tell me if the quote, listen for it. I want you to tell me if it's starting to sound familiar to you.

Salvation is to be found in none other save Augustus. And there is no other name given to men in which they can be saved. Sound familiar? Hang on. According to a German historian, the religious principle of the Roman Empire from the days of Augustus on was salvation by Caesar.

Quote, salvation is to be found in none other save Augustus. And there is no other name given to men in which they can be saved. This helps us to understand the boldness of St. Peter and the total power he declared rested in Christ when he said of Jesus Christ, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

That really lets you see that verse in a whole different light, doesn't it? When Peter preached that Jesus was Lord, he declared war on Rome. Modern Christians, by their devotion to the state, have fallen into the pre-Christian error that the state is God, and only the state can save us politically, economically, and socially.

War between Christ and Caesar, the Christians in Rome, was thus inevitable. The state and its emperors claimed to offer salvation. The church declared that salvation was only in Christ. Powerful. Another quote here from David Chilton, Paradise Restored, about Caesar worship.

Asia Minor was significant because the cult of Caesar worship is dealt with at length in the prophecy, and Asia Minor was a major center of Caesar worship. Quote, inscription after inscription testifies to the loyalty of the cities towards the empire.

At Ephesus, at Smyrna, at Pergamum, and indeed throughout the province, the church was confronted by an imperialism which was popular and patriotic, and bore the character of a religion. Nowhere was a Caesar cult more popular than in Asia.

After Julius Caesar died, 29 BC, a temple honoring him as God was built in Ephesus. The Caesars who followed him didn't wait for death to provide such honors, and beginning with Octavian, they asserted their own divinity, displaying their titles of deity in temples and on coins, particularly in the cities of Asia.

Octavian changed his name to Augustus, a title of supreme majesty, dignity, and reverence. He was called the son of God, and as the divine human mediator between heaven and earth, he offered sacrifices to the gods.

He was widely proclaimed as the savior of the world, and the inscriptions on his coins were quite frankly messianic. This was the main issue between Rome and the Christians. Who is Lord? Francis Schaeffer pointed out, quote, let us not forget why the Christians were killed.

They weren't killed because they worshiped Jesus. Nobody cared who worshiped whom so long as the worshiper did not disrupt the unity of the state, centered in the formal worship of Caesar. The reason the Christians were killed was because they were rebels.

They worshiped Jesus as God, and they worshiped the infinite personal God only. The Caesars would not tolerate this worshiping of the one God only. It was counted as treason. One more from a very good article.

In the time of Jesus, the Roman Empire was conquering the world through their military might and a mechanism called, we've talked about this before, the Pax Romana or Roman peace. When your tribe, listen to this, when your tribe or kingdom submitted to the Roman peace, Rome would nail their euangelion announcement, their gospel announcement, to a post for all to see.

On it, you could read the words, quote, there is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved, save for Augustus. You could receive this salvation by having your tribe admit to the fact that Caesar is Lord.

Now, Caesar Augustus also had a name that went alongside him. He was called the Divi Filius, a name in reference to his adoption under Julius Caesar, who was then believed to be a god, Caesar Augustus, the Divi Filius, Caesar Augustus, the son of God.

Around the year 6 BCE, what's carved on the side of a Roman building, this inscription, quote, the most divine Caesar, we should consider equal to the beginning of all things. For when everything was falling into disorder and tending towards dissolution, he restored it once more and gave the whole world a new aura.

Caesar, the common good fortune of all, the beginning of life and vitality, all the cities unanimously adopt the birthday of the divine Caesar as the new beginning of the year, whereas the providence which the birthday, which has regulated our whole existence has brought our life to the climax of perfection in giving to us the Emperor Augustus, who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior has put an end to war and has set all things in order.

And whereas having become God manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times. The birthday of the God Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of good news concerning him.

Do you hear it?

That is downright messianic. And I wanna say, though it has such deeply religious connotations and language, it is not really different than most totalitarian states in human history, where the state is seen essentially as the ultimate, as divine, as the point at which you do not go beyond.

It must be obeyed. And from the very beginning of the church, the church started with a statement of open treason. I want you to see it again. Acts chapter four, go there. Acts chapter four, verse five.

On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas, the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name do you do this?

Did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we're being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well.

This Jesus is a stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Did you see it?

Here is Peter at the beginning of the church, Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church, Pentecost has happened now, and here is Peter in public offering a proclamation that was treason, taking the language that was used about Caesar and actually reorienting it and saying, no, that's Jesus, no salvation is found apart from Jesus, the state cannot save.

So the beginning of the church started with open rebellion and treasonous proclamations. You see, Jesus was a threat to the rulers of the world. He was a threat to the rulers of the world, number one, because of the messianic prophecies.

What are the messianic prophecies tell us about Jesus appearing in his advent, his coming into the world? We can't do it all today, but how about the Christmas one, Isaiah nine, six through seven, unto us a child, a son, so it's a human, but yet it's the father of eternity, it's the El Gabor, the mighty God of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

That's Christ's kingdom, that's its growth, that's its victory in history, and it says the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this, God's gonna do this. Isaiah 42 says, this servant is coming and he is going to establish justice.

He won't grow weary until he has done so, and the coastlands are waiting for his law. Isaiah chapter two says that God is gonna draw the nations up to his mountain and his Torah, his law is gonna go forth from Zion, from the center place of the people of God.

God is coming to rule the world. In Genesis 49, 10, it says that Shiloh is coming and to him shall be the obedience of the nations. And of course, we did it today in our catechism, Psalm 1101, the most popular verse in the New Testament, quoted from the Old Testament, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

That means all of God's enemies are going under the feet of Christ. So Jesus was always a threat to the rulers of this world because Jesus came for total obedience. Again, I reference you back to Matthew 28, 18 through 20, all authority in heaven and on earth is Jesus Christ's.

He has it all. And so of course, Jesus is a threat to the rulers of the world, always has been. But he was a threat to Herod in Matthew chapter two, seven through 18, Herod was a ruler in his day. And of course, when he hears about the advent of Christ, the birth of Christ, what happens?

He tries to kill him. He tries to kill all the babies to end this messianic king's life so that this ruler would not ultimately impact or flirt with his rule. He was a threat to the apostate Jewish leadership.

You see, tyrants don't like someone like Jesus because he's the ultimate. He was a threat to political leaders. He was a threat to religious leaders who were tyrants, who were ruling in a way that was not honoring to God.

And of course, Jesus was a threat to Caesar. Go with me to John. Gospel according to John chapter 19. John chapter 19, Jesus was a threat to Caesar. In John chapter 19, verse one, the text says, then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

Now, if you're new to the faith, Pilate, of course, is a Roman ruler and leader. So this is Jesus in conflict with Rome. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.

They came up to him saying, help, king of the Jews and struck him with their hands, mocking the king of the universe, the king of the world with a crown of thorns, placing it onto his head, not understanding that they were placing the very sign of the fall onto the head of the sacrifice, the thorns.

But they are mocking Jesus, hail, king of the Jews. They knew what his message was. In verse four, Pilate went out again and said to them, see, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, behold the man. When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to him, take him yourselves and crucify him for I find no guilt in him.

The Jews answered him, we have a law and according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God. When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above.

Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him but the Jews cried out, here it is. If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friends. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.

So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat at the place called the stone pavement in an Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, behold your king. They cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar.

There's the early conflict. You see it. You see that the scriptures place us in a context where this commitment to Christ and his lordship is a commitment to Christ as ultimate. Just think about that.

The proclamation Jesus is Lord is calling him the king, saying that he has all authority, that he's ultimate over every institution, every person. And when we come to Jesus to be saved, we're coming to die.

So we come to Christ as ultimate, as everything. That is the biblical faith. But make no mistake about it, the early Christians came into the world with this proclamation as enemies of the states. So it should be no shock to us, brothers and sisters, when we are finding ourselves in a context today, anywhere in the world where we have a state that rejects Christ's word, God's law, and his ultimate authority, where we find ourselves as enemies of the states.

That's the entire history of the Christian church. Wherever anybody tries to subvert the authority of Jesus Christ and God's law, we will be seen as enemies of the states. And that is why resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

Love for God and Love for Neighbor as the Motives for Resistance

Number one, because of love for God, and number two, because of love for our neighbors. You see, the message of the advent of the king of kings and lord of lords is inherently threatening and subversive to totalitarian and tyrannical governments.

Let me say it again, please hear it. The message of the advent of the king of kings and lord of lords is inherently threatening and subversive to totalitarian and tyrannical governments. Remember that in Psalm chapter two, long before the advent of Christ, long before the first Christmas, the father warned the kings of the earth in reference to Jesus that they were to obey the son, obey him or they will perish.

Psalm two, the father promises the world to Jesus. He says, ask of me, and I'll give you the nations for your inheritance, the very ends of the earth for your possession. Jesus did not forget to ask, but the father says to the rulers of this world, he says, obey the son or you will perish.

So of course, the message of the advent of the king of kings and lord of lords is inherently threatening to these ungodly governments. Of course, the most quoted verse, I'll give it to you again, Psalm 110, one very clearly teaches that Jesus is putting his enemies under his feet.

If you contradict him, his authority or his law, you are an enemy. Now there's two ways to see this, I think, that are healthy. Number one, don't get too excited about all these enemies going under Jesus' feet because you also were one of them.

You were saved and subdued by Jesus. You who were once an enemy of God were brought near through the blood of the cross. But there's also another way that Jesus puts his enemies under his feet, and that's by pouring out his judgment and wrath upon them.

There are times where when God wants to put an enemy under his feet to conquer them, they die and are eaten by worms. That's also a possibility. You see, the message of the advent of the king of kings and lord of lords is inherently threatening and subversive to totalitarian and tyrannical governments, and Pastor Wang Yi understands that.

Pastor Wang Yi is a Presbyterian pastor, a faithful man of God, who right now, while we're giving this message, is suffering somewhere in communist China in a prison. He believes what you believe and what I believe.

The only difference is baptismal mode. Should we baptize babies?

But that's peripheral stuff. He is us.

You understand that. Pastor Wang Yi is a brother in Christ, a faithful minister of the gospel. If you haven't heard some of his sermons, you can go look him up, Pastor Wang Yi. There's a subtitle, translation underneath.

He is a great man of God. And right now, brothers and sisters, at this very moment, he is suffering a nine-year prison sentence in communist China and listen to the charge against our brother who is suffering right now in China for, quote, inciting to subvert state power.

They get it.

Chinese government's right, by the way. They're right. They're sinful, they're wicked, they're idolatrous, but they're right. The proclamation of the biblical gospel is subversive to state power of a wicked government like that.

It is.

You see, the message of the advent of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is inherently threatening and that's seen even in recent times with the history of North Korea. Did you know that before the end of World War II, more Christians were in North Korea than South Korea?

And did you know that it was known as the Jerusalem of the East? And did you know that the wicked leader of North Korea today who thinks himself a God, isn't that interesting? Seems like we're seeing a pattern here, who thinks himself a God, did you know that his grandfather was the son of Christian missionaries?

North Korea, in order to become what it is today, had to stamp out the gospel. It had to make the Christian faith illegal, why? Because we say there's another King, Jesus. Isn't it interesting that in history when faithful Christians go into a culture with a faithful proclamation of the gospel, the state understands, the deified state understands, these people are a threat to our authority, why?

Because they say there's another ultimate. They say there's a higher law. They say that there is somebody above them and a deified, idolatrous, pagan state cannot stand that. Faithful Christians in any culture can be humble, can be gracious, can be hospitable, can be like lambs, but they will be seen as enemies of the state because of this, Jesus is Lord.

We say there's another ultimate, another King, and it's Jesus. There is no way around this. If you wanna live a life of comfort and ease, then you should back away now from the biblical faith because this true faith will cause you to lose your life and livelihoods.

This is a faith that does not promise comfort. Jesus said to people, woe to you when all people speak well of you, a curse on you when all people speak well of you. Jesus says, you will suffer. In a world that I believe is being transformed as far as the curse is found through the gospel, as we're on our way from that mustard seed to a large tree, there will be suffering, there will be consequence.

And brothers and sisters, what has happened to us as Christians in the West that we love our lives so much that we're unwilling to be uncomfortable or to be seen as people who are subversive? We love our stuff.