Now if you're able, I invite you to remain standing with me and take your copy of the Word of God, or if you didn't bring one today, you want to borrow a Bible from the back rack, grab a Bible and turn firstly in the Old Testament to the book of Daniel. If you're wondering where the book of Daniel is, look in the Old Testament for the book of Ezekiel. Daniel comes after the book of Ezekiel. Our Old Testament reading this morning is from the book of Daniel chapter 3. We're going to read the entirety of the chapter. The reason we're reading from Daniel chapter 3 is that Daniel chapter 3 is illustrative. It illustrates for us some of the principles and some of the promise that we're going to discuss in our sermon from Romans chapter 13. So we're going to begin by reading Daniel chapter 3 and then we will turn to our sermon text in Romans chapter 13. And as you're finding your place there, let's again bow our heads briefly and ask the Lord's elimination. Remember, this is His word. Let us pray. Holy Spirit of our God, these words that we have before us and that we are about to hear are in human language, but they're not human opinion. These are your words, our God, breathed out by you. And so help us to take that seriously, to give them our attention, and to believe every word you speak, for every word of God proves true. Change us, our God, in the truth. Your word is truth, and we ask in Jesus' name, saying together, amen. Daniel chapter 3, let's give attention to God's inerrant word. King Nebuchadnezzar, made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth 60 cubits. That's about 90 feet by 90 feet. He set it up on the plain of Dora in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the province to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And the herald proclaimed aloud, You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, tragon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped. the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever! You, O King, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, tragon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. and whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in furious rage, commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now, if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, tragon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship You shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning, fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flames of the fire killed the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning, fiery furnace." Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, "'Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?' They answered and said to the king, "'True, O He answered and said, But I see four men, unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning, fiery furnace. He declared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him and set aside the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own god. Therefore I make a decree. Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb. And their house is laid in ruins, for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. And the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon." A really stirring, vivid account. Turn with me now, please, to Romans chapter 13. We will read and then consider together as our sermon text for this morning. Chapter 13, verses 1 through 7. Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 13, verses 1 through 7, continuing in the inerrant Word of God, the apostle writes, "'Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not of terror to good conduct but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you pay taxes. For the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Amen. Please be seated. Today we come in the part of Paul's letter to the Romans where we discuss the relationship of Christians to the empires of this world. As we've already seen from the book of Daniel, the relationship of a Christian to the empire or the civil society in which he lives often is one of tension. I hope and all that we read there from Daniel 3, you caught that there was tension. Did you imagine as we were reading there that vimid image? You wonder why the Old Testament repeats things when they repeat that long list of government officials. You see, you get in your mind this image of this massive statue, this massive idol, and all of the officials, the whole society, all the important people coming and bowing down in false worship to a thing that is not God. And there are these three lone men, these three officials in the government that were refused. And what happens? Well, there's tension, tension, always tension between the relationship of the Christian and the empire in which he lives, the society in which he dwells. Why is that? Because ultimately, societies, empires, emperors, rulers, at some point, sooner or later, demand your ultimate loyalty. And if you are a Christian, your ultimate loyalty is already spoken for. Your ultimate loyalty is to Jesus, not to a king, not to an empire, not to a constitution, not to anyone else. How is it that those who confess that Jesus is Lord should relate to those who confess that Caesar is Lord? How is it that Christians are to live in the empires of this world. In the first century, at the time that Paul was writing, there was a lot of tension in the ancient world about this, particularly in Palestine, in the land of Judah. You catch some of this when you read the Gospels. Did you know that Jewish people in the first century had real problems acknowledging any overlord who was not a Jew? The idea that a pagan Gentile emperor would rule over the land of God, over Judea. was repellent to many of them. And there was resistance, there were rebellions. First century Christians were not in much better of a place. Do you know who was emperor of Rome when Paul was writing the letter to the Romans? A guy by the name of Nero, not exactly a friend of the church. How then should Christians relate to the civil societies in which we live? We may think, well, it's different for us now because we live in a society where we elect our leaders. Paul's going to have something to say about that, where authority comes from. But how many of you are really, really happy and jazzed about the options you have this year for president? Some of us are afraid that he's going to become president. Some of us are afraid that she's going to become president. And we wonder, how should Christians relate to the societies in which we live? Well, Paul is laying out for us this morning and this evening the Christian understanding of civil government. This morning we're going to look at the foundations, the theology of civil government. This evening we're going to look at the limitations of biblical, the biblical view of limitations of civil government. And we're going to see that there is much for us to take both in terms of instruction and probably some challenges and also much encouragement for us to take as we look at the Christian understanding of civil government. We're going to look this morning at three points, three purposes. We're going to see first the origin of government according to the Bible, where it comes from, where government power comes from. We're going to look secondly at the purpose of government. Why did God establish civil governments in the world? And thirdly, we're going to look at what it means for Christians. We're going to begin looking at what it means for Christians to be in submission. to government. That particular, that last point, we're going to take up more fully this evening. This is a two-part sermon, but we're going to begin this morning with the origins of government. Look with me again at verse 1 here in Romans chapter 13. The Apostle Paul says, "'Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. For there is," get this, "'there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.'" That is an extraordinarily challenging statement. It was a challenging statement in the ancient world. It is a challenging statement to us. The idea that there is no authority out there that has not been instituted by God. The de facto authorities in the world have all been instituted by God. This is a revolution in the way we think about government. Kids, you have your outlines in front of you? Question one on your outline. There have been different theories in the history of the world about where government comes from. And one of the most popular ones that's been around from antiquity is that government comes from strong men. And that's the first thing on your outline. Paul says, government does not descend from strong men. All the way back into antiquity. In the ancient histories, ancient mythology, as far as we have them surviving today, the ancient literature, the ancient mythologies of Mesopotamia and other places around the world, you see this idea. Those of you who are familiar with the material know that in antiquity, kings and rulers were very eager to associate themselves and their rule with the gods. They would often call themselves the sons of the gods. You know, you look at these ancient king lists. And so and so reigned for 20,000 years. Well, it makes sense because he was a son of the gods. And the idea there is that government power comes from strong men. Government power comes from the strong man and descends and rules over the people. Paul says, no, government does not descend from strong men. There is no authority except from God. Government does not come from strong men. Government comes from God. No authority except from God. A revolutionary sentiment in the ancient world. Well, as history has gone on and as the philosophical movement known as the European Enlightenment came into the world, people began to reverse that idea and said, no, government doesn't come from strong men. Government power comes from the consent of the governed. How many of you have heard that phrase before? Do you know why we hear that phrase? It's in our Declaration of Independence. I give you just a little quote there under number two. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, now listen to this, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. You see, there's that idea. It's interesting, isn't it, that the U.S. Declaration of Independence acknowledges a creator, but also has, to a certain extent, bought into this idea that government comes not from strong men, but from common men. Kids, that's number two on your outline. Paul says no. Government does not arise from common men either. Government does not come from strong men. Government does not come from common men. No authority except from God." It's a reminder to us, brothers and sisters, that however much we may enjoy our society and our system of government, that we need to think carefully, where does authority come from? What is the problem with both of those views from a spiritual level, from a Christian perspective? not commenting on the political usefulness of any particular system. But what is the problem with saying that government comes either from strongmen, from the top down, or from common people, from the bottom up? In both cases, power is coming from man. We are the ones in charge. It is a man-centered view of government, a human-centered view of power. And both views, in different ways, put man and not God at the center, at the center of all their thinking about government. Now, there are some really disastrous consequences to that idea, and I'm going to go into that later tonight. But for now, simply note, again, what Paul says. Kids, number three, all government power is received from God. Those that exist, he says, at the end of verse 1, have been instituted by God. Power to govern does not come from people, either from the top or from the bottom, but from God Himself. Now, that raises a question, doesn't it? If God has instituted government, why? Why did He do it? What's the purpose of government? Paul tells us in verses 3 and 4. Kids, number 4 on your outlines? The purpose of government, God established government to enforce public justice. Now, kids, justice may be a word that may be hard to spell. J-U-S-T-I-C-E, just and ice, justice. God established government to enforce public justice. Look at what He says. He says, "'Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.'" Verse 3, "'Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?' Then do what is good, and you will receive His approval, for He is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for He does not bear the sword in vain, for He is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Paul says that the purpose of civil government, the reason God has set it up, is to approve good and to punish wrong, to enforce public justice. This is partially an answer to something we talked about last week. Last week, further up in Romans 12, verse 19, Paul says that we are not to avenge ourselves. but to leave it to the wrath of God. One of the things that God has set up in the world, brothers and sisters, is civil government for the purpose of punishing wrong and acclaiming that which is good. We're not to be vigilantes. We have resort to the institution that God has set up. However, the objection is, number five, what about when government does evil? I didn't put it on your outline, but one of the commentators One of the critical commentators on this passage says, and I don't have the exact quote, he says, these seven verses have done so much harm in the history of the Christian East and in the history of the Christian West because they appear to be propping up and giving cover to any form of government tyranny. And maybe you think that too. Maybe you read these words and say, No authority except from God. Those that have been instituted are from God be subject to the governing authorities." Paul, are you out of your mind? Aren't you just enabling every form of tyranny that could be imagined? Isn't history literally a graveyard littered with examples of what happens when governments do wrong? Paul, are you out of your mind? What would be Paul's answer to that? Paul's answer, kids, number six. is that Christianity began by state-sponsored injustice. You realize that? Realize that when you criticize the Apostle Paul, and say, you don't know what you're talking about when government does evil. You're talking to a man who was the agent of government evil. You realize this? Paul was there, watching, approving, when Stephen, the deacon, was murdered by judicial injustice, by a kangaroo court. Paul himself was a one-man Gestapo, going from city to city, arresting Christians and carrying them in chains to Jerusalem, where they weren't going to be given muffins and a sweater. They were going to be put to death. He was an agent of state-sponsored terrorism. He was an agent of civil injustice. He knows what he's talking about. And of course, Paul knows, as does every Christian, that at the very heart of the Christian faith is the greatest and most heinous act of state-sponsored injustice that ever existed, the judicial murder of the Son of God. Christianity knows all about state-sponsored evil. State-sponsored evil lies at the very foundation of our faith. But on top of his experience of evil, the Apostle Paul also had a lot of experience traveling in a civilized world, a world ruled by the Pax Romana. the peace of Rome. He had traveled to dozens, perhaps hundreds, of civilized cities. He had traveled on hundreds of miles of Roman roads, patrolled and kept safe by the Roman imperial legions. He had traveled on ocean lanes and commercial ways through the sea by boat that were kept safe from pirates. And Paul is not a flim-flam artist. He is not a dilettante who doesn't know what he's speaking when he says, God's servant for our good. He is telling us, as Thomas Schreiner said, and as I give you the quote there on your outline, that even the most oppressive governments hold evil in check to some extent, preventing society from collapsing into complete anarchy. Paul knows all about government evil, but he says that even the worst government is used by God to bring about His purposes. Have you ever thought about what it would have meant Those of you who know your Roman history, know your history of the Roman Empire, you know that the Roman Empire itself was a subversion of what came before it, the Roman Republic. Opportunistic men, Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus, took advantage and subverted the Constitution and made themselves into emperors. From a constitutional, political, social perspective, disaster! Where goes the Republic? It's gone and swallowed up by an empire. But it was that imperial period that God used to establish 200 years of peace. And what was happening during those 200 years of peace? Men like Paul were traveling and bringing the gospel to every corner of the Roman Empire and ultimately brought about a change in the history of the world. So Paul was not naive. He knows that governments do evil then and now, but he also knows that God has a purpose and that since these authorities come from God, they are bound to do God's will ultimately. And it is in that spirit, brothers and sisters, that Paul calls us in verse 2 to be submissive and to not resist the authorities. Look at verse 2. Paul says, Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. There is no getting around it here. We don't try to get around the Word of God here ever. But I know this is particularly challenging to many of us to hear this, but there is no getting around. Paul says, Christians must be subject to even the worst governments. Kids, that's number seven. We need to hear this. We may be in, some of us think we may be in for one of the worst governments we've ever had in the United States, depending on who you are most concerned about becoming elected president. And that's up to you to think about. But many of us are concerned that we may be in for one of the worst governments we have ever had. What do we make of that, Paul says? This is the government that God has appointed. Gotta chew on that, brothers and sisters. That's what he says. And Paul said this to people who were living under the Roman Emperor Nero. You know, Emperor used to burn Christians in his garden for lights during his garden parties. Paul says this to those who lived under Hitler's Third Reich, under Stalin's Russia, under Mao's China. He says we must be subject to even the worst governments. And when we struggle to deal with this, to process this, we should remember that Paul was speaking on behalf of Jesus, the one who suffered the worst act of judicial injustice ever. It is that person who has experienced more than you and I will ever experience the injustice of an evil government. It is that person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who says we are to be subject to the governing authorities. because even more of a threat to us than state-sponsored evil." Number eight, Christians must resist the danger of self, meaning me, government. It's very interesting the word that Paul uses here. The word resists, in verse 2, whoever resists the authority. Note what it doesn't say. It doesn't say you can never refuse the government. There is a place for refusal. The Bible is full of examples. There are limits on our submission to the state. We're going to talk about those tonight. I invite you to come back. It doesn't say, you may never refuse, but it says, resist. What does he mean by resist? The word resist is an interesting word. It literally means to appoint instead of. The idea is that you set yourself up individually as a counter-authority to the authority of government that God has ordained. It's the sort of thinking that says, I will ignore or honor laws as I please. I don't like that particular law, so I'll ignore it. I don't need to obey. I'm my own man. I'm an independent person. I'm my own woman. I will obey when I feel like it. I'll honor when I feel like it. I'll pay my taxes when I feel like it. I'll cheat when I can get away with it. I'll be the authority. I'll be in charge. That's the sort of self-government that Paul says will incur the wrath not only of the state, but of God. Do you know why? Because for those of you who take Christian faith seriously, you have to know this is the case. That the greatest single danger to your soul is not the evil of a king or a governor or a president playing God. It is the danger of what happens when you play God. And when you set yourself up individually as the authority, over and against the authorities that God has appointed, that's what you're doing. You're playing God. And so we must reject that danger. Now, there are limits. We're going to talk about them tonight. One of the limits that Jesus mentions is that when government persecutes you, it's okay to flee to another town. You don't have to simply die. If you can escape, do it. There are limits. But before we get to the limits, we need to meditate upon the positive commands, which Paul calls us, in the name of Christ, to resist the idea that we are in charge and to submit to those authorities that God has appointed. Now, that's a scary thing for many of us. Some of us read these verses where Paul says, rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. We say, are you crazy, Paul? Are you out of your mind? Did you never read the story of Daniel? Did you not read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Rulers are not a terror to good conduct. These are good dudes. They're thrown into a fire. How more terrible does it get? Again, brothers and sisters, I assure you, Paul probably had the book of Daniel memorized. He knew the story. What is he saying? He is saying, this is the last point, kids, make sure you get this one, a Christian need live in fear of no government. Yes, we must submit to even the worst. Yes, we must reject the idea that we are in charge, self-government in that sense, but we need live in fear of no government ever because there is no authority except from God. Even the worst authorities out there are bound by God. They are like dogs or dragons on a chain. They cannot go one step past what God will permit. And you saw it there in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, didn't you? They throw them into the fire. Nebuchadnezzar wipes his hands, and you can imagine him saying, that shows what happens when people don't do what I say. But then what does it say? He jumps up. He's astonished. There are four people walking around in the fire, and one of them looks like God. Yep. And notice what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said. I mean, you have to imagine you're there. You've heard the story so many times that it's just, it's too cliche. Can you imagine standing before the emperor of the known world, Nebuchadnezzar the Great, surrounded by his host of obedient toadies and government officials, all of whom have bowed down to the idol and saying with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we have no need to answer you in this matter. You can imagine the king saying, say what? You have no need to answer me. Do you know who I am?" We have no need, King, because guess what? We serve a God who can actually deliver us from this fire. But you know what? Even if He doesn't, we're still not going to bow down. Do your worst. And He did, and they were delivered. And that is instructive to us. Paul says that even the worst government is God's servant for our good. If not in this life, in the ultimate sense. They cannot terrorize a heart set free. They cannot destroy the soul. God says that all things work together for our good. That includes the persecution of the most tyrannical regime. You know, I've been doing a lot of reading over the past year about Christianity and Christian movements in China. And do you know that some people, some Christians in China actually think that Mao Zedong is one of the best evangelists for Christianity that China ever had? Not because he was a Christian. but because by pushing out foreign missionaries, and by making the Chinese Christians stand on their own, and then by setting himself up as a messiah that totally failed, he opened people to the idea, shared with them now by Chinese believers that there was a true messiah. And Christianity in China is more explosive now than it ever has been before the age of communism. Even the worst and most wicked men and regimes are on a chain, and they will serve our God. And so, in an ultimate sense, even the worst is no terror to good conduct. If you belong to Jesus, then he has already promised that nothing, not death, not life, nor anything else can separate you from his love. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are in his hand, he says. And what Paul is telling us here today is that so are all those rulers and authorities. And if you are in Christ's hand and they are in Christ's hand, nothing can hurt you, not forever. Some of us would like to be able to face this coming election with a little less fear. This is the answer. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and know that all of these governments, whichever one we may get, is in the hand of our King and they cannot exceed their leash. put your trust in Christ, not in kings or presidents of any party. Amen. Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, sometimes your word is very challenging to us and seems to cut across the very fabric of who we think ourselves to be. We like to think that we are people who are in charge of our own lives. And we definitely like to think that we are people who are the ones who appoint the government of our society here in the West. Your word says no, that's not the case. Government comes from you. We like to think that government is meant to enable us to do what we want. And when it doesn't, we can just change it or rebel against it. And your word says no, that's not what government is supposed to do. We really like to think that if government does wrong, we can just ignore it entirely. We can rebel against it. We can take up arms and overthrow it. And Lord, there are hard questions. Some of them we're gonna look at tonight. But your word is really clear in the main, that we are to be submissive, and we are to put our trust in you, knowing that these regimes, however evil they may be, are in your hands. And if we believe in you, so are we. Give us the faith this morning, if we take nothing else away, to remember that in you, Lord Jesus, We need not fear any man, any president, any empire, but we can do good and leave the results to you. We ask in your name and we say it together. Amen.