Sermon Clip: "Church and State" (Romans 13:1-7)

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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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.

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And it may come quicker than we think.

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So long as what the government asks us to do is not ungodly, or a call to compromise our faith, we must obey.

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But when we are demanded to disobey God, to obey the government, we must obey God and not men.

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And some of you might think, well that will never happen.

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I would say to you, you are naive at best.

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Because there are places around the world, I've just mentioned places around the world where it's happening now.

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And there are already pockets of this type of thinking in our own country.

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I'm thankful, Brother Andy prayed earlier and I say with him, yes and amen.

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I'm thankful that we have a governor in Florida who did not close the churches.

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He recognized the essential nature of the freedom to worship.

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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.

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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.

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And even now we have our chairs separated a little to continue to do what we've been asked to do.

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However, across our land some churches have not had that benefit.

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There are states which are still maintaining lockdowns which include the prohibition to gather for worship.

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And it has been suggested by some that churches will not be allowed to gather again until a vaccine is developed.

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Something which may or may not ever happen.

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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.

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Currently the governor of California is not allowing the churches in his state to open.

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And as a result a group of 500 churches have gathered together to reopen in defiance of the governor.

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I'll read to you a quote.

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The churches are not asking for permission said Bob Tyler, a religious freedom attorney advising the pastors.

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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.

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The pastors have signed a petition and said that they will let governor Gavin Newsom know their plans which include social distancing.

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We'll give the governor an opportunity to amend his order said Tyler.

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But if he does not these pastors have told me that they are committed to opening regardless of what the governor says.

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Some of them may end up facing severe consequences.

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Some of those men may lose their freedom.

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Albeit only maybe for a time.

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But I believe we should pray for them.

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I believe we should stand for them and with them.

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Because the call to gather in worship is not an option for the believer.

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The call to gather together in corporate worship is a command of Almighty God.

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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.

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And as I've already said there was a time during this season where we took a few weeks off.

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But it cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.

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Eventually the church must stand up and say we will obey God rather than men.

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They may come with punishment.

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They may come with persecution.

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They may come with incarceration.

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They may even include evisceration in the media and social media.

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And that may mean that we become enemies of the people that we love.

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Even those in our own family.

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But when it comes to the Christian's responsibilities we are called to worship.

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Together.

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We are called to submit to government.

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And we are called to submit to God.

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But only one of those is ultimate.

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Anyone demanding allegiance which violates God's authority must be resisted.

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Now that doesn't mean we go march on Capitol Hill.

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I really don't care to go march anywhere.

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But what it does mean is we do what God has commanded of us.

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In spite of the prohibitions and in the face of the consequences.

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God may one day call us to jail.

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And the fear that I have seen in so many people showed me that not many people will be willing to go.

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I told my wife, one day I may have a prison ministry.

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It's got to be what it is.

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We must stand for God first.

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And remember, this sermon is a call for balanced thinking.

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Since this virus has begun I have seen extremes on both sides within the church.

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Those who would demand absolute and unquestioning obedience to the government.

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No matter what they tell us to do.

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And that's wrong.

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But I have 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.

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And that's wrong.

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As believers we need to recognize that God has established the state for a purpose.

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We need to be good citizens.

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We need to not be known for rebellion and disobedience.

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But when obedience requires disobedience to God we need to let it be known we will not stand.

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Or we will not fall.

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We will stand.

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We will resist.

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When they say you can't gather at church but you can gather at Home Depot.

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When they say you can't go to the church building but you can go to the Planned Parenthood building.

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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.

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Well sir we have a problem.

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And this is my final thought.

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I do not need permission from government to worship my God.

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And to gather with others to do the same.

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I have this command from God and therefore I have the only permit I need.

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If the governing authorities choose to punish me for doing it I will receive that punishment for His glory.

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But I will not beg Caesar to worship Christ.

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Let's pray.