Christian Citizens (Part A)

We're supposed to be, in Christ, preoccupied with saving souls, and there's a lot that goes into that. There's more than just being saved. There's more than just being a Christian.

It's not an I got mine, you get yours. Christians have died so that others could become Christians. Christians have suffered. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian.

Torture first. The Richard Wambrands, the Watchmen Knees, and others. Stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio. Specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Romans chapter 13 with today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 13.

This chapter was much easier to teach from 20 years ago. Christian citizens, that's our topic. We will get to verse 7, hopefully, verses 1 and 2. So, Romans chapter 13, verse 1. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

You know, if we skip this paragraph and just come here next, we'll just... The love of Christ in your heart will serve you better than anything else in life. That's how the martyrs were able to go out with such a gallant testimony. Not the love of debate, or the love of knowledge. Those things have their place. But the love of Christ, the Christ-like love that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Where else would it come from? Very important. And I hope that we keep that in mind as we go through this chapter. At a glance of chapter 7, Paul, summing up this first paragraph in our 13th chapter, points to the money as being a big problem in the minds of some of the Christians that were in Rome and the church that was in Rome.

It comes down to the money. Somebody there was complaining about paying taxes, and with that came the hymns and haws about government. And he remembers to get to this topic as he writes this letter, and here we are. There are many infractions by a government that would cause Christians to recoil. You don't need me to tell you that. There are occasions when a Christian must decline to obey government orders. It's not frequent.

Well, hopefully it's not too frequent. Maybe I should stay away from that. It's relative to the times and the place that you live in. For instance, if you lived in North Korea, you would have to really think through a lot of things. One of the things the church has done, and I'm getting a little ahead of myself over the centuries, is go underground and being very effective at that. Christians are not to be sitting ducks on one hand, but on the other hand, we're not to be insurgents either. We are never to spread the gospel through violence. We are never to defend the gospel through violence.

I believe very strongly we have a right to defend ourselves and our loved ones, but even that can only go to a point in certain situations. Beyond that, we enter into zones that become gray, deadly, possibly even disobedient to God. So we have to depend on the Lord, be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. From the Jewish midwives and their defiance towards the pharaoh's laws to kill all the newborn male babies while the Jews were captive in Egypt, all the way to the tribulation saints that are beheaded because they refuse the mark of the beast. There is evidence in scripture of times that come upon us when we don't obey, but they're not free.

They're not cheap. They have blood on them many times, yours or your loved ones. There are tons of scenarios that we could go through, and many of those scenarios would have precedence in history. You know, in those Soviet-bloc nations, atheism was the state religion with a vehement hatred towards any other system, especially Christianity. Imagine if they came to your house and threatened to send you to the gulag.

Leave your children without parents unless you ratted out something false on your Christian neighbor. Are you being a Christian? You see scenarios like that.

It's impossible to get through cleanly. And so all of this does provide for us a sense of dependency of God, of humility, of personal ability, and a quest to do what is right in those areas where we may not find sufficient scriptural direct information to help us. Gray zones is what I'm talking about. And Christians are not the only victims to suffer persecution. All throughout history, people have persecuted people of the same skin, of the same language, of the same culture. It's part of the curse in this world.

We are expected to perform, nonetheless, if we find ourselves in such a situation. We think of Daniel, of course, when they outlawed his religion. Well, they made laws sufficient enough that would outlaw his religion, and Daniel went as his custom wasn't prayed anyway, in their face. And he suffered for it. He got out of it, but God does not always deliver his saints. He told the church in Smyrna, you're going to suffer. Then this Mordecai started out with a noble ambition.

I'm not bowing down to that guy. What he didn't see coming was that train of attempted genocide on his people, but they prevailed. Well, we have to remember that's Old Testament. We're New Testament saints. We love the Old Testament. It's every bit of God's word, but it has to be seen through New Testament eyes. And when the church does not do that, she confuses her identity of being New Covenant believers versus Old Covenant believers. They are one and the same as far as the scriptures go, but the covenants are not.

They're not identical at all. Well, with that, we look at verse 1. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Well, having dealt with the spiritual man in the church, now Paul is dealing with the spiritual man outside the church in society as citizens. Christians who are citizens in society that may not be or be friendly to them. So he writes to that church in Rome, and there was the legislative authority of the ancient world, the Roman Empire.

And so they were, I guess you could say, the equivalent of living in Washington, D.C., where the laws are made. And he's telling them, you be good citizens so that you can be free to preach Christ, because that's what we bring and nobody else has anything like it. He takes us out of the picture.

What are you left with? Had Christians in Paul's day rejected Roman law, Christianity would have ended. That would have been it.

They would have stomped it out. This is wise counsel from Paul. What if Paul had said, resist these people. You don't have to pay taxes. They're taking your tax money and they're having all of this debauchery in the palaces.

We don't have to pay for this. It would have been a disaster and you probably wouldn't be here right now. But God, of course, ahead of that, way ahead of that, has the right man with the right authority to lay out for Christians rules of behavior. For there is no authority except from God, he says. God is over the leaders of the nations, not the bullet or the ballot. God certainly is sovereign.

If he's not over it, then he's not sovereign, but he is. Satan uses people to oppose God's desire and his appointments. God uses people to oppose Satan. Satan's goal, of course, is to damn souls. He hates every human being ever born.

He's hated them. He's preoccupied with damning their souls. We're supposed to be, in Christ, preoccupied with saving souls and there's a lot that goes into that. There's more than just being saved. There's more than just being a Christian.

It's not an I got mine, you get yours. Christians have died so that others could become Christians. Christians have suffered. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian.

Torture first. The Richard Wambrands, the Watchmen Knees, and others. Even if you don't agree with all of their theology, there's theology there enough to understand they are our Christian brothers. Such has been the story in the scriptures of the prophets versus the kings from Samuel through Chronicles and other parts too. I referenced Jeremiah the prophet last session. I'm going to reference him again. He was a martyr for Yahweh, Christ of the Old Testament. He suffered for upholding righteousness by his own people, his own family even. God speaking through Jeremiah.

Same chapter as we did last but different. This time God is speaking to the nation through the prophet. Many rulers have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion underfoot.

They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. These were supposed to be the kings and the priests of Israel. And that's how they behaved. That's what God got back from them. Their Bible was something to point to, just not something to obey. Just because God allowed them office does not mean they are his friends. We have to remember that. God is sovereign.

And I won't comment, I'll get to that because I'll get ahead of myself and that's not good for me. Proverbs 29 2, When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Well there are nations where the people that live in that nation are born into that will never have a righteous leader.

Again, the poster boy for this morning so far, North Korea. There are people who have been born under that evil regime and have died under that evil regime. Christians can learn from scripture how to react to wicked government. What is my role? You get a new job, you don't know what to do, where to stand, not a very good feeling. Well as a Christian you should know what your response is to things in life.

Or you should have at least enough information to begin to dig into it. In America wicked leaders provoke the righteous, especially when the culture is sufficiently Christless. Maybe a stronger word is better. When a culture is sufficiently anti-Christ. These leaders get into power and they provoke us. The question I have is does a shallow Christianity work in favor of a hostile culture? Are wicked governments a reflection of compromised Christianity? How does a society get to the level of wickedness since the gospel has been given to us?

Is it because? I'm talking about in areas where the churches have been established. Do Christians play a role in the culture, in the corruption of the culture, because of shallowness? I'm not saying all Christians.

You can figure that one out. Those churches that put up a sign, we are a church, but don't behave like one. God's word is not paramount to them.

Loving one another is on their terms, not God's. And I can go on. Matthew chapter 5, however, you are the salt of the earth. He's talking to you. You're going to say, Lord, are you talking to me?

Yes, I'm talking to you. You're the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. That's what happens to the woman who rides the beast. Apostate Christianity.

Hated even by the world, trampled by the world. When the church doesn't do her job to uphold scripture and righteousness, and you can't do that without agape love, you cannot do it well without phileo love, what is the result? You say we're a community church. You know, God, a few years back, spoke to me about this church.

You know, we used to have at New Year's, come in and pray at the New Year Inn, and I would say this is what has happened in the last year, and this is what I feel God is leading this year for me to do. And one year, God said, I just want you to be a church. Be a church. You're not a community center. You're not an entertainment industry. You just let me be Lord.

Preach the word. It's a take it or leave it deal. There are going to be people that are offended.

There are going to be people that love it. That's not your business. It's my business. Be a church. Strengthen the save.

Reach the loss. Stand against evil. Is that too hard for you, Pastor, to do? Now he doesn't talk to me in this tone.

I talk to me in this tone. God is just so loving and kind and merciful with me. Withholding scripture does not work in our favor. Dumbing down the scripture does not work well for anyone. There are plenty of places where you can go and find the scripture treated as something other than what it is. But when we face hardship, we may be tempted to question the sovereignty of God and his love. And they go together.

Can't separate the two. Then God might question our faith. Trust God. That's the response.

Trust me. John, chapter 19, verse 11. Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. He said, yeah, I'm going to suffer. You're going to crucify me. My father loves me and he's in control.

And I'm not backing away from any of those two things. Well, he's giving us an example also of how we should go about our business. God is sovereign. I don't know why he does what he does.

I don't know why he put a mark on Cain after Cain murdered his brother and said no one is to kill Cain. He knows why. He didn't tell me.

He didn't have to. He's told me enough to understand he is sovereign and he is love. And by faith, I accept that. Church behavior, contrary to the scripture, is sub-scriptural. You reap what you sow. It's sub-scriptural religion and it rots an otherwise decent culture. When the church is a blank, it doesn't do what she's built to do.

And then there's the scramble to get it together, but often times it's too late. Persecution is on your doorstep. We've looked at Europe, many parts of Europe, began to infect the church with humanism and liberalism and other junk.

They were the first to go. Yes, shame on you who claim Christ to be your Lord, but you cast your vote when you have a choice not to, when you cast your vote for anti-Christ people. Those aggressively opposed to Christ, while at the same time championing evil policies. Just look at how they vote. Jesus said you'll know them by their fruit.

The fruit is the behavior, the outcome of what's on the inside. He says here in verse 1, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. David understood that and that's why he didn't kill Saul and the two opportunities. David could have made his life so much easier. All he had to do was stick his sword in Saul. And yet plenty wanted to help him.

And he did not. God made him king. I'm not stopping that.

That's not for me. Proverbs 8.15, Solomon writes, By me kings reign and rulers decree justice. Well how do you deal with that as a Christian in a corrupt culture? When the politicians are against you, you stand your ground. God's sovereign.

He's love. This is the society I'm born into. And I'm supposed to function as a believer nonetheless. Daniel 5, Nebuchadnezzar had learned God rules in the kingdom of men and appoints over it whomever he chooses.

Why? Well, you don't have an answer. You have to obey. God allows the rulers.

What they do with their appointment is on them. This is the case with King Jeroboam. Israel had a united kingdom under King David and Solomon. And then when Solomon died, his incompetent son Rehoboam took the throne. And because of arrogance, born of faithlessness, he created a condition by which the kingdom split in two.

Essentially two tribes in the southern part of the nation and ten in the north. God sent a prophet to Jeroboam. Rehoboam with an R is the one that messed it all up. And Jeroboam with a J was the one God appointed over the ten tribes through one of his prophets.

This was official. This was a calling. That's in 1 Kings 14 if you're not familiar with it. Jeroboam, of course, ruined the nation. But the point is, God appointed him. What Jeroboam did after that is on Jeroboam. God knew what he would do, what Jeroboam would do, but he didn't stop it.

And this is the story of the kings and the chronicles in the Bible. Paul wrote these words in Romans 13 while Nero was Caesar. The Caesars were cruel, idolatrous, lewd, lustful, savage, tyrannical. Most of them were very, very bad.

All of them were bad. But as Caesars go, his first five years as Caesar were relatively productive and good. Seneca was his mentor. But then he had Seneca killed. He also eventually had his mother killed, his wife killed. He was demon-possessed eventually, not initially. Paul preached to Nero. And it was sometime after that that Nero began his dive into darkness and he never recovered. The Christians did not get auxiliary commandments under persecution. They remained the same. Preached the word in season and out of season.

Sometimes that out of season is very ugly. In verse 2, therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

Now again, we're going to get to our, well, we'll just keep going. Preaching Christ, that's our assignment. No matter the politics, we're to preach Christ with how we live and what we say.

Sometimes what we say has to go underground. We restrain it, manage it wisely. He said the same thing to Titus, a pastor under him. Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good word. Now most doctrines we establish through cross-reference of other scriptures that present the same doctrine.

Well, there you have two of them for this one, for submitting to the authorities. Romans 13 1, Titus 3 1. We can, as Christians and citizens, be involved in politics to a point.

Where's the point? 2 Timothy 2, Paul writing to another pastor. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. I didn't sign up for you world, I signed up with Christ. He's my leader. He is my government. He is my king. There's where my primary citizenship lies, in the kingdom of heaven. However, I have orders.

I am part of an occupation force. Not to seek and destroy, but to seek and to save. Luke 19 10, the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost and he is still doing. Of all the things Jesus began both to do and to teach, O Theophilus starts out the book of Acts. And then it continues to unfold that story. Living with a corrupt government.

Yoo-hoo, sign me up. Matthew 12, Matthew 5 12. They persecuted the prophets who were before you. And he's saying this in the context, it's coming to you too. All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution in some form.

Some more intense than others. Resistance, the Christian resistance, is by living and speaking the truth. That's our primary weapon against a rotten society and a dirty government.

Not through violent action. No government has the right to force a Christian to sin. And no Christian is to sin if coerced.

If there's an attempt to force them. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again or want to listen to others like it, head over to CrossReferenceRadio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross Reference Radio, so make a note of it. CrossReferenceRadio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross Reference Radio.