All right. Good morning. Ready to get started. We've been studying living and ancient faith in a modern world in this class and we started with discussing what the Christian worldview is and how we should live in this world in regards to the issues we're facing in modern times. We spent two weeks. Hopefully we won't do this with every issue. We won't have time to, but we spent two weeks discussing
about the Christian's defense and response to the sexual revolution. And today we're going to get into a different topic altogether. And that is dealing with, excuse me, let me make sure I read this. That's dealing with the Christian's relationship to the government. And so we talked about making sure we don't adopt the mindset of the world, making sure the world then dominate our thinking. But sometimes this happens, right? You've heard this statement before. There are two things you don't discuss. What are those two things? Politics and
religion. Now just think about that for a minute and then ask yourself, and even Christians say that, why would anybody subscribe to that kind of thinking? Where does that come from? There are two things in the world you don't discuss, politics and religion. Why would anybody subscribe to that thinking? What is that statement all about? Causes dissension, causes what? Arguments and problems and we don't what? We don't like problems. And so even in the church, we've kind of subscribed to this idea that there's just some things that we don't talk about.
To do that, though, is to undermine Scripture. If we really believe 2 Timothy 3, 16, and 17, that all Scripture is God breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, that would include politics, our response to government, and those sorts of things. And so the world has always had politics. The world has always had government structure more on that in a moment.
But I think sometimes God's people in the world haven't engaged with it as best as we should, or maybe we feel like it's our responsibility to avoid it altogether.
In every poll that you can look up, you can look up this, things that stress Americans out, things that cause American stress collectively. In every poll, politics is mentioned as one of the stressors. APA, they run one of the top polls in the nation on American health and wellness. And they said, compared with the previous two presidential elections, stress related to the election of 2024 was slightly higher than it was in 2020. So in 2020, 68% of Americans are stressed this 69 this time.
significantly higher than 2016, that was 52%, now we're up to 69%, stress related to these things is driven in part by the potential consequences that people fear. More than 7 in 10 adults, that 72% of Americans were worried that the election results could lead to violence. More than half of adults in America, 56% said they believed beforehand that the election could be the end of democracy in the United States of America.
Now, why do you think people are so worried about the political landscape in our country? Why do you think that's one of the top stressors? Think about all the things that could cause people angst and discomfort. Why would you say that this would be at the top of the list? Yes, in your face all the time, it's on the news and some people think our destiny as a people, as a human race, is tied to what happens in politics or in Washington.
This brings us to our discussion today. Some people are worried about these things. In fact, there are some people right now worried that we're even discussing this in this class. They're like, I hope we get something that happens. We're just uncomfortable with it. It doesn't make us comfortable. But it's not our responsibility to be comfortable.
It's our responsibility to be Christians, and that means we need to sometimes discuss difficult things. Christians are God's people. First Peter 3.15 says, be ready to give an answer to every man that asks a reason of the hope that's in you and do it with gentleness and respect. So in a country, in a culture where people are tormented by fear of the political landscape, we that have hope should be ready to give a defense as to why that's the case.
Think about the society in which Christianity was born. Christianity was born into the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire ran under what's called a Republic of sorts. Augustus was the first Roman emperor in 27 BC, and he made the shift from a republic to imperial rule, and that just basically meant while the Roman Empire had sinned, it's ultimately it was run by the emperor.
There were some great things about the Roman Empire, but not everything was favorable. And yet, even in that climate, Christianity was successful and could be. And so we need to remember, no matter what happens, we can be in our time. It's interesting, Christianity was born into this empire of an emperor that didn't believe in God, that was pagan.
that later on in the first century was antagonistic to our Christianity, and still Christianity succeeded. Tertullian said, the blood of the martyrs is like seed for the church, and that just meant the more Christians they killed, you just couldn't stop Christianity from growing. That tells us something about Christian faith. Christians made a difference in their world in relation to this topic because of the way they went about living. Look at some passages, go to Revelation 11.
Revelation 11 and the book of Revelation is extremely political as a matter of fact and what John is saying about Jesus' role as king over and above that of Caesar. But Revelation 11, 15 has a statement and these were the kinds of statements that drove Christians to have confidence no matter what. Revelation 11, 15 says, then the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven and this is what they said.
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. Do you believe that? This is what John said people said in heaven. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, meaning the kingdom of Jesus Christ eventually swallows up every other kingdom. And because of that, that kingdom will reign forever and ever. Look at another one. Go to Revelation 19. Revelation 19.
And there are several of these. I'm gonna just read verse one, but that's not the verse I really want to zero in on hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. And then if you drop down to Revelation 19, 16, it says, this is true about Jesus. On his robe and on his style, he has a name. What's written on it? What does your Bible say? King of kings and? What does that mean? King of kings, just that first part. What does that mean? King of kings. Jesus is a king, but what do you mean when you say king of kings?
If you put all the kings who ever existed in a room with Jesus, even they would throw their crowns down before Him, right? What does Lord of lords mean? Somebody says, same thing. That's exactly right. It means the same thing. So who's in charge of the world? We're going to try it again. Who's in charge of the world? Jesus, God, all the above, we take those answers. Do you really believe that?
See, it's one thing to read those passages and sing these songs, but it's a different thing entirely when every four years our anxiety goes up because we believe somehow that some man or woman or regime or group is going to just up in the whole world and take everything. Remember, this whole class is about, do I really have a Christian worldview? It's one thing to say that, but it's another thing entitled to believe it. There are other passages
Daniel 2, just a second. Daniel 2, 44 talks about the kingdom of Christ standing forever. Daniel 7, 13, and 14 talks about Jesus seated on his throne. And these passages just remind us of who's really in control with the world. Chuck, sorry, go ahead. That's right.
That's right. Yeah, so Chuck's saying some of these passages are talking as if Jesus is already reigning. So it's past tense. The certainty of the future is so guaranteed. This is sometimes called a prophetic perfect, meaning the people in the Bible could just say things as if God's already won the victory. Somebody says, but the battle's going on still. Yes, but God is that in control.
So what we want to talk about is the Christian's relationship to government. We need to make five preliminary statements before we launch into the class today, though. Okay, five things we're going to say before we start on our relationship as Christians to the government that will help us. This class is going to deal with not maybe everything you think. It's not going to be as comprehensive as you would like it to be. But we're going to talk about what the Bible says concerning our view of government from a Christian standpoint, what we should expect from government, how we should engage with the government and be effective and win some.
How could our failure to be Jesus's people and political and government discourse hurt our influence and what God wants from every one of us? But before that, here are five preliminary things. Number one, remember this is a Bible class in Jesus's church.
You with me? Somebody says, duh, we know that. No, listen, this is a Bible class in Jesus's church. 1 Timothy 3 15 says that the church is the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. What that means is this is not neither the Republican nor Democratic National Convention, okay? We're not going to use this class to talk about your favorite political party that you love to hate. We're not going to twist and abuse passages to tell people who they ought to vote for.
We're not going to use the Constitution. Listen, if the Constitution agrees with the Bible, that's great. But I'm not so concerned with what the Founding Father said. As much as in this class for this discussion, I'm concerned with what the Heavenly Father says. This is a Bible class in the church that belongs to Jesus Christ. And so everything we say related to these issues is going to be driven by what the New Testament says. Listen, not about America.
But about every government, in every age, and what Christians in every government in every age should do. So the first thing to remember is that this is a Bible class. Quote Bible passages. I don't really want to hear people's names necessarily. And well, these people did this or this group. What do the Bible passages teach? If we're going to be Jesus people, we need to be Christians. And the Christian worldview is ultimately our lens. We need to apply it to the context in which we live. But this isn't the place to offer up our political opinions about every issue. Here is number two.
There is only one true Christian nation. And I think we need to keep this in mind because sometimes countries have godly values and principles, but there is no such thing as a Christian nation outside of the church that belongs to Jesus Christ.
And sometimes you hear this in sermons, or you hear this in prayers, or you read it in articles, and I hear people praying, God help us give back to a Christian nation. Well, listen, there's a problem with that. We never have been nor can we be. There's no such thing as a Christian nation outside of the church that belongs to Jesus Christ. Turn your Bible to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter's talking to Christians about living as exiles in the world, which means we're visitors. We're passing through. Our true home isn't here. Our citizenship isn't here.
Our true home is in heaven. And in 1 Peter 2, he talks about Christians being living stones and offering up spiritual sacrifices to God. But listen to verse 9. And if you write in your Bible, you might write in the margin, Exodus 19, 5, and 6. Peter takes a passage from the Old Testament that applied to Old Testament Israel and says, hey, this is really about the church that belongs to Jesus. 1 Peter 2, 9 says, you are a chosen race. A royal priesthood. Hey, what? What's next? Everybody, what's next?
a holy nation of people for his own possession or peculiar people that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Peter's talking about the church and I just think that's important for our discussion because we need to remember who really belongs to God. That matters for us because we don't want to expect the government to do things the church is supposed to do. Sometimes we've got our high hope, our hopes high for
A physical pagan country, a physical country, a lot of great things about America. More on that momentarily. But she's not a Christian nation. And so there are certain things God expects from government. And Bible passages we're going to look at talk about what a Christian should expect from government. But we just need to keep in mind, when we use the terminology Christian nation, we're referring to God's people. Israel was a theocracy. What's the theocracy?
Rule by God, they were God's nation. When Moses gave them the law of Moses, the law of Moses had two purposes. It was their religious text, but it was also their legislative text. It was their legal book. They were God's special nation for a reason. God has not done that within the other country. He's blessed a lot of countries for a lot of reasons, but there is no physical nation in all the world that God says, my favorite smiles on them above all others and they're my special people. Wherever the Christians are gathered, the Church of Jesus Christ in every place,
That's what the Bible is referring to when it talks about a Christian nation, and it'll help our discussion to be more biblically informed if we think about it from that lens. Here is number three. I do not hate the United States of America. I know some of you are wondering, just let me tell you.
My dad served in the army. My brother served in the army. I've got uncles who have fought in the war. Brittany and I have veterans in our family. I do not hate. Let me say it again. I do not hate the United States of America. Why am I saying that? Because when we start talking about some things that the Bible says, and honestly critiquing the country and the culture in which we live, don't take it personal. I've been to a lot of different countries.
warts and all if I had to choose every time I still picked to live here. And yet that doesn't change the fact that my true citizenship lies elsewhere, Philippians 3 and verse 20. And because that's the case, I can honestly or at least try to evaluate the circumstances here based on Scripture. And that doesn't mean I hate the country. I have Acts 22 through 24 up there because
in those passages. Paul is walking through the Roman Empire and he's talking to Roman officials about his relationship toward Judaism and he's saying, hey, don't misunderstand me. I love the fact that I'm Jewish, but here's what the New Testament says about Christianity and I don't want you to be confused. Number four, we must avoid extremes.
Christian should avoid extremes. There are two extremes regarding government. One, and this is cropping up more with millennials and the younger generation, there can be this hyper, I would say, suspicion about government. This hatred of government and authority where we just say, we don't trust the government and we don't believe anything they say and we don't want anything to do with them. The Christian should just completely remove themselves.
Well, that's a problem. Think about people like Joseph, Esther, Daniel. You just think about people like Nehemiah. All of those individuals worked where.
Somebody says in government, yes, but more than just working government, every one of them worked in pagan governments, antithetical to God and all things godly. And they still were able to be pleasing to God and they served in those countries well without undermining what was going on in those places. So one extreme is we just hate government. We don't trust them. There are enemies. But the other side believes that, well, the government's our savior. And I'm telling you, if we could get the right people in the right places, God can really get on with his business as if he needed help.
Both of there is a third way that's better. There's a third way that says we don't expect the government to save us or to sink us. Ultimately, we trust that God can do His work no matter who sits on the throne. I know that's right because Jesus came to change the world and He didn't run for political office. If that was the way to do it, Jesus would have done that. But He came to destroy the works of the devil. John says in 1st John 3 and verse 8, and He did that through spiritual means. And here's the fifth thing. Christians are called to do hard things.
We're going to talk about some things that maybe you don't like, maybe I don't like, that make us uncomfortable, but God calls us to do hard things. Psalm 145 and verse 17 says, all of God's ways are right. His ways are perfect. And when God says, hey, I want you to pray for these people. I want you to treat people in this way. Whether I want to do it or not, whether I like these individuals and what they stand for and believe or not, is really not up for debate. I trust God, and so I submit to His ruling's way.
All right, any questions about this? If we're mature Christians, we've got to be able to have these discussions. Ancient faith in a modern world, we can't bury our heads in the sand. Maybe we would like to. Maybe we would like to just pretend this isn't an issue. But the world is speaking into these things. And if we're armed with the Scriptures and if we're God's people, we should be people speaking up as well. Oh, go ahead. Great. For sure.
That's a real fear. Okay, so several things about what Kim said. Some of that's kind of come up on this slide, but let's talk about this. For one brief second, then we'll pivot. So we know God's in control, right? Shake or not, yes?
But sometimes we kind of link our existence with the country. So we're kind of like, well, God's going to pull a Sodom and Gomorrah. And if everybody goes down, we're going to go down. 2 Peter 2, Peter says, God knows how to deliver the righteous and the godly out of trouble and temptation. If God decides to reign down judgmental America for her own godliness, God knows what he's doing. He is not going to say, well, everybody goes, including the Christians. That's number one. But number two, concerning persecution, turn your Bible to Philippians 1.29.
In Philippians 1.29, Philippians is known as a book of joy, it's known as a book of happiness and rejoicing, but in Philippians 1.29, Paul's talking to Christians and he says, to you is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to do what? Suffer for his sake.
We shouldn't have a martyr complex that says, I want to suffer. I just want to be on this chopping block. Everything that offends us is persecution. But we also shouldn't expect to go to the same heaven that Peter, Paul and James went to and they lost their heads and their lives and they were running out of town on the rail. And we just really, really want to be comfortable our whole lives. Now, I want to be as comfortable as can be. The Bible doesn't tell me to pray for persecution. It says, pray for comfort and peace and for the gospel to be able to go throughout the whole world. That should be our desire. But we should always follow that up with
And if persecution comes, so be it. And we'll see that momentarily. That's a good question. We'll have more to say about it as we get into it. So first things first, God's role in establishing the government. God established three institutions. He established the home. That's Genesis 2, 18 through 25. He established the church. Jesus says in Matthew 16, 18 on this rock, I will be at my church. And he also established the government. So you might understand why God would establish the home. That makes sense. You have individuals born, family unit makes sense.
We could also readily understand why God would establish the church, the spiritual family for individuals to come into when they obey the gospel and become Christians. But why does God establish government? What's the purpose of God establishing government just as an institution? Again, not necessarily ours or our country, but what's the purpose of government? And why would God make that one of the three primary institutions that he establishes? Okay, Mr. Lord says, no government, chaos or anarchy?
to keep order in society, any other reason. Why does God establish government? Establish is a pattern of submission. You might say, well, our government didn't always get everything right. You don't want to see the world without government, though. But God puts it in place as we've just heard, yes, to keep things in order to keep things in control. Was there a hand? Yes. That's right. Yes. God government controls all people, not just Christians. And that's to our benefit. Go to Romans 13.
Romans 13 and notice verse number one, this is probably the premier place in the New Testament where government is discussed. And Paul says in verse one, some things about the role of government and why God or what God does in putting individuals in power. Listen to Romans 13 one, 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.
So again, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. There is no authority except from God and those that have been instituted have been instituted by God. What does Paul mean in verse one? What does this mean? There is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. What does that mean? God has all the authority. He's in charge and what else?
Everybody in the world. This is true about the church. It's true about families. It's true about governments. Everybody in the world that has any degree of power has what we call a delegated authority. Everybody in the world that has power and authority has delegated authority.
A marriage, a husband, well, I'm the head of the house. You have delegated authority. You have authority in the jurisdiction and in the realm where God has given it, and it only goes that far. Somebody says, well, we've got elders in the church. That's right. Elders have authority in local congregations, but it's delegated authority. There is a chief shepherd, 1 Peter 5 and verse 4, and that's also true in government. Somebody says, well, these individuals are in control. It's delegated. The powers that be exist because God allows them to, and it's limited.
Kim mentioned some passages about God putting individuals in power. The Bible doesn't just say that God set up government. That's true. The institution is from God. But the Bible also says on occasion, God literally hand picks people for a certain purpose to be in a certain place and God's in control of all of it. Look at Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2 and look at verse 21.
Well Daniel two, let's start in verse 20. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever to who belongs wisdom and might. Now look at verse 21. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. So this idea about God putting individuals up and taking individuals down. Proverbs 21 and verse one talks about the heart of the king. I'll just read that quickly and then make a comment about Exodus chapter nine.
Proverbs 21 and verse 1 says, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wishes.
It's just showing you, God's in control. God puts individuals in power. God sits them down. Exodus 9, God says, I raised up Pharaoh for my own purposes. God could have got rid of Pharaoh whenever he wanted. God says, I want it to accomplish something and I allowed him to be in power for a season. What do these passages teach us? How should we be responding to passages like this? And there are others that talk about God using nations like Assyria, Isaiah 10 and verse 5.
Babylon, Habakkah 1, 5 through 11. If I'm a Christian and I'm reading these verses, I read Daniel 2, 21, it says, God sets up kings and brings them down. What should be my response to that? What should that be doing in my mind? Kim's talking about sometimes fear and worry and about nations and concern. And every one of us has that to one degree or another. What do these passages say to us and how should they inform the way we approach these things and think about it?
Okay, time and circumstance are all in God's control and we're fighting wind if we worry about it. God works in the kingdoms of men. And what does that mean for me if I'm a Christian? Yeah, it means trust God no matter what. It means it's going to work out no matter what. You say, well, this person's ungodly question. Has God used ungodly people before?
Yeah, most of the time that's all he's had to work with and he hasn't had a problem with that. What if this person's good and righteous and they're going to do everything good? Well, God can work with that too. God is not limited to favorable circumstances. He does not have to have all of the ducks aligned properly for him to not only work
but to accomplish his will for good reason. There is no Red Sea without Pharaoh. God raises him up for a reason to get his people through and to make a statement and he does that. God is sovereign over the nations. Daniel chapter 4, go to Daniel 4 and just notice how many times this comes up in the book of Daniel.
We're going to get to our responsibilities and practicality in a minute, but I just want to set the stage for God being in control, no matter what. Daniel 4, several times in this chapter, it has this statement about God ruling in the kingdoms of men. Daniel 4, 17, this sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones to the end that the living may know.
And you can underline this, that the most high rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives it to who he wills and sets over at the low list of men. Daniel 4, 25.
You will be driven. This is what God said to Nebuchadnezzar. You'll be driven from among men and your dwelling will be with the beast of the field. You'll be made to eat grass like an ox and you'll be wet with the dew of heaven and seven periods of time will pass over you until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to him, he wills. That comes up again in verse 32 and again in verse 35. God doesn't just work in the kingdoms of men. That's what we think. God's at work in government. That's true, but that's not what Daniel says. Says God rules in the kingdoms of men.
It's not the case that, well, okay, you've got people in charge and God's kind of over that no God works and rules even in the kingdoms of men in every nation in the world. Nobody's in charge right now that God hasn't allowed to be. That doesn't mean God selects every leader, that he agrees with every law and everything that everybody does, but he's not asleep on the job and nothing escapes his notice. You watch the news, you're like, how can this person be? Look at this dictator, look at what they're doing. God rules in the kingdoms of men. People had to be thinking that about Nebuchadnezzar,
about Sennacherib. They had to be thinking that in the days of the Roman emperors. You think about Nero and the terrible things he was doing. God rules in the kingdoms of men. And if we believe these passages, if we go back to the first class, I've got a Christian worldview. I care about things. I pray fervently, but I don't wring my hands in fret because God rules in the kingdoms of men. Lori? That's right. Yeah.
Yeah, I think that's right. But I also, I want to say that's true. We need to make sure we have a spiritual mindset, not a physical. Israel was looking for a physical kingdom and they were disappointed when Jesus came. But just keep this in mind as a Christian, especially in relationship to, okay, what's my responsibility to the government?
It is a spiritual response to be interested, invested, and engaged. The Bible doesn't teach that spiritual people just say, you know what? My home's in heaven. I don't care if the world's on fire behind me. I'm going to do my own thing. That is a Gnostic and anti-biblical approach. God doesn't want us to be unengaged because if we're not engaged, who's going to influence those things? There's a reason why Daniel serves for almost seven decades in Babylon.
and why neomize the cut bear, and Persia. God cares about us being involved and invested, we just need to keep a spiritual lens as we do it, and remember where our ultimate treasure is live. But disengagement completely isn't what God wants from us, and we'll see that in a moment. But how we engage needs to be filtered by, okay, what does God want me to do as far as the New Testament's concerned? Anybody else?
That's exactly right. Isaiah 46-10 says, God knows the end from the beginning. God knows how everything's going to play out. I know some of y'all like speaking of the end. I hope 10-15 comes really quick. But nevertheless, don't worry. You can be uncomfortable at the same time and learn. All right. Trying times for God's people. Here's the last slide before we start talking about what God wants from us and our government and what we should want from government.
We need to appreciate that God's people have had trying times in other eras with their government and how they responded says something else about how we should respond. Romans 15, 4 says, whatever things are written beforehand were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Some of the passages we're going to look at are some of your favorite Bible stories. You know these stories, we use them in VBS, we use them in cradle row, and I'm saying we need to resurrect them from those contexts and see how deeply political they are and what God's people did and how they responded and how we need to as God's people. Two reasons. One, we need to realize we're not the first people. Kim was talking about persecution. We tend to think we have it harder than what? Anybody, any other error? Why would a person think I've got it harder than anybody else?
You know more about your own problems. That's true about life. That's true about errors in time. We need to remember there are people right now worshiping God in secrecy because they would not because somebody would say boo, we don't like Christians. They would literally lose their lives for saying, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God in 2024. We don't have it harder than other people. We may have it difficult, but we need to study the past to learn. Secondly, we need to have a biblically informed response.
Just because we're a Christian and somebody may be ungodly, we do not get to stand up for Jesus any way we want to because we feel like we have righteous indignation. Well, I posted this and said this about him because, hey, he's a pagan sinner and I love the Lord. No, you don't. Well, maybe you do, but not like that. You can't do that, right? You can't stand up for Jesus in an unChristlike way. God doesn't need that kind of help.
And so we need to look at how do people respond in trying times to government and what should be our response. Go to Exodus chapter 2. Exodus chapter 2. God's people are persecuted during the days of Pharaoh and Egypt. And this is what the text says. Exodus 1 and verse 8 first tells us there are rows of king over Egypt that didn't know Joseph. But Exodus 2 23 through 25 says, during those many days, the king of Egypt died.
and the people of Israel are grown because of the slavery and they cried out for help.
Their craft for rescue from slavery came up to God. God hurt their groaning. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the people of Israel. This goes back to Amanda's comment. Listen to the last part of this verse and God knew. That's all you've got. God saw God hurt and God knew God knew what the next thing says. God calls Moses and God knows it's time to deliver his people out of bondage. How did Israel respond to their persecution by the Egyptian government as they were enslaved and made to work in terrible conditions? What did these passages say they did?
They cried out to God. What's another word for that? What did they do? They prayed. And what did God do in response to their prayer? The 10 plagues, death of the firstborn Egypt, God got moving. Sometimes we say in difficult times, what there's nothing left to do, all we can do now is what?
All we can do now is pray as if prayer is like a last resort. Well, we've done everything. So I guess we kick in prayer. No, the first thing we should do is pray. They pray. Here's the second thing. And Babylon, remember they told Daniel and company, you have to eat this food. Go to Daniel chapter one. We need to look at this one. We won't look at all the others in detail, but look at Daniel one.
They tell Daniel and his friends, first of all, you've got to study in our schools. You've got to get a Babylonian public school education. That's what happens first. You've got to read our books, learn our stuff, and then they tell them, you've got to eat the meals that we provide for you. Look at Daniel 1 and verse 8, but Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food,
or with the wine that he drank, and therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. I know Phil Hartnady taught Daniel in here last quarter, why wouldn't Daniel eat this food? Why do you think Daniel wouldn't eat the food that the Babylonians were saying, you've got to eat this and drink this wine? What was his purpose for refusing? By the way, this is his government, and he works. He's been captured, Babylonian captivity. He's a prisoner. Eat this and drink this. Daniel says he won't. Why not?
Okay, so possibly against the Mosaic law, food, he couldn't eat certain food, wasn't kosher for Jewish people, why wouldn't he go along with it? It would be a what, as far as Daniel was concerned? It'd be a sin. Now listen to how Daniel responds in verse nine, God gave Daniel a favor and compassion in the side of the chief eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord, the king who assigned your food and your drink, why would he see that you're in worse condition than the youths who are your own age? So would you endanger my head with the king?
Daniel said to the steward who the chief of the eunuchs assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel, Nazariah, test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. And then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you and deal with your servants according to what you see.
So he listened to them in this matter, tested them for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables. What did Daniel do when the king said, you have to eat this? What did he do? He took a chance by doing what though? We talk about Daniel's refusing, but I'm reading Daniel did what with the unit. What did he say to him?
He just kindly asked him. He said, hey, I'm an Israelite. I'm a Jew. We don't need that. Would it be all right with you? The man said, I'm worried about you. If you come before the king, Daniel said, well, let's just give it a try. Let me do it. See, Daniel doesn't come in. I'm a Jewish person. We follow the law of Moses. You're a pagan's going to hell. You serve Marduk. He's a false God. Daniel doesn't do that. Daniel says, you know what?
Would it be alright with you if we just did something else? We don't really believe what you, we don't want to eat that? Well, let's try and God shows up and helps him. This happens, this is a pattern throughout the book of Daniel. You know this one. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. We're going to play the music. You got a bow. If you don't bow, we're going to throw you into what? Daniel chapter 3.
The fiery furnace. We love to do this with kids. This is about politics. Everybody is marching to the beat of this drum. If you don't bow, you're going to be thrown in. When they bring in Shatrek, Meshak, and Abednego, Daniel 3, 16, they say, okay, we're not careful to answer you in this matter. We can't bow down. The God we serve is able to deliver us. But even if he doesn't deliver, we won't bow down. We won't bow before the king's graven image. Throws them into the fire and what happens?
There's a fourth like the son of God walking around and Nebuchadnezzar says eventually, nobody should serve any other God but theirs. By the way, in all of these in Daniel, every time they come through, the king says, hey, from now on, they're gods in control. Daniel 3 is interesting because they did pray. They did all that stuff and they still went in the fire. So that's just a reminder. We might pray and do all the righteous things and God might say, I'm not delivering you from prior. I'm going to deliver you through fire.
I mean they had to be thinking, God, we know you're a buzzer, beater, God, but if you're going to respond, now will be a great time and they end up in the fire. But they're unburned. Kim, you had a question or Kevin was holding your hand down one of the two.
Daniel 3 isn't really about worshiping in secret. I think you're asking more of a new Testament question about them worshiping in secret. But yeah, we might get to that later, but Daniel 3 is just more about them being made to bow before a pagan king and they don't do that. Daniel 6 is the same thing. Don't pray. If you pray to your God, you're going to be thrown to the lions. Daniel prays, where's Daniel thrown?
Every time, God doesn't get them out of trouble. Do you notice that? God doesn't just say, you know what? You're serving me. I'm going to pluck you out and make life easy for you. He says, no, but I'll make a way for you to be able to respond and to bear it. And the same thing with New Testament encounters, Paul several times is before leaders and just read Paul's speeches. It's always most excellent Festus, most noble agrippa, Felix the governor. Every time they're respectful, they're upright, they're thoughtful,
But they're still convicted and we can be both of those things at the same time. So these just show us God's people have had trying times with government in the past. We're not in a completely new situation altogether. All right. Now let's get a little more practical. There are many passages we could cite and mention. I want to talk about the ones that shed more direct response in the new covenant. What should Christians expect from government?
And maybe you've got some ideas in mind on what would make a successful government. But what I hope to highlight in these next few minutes is what the New Testament says. Every Christian and everybody in the world should really expect the government to do. The government is God's institution. What does God want her to do? Now there are some biblical mandates. God says governmental structures are supposed to do this.
And then there are some other opinionated things that we might want, financial and or otherwise. But there are some just bedrock things that as Christians, we should be saying, based on Scripture and what God has instituted, here's what we expect. Number one, freedom to live for God. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2, and I'm going to read verses 1 through 3. 1 Timothy 2, 1 through 3.
First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and for all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. So Paul says, I want you to pray for government officials, but a part of what I want you to pray is that we can live a quiet and peaceful life. Why would God want us to be able to live a quiet and peaceful life as Christians? What's the purpose of that?
Example, but what are the benefits of being a Christian? We pray this all the time, right? We thank our servicemen and women, Chad and others. We're thankful that we can worship. We talk about being being able to worship without fear of what? Persecution, that's an answer to this prayer. Why should we want that to be the case that we can worship God free from any worry about somebody coming in here and causing us to worship in secret? Stay focused on things above. And what can you do when you're not being persecuted for your faith?
You can evangelize and share your faith. You will be more reticent. You'll be more fearful to share your faith if you're going to go to prison for doing so. Doesn't matter how bold you are. But if you have the freedom to do it, it's not only good just for society, but as Christians, we can do what God wants us to do and get on with godly things. One of the things Christians should expect from government is just spiritually speaking, stay out of the way so that we can do what God wants us to do. We want a freedom to live for God.
And we should be thankful for that and we should expect that. Here's number two. We should desire that government punish evil doers. Go to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 is a passage about being a living sacrifice. And at the end of Romans 12, there's this passage about don't avenge for yourselves. Romans 12 19 through 21.
Beloved, never venge for yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing, you will heat burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but do what? So what does Romans 12 19 through 21 say our responsibility as Christians is toward evil? What's our responsibility? Don't do what? Don't take what? Don't take vengeance into your own hands. Why?
God's going to do it. This passage doesn't say, don't worry about vengeance ever taking place. People in the Bible want it vengeance. It's a right thing in your heart to say, this was wrong. I hope wrongdoers repent because I've been a wrongdoer.
But if a person doesn't repent, I also hope that God and his righteousness will rain down justice more than that. He has to do it. If he's a good and righteous God, he can't let people get away with evil. Well, how does God do that? Listen, Romans 12 says, don't you ever take it into your own hands. Ignore the chapter division. Go right into chapter 13. God instituted government and now look at verse four, Romans 13, four. It says,
For he, that's the government official, is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain. He is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath against who? The wrong doer.
One of the things Christians should desire is that government officials punish the evil doers. It's a deterrent to wickedness and sin. I know somebody says, yeah, but government, government officials don't always get it right. That's a different discussion. That's not what this class is about, but it's about the overall purpose and structure of government. And one of the purposes is to thwart wickedness and violence. I've got Genesis nine and verse six up there because that's a passage about capital punishment. And in that passage,
God says Moses writes this, if any man sheds blood, by man will his blood also be shed. Somebody says that's Old Testament. Well, Romans 13 and verse 4 comes along and Paul says, God has not changed his mind about that. He says, do us right because government officials do not bear the sword in vain. That means they're God's messenger to punish the wicked and evil doer.
And if you don't want that to happen, he says, don't do what's evil. Don't do what's wrong. They don't bear the sword in vain, meaning this is not just a threat. We should want a government that punishes evil doers. And that's a part of why God has them in place. That's why we don't have to take vengeance into our own hands. He says, leave it. God's going to take care of it. You read Romans 12 19 through 21 and you say, well, yeah, God's going to take care of it at the end of time. Yes, that's true too. But in Romans 13 in the chapter that immediately follows, he says, sometimes God takes care of it in this lifetime.
through the officials that he's put in place. Here's the next one. Government is supposed to protect the innocent. Look at Romans 13 and verse three. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do it as good and you will receive his approval. So God commissions those in power to punish the evil, but also to make sure what about innocent people. Make sure what?
protected. Yeah, part of the government's responsibility is to make sure that the innocent individuals are protected, not to abuse them. John the Baptist was baptizing and soldiers came up to him in Luke 3 and verse 14 and they said, what do we need to do? John didn't say, get out of the army. He didn't say you can't serve God. He says, I want you to make sure that you don't take more than you should as far as your wages. I want you to be upright and honest. And that goes along with this idea of protecting the innocent.
You just think about some of the issues that sometimes, and this is one of our fears. This kind of goes back to the beginning of class. We don't like talking about these kind of things. It makes us uncomfortable. And what happens is moral issues become political issues. Have you noticed that? There are things that are just bedrock morality, and we think they're political, and so we can't talk about them. I'll just give you one. Abortion. We've been trained that that's a political issue. It's not a political issue. Politicians talk about it, but it's a moral issue.
Innocent human life. What is murder? God's against murder. God's not against killing. Murder is the deliberate taking of innocent human life. That's what murder is. God is not anti-killing Romans 13 and verse 4. All sorts of other passages in the Bible. But murder is the deliberate taking. Not accidental, not manslaughter. It's the deliberate taking of innocent human life. Our world's condition does.
abortions a political issue don't talk about that it's not it's a moral issue and the government has a responsibility to protect the innocent is there anyone or anything more innocent than a child in the womb innocent human life deliberate taking
That fits the definition. It's their responsibility to not tell people what to do, but to put laws in place that say, you know what, we're going to protect the innocent. We're not going to let you do what you want. But listen, Christians talk about that. It's not just that. That's not the only time Christians should be outraged when people's lives are taken innocently. That shouldn't be.
If a police officer uses excessive force and he doesn't have to, there's going to be an account for that in the judgment. That's an innocent human life. If it can be discovered that it is the case, if the death penalty is enacted and it shouldn't be, and evidence comes up later and says, hey, this person didn't do the crime and we taking their lives.
That's a problem. And as a Christian, I shouldn't be happy about that. I shouldn't be glad that shouldn't sit well with me because the government has a responsibility to protect not just life in the womb, but all innocent life to the best of their ability. And that's what God says their responsibility is. Alright, so freedom to live for God, punish evil doers, protect the innocent. And also, we should warn our government to become Christians. We're about to run out of time. Sometimes Christians say this.
I don't care about his behavior. I'm not voting for a Christian. I just want a politician. That's unbiblical. We shouldn't say that. Look at Acts 26. Here's the last thing. I know the bell of ring, but let me just read this last verse. Acts 26, and next week we'll talk about our responsibility toward the government. We should desire that everybody in the world, but especially our government leaders become Christians. Paul's preaching to Agrippa about his conversion and his defense, and Agrippa says this in Acts 26, 28.
In such a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian or almost? You've convinced me to be a Christian. Look at what Paul says about a grip in verse 29. He doesn't say, well, I don't care. Just get me free. I just want to be free. He says in verse 29, whether short or long, I wish to God that not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains.
we should be desiring that our government officials become Christians. Again, not because of America's a theocracy, but because we want all people to be saved and especially people that are in power because those ideas are going to trickle down and influence our society and our world. Next week, we'll talk about what's our responsibility toward the government as Christians and then we're going to talk about what are some of the challenges we sometimes face and how do we navigate those as God's people. Thanks for a good Bible class. Next week, we'll be doing it over at Cumberland Trace, but thanks for being here this morning.
