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Amen all right over there in Romans chapter number 13 and of course this morning we are continuing a series entitled mixing politics and religion and we've been looking at this idea of government and politics through the lens of Scripture and this has not been as I've said every week up to this point and I'll continue to say this has not been a series endorsing any any political candidate or anything like that the only reason we're even doing this series though is because with the election coming up we all are kind of thinking about politics and think about these things I think it's good for us to understand biblically what we believe or how we should believe regarding these these matters so of course this is the third week and if you have missed the last couple of weeks I'd encourage you to check those out you can find those on our website you can find it on our YouTube channel this morning I'm preaching on the subject of Christian civil disobedience I'm going to be talking about when we should disobey the government when we should not disobey the government and honestly in order to teach that concept I kind of have to lay a foundation of government in general so this morning I'm preaching on Christian civil disobedience but I'm really going to give you a kind of a theology of government and what I mean by that is it's going to be a very doctrinal sermon in the sense of what is it that the Bible teaches about government I usually like to have nice literated catchy outlines for you I don't necessarily have that I have five statements and I'm going to encourage you to write down and this will just kind of give you an idea because when it comes to how we deal with government we need to understand you know what does the Bible even teach about government what what is it that the Bible says about government so we'll talk about Christian civil disobedience that's the main focus but we need to begin by just giving you a theology of government government so I want to give you five statements and I encourage you write these down on the back of your course of the week there's a place for you to write down notes and of course we're always encouraged you to take notes while during the service of course if you have a baby on your lap or something like that we understand let me give you five statements and I'll be I'll go ahead and give you statement number one statement one is this that God ordained government God ordained government in Romans chapter 13 and verse 1 the Bible says this let every soul be subject unto the higher powers and the higher powers there is referring to government authorities and that's clear from the context notice what he says he says for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God the Bible says that there is no power there is no governmental authority without it being checked or given its authority by God the powers that be are ordained of God notice verse 2 whosoever therefore resisted the power resisted the ordinance of God so the first idea that we need to understand is that God is the one that ordained government so please understand this we are not anarchists we do not take this position that we just resist government you know and and today in many of our types of circles around conservative Christianity you do have this anarchist philosophy that just by default we're against the government you know whatever the government says we're against it and we don't want to comply with it and we want to protest against it and nothing the government does is right now look I understand that when we live in a society like the one we live in it's very frustrating to see government I see and I understand that government does many things that we don't agree with we understand that but in general we need to understand that God did ordain government the Bible says that the powers that be that that there is no power but of God the powers that be ordained of God and if we resist the power we resist the ordinance of God the word ordain or ordinance means to give order or to give authority in the same way that we might ordain a pastor or ordain a deacon or ordain an evangelist what are we doing when we do that we are giving that individual the authority to go start a church to go pastor a church to go do a ministry well the Bible says that God ordained the powers that be are ordained of God now you you say well how do we you know correlate that when you have evil government and we're actually going to talk about that not next week but the week after that I'm going to be preaching a sermon called the rulers of the darkness of this world and we're going to correlate this idea between God's ordaining of government and you know wicked people in high places and I would encourage you to join us for that but I want you to understand that God ordained government and all governments are ordained by God and and they're they're filled and what I mean by that is this there's no government that ever rose up that what God was like oh man you know that one caught me off guard you know Hitler got away from us there I didn't want him to be in power all ordinance all powers are ordained of God the Bible says and to kind of help you understand this idea keep in place right there in Romans we're going to come right back to it but go to the book of Acts if you would Acts chapter 17 you just flip back one book and like I said this is going to be a theology type message so we're going to flip to a lot of passages I hope you're ready hope you came to church ready to learn the Bible and understand the Bible and and and be taught from the Bible go to Acts 17 but let me just say this God instituted or God created three institutions he created the family and I won't take the take the time you can study this out on your own he created the family you can learn about that in the beginning books of chapters of the book of Genesis he created the church and of course you can study that in the New Testament and he created government these are three institutions that God created the family the church and the government so government God ordained government are you there in Acts 17 look at verse 24 Acts chapter 17 and verse 24 the Bible says this God this is of course the Apostle Paul and he is speaking on Mars Hill he's preaching a sermon to these very superstitious Gentiles and he has just noticed that they have a sacrifice to all these gods and then they have a sacrifice to the unknown God just in case they missed one the God that they don't know and then Paul says you know what there's only one God let me introduce you to him the unknown God that you don't know Acts 17 24 this is what Paul is doing in this sermon he says God that made the world and all things therein seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth and I want you to notice that the Bible says that God is Lord of heaven and earth we're not going to look at it this week but we'll look at it in a couple weeks in the book of Daniel the Bible says that the heavens do rule that the heavens are Lord over the things that happen here on earth that he is Lord of heaven and earth notice dwelleth not temples made with hands verse 25 neither is worship with men's hands as though he needed anything seeing he give it to all life and breath and all things notice verse 26 and ha now this is God we're talking about that's the context from verse 24 God that have made the world and all things therein in verse 26 the Bible says God and an hath made notice of one blood all nations to notice the Bible says that God created nations but it's interesting here that he says that he made them all of one blood so every every all of human population can be traced back to Noah really coming off the ark and back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and I want you to notice what the Bible says the Bible is telling us here that God is the one who created nations notice and has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the earth on all the face of the earth notice and have determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation so here we're told that God created all nations and God it says all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth every nation on this earth God ordained it God created it and have determined the times before appointed not only did God create the nations he determined when those nations would rise and when those nations would fall the Bible says promotion cometh neither from the north from the east or from the west or from the south but God is the judge he raises up one and set it down another and a clear picture of this and again we're not gonna look at this this morning we'll look at this in a couple of weeks but a clear picture of this is the story of Daniel remember Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he saw an image and nobody could tell him the dream and nobody could interpret Daniel was able to do it and Daniel interpreted this dream and Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar that he saw this image and this image represented the nations and the government's the powers that would rise and fall upon the earth and of course you had the head of gold and that represented Nebuchadnezzar and the Empire of Babylon then you had the the breasts and the arms and that represented the meno-persian Empire then you had the midsection and that represented Alexander the Great and and Greece rising up in power then you had the legs and that represented the Roman Empire then you had the feet which would represent the future coming Kingdom of the Antichrist but in that image God told Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel and the rest of us through his word he predicted and told us these are the governments these are the nations these are the empires that will rise and fall and I want you to understand this that God is the God is the Lord of heaven and earth and he even resides over the geopolitical world structure it is God who ordains government it is God who allows governments to rise and governments to fall he is the Lord of heaven and earth and notice verse 26 he hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth and have determined the times before appointed when they will rise when they will fall and the bounds of their habitation he's the one that decided that the United States of America would be where the United States of America is he's the one decided that China will be where China is he's the one that decided the bounds of their habitation see the government's and the nation's whether we understand it or not are ordained of God for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God I'll give you another example if you remember when Jesus was meeting with Pilate and Pilate said to Jesus I have the power to let you go and to make you free and Jesus responds you have no power but the power that God has given you why because of the fact that it is God that has ordained government so we must understand this God ordained government and and and I'm not preaching about this this morning but I just want you to notice it there in verse 26 it says that God ordained nations not racist in fact the concept of races as far as you know black white Hispanic that's not a concept found in Scripture that's not a concept thought in Scripture you know the only race you find in the Bible is like running the race the race that is set before us other than that this concept of oh well I'm black and you're why and you know I guess I'm brown I don't know you know whatever whatever that that concept you can use that terminology but just understand this that is not a biblical terminology he has made of one blood all nations all nations have the same blood that goes back to Adam and Eve God did not create races but God did create nations and the bounds of their habitations and had determined the times before appointed so God is the God over the geopolitical world structure of our day go back to Romans chapter 13 if you would Romans 13 just flip over to Romans and keep your place in Romans cuz we're gonna leave it we're gonna come back to it throughout the sermon I said number one this morning God ordained government God ordained government you say well what about evil governments just hang with me next week I'm gonna preach a sermon about the Supreme Court all right and then the week after that we're gonna look at the rulers of darkness of this world so just hang with me we'll learn all this together God ordained government here's statement number two government has a biblical purpose government has a biblical purpose you say what is the biblical purpose of government let me show it to you two things Romans 13 verse 3 for rulers now the word rulers there is referring to political leaders for rulers are not a terror to good works now please understand this Paul is speaking here in regards to the government structure in general we're not specifically talking about any specific government and he is referring to as to this is how government should work when God ordained government here's how he ordained it to work so don't try to fit the United States of America into Romans chapter 13 don't try to fit you know Mussolini's Italy into Romans 13 this is more of a pattern of a blueprint this is how it should work Romans 13 verse 3 for rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil here's what he's saying this is how it should be and by the way for the most governments that have ruled upon this world this is generally how it is rulers are not necessarily a terror to good works here's what I mean if you're just a good person citizen just trying to live your life and do it just was do for the most part rulers are not just going to be attacking you and terrorizing you he says for rulers are not the terror are not a terror to good works but to evil he says wilt thou then not be afraid of the power he says do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same so here's what he's saying he's saying look we should fear government in the sense that it's there to protect the people and it's there to punish the evildoer I'm going to show it to you in the text you say what is the biblical purpose of government to protect and to punish to protect the people to punish the evildoer he says look you don't have anything to be afraid of if you're not a criminal you don't have anything to be afraid of if you're not doing bad things he says for the four rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil wilt thou then not be afraid of power and again this is in general government in general this how it should be do that which is good and thou shall have praise of the same he says look if you do good things your government shouldn't hurt you it shouldn't affect you in fact it'll praise you if that's the type of citizens that a government should want to have notice there's four four now the word for there means because he the word he there is in reference to the representative of government government representative notice it says for he is the minister of God to thee for good so notice again God ordained government and here we're even told that he is the minister of God to thee for good because you say why because the biblical purpose of government and when government does what they're supposed to do what they're supposed to do is protect the people they're also supposed to punish evildoers notice verse 3 again for the rules are not a terror to good works notice these words but to the evil so they shouldn't bring terror to people doing good works but they should bring terror to those who do evil but to the evil notice verse 4 for he is the minister of God to thee for good but here's the contrast if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is the minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil so according to the Bible what is the biblical purpose of government it is number one to protect the people and then it is number two to punish the the evildoer who is whose job is it to carry out punishment for those who break the law for those who do evil the word evil means to hurt for those who hurt other people it is the government's job it says that if thou but if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is a minister of God a revenger to execute the wrath upon him that doeth evil and I just want to make this point and I'll come back to it later the sermon it is not your job but it is not my job to do the government's job and to carry out vengeance it is the job of government biblically speaking the purpose of government is to protect the people and to punish the evildoer that's it protect the people and punish the evildoer now I realize that governments and our government has overextended itself they have extracurricular governmental activities that God never ordained them but but there are a couple of things that God said government is there to do is there to protect the people and it's there to punish evildoers now look it does say it's there to set up a public school educational system it doesn't say it's there to set up a welfare program it doesn't say it's there to set up a government health care program it doesn't say that it's there to set up all these extra government regulations structure systems that are there you say biblically speaking what is the government supposed to do it's supposed to protect the people and it's supposed to punish evildoers that's it and by the way let me just say this as the Bible leaving Christian this is why my wife and I have done everything on our power to have as little to do with our government as possible you know as far as them being alright this is why we don't use their public school system because God did not ordain a public school system God ordained a mom and dad to raise their kids and educate their kids you know this is why we don't we we try to reject as much of those things as possible obviously there's some things we cannot reject but the purpose of government is to protect the people is to punish the evildoer and look I would just just please understand this if I were you and I realize sometimes people have needs and things like that but if I were you I would get out I would get out of as many government systems programs welfare things as you are able to because those things come with a price when you let them into your home look the government doesn't give you money just because they're nice they give you money so they can put their foot in the door and and control you and mandate you and cause you to do certain things so look the biblical purpose of government is to protect people and and and and punish people my goal in in life and and you know is that I I think up to this point my wife my wife and I have six kids my wife can tell me if I'm incorrect about this but my wife and I have six kids my oldest is 13 our youngest is 2 and I think really the only government institution that they've you know have like some sort of a membership or card or where they're known is the public library you know and forgive us for sinning and you know promoting the public library we do use the public library that's not really a government biblical purpose for the government either but you know well we'll have to get that right with God I guess protect the people and punish the evildoers that is the purpose of government go back to Romans chapter 13 oh you're there in Romans 13 look at verse 1 I'm sorry so it's not number one God and we're gonna keep going to the library okay I'm just kidding it's not a perfect state we live in God ordained government government has a biblical purpose I have to say that sometimes I make jokes and then people take it to an extreme you know what I mean and there's these YouTube videos about how like the public library is wicked or whatever okay I just I'm joking sometimes people don't get what I'm joking my I'm not funny I get it but um you know just help me I want to be clear number one God ordained government number two government has a biblical purpose number three here's statement number three we are to submit to government now just you know before you just write me off as a FEMA pastor okay and start sending your emails and make your comments just listen to the entire sermon all right the Bible teaches that we are to submit to government and I'll just give you a hint we're not supposed to submit to everything but there is an idea that we are to submit to government Romans 13 look at verse 1 again let every soul be subject what is the word subject or submit me it means to come under the authority of the word sub has the idea of coming under something like a submarine goes underwater he says let every soul be subject unto the higher powers we are to bring ourselves under the authority of government again we're not anarchists we're not gonna set up some you know military militia to go overthrow the government no the Bible says that every soul be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be ordained of God knows verse 2 whosoever therefore resisted the power resisted the ordinance of God he says look you shouldn't be resisting government and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation so the Bible teaches that we are to submit to government to an extent you say why because God ordained government you say why because there is a biblical purpose of government now it's not the public school education system it's not the welfare system not all those things but there is there is a purpose to government go to the book of Titus if you would Titus chapter number three so if you find all the T books they're all clustered together 1st 2nd Thessalonians towards the end the New Testament 1st 2nd Thessalonians 1st 2nd Timothy Titus 1st 2nd Thessalonians 1st 2nd Timothy Titus Titus chapter number three this is a this is an idea that is taught throughout Scripture that we are to submit to government Titus chapter 3 look verse 1 Titus chapter 3 verse 1 put them in mind to be subject to principalities here Paul is telling Titus a preacher and he's telling him hey there's some things you need to teach your church people pastor why are you why are you preaching these sermons because the Bible actually tells me as a preacher that there are some things that I need to put in your mind teach you from the Bible put them in mind why do I put them in mind Paul what do you want me to do as a preacher put them in mind to be subject to principalities the word principalities talking about again a political leader principality comes through the same root word where we get the word like Prince it's talking about a political leader that's why the ruler it talks about principalities in that verse in Ephesians 6 about the rules arkness of this world he says put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers to obey magistrates what's a magistrate it's a government leader someone who makes laws and ordains laws to be ready to every good work notice Paul says hey we need to be subject to principalities and powers we need to obey magistrates we are to submit to a government go to the book of Acts if you would acts chapter 5 if you kept your place in Romans and we're gonna come back to Romans so keep your place there before Romans you have the book of Acts Acts chapter 5 and like I said this is kind of a theology a lesson number 1 God ordained government number 2 government has a biblical purpose it is to protect and to punish to protect the people to punish the evil door number 3 we are to submit to government now some of you're thinking wait a minute I thought this one is called Christian civil disobedience pastor I thought you were gonna tell me you know when can we finally start writing you know when can we start you know taking up arms all right well before we can get to the disobedience we need to understand when we need to obey all right number one God ordained government why should we obey because God ordained government why should we ordain because government has a biblical purpose why should we obey because God actually tells us to submit to the higher powers we are to submit to government here's statement number four and we'll spend our majority of the sermon on the statement number four we should disobey when government asks us to sin we should disobey when government asks us to sin are you there in Acts chapter 5 look verse 28 this is the quintessential passage on this subject but we're gonna look at lots of them this morning Acts chapter 5 and verse 28 the Bible says saying and by the way these are the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the council meeting together with against the Apostles in the New Testament saying did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us so here you have the political religious authorities saying we commanded you to not teach in this name well here's the problem with that if the Apostles were to submit to that command to that law that would be a sin because God commanded them Jesus commanded them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature so they're saying hey well we that we have a law we command you do not to teach in this name and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us notice verse 29 then Peter and the Apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men see there is an authority structure there's an authority structure and above government is God in fact it is God who ordained government so when government and God are at odds with each other are in conflict with each other God wins every time we obey God rather than men now please understand this please understand this most conservative Christians political type Christians they'll they love that we ought to obey God rather than men the only problem that I have with that is that they obey they they they they bring that out for everything everything the government says we ought to obey God rather than men the government says you should put a mask on you know when you go into this building or whatever and like yeah we ought to be God rather than men well look I don't like mask either I get it they're annoying we and I think there's a purpose for them and there's a use for them and in certain situations but but you know that's not a sin do you understand that you say when do we disobey government we disobey government government asks us to sin other than that we submit to everything the government said so before you go and start protesting and start getting your militia together you have to ask yourself is the government asking us to sin and from time to time the government does ask us to sin so we disobey other than that we submit because we should submit to government and we should only disobey when government asks us to sin go to the book of Ephesians if you would Ephesians chapter 4 you got acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Ephesians and then I want you to get Colossians all right we're going to compare just a couple of things here acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians then you have Philippians Colossians get to Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians and then you have Philippians Colossians Colossians chapter 3 Ephesians 5 now I'm going to give you an example that doesn't have to do with government but let me just remind you remember that God instituted three institutions he ordained three institutions the family the church and the government now I'm going to give you an example from the family and then I'm going to prove it to you using examples in regards to government but I'm going to show it to you from the family but I want you to understand that the authority structure is the same in all of these God only has one authority structure you say what is it when God has given you when there is a God given authority like it's not that complicated here's how it works you obey and everything unless they ask you to sin okay so here's an example Ephesians 5 verse 24 therefore as this church is subject unto Christ so notice notice how he's saying he's about to give us an example of the family but he says this is also how the church works this is also how the government works because all of God's institutions all work the same do you understand that Ephesians 5 verse 24 therefore as this church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be to their own husbands notice these two words in everything the Bible teaches understand this is not popular today but most of the things I preach are not popular so you know what's the difference but the Bible teaches that wives are to submit to their husbands in everything that means that look when you and by the way ladies this is why it's very important who you choose to marry so he's a jerk well nobody made you marry him but once you're married to him you are to be subject in everything everything means all things whatever your husband wants you know that's where you're supposed to know let me just say this husbands if you are if you're not an idiot you you would you know realize that God gave you a wife to be a help meet that God has given wives wisdom and intuition and and you would consult your wife and you would respect her opinion and you would want to get her thoughts look and there are some things guys let me just help you there's some things that it's just who cares why fight about how your wife wants to decorate the kitchen are you are you cooking I mean if you're cooking then I guess you know but if she's cooking why would I care if she's doing all the cooking why would I care okay so just little marriage counseling there all right well I have the authority okay you do have the authority but don't be an idiot but you know at the end of the day though at the end a husband you're the authority there does come a point where you've got to make a decision it in God is going to hold you accountable Adam notice who takes the blame Eve he always started saying Eve eats of the fruit gives it to her husband and for the rest of the Bible we're talking about one man sinned Adam Adam brought sin into the world ah you know you were in Adam it's like what we were about Eve well Adams a boss he's in authority he's the head he's the leader he's the one that God holds responsible so the Bible says therefore as this church is subject unto Christ so let the wise be to their own husbands in everything go to Colossians chapter 3 keep your place in Ephesians cuz we're gonna flip right back to it you say okay well I just have to do everything he says well there is one caveat Colossians 3 verse 18 wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands they notice these words as it is fit in the Lord so you say he's got all authority yes he does but there is a limit to that authority and it the limit is as it is fit in the Lord so he can look as long as your husband's not asking you to sin you should obey him and everything you say when do I cross when do we cross the line where I can disobey my husband cuz I just really want to disobey him okay well when he asks you to sin that's not when it's no longer fit in the Lord then you don't have to submit so when your husband asks you to bury or help him bury a body you know you're like hey sorry I don't have to submit in that when your husband asks you to help him run a heroin ring you know you don't have to submit there all right do you understand that when your husband asks you to make a mistake and you want to make him hamburger helper then you just submit now here's the thing husband give us money for the steak all right so but you know in everything in everything you are to submit as it is fit in the Lord does that make sense are you there in Colossians 3 look at verse 20 let's look at another example children obey your parents in all things for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord children are under the authority of their parents and children should obey their parents in all things in all things in all things some of you guys should have said amen there but whatever Ephesians 6 go to it children are to obey their parents in all things Ephesians 6 verse 1 notice what the Bible says children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right so you obey your parents on all things kids in the Lord as soon as your parents ask you to assume do something that's not as that's not that goes against God you don't have to obey yours in it this is how authority works there is a structure to authority so why not the way my parents at all because God ordained your parents God gave you the parents he gave you the authority you submit to them in everything as it is fit in the Lord you submit to your husband in everything as it is fit in the Lord you submit to your parents and everything in the Lord you say what about government you submit to ever because our God ordained government we submit to everything in the Lord as there's been the Lord when they cross the line and it's no longer fit in the Lord then we ought to obey God rather than see God ordained government government has the biblical purpose we are to submit to government and we should only disobey government when government asks us to say now let me give you some examples of this played out in Scripture go to the book of Exodus if you would Exodus chapter 1 you have Genesis and Exodus Exodus chapter 1 Exodus chapter 1 we are to obey government until the moment and up to the moment when government asks us to sin what is sin the Bible tells us sin is a transgression of the law God's law so when God gives us a law and government gives us a law that goes against the laws of God we go with the laws of God every time Exodus chapter 1 let me give you some examples of this verse 15 and these are not family examples these are government examples Exodus chapter 1 verse 15 and the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrews to the Hebrew midwives and by the way let me just say this and again I'm kind of giving you a little bit of a sermon from a couple of weeks from now but people get this idea like well if it's a wicked government government then we don't have to obey that government well let me ask a question was Pharaoh wicked because Romans tells us he was a reprobate and Exodus tells us that God raised up Pharaoh so God ordained Pharaoh in fact the Bible says that God raised him up because he needed a reprobate to that wasn't going to obey and listen so that he can have the ten plagues and again that's a sermon for another day but I'm just telling you all governments ordained by God Exodus 1 15 and the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of the one was ship fra and the name of the other poor and he said when ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools if it be a son then he shall kill him but if it be a daughter then he then she shall live so here you have the government Pharaoh telling the midwives who are the ones that are delivering the babies to sin thou shalt not kill is a command of God and he's saying look if it's a son I want you to kill him and if it's a daughter then let her live so the midwives have a decision to make what did they decide well they decided same thing Peter decided we have to obey God rather than men those were 17 but the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them but save the men children alive they disobeyed their government well how did God feel about it well look at verse 20 therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and wax very mighty and it came to pass because the midwives fear God that he made them houses look they disobeyed their government and God was happy about you said well this is a contradiction because the Bible says we are to submit the government no the Bible says we submit to government up to the point when government asks us to sin and when government asks us to sin then we obey God rather than men so look the midwives should have done everything that Pharaoh asked them to do but the minute go to Daniel if you would and towards the end of the Old Testament Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations of the Eagle Daniel but the minute that Pharaoh asked them to sin now the midwives have the duty to disobey because we ought to obey God rather than men go to Daniel chapter 3 let me give you another example Daniel chapter 3 look verse 16 Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Daniel chapter 3 look verse 16 Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king now this is King Nebuchadnezzar he has built an image and he has ordered and commanded that everybody worship this image the government has given a decree that they should worship this image well here's the problem with that the God's law say that thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images and thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them so it would be a sin God's law is in contradiction of Nebuchadnezzar's law so what did Shadrach Meshach and Abednego do well the Bible says that they answered and said to the king Oh Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king but if not be it known unto thee O king that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up what are they saying here's what they're saying they're saying we ought to obey God rather than men now here's the interesting thing Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were princes in Babylon the Bible actually says that Nebuchadnezzar said about these young men that he found them ten times better than anyone else so I want you to say Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were not a bunch of revolutionaries they were not a bunch of anarchists they were actually good employees for Nebuchadnezzar they had been raised up in the kingdom they had submitted themselves to the powers that be look these kids were kidnapped from their homes and they said well you know if this is where we're at then we're just gonna do the best with it and they worked hard and they were promoted but as soon as they were asked to sin they said no because consistently in Scripture consistently in Scripture you find this concept that we as believers are to obey government up to the moment where government asks us to sin let me give you another example go to Daniel chapter 6 you're there in Daniel 3 go to Daniel chapter 6 Daniel chapter 6 look at verse 5 Daniel chapter 6 and verse 5 Daniel chapter 6 in verse 5 the Bible says this then said these men these are the men who want to attack Daniel and by the way this is a great testimony that Daniel has here as a believer notice what his enemies said they said we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel is it they're trying to dig up dirt on Daniel they're like we can't find anything bad about Daniel we're not gonna be able to get Daniel fired we can't find anything bad about Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God they said you know what we can't find anything bad about Daniel but here's what we can what we know that we can find something against him concerning the law of his God because he's not going to disobey the law of his God so what they do they crafted a plan they got the king to sign it where it was made illegal to pray now here's the problem with that God commands us to pray so Daniel chapter 6 verse 7 excuse me verse 10 Daniel 6 10 now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed the law was passed against prayer he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave things before his God as he did a fourth time by the way Daniel was not being a braggart or a show-off or a grandstanding here this all he always prayed Danny why don't you just shut the window because if you have a path people know you pray they see you pray you have a window open and then they pass a law and he shuts the window they're gonna they're gonna know number one that he's praying so he's still breaking the law and number two that he's I'm not gonna be a coward about this here's what he's saying we're gonna obey God rather than men so he opened up his windows and he did what he always did he prayed before God he got thrown in the lines and as a result God saved them and rescued him but the point is this throughout the Bible go to the book of Matthew if you would Matthew chapter 5 throughout the Bible you see that Christians believers submit to their government up until the point that government asks us to sin look it's not that complicated I remember years ago in fact you know for many years and and look I'm preaching a series right now so this we're done with the series we're gonna move on to something else okay this is not the new me mr. political okay it's just a series all right we're doing but you know for many years I'll be honest with you I avoided I avoided the the the concept of politics because I would listen you know I would listen to these these these these libertarian conservative Christian you know Thai people and I was just confused I mean I'm not trying to like get them to help me understand Romans 13 I'm trying to understand you know like these laws and Liberty and the founding fathers and it was just so confusing to me because it was like you know will you obey when the government's righteous but you don't obey when the government's unrighteous there's all these ways of figuring out there's the government righteous the government not righteous is this that is just confused by it just didn't make any sense to me finally I just decided to shut off YouTube and just read the Bible what is why watch you say it's interesting when you read the Bible and you realize it's not that complicated you obey government until the government asks you to do something then you know and by the way this concept works in any government in every government but what if you grow up in Nazi Germany well if you're a Nazi Germany you say what do you do well you submit the government up until the point government asks you to sin so if Hitler says hey I want you to drive 25 miles an hour down the street you drive 25 miles down that street if Hitler says I want you to put all these bodies these living people in an oven you say no it's not that complicated you know how do I live under a communist regime how do I live under Saddam Hussein how do I live under the United States of America cover how do I look how do you live under any government under every government it's not that complicated you submit till they ask you to sin when they ask you to sin you say no we have to you don't want me to pray I'm gonna keep praying you don't go sewing I'm gonna keep sewing you want me reading the Bible I'm gonna keep reading the Bible you don't want me to go to church I'm gonna keep going to church you don't want me to serve God and walk with God and love God I'm gonna keep doing all those things but everything else fine no problem they I realize this is not exciting pastor I thought we were gonna get behind a pickup truck with our rifles and have a militia you're crazy man we obey government till government asks us to sin and this model works everywhere and look let me go ahead and give you an illustration those illustration people aren't gonna like and I get it people are gonna send me emails or whatever so why do we say people send you emails because here's what I've noticed when I don't say I get the emails when I do say people are like when I don't say they put the comments when I say don't put your comment then like I'm fine called me out you know let me give you an example right now there's a big deal going on with churches as far as church some churches are being forced to meet outside and and honestly I think the tier we're in here in Sacramento that's not even a thing for us right now but you know I'll tell you this I don't want to meet outside I want to meet inside we paid thousands of dollars every you know month for this building and I want to use it and and I will tell you this I'm not gonna volunteer to meet outside just could Gavin Newsom says whatever Gavin Newsom says I don't like okay well I'll just do whatever you want Gavin you know my position is more of like you know I'd rather I'd rather you know ask you know say sorry than ask for permission but but here's the thing though and I just and this is part people are gonna like if the garden nobody's asked us to meet outside nobody said anything to us but if the government showed up and said you guys must meet outside if they put a target on us is that you must meet outside you're you know we're you you have to you can't be in the building you say pastor what would you do I would meet outside you're a coward it's funny how you know people who don't take any stands don't take any positions don't fight any battles always want to tell you how you're a coward and you're a FEMA pastor say you've got you a coward ham to the government you know some guy running a YouTube channel with three views you would coward ham to that government well here's the question I have for you is meeting outside of sin let me let me let me mess you up with with Bible Church is not a building the church are the people the church is the congregation we've made too much of buildings excuse me Baptist churches today are worshiping their buildings paying homage to their building look I don't want to meet outside I'm not gonna volunteer to meet outside I don't want to meet outside I'm gonna make them you know give me warning after warning after warning before we meet outside but you know at the end day if it's a big deal we're gonna meet outside because here's the thing it's not a sin to meet outside we can have church outside so I'm not gonna die on that hill do you understand that because I'm not gonna die and for something that the Bible doesn't even say God doesn't even say we have to meet a building now you say well why yeah but what if they say you can't have church at all but do you understand that saying you can't have church at all and you can have church outside are two different things you say what if they said you can't have church at all then we're gonna have church but let me let you on a little secret when the government says we can't have a church at all you know we're probably meeting outside we're probably not gonna be meeting in a building and I said well the sign that says better do Baptist Church the point is this look it's not complicated well what if they mandate vaccines well you know what I believe vaccines are a sin and I'm gonna obey God rather than men what are they mandate you you know putting your kids in a public school system well I don't think that's of God I'm gonna obey I'll die on that hill if it's actually a sin I'll die on it but if it's not a sin if it's not a sin to meet outside if it's not a sin to what do whatever they're asking maybe it's inconvenient maybe it's annoying maybe it's stupid but if it's not a sin then the Bible says you just submit and by the way my parents are idiots they make me do the stupidest things well if it's not a sin they make me you know go rake the leaves not using a rake but using a push broom and I don't know why my dad just he's like I just wants me to use a push broom and it's like we have a rake right look you obey my dad's an idiot you obey did you send that my dad wants me to sell marijuana that you weigh God rather than men it's not complicated my husband's an idiot I know you just obey when he asked you to sin you don't obey my boss wants me to if whatever he wants you to do you do it you be a good employee you just do it when he asked you to sin when he asked you to lie when he asked you to fudge the numbers when he asked you to take a call and say something that's not true then you obey God rather it's not complicated folks God ordained government God ordained authority government has biblical purpose we submit to government we should obey government until and up to the point when government asks us to sin and I realize look I'm not trying to pick a fight or whatever I realize people want to make all these live streams about coronavirus and the mask and Walmart won't let me walk in without a map but look is it a sin you gotta ask the answer the question is it a sin as soon as it's a sin we obey God rather men as soon as a sin we we are willing to get thrown into the fiery furnace as soon as it's a sin we're willing to get thrown into the lion's den as soon as it's a sin we're willing to die and go to prison as soon as it's a sin before that you just submit and quit being such an anarchist I said number one God ordained government number two government has a biblical purpose number three we are to submit to government number four we should disobey government only when government asks us to sin number five this is the last point we'll finish up here but that sounds like we're almost done we're not almost done but you know it's the last point we're almost almost done we should not take the law into our own hands this is something that we're often churches like ours are criticized about because we preach and teach things like the Old Testament you know and we'll say things like hey you want to know what God thinks about adultery just look at the Old Testament you want to know what God thinks about homosexuality just read Genesis 19 just read Leviticus 18 just read Judges 19 you know we preach this and then we were like oh well you're a hypocrite well why don't you just go and do what the Bible says well here's why because it's government's job to punish the evildoer and in fact the Bible tells us Jesus taught that we are not to take the law into our own hands Matthew 5 are you there look verse 38 Matthew 5 38 we prove this to you from scripture here's an example of the eye for an eye statement ye have heard that it had been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth now some false prophets will teach that Jesus here is criticizing this law an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth this is not true this is actually a law of God this is a command of God you have to turn there but in Exodus 21 and verse 24 and verse 25 this is what the book of Exodus says eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burning for burning wound for wound stripe for stripe that was actually a law given to government and by the way I wish we had that law today I mean the law is this that when you do something to someone then that same thing should be done to you if you kill someone then you get put to death you take somebody's eye out then your eye gets taken out you cut somebody's hand off then your hand you know that's the principle and by the way I think a lot less violence would be done in our country if that was the law you might think twice before some gang banger wants to go beat some guy up with a bat if you're thinking well the cops might beat me down with a bat because we're gonna do the same thing to you that you did to other people I think that would do a lot to curb crime this is biblical I'm not against it the law look the law of the Lord is perfect eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burning for burning wound for wound stripe for stripe so people look at Jesus bringing this up and they're like oh Jesus is criticizing Jesus is not criticizing the Old Testament he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law you have heard is what Jesus saying you have heard that it had been said and I for an eye tooth for tooth he didn't say and that's wrong and we shouldn't obey that and we are more enlightened today no notice what he says verse 39 but I say unto you he's not talking to government you're talking to Bible believing Christians this is the Sermon on the Mount preached to Christians but I say unto you that you resist not evil here's what he's saying saying when you take the law into your own hands you are not resisting evil he says but you should resist evil this is not something that you should be doing he says here's what you should be doing in your personal life but whosoever shall smite thee on the right hand turn to him the other also it's might be on the right cheek excuse me turns him the other also so look personally as a Bible-believing Christian when somebody does me wrong how should I respond when somebody slaps me in my cheek well I for nine no no that's government do you understand that I mean the Bible says that whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek to turn the other also see God says look we are supposed to suffer ourselves to be defrauded we're supposed to love our enemies bless them that curses pray for them that despitefully uses he says when somebody hurts you personally you you like Jesus on the cross you say forgive them father for they know not what they do but government government has been set up to protect and punish so government should protect you from getting slapped and getting your eye taken out and getting you know violently assaulted and they should also punish those who do those things so Jesus saying here he's saying look you've heard an eye for an eye and that's good but not personally you don't do that personally that's a job for government you say well I don't know about that okay well let me give you as an example where Jesus actually applied this in his life go to John chapter 8 John chapter 8 because if you remember Jesus lived under the Roman Empire Jesus did not live under the Mosaic law so the ministry of Jesus in many ways mirrors our lives because Jesus like you and I lives under a government that doesn't acknowledge the laws of God as their laws Rome had good laws and they had bad laws so how does Jesus how did Jesus you know live under this non biblical government the Roman Empire we can learn from that as to how we are to live under this non biblical government the United States of America John chapter 8 look verse 3 and the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him the him is Jesus a woman taken in adultery and when they had set her in the midst they say unto him master this woman was taken in adultery in the very act and I just brought this up in a sermon not too long ago and I bring this up every time you know that we go to this passage I always think it's interesting they caught her in the very act but they only bring the woman and not the man what's that about look at verse 5 now Moses in the law commanded us that such it should be stone look Moses and the law given to the children of Israel the nation of Israel in the Old Testament put the death penalty on committing adultery so they bring this woman caught in adultery and they say to Jesus Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stone but what sayest thou then what do you think we should do now notice verse 6 this they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him okay the reason they brought they don't actually care about justice the reason they brought this situation to Jesus is because they wanted to catch him in his words and here's why there is no right answer to this question there's no correct answer because if Jesus says hey you're right the law Moses has you be put to death let's stone her right now they're not going to stone her they they don't care about justice they care about just if they bring the guy to they're just gonna run over to the Roman soldiers and say that guy is causing us and telling us to follow laws against the law of Rome because Rome did not have that same law that guy's inciting violence that guy is telling us to break the law now if Jesus said no don't stone her the Roman Empire doesn't allow for that then they run to all of Jesus followers and say this guy is telling us not to follow the laws of Moses we brought him this woman Moses law says that she should be put there and he told us not to do it see there's no right answer to this question this they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him and no matter what answer he gives they'll have something to accuse him with so what does Jesus do this is look this is why gee you know Jesus is God you and I we put our foot in our mouth all the time here's a good here's just a good lesson for you in life you don't have to answer every question and sometimes closing your mouth is just the best thing to do but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not we were seven so when they continued asking him he lifted up himself and said unto them he that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her I want you to notice the answer that he is he says look if you're gonna if you're gonna force me to answer the question should we obey the laws of God or the laws of man he says I am gonna give you an answer the laws of God are always better than the laws of men but he says in this situation the Roman Empire is our authority and God has ordained it so and we are to submit to that authority we only disobey when the Roman Empire asks us to sin but we don't take the laws of God into our own hands when the government fails to do so he says so it is right it is right for here to for her to be stoned but it's not right for you to do it because you are under the authority of the Roman Empire he says you do not outrank the Roman Empire he says it's right for government to do it but the only person that can actually do it is someone who is over the authority of the Roman Empire so he says he that is without sin because only he that is without sin is over governments he that is without sin among you let him first cast his stone at her he says if you got if you're gonna push me for an answer here's the answer yes the laws of God are always better than the laws of men but you better submit to the authorities that God has ordained in your life and unless you're over the authority of government which last time I checked that was only God the Lord is the God of heaven and earth the Bible so he says yeah go ahead he that is without sin though he that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her notice verse 8 and again he stooped down and wrote on the ground and they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one being beginning at the eldest even unto the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman he said unto her woman where are those thine accusers hath no man condemned thee she said no man Lord and by the way I'm not preaching on this but this is a beautiful picture of salvation when they say when for one one day will stand before God and and and Jesus will say hath no man condemned thee and by the grace of God will say because of Jesus no man Lord and Jesus said unto her notice neither do I condemn thee the one that had the authority to condemn her neither do I condemn thee go notice he doesn't he doesn't justify her he doesn't make excuses for her he doesn't minimize her sin he says neither do I command thee go and sin no more says oh don't let this happen again cuz next time I might not be here here's the idea though in this lesson we learned that Jesus says yes the laws of God are better than the laws of men but unless we have the authority to disobey the laws of man we are not going to take the law into our own hands you understand that so you say what do we do when government sins when government does wrong we we allow you know should government put all the you know have all these things and these laws should they do those things absolutely when government sins do we speak against it yes do we preach against it yes if you remember from the sermon last week our job is to rebuke nations and governments when they do wrong but do we take the law into our own hands no and look Jesus didn't do that Jesus taught against it but you said well when do we disobey only when government is asking you to sin see allowing the woman to live in adultery is not asking you to sin if the government made a law said you must commit adultery then you obey God rather than men the theology of government the theology what the Bible teaches about government is this God ordained government government has a biblical purpose to protect and to punish we are to submit to government and we should only disobey government when government asks us to sin and we should not take the law into our own hands what is Christian this of civil disobedience when we stand up on the authority of the Word of God and say we ought to obey God rather than men but make sure make sure when you say that that you've got biblical proof to back up that what the law is asking you to do is actually a sin and not an inconvenience is actually a sin and not just annoying is actually a sin and not just stupid because I will agree with you that our government does a lot of things that are silly stupid annoying dumb Gavin Newsom just put out a recommendation that you should put you know you should keep the mask on in between bites their idiots I get it I'm not mad at you for thinking they're idiots I think they're idiots but we disobey God rather than men when they ask us to sin let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father thank you Lord for your word thank you for the Bible thank you for the clarity of Scripture sometimes we listen to these Chuck Baldwin types and it's just confusing it's just confusing what what am I supposed to do here and Lord I'm just thankful that when when we when we cut everything out and we just read the Bible it's clear it's clear that you're ordained government it's clear that we're to submit to government it's clear that we only to disobey government and every other authority in our lives only when they ask us to sin and Lord I pray you'd help us to understand that and to live our lives in that in that arena in that understanding in that theology in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen