Be in Subjection to Authorities

Transcript

GR 1470
05/01/11
Be in Subjection to Authorities
Romans 13:1-7
Gil Rugh

We're going to be in Romans 13 in your Bibles today. For those of you who have been part of our regular study of Romans, you'll remember that with Romans 12 we come to the last major section of the book. And really everything following this until we get to the concluding remarks flows out of what he says when he begins Romans 12. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a sacrifice which is living, holy and well-pleasing to God. That means you are not conformed to this world but you are transformed by the making new of your mind. And that enables us to discern what is acceptable to God. Presenting our bodies a sacrifice to God on the basis of the mercies of God. Through the first eleven chapters Paul has unfolded the wonders of the details of the salvation that God has provided for us as sinful beings through the death of His Son. And we can know the wonder of having our sins forgiven, being washed whiter than snow, as the prophet says. Having the righteousness of Christ credited to our account and now we are brought into right relationship with the living God and have the privilege as well as the responsibility and obligation to live our lives now in obedience and submission to Him.

We talk about godly living, we talked in Romans 12 about things we would relate to quickly, how we function together as a family of believers in the church, exercising our spiritual gifts; the way we are to treat one another and demonstrate love; being careful not to be vindictive or vengeful in dealing with those who mistreat us; the enemies of Christ and the enemies of believers can do very hurtful and damaging things to believers. But we are to be careful to respond in love even to those who would be our enemies.

When we come to Romans 13 he continues really moving into an area that carries us beyond just our personal activity as believers in the context of the church and maybe personal difficulties we confront. But what about our life in this fallen world just generally? Everyone in the world lives in a certain context of a certain kind of government with authorities over them, some better, some more despicable. But you can't escape it in this world. And so what Paul is going to deal with in the first seven verses of Romans 13 is how we as believers in Jesus Christ, those who have experienced the mercies of God's salvation and abundant provision for us, and have thus presented our bodies to Him so that all that we are and all that we do is for His honor and His glory, how do we function in a fallen world in relationship to the governing authorities, political rulers. We are sort of torn, we live in two worlds, if you will. Philippians 3:20 says that for us as believers our citizenship is not in this world but it's in heaven. And we are eagerly awaiting the coming of our Savior from heaven, who will transform these lowly, humble bodies and bring them into conformity with the body of His glory.

So then we have this tension—I am a citizen of heaven but I also am a citizen of this country in this world. And sometimes believers get confused on how we sort that out. My heavenly citizenship does not absolve me of my responsibility to worldly, earthly government. And that's what Paul wants to make clear in the opening verses of Romans 13. This will encompass things that we have to give consideration to. When government is not doing things that we like or approve of, they seem unfair, unjust in their decisions, in their ruling, how does a believer function in that context? You understand the Bible is clear in I John 5 that the whole world lies in the evil one. Satan is called the god, small “g,” of this world. Remember when satan tempted Christ in the early part of His earthly ministry, recorded in Matthew 4, he took Christ up on a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said, I'll give you these if you fall down and worship me. You see something of the authority that satan has been given in our fallen world. And in the structured order of the world with earthly governments we have unbelieving, ungodly people ruling, making decisions, passing laws, requiring of us certain things like paying taxes. And often the tax money is used in ways and for things we do not agree with, do not approve. In fact sometimes used for things that are clearly unbiblical. What do we do? What is consistent with our action as believers of having given our lives in obedience as a sacrifice to our God? How do we function in a way that honors Him? There is much confusion, much has been done by believers that has brought discredit and dishonor to the testimony of Christ. And yet they think they are doing something that is a testimony.

Let's look at Romans 13. The chapter begins with a clear, direct command. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. Every person. So where Paul's concern is for believers, remember he's instructing those who have experienced the mercies of God. Romans 12 began this section. We have turned our bodies now over to God for His use. Every person, that includes all of us as believers in this world, is to be in subjection to the governing authority, is to subject himself, place himself under the governing authorities, obey them, submit to them, recognize the governing authorities over us. This would include all of those who have authority, to the ones who have authority. So this doesn't just include the highest, the king or the Caesar or the President. But it would filter all the way down to local officials, to the governor or the mayor and others who have more limited authority, but they are part of the governing structure in our society. Every person is to put himself in submission, subjection to the governing authorities. No exceptions here. It is given as a command, it's an imperative, so we might say every person must, it's a middle voice, that means something you do. There is an obligation placed upon you by God and His command, we have yielded our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. As part of that His command to us is to place ourselves in subjection to the governing authorities. We need to be careful we see the connection here, and Paul will make it even more strongly as we move along.

The governing authorities are the authorities which are in existence. There is no distinction here about the level, whether you talk about the mayor, governor, a senator or President or whatever, it's the governing authorities and it's the ones that are. We say, well I could if this person were ruling. In our society we get to vote and we say, I didn't vote for him, why should I have to submit to him? But that's not the way it works. Whoever is in place is the one that we must submit to.

Why? Well the “for” in the middle of verse 1 gives you the reason. For there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God. That's a pretty strong reason. All authority comes from God, there is no authority except from God. Those which exist, which are. That's why I say it's not well if this happens, if we get this change in government, if this person gets in then I'll subject myself to him. No, it's those which exist, those which are the ones that are established by God. So look around, who is the President or the members of Congress? Who is the governor? Who is the mayor? Who is in this position? Those are established by God, those are the ones we are talking about. The present ones functioning are there by God's divine approval.

Psalm 62:11, once God has spoken, twice I have heard this that power belongs to God. We get to a foundational matter here. When we rebel against existing governing authorities, we are rebelling against God, which becomes an issue of denying the testimony that we are trying to have before the world that we have come to submit to the living God, bow before Him, in faith receive His salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ and now live a life of obedience to Him. And then we disobey governing authorities. That's an act of rebellion against God. Those who exist are established by God.

Turn back to John 19. We have had the arrest of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now He is before Pilate, the governor of the time, the Roman official in charge. Jewish official are involved, the governing body of Judaism, the Sanhedrin that has been delegated certain governing responsibilities for Israel. But ultimate authority rests with the Romans and the Roman official is Pontius Pilate. So Pilate hears the accusation the Jews are making. He brings Him and charges Him and He is abused by Roman soldiers, and then Pilate says at the end of verse 4, I find no guilt in Him. Verse 7, the Jews said, we have a law and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God. Therefore when Pilate heard this statement he was even more afraid. And he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, you do not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you? And I have authority to crucify you. Here is a man, he's a minor official in many ways but he has significant authority in this particular area. He acts with the authority of the Romans government. And he can set Christ free or he can crucify Him. And he says, don't you know I have authority? And you sit here silent before me?

Note what Jesus said, verse 11, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above. For this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin. You see where Pilate's authority came from? From God. You sit here with authority from God. You are in an official position, now you have that authority. But those, and particularly here it's Jesus' own people, the Jews, who are trying to push for His execution. But Christ makes clear to Pilate, don't misunderstand Me. You'll note He doesn't treat Pilate with disrespect. You are a representative of an ungodly government, there is no justice in your system, I am an innocent man. And go on and on. He makes it very clear—you are in your place of authority because the sovereign God has placed you there. That puts great responsibility upon you because Pilate will be responsible for his decision. But there is no issue here, he's the wrong man in the wrong position at the wrong time. And if they had a different kind of governor with more backbone he would have ............ No, God put you here. That's be clear on that foundational issue.

Come back to Romans 13. There is no authority. Same word we talked about in John 19, you would have no authority except it be given you from above. This is the statement, there is no authority except from God. And those which exist are established by God. You know we have a word that is repeated here that we can't pick up in English translation, just happens going from one language to another. But when that command was given to be in subjection at the first part of this verse, be in subjection, it's a compound word. The basic word is tasso, we carry it over into English. And it means to be established or to be placed, appointed. And then it has a preposition on the front to make a compound word like we do. Hupo, means to be under. So we are in subjection when we are placed under, established under the authority of someone. Well here those which exist are established. And that word translated established is that same word tasso without the preposition on the front.

So it's a reminder here as these Romans read this letter, you are to be in subjection to the governing authorities because those which exist have been established by God. You were established under them because they have been established by God. You are placed under them because they have been placed by God. ________________ of our responsibility to recognize what God has done. He placed them in authority and He has placed me under their authority. And then that word will come up down in verse 2, he mentions it three times here. And you'll see basic to this is the work of God in appointing what is taking place.

Those which exist are established by God. You'll note here there is no discussion about good government, bad government; good ruler, bad ruler; types of government—democracy, dictatorship, whatever. That's not an issue. Those which exist are established by God. We live in a country that has a democracy. Our country thinks the best type of government is democracy, and that's the goal, to promote democracy around the world. Well, that may be the goal of governing leaders and that's fine, but we ought to make clear that's not a mandate given to Christians. Sometimes we think democracy is the biblical way to go. Whatever authorities exist, exist by the appointment of God. That doesn't mean that we don't prefer one kind of government over another. You understand when God established government in Israel He established a monarchy, and when the kingdom is established on earth under Christ, it will be a monarchy. Now I'm not arguing for monarchy in the United States, don't misunderstand. I'm just saying Christians get caught up in the idea that our government is God's type of government for the world and Christians ought to be caught up in promoting democracy in the world. If we lived in Russia, we would submit to that particular type of government; if we lived in another country, we would submit. That would be our responsibility.

Come back to Jeremiah 27, we want to look at just a few Old Testament passages. And Jeremiah prophesies at a difficult time in Israel's history. The northern kingdom has been carried away much earlier by the Assyrians, the northern ten tribes of Israel. The southern two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, we call it Judah, the southern kingdom is about to be conquered by the Babylonians. For the Jews this is hard to swallow and there is a desire to resist and a desire on the part of the king to resist the Babylonians. And Jeremiah is sent with an unpopular message—you better submit to the Babylonians because God has appointed them to rule over Israel and over the surrounding nations as well.

Jeremiah 27 opens up, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, the word came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying. And he is instructed to bring a message to not only Judah, but to surrounding countries. Verse 3, send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, to the Sidon by the messengers who came to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Command them to go to their masters saying, thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters. There is no hope in an alliance here of countries joining together to resist the Babylonians.

Verse 5, I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm. You see the foundational issue here. Who is the Creator of all things? Everyone and everything? People and animals alike, who created them all? I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power, by My outstretched arm. Now note the last statement here, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. Period. I have absolute, total sovereignty over everything because I created everything. Period. I give it to who is pleasing in My sight. Now don't misunderstand this. He's not saying I will give it to the person who is most pleasing, who does the things that I agree with. No, that's not what He means by most pleasing here, not like a Christian is to live a life pleasing to God. He's talking about here, I do what pleases Me because He's going to give the Jews and all the surrounding country into the hands of the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar is king of the Babylonians, he is a godless, pagan man. In fact in the book of Daniel what happens when Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego don't want to worship Nebuchadnezzar through his image? He throws them into a fiery furnace. He's a godless man, he's not nice.

We sometimes get the idea ........... Zedekiah, we started out this chapter, you know what Jeremiah told Zedekiah—you better not resist Nebuchadnezzar, you can't win. You know what happened to Zedekiah when Nebuchadnezzar finally conquered Jerusalem? He took Zedekiah and all his family out into the field where he is going to judge him, he had all his family brought before him, he has all his sons slaughtered. And you can be sure it wasn't a pretty sight because he wanted Zedekiah to look on this while he slaughtered his sons to know they wouldn't be there to inherit anything. And then he puts out the eyes of Zedekiah so the last thing Zedekiah will have seen on this physical earth was the slaughter of his sons. This is the kind of man Nebuchadnezzar is. And now God says I give the kingdoms of this earth to the one that pleases me, to whom I decide I want to do it. I have absolute power here.

Verse 6, now I have given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, My servant. Even Nebuchadnezzar is called here My servant. He's not a believer but he's the one who is doing My will because it's the will and the sovereign determination of God that the Babylonians will be used to punish the Jews and these other nations for their actions. So here God is going to use a godless nation to punish His nation Israel. We want to note here though, I give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight, the one that God determines is the right one for that position.

Come over to Daniel 2, when this actually has taken place. And the book of Daniel written by Daniel who was carried away as a captive after Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Jews. He carried away certain people and brought them to Babylon for training for his benefit. But you understand this meant Daniel was torn away from his family. He is carried there to be trained the way Nebuchadnezzar says he should. Not that Nebuchadnezzar is just such a nice, easy man to get along with. Remember the man in charge of the training of Daniel and the others was afraid if he didn't do exactly what Nebuchadnezzar said and it didn't come out well, he would die.

So you come to Daniel 2 and God has given a dream to Nebuchadnezzar. And Daniel is going to interpret the dream. Here you see a godly man, he's been torn away from his own family, deported to a strange land to serve a pagan king and a pagan empire. But in Daniel 2:14 when he has to address those in authority over him, Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king's bodyguard. So you just see something of the character of Daniel, the man of godliness functioning as he should.

But we want to come down to verse 20, we're just breaking in. Daniel said, verse 20, let the name of God be blessed forever and ever. For wisdom and power belong to Him. God has revealed really the dream and what it means to Daniel so he can tell Nebuchadnezzar. Wisdom and power belong to Him. For it is He who changes the times and the epochs, He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. Who removes kings, establishes kings, changes times and epochs? We see turmoil in parts of the world today. We wonder what's going on. God is making some changes. Will they be for good or bad? They will be according to His will.

He removes kings, He establishes kings. We think Presidents come and go and as a result of our vote and our election. God uses us, certainly He does, because in our form of government we vote for our officials, they are elected. Ultimately I don't determine who it is. We get the idea if more Christians had gotten out and voted, more people who are this had gotten out and voted ........... It wouldn't have changed a thing. Do you think God flunked this test because you didn't vote? If the sovereign control of God for this country depends on that kind of fragile system, He's not much of a God, is He. He's the God who created everything. Are you saying therefore you shouldn't vote? I'm simply saying God uses whatever system is there to accomplish it. Do you know how Roman rulers came and went? Oftentimes you murdered the one in power so you could get power. That surely frustrated the plan of God. Not one bit because God uses the intentions of sinful men to accomplish His purposes. His plan is never frustrated. There has never been a President of the United States right down to the present day who is not there because that's the one God has appointed to that position. There has never been a mayor of this city who has functioned outside the sovereign power of God. I take it that's what we're saying.

Look on here, down to verse 37. Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar, you, oh king are the king of kings. Now note this, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. How did Nebuchadnezzar come to power? Well he is a powerful man, he is a good military man. God gave it to him. The God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, the glory. And wherever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky, he has given them into your hand and caused you to rule over them. God is sovereign. I fear that sometimes in our country often as believers we have gotten caught up in a political process in a wrong way. We get the idea that the work of heaven depends on getting the vote out, it depends on this person getting into power. The whole future of the country depends on winning this election. You know what this all depends on? The sovereign God. I can sleep tonight.

Are you saying therefore I shouldn't .............. We in our country have the right, the privilege, the prerogative to exercise our opinions at the poll and so on. Fine. Sometimes it's how you might vote, sometimes it's not. But it's always according to God's vote. We have to recognize that. People wring their hands the next day and say, well, they didn't come out and vote, they deserve what they got. Well they got what God had determined. He is sovereign. I'm not a fatalist because I believe in the action of a personal God who sovereignly controls it all, even my vote, even overruling my vote. And yours also.

Come over to Daniel 4. Now Nebuchadnezzar is going to be driven insane for a period of seven years and God has revealed that to him in advance, given him a chance to repent but he won't. But look at verse 2, just so you see the context. Nebuchadnezzar is telling what happened, why he had to go insane. Because by God's grace Nebuchadnezzar gets converted. Verse 2, this is Nebuchadnezzar. And he is king of all the peoples, verse 1, the nations, the people of every language who live on the earth. Peace be to you. It seems good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. How great are His signs, how mighty are His wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, His dominion is from generation to generation. I'm the king of all the people but you know who rules—the God whose kingdom is eternal.

You come down then and he tells why he is going to go insane as Daniel had explained to him and what had to happen. Verse 17, this sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers. The decision is a command of the holy ones in order that the living may know, now you have this underlined, that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And sets over it the lowliest of men. Who is in charge? The Nebuchadnezzar who is king to all peoples and nations. You understand the Most High is ruler in the realm of mankind. He bestows it on whom He wishes, He sets over it the lowliest of men. And that's just a statement. God doesn't put men in that position because it's not a cause of pride. Well, I was better than that other person or God wouldn't put me in this position. Sometimes God's will is to put in the person who is not the better but is the worst.

He had to go insane, the end of verse 25, you ought to have them underlined if you don't already, this had to happen until you, Nebuchadnezzar, recognized that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. The end of verse 26, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is heaven that rules. The end of verse 32, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows on it whoever He wishes. Nebuchadnezzar, there is only one explanation for you being king of Babylon—the sovereign God appointed you.

So at the end of that seven-year period, verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar says I bless the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Among the angels of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is only one opinion that matters, there is only one opinion that gets carried—that's God's. He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, what have you done.

This is crucial because we claim to be Christians, we claim to believe that God is sovereign over all and we bow before Him and His Son is our Savior. Unless we get out the vote and get a different kind of administration there is no hope for this country. And blah, blah, blah. We begin to turn around and deny the truth that the Bible says. And we act like before the world that God is not sovereign, we don't know what we're going to do. There is a reason God separated the religious aspect of Israel and the ruling aspect. The king had to be from the tribe of Judah and the priests had to be from the tribe of Levi. Jesus Christ will be the Priest-King. But it is not God's intention to blend those. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't exercise our rights to speak, but we have to be careful. Paul made clear here, it's always with respect. Daniel addressed Nebuchadnezzar, pointed out what his sin was, but he does it with complete respect. He exhorts him to repent, to bow before the God of heaven. We ought to have a godly ........ We sometimes speak about the President or our elected officials with disdain and it is a denial of our faith in Christ. It is a denial of our declaration that we have submitted to the living God. We ought to be telling them, you know you have this honored position because God has placed you there. We make it a matter to pray for you, we desire the best for you and we pray God will give you a wisdom even beyond your wisdom so that you can make decisions that are best. But you know, you will give an account to this God. Rather than dumping on them because of what we think they haven't done.

When Paul appears before rulers, whether it is Festus or Felix or Herod, he doesn't take time to tell them all that's wrong with the way government is running and the laws are. He takes time to tell them about God and His sovereign plan and His salvation. It amazes me how Christians can get so caught up and so enthusiastic and so energetic for things that the Bible says are not what we are called to do

Come back to Romans 13:2, therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. I mentioned that word tasso, it's part of the word in subjection, means to be placed or appointed, established under because you have a preposition on the front of tasso. Then you had established, just the plain word tasso, by God at the end of verse 13. And now therefore resist authority has opposed, anti-tasso. We're familiar with the word anti, we bring it over anti. Is opposed, is against that which has been established or placed. And who has done this? Well they are established by God. So therefore resist authority is opposing what has been established, the ordinance of God. _____________ that we should be a rebellious people as believers. We are to be a submissive people, an obedient people.

Those who resist authority has opposed the ordinance of God. This is what God has set down, this is what God established, this is His plan. Now that doesn't mean there are never times when I have to disobey. We'll just take one, come back to Acts 4. Because they always bring these up—well, there are exceptions. There are, but there are not as many as we might like to make them. If the government says you can no longer worship your God, you can no longer tell people about Jesus Christ and His salvation, we will have to say, I'm sorry but I must obey God rather than men.

Acts 4:18, when they had summoned them, Peter and John, this is the governing body in Israel. They commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard. This is the occasion. God has entrusted us with this message. So you see it is a clearly defined line of what God has established. This does not get into areas whether we agree about this or that. Am I on a crusade about this government law or that government law. If it requires me to do something that the Bible forbids me to do, or it forbids me to do something the Bible requires me to do, then my position is clear. Other than that I am submissive to government. Government makes laws, some laws I don't agree with. I recognize they have used their authority, I believe they have misused it and will be accountable to God. But you understand Romans are ruling the world here. Some of these Roman rulers are infamous down to our day for despicable behavior and conduct. Paul is writing to a church in Rome with a Roman government and the Roman Caesar is ______________. I mean, some of the stuff is so revolting you don't even talk about it in a public meeting. What these men did and carried on in public ways, I mean, they are not respectable in that sense. We have men that even though they are unbelievers, they function in an admirable way. I mean, you think you would be telling your sons growing up, I would like you to be like Caesar Nero. I hope you will be like Caligula when you grow up. I don't think so.

Come back to Romans 13. Those who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves, verse 2. The connection here, they will receive condemnation. When you oppose the rulers, the ordinance of God, you receive condemnation, for rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. Obviously he is making a statement here. Paul will suffer greatly with the misuse of authority. But the general rule is still the same. Paul had some protection from his enemies by governing authorities. And that's true for us. You may disagree with a lot about government, a lot about their laws and even some of those infringe upon us as believers perhaps, but generally we would say I appreciate there is rule in our country. I appreciate there is not anarchy here like there are in certain places in the world. We are meeting here, we have the protection of government and I'm glad for that.

We all fudge the speed limit. What do we do? Well, I only go 5 miles over, 6 miles over, 7 miles over because I think they'll give me that leeway. But you know if I'm going 40 in a 45 mph zone and somebody goes sailing by me at 90, what do you say? Where are the police? He ought to be punished, he ought to be stopped, he ought to be taken off the road. We're glad for that. Because if you didn't have laws or those who enforce laws, the laws would become meaningless and then we'd have chaos.

We were in a country years ago and it was funny. The policemen were up there blowing their whistles and nobody stopped. He's standing there blowing the whistle and the car just goes around on the sidewalk and down. We said, this is a zoo. We're getting on a ferry, they stop because the ferry is full. Doesn't keep the truck from getting on. They couldn't get the back wheels on the ferry. Nobody paid any attention. So the laws were meaningless because nobody enforced them. I'm glad that we have laws that are enforced. Now I'm not glad for every law that has been passed and is enforced, but the statement is true. If you don't want to have fear of authority, do what is good and you'll have praise for the same. Is that true? If you're going 40 in a 40 mph zone and a police car comes by, fine. If you're going 50 all of a sudden you're thinking, does he have something else on his mind? Or is he following me?

We were in California on a motorcycle and you can split lanes in California. So we're going up between the slow traffic and I look in my rearview mirror and there's a CHIPs on a motorcycle coming up behind me. I don't know where he came from. The first thing I do is look at my speedometer, the second thing I did is, do I really have this right. Am I allowed to do this in California for sure. So first open space I get, I move over. Then I hold my breath, is he going to move over, too. He just kept on going. I loved it.

So if you're doing what's good, you don't have anything to be afraid about. Right? If you're doing what is wrong, then you are afraid. Why? Verse 4, it is a minister, this government, the governing authority is a minister of God to you for good. This is part of God's good plan for the world to bring order because of sin. There needs to be order brought, restraint brought even in bad government. We've seen this in some Communist country where the government was repressive but it maintained a certain order. And when that government was removed and not replaced with anything for awhile, you had chaos, you had anarchy. You had people being killed on the streets in broad daylight and no one to enforce the laws and to bring punishment to bear. So this is part of God's plan.

It is a minister of God. He uses two different words here for minister and servant. Here he uses the word, we get the word liturgy from this word. This is a servant of God, can be used of spiritual service, can be used of general as well. A reminder, he is God's minister, God's servant for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid. It does not bear the sword for nothing. It is a minister. He uses a different word here for minister, servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. And we are glad for that. That restrains people who might be opposed to Christianity and come in and start killing people. If they are thinking of doing it, they have to think of how they do it and what the consequences and whether they get caught. That is a restraint. So God has graciously brought order to this chaotic, fallen world. We get to the tribulation we'll see a breakdown of that and chaos begins to overwhelm the world. And what did Jesus say? Between the chaos in the world and the judgment God is pouring out from heaven, there wouldn't be anybody left alive on the face of the earth if He didn't intervene after seven years.

So we as Christians want to recognize that. We may not approve of everything the government does, it may not even be the administration we would have voted for or did vote for. But they are the ones God has put in place, and we can appreciate their bringing order. Yes, but down the road our country is going to pay the .......... Maybe. Maybe that's part of God's plan and so on. We leave that in God's hands.

Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but for conscience' sake. Not only because you are afraid of punishment but because you want to have a good conscience. You know I sometimes think about things, and I've talked to the staff about this as well. If there is something you might be going to do, think of yourself in front of the congregation and then that being exposed that you did that and you have to explain why or defend it. Well, I don't think I'd do it, if that's the case. Then don't do it. We want to have a good conscience. If you're speeding down 84th Street at 80 mph and the policeman pulls you over, is the first thought that comes to your mind, I think I'll share the gospel with him. You think, I hope he doesn't know who I am, I hope he doesn't know I'm a Christian. He says, I attended Indian Hills once, didn't I see you there? No, I think it was probably somebody who looks like me. Why? Because you're embarrassed, you have a guilty conscience because you know you were doing what you shouldn't do as a believer. That's what he's talking about. We have to maintain a clear conscience before God.

We don't have time to go to II Corinthians 1:12. Paul says, I want to maintain a clear, pure conscience. So you obey the laws, you submit to the law.

Render to all what is due them, tax to whom tax. That's probably an error. But no, tax to whom tax, custom to whom custom. Not only taxes but all kinds of things that are tacked on there and have to be paid. Fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. That's our responsibility. So do we grumble about the taxes? Do you think the Romans were using the taxes for good things? I'm going to withhold this portion of my tax, I don't agree with the war. I'm not going to pay taxes, they're funding abortions, they're doing this. That's the way fallen men administer, they do a lot of unholy, ungodly things. I'm not justifying everything they do, but that's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to fulfill my obligation. I have to pay the taxes. I'm sure some of these Romans thought, I'm not going to support Caesar's godless lifestyle and raising the taxes so he can build a bigger palace, and raising the taxes so he can ......... I just won't do it. Well, you better do it. You pay the tax because God has placed them in authority and given them authority to tax. And you do it without grumbling. And you give them the honor.

We don't have time to turn there, but write down Titus 3 where we are again reminded to be in subjection to authority. Remind them to do it. You remind them to malign no one. We need to be careful. We may have a disagreement with a law, we can talk about it, we can express that. We have to do it carefully. We malign no one, we speak evil of no one because we respect the fact God has placed them in this position. They may not be the person I would have put in, but I'm not God so I better quit acting like it. I better respect what God has done because I'm one who claims to have given his life over as a sacrifice to God to be used to honor Him. And He has placed this person in authority, it is my privilege to show my obedience to the living God by my obedience with respectfulness in the honor I give to them. Not because they are an honorable person, but because they are in a position of honor and I respect them for that. Just as Daniel did with Nebuchadnezzar, he'll do it with Belshazzar, a man that God is going to destroy. He is given respect.

So we want to maintain our testimony in a fallen world. And this is one very practical, real everyday way we do it. We need to be careful about our conversation, we heard presented in song about our lips, about what we say. Be very careful that we are consistent as those who have presented their bodies as a sacrifice to a living God.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for you abundant grace, grace that has taken us fallen, hell-deserving sinners living in rebellion against you and brought about a remarkable transformation that only you can do. You have changed our hearts, you have made us new creatures in Christ. Now we are privileged to live a new life in the power of the Spirit. Lord, this becomes a very practical area as day by day we live under governing authorities. We have laws that are made that we must obey and submit to. Lord, sometimes we chafe, we forget that you are sovereign. For your purposes you have placed these people in these positions. Lord, we would honor them and respect them and take advantage of every opportunity to pray for them. And, Lord, show our respect of them. And Lord, maybe even through our testimony make them more aware of how beautiful the transformation that Christ brings to a life. We pray in Christ's name, amen.