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Romans 9-16

God Establishes Authority

Josh Yates · Sunday, 9 November 2025 · Romans 13:1-10 · 43:05 · 7,071 words

Romans S29 · 13:1-10 Lake Orion

Listen to this message

Romans 13 is the focus of this message, which explains how believers should relate to governing authorities. The speaker encourages listeners to submit to God first, honor those in leadership, pray for wisdom, and live as faithful citizens who reflect biblical values in politics and everyday life. A call is made to examine one’s heart, especially online behavior, and to love others even in disagreement. The sermon urges Christians to be living sacrifices, seeking God’s kingdom above all political allegiances.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

tax 30 government 30 caesar 11 common 12 follower 16 pray 38 civil 6 official 8 citizen 7 revenue 6 babylon 4 attempt 6

Topics

Government & Authority 14 Prayer 8 Sin 5 Salvation 3 Mission & Evangelism 2 The Gospel 2 Atonement & Sacrifice 2 Grace 2 Faith 2 Righteousness 1 Obedience 1 Conscience 1 The Wrath of God 1

Scripture referenced 20

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 13 5:36 Romans 13 6:07 Romans 1 6:22 Romans 3:23 8:34 Romans 8 12:36 Romans 12:1 13:25 Romans 12:12 15:27 Romans 12 15:54 Romans 13 17:55 Romans 13:1-7 18:10 Romans 13:1-7 18:28 Romans 13:1-7 18:29 Romans 13:1-7 18:29 Romans 13 22:33 Romans 13:2 23:53 Romans 13:4 25:23 Acts 5:29 31:55 1 Peter 2:13 32:16 1 Timothy 2:1-4 36:00 Proverbs 13:4 37:40

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hi everyone, my name is Jules, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

We are so glad that you're here, and we want to connect with you and your family.

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You can also visit our website at theriverchurch.cc to learn more about us and what we have going on as a church.

Thanks again for joining us, and we hope that you are blessed by today's message.

Good morning again. It's an honor to be with you today.

Man, no other name, right? No other name under heaven and earth should be praised.

That's really what it's about. It's all about Him this morning.

We do have some special guests with us this morning, though, that we do want to just say thank you for coming.

They are some of our government officials for our state and our township and the village.

And so we want to just say thank you for their service and give honor where honor is due,

because they serve our community.

They serve our community in so many different ways, and serve our state in so many different ways.

And we also want to lift them up in prayer.

And so we invited them to come this morning to just be a part of our gathering, and they've answered that call and they've decided to be here.

And so we want to give them some thanks for being here and thank them for their service today.

So first of all, we have Representative Donnie Steele, the 54th Michigan State House, 54th District Michigan State House Representative.

Donnie's here with us this morning, so thank you for attending.

Let's see, we also have Matt Pfeiffer right behind there. He's our Orion Township treasurer.

Thank you so much for being here today.

We've got Mike Flood and his wife Lillian right here. He's been around a long time and around this church, too.

Thank you so much, Mike, for your service.

And we've got Jack Lovett right here, also an Orion Township trustee as well.

And then finally, we have Eric Papashek, our Lake Orion Village Council member.

So thank you so much for being here.

I also want to convey Chris Barnett, our supervisor, Township Supervisor, he conveys his apologies.

He had every intention of attending.

But his daughter had his grandson.

And now he's down in Nashville.

And so we're thankful for that, absolutely.

So he's in a very much more important place this morning, holding -- I saw a picture of him with his grandson and it was pretty awesome.

So that's good stuff.

But I do want to say thank you so much for how you serve our community.

Thank you for being here today.

And we just really want to pray over you.

And just pray that God would bless you.

Pray that God would give you discernment and wisdom as you lead us as your constituents.

And I pray that we would be also a blessing to you here at the River Church.

I want you to know you're prayed for.

I want you to know that we care about what you do.

And we honor what you do.

And the beauty, I believe, that could be of our country is that even if we disagree, we can still have honor and respect one another.

And we don't ever want to lose that.

And that's something we talk about often here at the River Church.

And so thank you.

Not saying that we disagree at all.

I don't want to say we disagree with everyone of you.

That's not what I'm saying.

But what I am, you know, we just -- you know what I'm talking about.

I'm sure you face it all the time.

And we just want to say thank you.

We honor you.

We want to pray for you this morning.

So let's pray this morning.

Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for how you call each of us to serve you in different ways.

Lord, I thank you for our government officials that are here this morning.

Lord, I thank you for Donnie, for Matt, for Mike, for Jack, for Eric, and for Chris who's not here but wanted to be.

And all of our other officials, too, that we don't have here in attendance.

But we want to make sure that we pray for them, too, Lord God.

I just pray that you would grant them wisdom as they lead us.

As they lead both at the state house and in our township and in our village.

God, I pray that you would give them discernment and wisdom as they lead us as their constituents and as people.

And God, I pray that you would give them the wisdom to make decisions that's for the common good.

Lord, the things that -- Lord, you would lead them in the decisions that would honor you.

I pray that you bless them, God.

I pray that in the middle of a tough job that each one of them has, Lord, I pray that they would find joy in that as well.

And that they would see the ways that they make an impact more often or even hear that more often than the ways that they might disappoint people.

Because, Lord, every single one of us disappoints somebody at some point.

And when you're in the public eye, it can feel like you do it all the time.

So, Lord, I pray, too, that there would be some peace in their lives.

God, their job is not an easy one.

And, Lord, I pray that those of us at the River Church, I pray that those of us that follow Christ would understand that of all of our government officials.

All the way up to the President of the United States.

Lord, the job that they have is not an easy one.

And I pray, Lord, that when they see some of us in the Super Bowl, they would understand that it's not easy.

supermarket, that there wouldn't be a groaning because of what's happened, but that they would

see us and go, oh, wow, that person supported me. Or even when we disagreed, we respected one

another. God, I just pray for peace in their lives and in their leadership. God, I thank you for each

one. Bless them and use them for the good of our community, the good of our state, and the good of

our nation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's give them one more round of applause. Thank

you for being here today, guys. Seriously. Well, today we do continue our study in the book of

Romans, and we're in Romans chapter 13 today. So if you have your Bibles, you can turn there or in

your devices, you can click there. If you don't have a Bible app on your phone, you can download

the River Church app. It's got our River R on it, and it has the Bible in there as well. You can

also follow along the scripture as we do that. But we have to remember that this is part of a larger

letter, and we're starting to get to the end of this letter. And I'd like to do a recap from time

to time. And Paul wrote this letter, and I'd like to do a recap from time to time. And Paul wrote this

book to the Roman church. And so in order to understand what he's going to say today in Romans

chapter 13, we have to understand what he said throughout the rest of the letter. And so I want

to make sure that we know that today. This letter was to both Jewish and Gentile Christians in the

Roman church in a very interesting time that we're going to learn about here this morning.

But we got to remember that back in Romans chapter 1, we learned that Jesus is king and must be

and God has rescued us if we respond to Jesus and give him our lives. And we're transformed by the

grace of God. But we also learned that the gospel also reveals God's wrath. And he's right to be

angry at sin. He's right to punish sin. Because all of us have responded to God by exchanging the

truth for a lie. Every single one of us, including the guy doing the speaking, we've all exchanged

God's truth for a lie. Because we've turned to the created to be our God.

Or we've made ourselves the God of our lives. And God has given mankind over to its

evil desires. And those desires lead to death, both physical and spiritual death, a separation

from God for eternity. And God rescues us from this if we turn to him. The reality is, is God

loves us so much that he gives us what we want. If we want to have him, we can have him for all

of eternity. If we don't want him, we don't have to have him for all of eternity.

But that is our choice. We've learned that we have to be careful also that how we look at those

outside the church. Because we in the church can sometimes go, oh, well, look at us. We're somehow

more spiritual than everybody else. And everybody outside are the others. We have to remember that

some of us in this building today, in fact, most of us in this building today, have done the exact

same things that everybody else does in the world. How can we sit in judgment of anyone? In fact,

there's some of us that probably still do some of those things. Because all of us have our stuff

that we struggle with before the Lord.

Ultimately, God judges our sin. He has to. But he puts the penalty on Jesus if we call on his name

and ask to be saved. We're all desperate for a savior. And sin is that ultimate leveler. We're

all at the same level. I don't care if you're rich or poor, white or black, American or Arab,

born into a Christian family or not, any nation of the world, sin has separated us all from God,

Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard. When it comes to God,

we're all at the same level. God brings it all and God does it all. And everyone is guilty. Everyone

is accountable. And we can't be deceived. We can't be deceived. And God puts us right with him

through Jesus because only Jesus paid the debt for sinners. The most beautiful thing about God's

grace is that Jesus' sacrifice covers all of our sin. Every single one. It's truly amazing grace.

I don't care what you've done. I don't care how far you've gone. I don't care if you think that

church's walls would fall down if you're watching online. If your church's walls fall down, if you

walk in it, guess what? They'll still be standing because the cross stands above it all when you

call on the name of Jesus. The cross covers our sin. It pays for our sin. God makes us right with

him through Jesus and through him alone. I want you to hear that again this morning. God makes

us right through Jesus and Jesus alone. There is no other name under heaven by which people must

be saved. It's the name of Jesus Christ. It's not faith in works, but faith in Christ. Jesus

is the author and finisher of our faith. It's the gospel that brings us hope and we can be changed

today. If you call on the name of the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from

the dead, you will be saved. That's what Paul is talking about. The commentator Christopher Ash

says it like this. It's the God who was

rightly at war with me. He was rightly angry with me, and there was nothing I could do about it,

has made peace with me. He has made peace with us through Jesus Christ. And Adam, the first man,

brought sin into the world. But Jesus, the second Adam, as Paul says in his letter, brought life.

Sin was strong, but Jesus is stronger. And our response to that can either be a reliance upon

God for salvation, or we can continue to try to earn it. We talked about this a few weeks ago.

There's this philosophy called moralistic therapeutic deism, that we try to be a good person

because it makes us feel better. And God's sole purpose in life is actually so that we have a good

life, when that's not even close to what God's purpose is in our lives. But this idea is that

God kind of exists outside, and he doesn't really meddle in our lives. We just have to be a good

person, and God understands it. And I want to read you this quote. I've read it before, but I want to

read it again. Matt Chandler is a person who says,

wrote a book called The Explicit Gospel, and he says it this way.

As long as bad behavior is not visible or tangible, the moralist will tolerate some of what

Jerry Bridges calls respectable sins. A moralist is not on the hunt. He's not aggressively seeking

to destroy that which is evil in him, but is content to simply wash his hands. But here's the

thing. Some of us in this room struggle. Well, let's not say some of us. Every single one of us

in this room struggles. I don't care who we are. I don't care who we are. I don't care who we are.

We've all got something we struggle with. We all carry around guilt and shame and ways we wish we

were better or a different person or that we weren't dealing with something. I want to give

you some hope this morning. The name of Jesus can set you free. He can set you free. We are free from

condemnation, Paul says. Free from the flesh, all done, because we've been adopted into the

family of God. If you call on the name of Jesus and are saved, you can be set free. And then at

the end of chapter eight, Paul comes to this huge question. He says,

he's on a roll. And he asks a series of questions that ends with the fact that we are more than

conquerors in Jesus. And nothing can separate us from God's love. And God has chosen us. If you're

a follower of Jesus, he has set his love on you. How amazing is that? That should be, that should

just be an exciting thing that God, the creator of the universe, has set his love on you as his son

or his daughter, when you call on the name of the Lord. And then Paul talked about how he

longed for his people, the Jewish nation, to come to know Jesus, so much so that he was willing to

give up his own salvation, if it meant that his people would accept Christ as their Lord and

Savior, as the Messiah. And then a couple, then the last couple of weeks, we've heard about how God

has been calling us to live as living sacrifices. I love that verse in Romans 12, 1, to worship and

be a living sacrifice. But here's the struggle of being a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice is

alive and can crawl off the altar. And we don't, we don't live our lives as that sacrifice. We can

choose to live as a living sacrifice. We can choose to live as a living sacrifice. We can choose to

choose not to. So it becomes everyday choice that we must choose to live in that day for Jesus,

or we choose to live it for ourselves or some other reason. And we've been called to no longer

be conformed to the world, but to be transformed, metamorpho, to be metamorphosized, to be

changed like a caterpillar going into cocoon and coming out as something completely different.

That's what we're called to be as followers of Christ. How?

By the renewing of our minds, by the renewing of our minds, which is the only way to know God's

will for us. How do we renew our minds? We learn who God is. We learn how God loves. And we look

at the life of Jesus to see how we should live. That's how we renew our minds. And then last week,

I want to say thanks to Phil Piasecki for coming from Waterford to speak last Sunday. I appreciate

him being here and preaching. Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch it because we had some

technical difficulties last week too. But from what I hear, he did a great job. And so I just

want to thank him.

Thank you for him coming too. But I love the passes that he preached on because we're called

to outdo each other in serving each other.

It's almost like when we get to the door

and we open it for somebody,

it's like we're gonna fight over

who gets to open the door for the other person.

That's the kind of fighting it's supposed to be.

Not the fighting that we see in our culture.

It's supposed to be fighting over

who gets to actually serve each other

when we're followers of Christ.

And then we're called to abhor evil

and hold fast to what is good, hold fast to truth.

In that passage is my father-in-law's favorite verse.

So this is a shout out to dad this morning

if he's watching.

Romans 12, 12, rejoice in hope,

be patient in tribulation,

be constant in prayer.

That's our call as Jesus followers.

So we've learned about the foundation of salvation,

that the foundation of salvation is Jesus.

That's what Paul spent the first 11 chapters

of the letter of Romans

talking about the foundation of salvation,

that it was all Jesus.

And now he's switched in Romans 12 and said,

now this is how we are to live.

This is what Jesus followers look like.

In our culture today, I'm saddened by it,

but the term Christian has been

really misused.

The idea of Christian is supposed to be little Christ,

but it's too broad.

And evangelical, that's an even worse term, right?

But evangelical, all it means is

we tell others about Jesus

because he's changed our lives.

And if there's anybody here this morning

that says, not in my notes, but I feel led to share it,

if there's anybody here this morning that wonders about

why people tell others about Jesus,

there was a podcast,

if you know Penn and Teller,

I've said this before, but Penn and Teller are these magicians.

There was a podcast that they ran,

and their agency,

And they had a guy come to them after a show

and hand them a Bible and say,

that was the best magic show I've ever seen,

and I just really believe in Jesus,

and I put my phone number inside this Bible.

I pray you read it, and if you have any questions,

you give me a call.

And Penn's on this podcast going,

people that are atheists get so ticked off

when people give them a Bible

or tell them about Jesus.

And he's like, I don't understand it.

Because here's the thing,

how much do you have to hate someone

if that's the truth?

If that's what you believe,

and you don't tell them?

If we believe that Jesus saves,

and he does,

and that he's the only way to save,

that's why we tell people about Jesus.

Not because we hate people,

but because we love them,

and we want them to be able to be in heaven with God one day.

Right?

And all that to be said,

that's why I say Jesus followers,

because there's something different about that.

If we're a Jesus follower,

that's a different classification.

And so that's what I'm going to talk about this morning

as far as being a Jesus follower

and continuing what Paul is talking to us about.

Paul continues this line of instruction in Romans 13,

but he takes the reader to a place,

and the church in Rome,

to a place that nobody expected.

And the church in Rome would have looked at this and went,

are you kidding me?

So let's read it together.

Romans 13, verses 1 to 7 says this.

Romans 13, verses 1 to 7 says this.

Romans 13, verses 1 to 7 says this.

Romans 13, verses 1 to 7 says this.

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 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 also pay taxes.

For the authorities are menacled,

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.

And so what in the world is Paul talking about here?

It seems pretty straightforward,

but there is a lot in this passage

that we have to understand

to understand what we're called to as Jesus' followers.

God is now telling us through the apostle Paul

how Jesus' followers are to relate to human government

and the kind of systems

and citizens Jesus' followers are supposed to be.

You know, it's been said

that God not only unites his friends,

he also unites his enemies,

and it's proven from history.

It was true in Jesus' own time

because shortly after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem,

the Pharisees, who wanted Jesus dead

because they were losing their power,

they sought out their enemies, the Herodians,

to join them in an unholy alliance to get him.

And there could have been no two,

more opposite ends of the spectrum, even more so the Republicans and Democrats today, all right?

Let's be honest. These Herodians were not a religious sect or a school. They were a political

party. They were Jews, or at least of mixed Jewish blood, but they were Roman sympathizers

and supporters who favored Roman occupation and taxation. The Pharisees did not. The Pharisees

opposed. They were anti-Caesar and loathed paying taxes, but they got together to get Jesus. They

formulated a plan to try to ensnare Jesus. They sent a combined delegation of young Pharisees and

Herodians to Jesus, and their instructions were to flatter him, which they did, and then asked this

question, tell us what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? That's in Matthew

22, 17. That question was really, really smart, because if he answered no, Jesus would have been

branded a traitor to Caesar and would have had the mark put on him by Rome. If he said yes, he would

be anti-patriotic, and his ministry would be discredited amongst the Jewish people, because

they didn't want Roman government over them. But instead, Jesus got them, as well he often does.

He says, you hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax, and

that's verse 18 there. A hush came over the crowd as Jesus held the coin up for all to see, and then

he asked them, whose portrait is this and whose inscription? The crowd says, Caesar, and he says

the line that many of us may have heard. Then he said to them, give to Caesar what is Caesar's,

and to God what is God's. Brilliant answer, and all his critics could walk away shaking their heads.

Commentator put it like this on this passage. With this single sentence, our Lord established

the validity of human government, while at the same time setting its limits. Caesar had his image

on certain things, and they rightly belonged to him. There is a proper domain and function for

human government. However, God has stamped his own image on man. The intellect, the will, and the soul

bear the divine stamp. Thus, man may give outward things to Caesar, but the inner man belongs to

God. Jesus was saying, the coin is from the mint of the Roman Empire, but you are from God's mint.

The coin's use is determined by its likeness, and your use is determined by the likeness you bear.

Jesus' single sentence is certainly the most important political statement ever made. And Paul

in these first seven verses of Romans chapter 13 is telling the Roman Christians and us that we are

to the governing authorities. And what does he say next? Where does the government get their

authority from? God himself. See, the governments the nation set up are part of God's common grace.

God has a common grace on the entire world. There are things that God, how God functions in the

world that gives grace to all of us. The fact that you're breathing this morning, common grace. You

can't control whether or not you take your next breath. God determines our days, right? That's a

common grace. And our government is part of that common grace. Because without laws and government

in place, we don't have a common grace. We don't have a common grace. We don't have a common grace.

Anarchy would reign. There would be no possibility for justice, order, or civility. Here's the thing.

If anyone resists the authority that God has appointed, judgment will come, oftentimes through

that government. God sets up kings and God removes kings. John Piper says it this way. This means that

the Roman Christians and we today should learn that it is God's will to govern the world of

mankind through human civil authorities. This is God's plan. Man did not create government. God did.

Man does not sustain it. God does.

Civil authority is God's idea in this age. And if we stopped at verse two, it could be tough. I can

only imagine the questions you're asking right now. What happens when I disagree though? Paul's

definitely saying go onto Facebook and trash everybody, right? That's definitely what Paul's

saying this morning. What does it mean? Does that mean that we do whatever we're told no matter what?

What about voting, especially in a democratic republic like we have here in America? I'm glad

you asked those questions because they're good ones. But Paul goes on and he says, look, these

good ones are not going to have any fear of the authority. Here's a very practical illustration.

You're on I-75 doing 70 miles an hour. You see the top hat in your rearview mirror or better yet,

parked in one of those little spots where they, you know, are like this, right? If you're going

70, what are you doing? I'm good. I'm good. Hope I don't have a taillight out, but I'm good.

You do in 95, you're like, oh man, oh man,

where's the next exit?

Where's the next exit?

I got it, right?

We don't have any reason to fear

if we're doing the right thing.

See, our civil servants are intended for our good.

God has given them the sword to mete out judgment

and keep civilization moving forward.

And he says in verse four

that the government is the servant of God.

So often in many ways, the government is a servant of God,

whether it's realized or not.

I mean, when I look back in the Old Testament,

if he used Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon for his purposes,

he'll use anyone.

He uses all of us.

Including our government authorities.

And our civil servants are intended for our good.

And our government officials are called to promote laws

and policies that lead to human flourishing

and community growth for all of its citizens.

That's God's call to you.

But here's the thing, the wisdom of God

and the discernment of God are so necessary for that

because the call that you have on your lives

is much bigger than you.

It really is.

And I'm sure you're aware of that, you know?

We have to try our best in any position of leadership

to rely upon the Lord

and to set aside personal agenda

and look for a wisdom that's beyond our own understanding

on everybody involved.

The citizen that is the Jesus follower

as well as the government official.

See, we have a call as a citizen too,

to be a good citizen,

to follow the law, to do what's right.

How are we to do this?

Well, Paul lays it out at the end of this passage.

Taxes to whom taxes are due.

Right?

April 15th starts coming and we're like,

That's when we really start complaining.

That's when Facebook really lights up.

Right?

I know Matt's back there going,

Come on, man!

But yeah, taxes are important.

We pay taxes for a reason.

But we pay taxes to whom taxes are due.

So here's what Paul's saying.

If you're cheating on your taxes as a Jesus follower,

you're sinning.

Called to do the right thing.

Called to do the right thing.

To him who knows what they should do,

if you don't do it, it's sin.

Whether you agree with what's happening or not.

Fees and permits.

To whom revenue is due.

Respect to whom respect is due.

Honor to whom honor is due.

But what about the questions?

You asked earlier.

And I'll add one more.

What if the government is doing things that are immoral?

Against God.

Forcing me to do something that's immoral.

In order to understand and get to the answer of these questions,

we have to understand the context in which Paul is writing.

Ever heard of the Emperor Nero?

That's who was emperor when Paul wrote these words.

Let me give you a little insight into who Nero was.

The Caesars were the government of Rome.

There was an elected Senate,

but it was largely powerless to the Caesar,

who was considered at best the sole leader,

and at worst, God himself by Rome.

There was temples dedicated to the worship of Caesar.

Nero was the emperor during this time,

and his rap sheet is pretty dark.

He had his own mother, Agrippina, killed,

supposedly drowned after a boat accident.

He also ordered the murder of his first wife, Octavia,

after a sham divorce.

There's the great fire of Rome in 64 AD.

Some say he started it to clear space for his palace,

though that's a little debated.

He blamed Christians, leading to brutal executions like,

being put on stakes and being burned to light his gardens.

He executed senators and artists who crossed him

and lived extravagantly while Rome suffered.

He inherited a Roman treasury that was basically broke,

thanks to Caligula's wild spending.

His early taxes were pretty reasonable, though,

compared to Caligula,

because his advisors, Seneca and Burris, kept things tight.

But after AD 62, he fired them

and let a guy named Tigellinus run the show,

and it turned into a sham.

They taxed urine, no joke,

because they collected it.

It was Roman bleach, ammonia bleach.

That's what they used it for.

But he had a 4% tax.

There was an inheritance tax on sterile people.

Because they weren't providing more soldiers for the Roman Empire.

There was the Great Fire Rebuild Tax, because, well, Rome had to be rebuilt.

Temple Robbery Tax, they would take money from the temple.

The Jewish Temple Tax Redirect.

How much did the average person feel it?

Well, a regular Roman laborer earned about one denarius per day.

By AD 68, between poll taxes, market taxes, and fire levies,

they were losing 60 to 90 days of wages per year.

Three months of their year was going to the government.

Senators lost estates and the right, left and right.

They lost what they owned to false accusations.

In AD 68, Gaul and Spain revolted specifically over taxes.

Vindex's rebellion cry was,

Down with the tax collector emperor!

See, it's not any new what we're talking about.

Bottom line, Nero started with a balanced budget

and ended with provincial governors writing,

We can't squeeze any more blood from these stones.

Finally, one quote from a senator.

He said he never levied a tax that wasn't cruel.

Never spared anyone.

Never missed a chance to rob temples, extort provinces,

or murder the rich for their money.

That gives some pretty serious context to everything Paul just said, doesn't it?

Now, we can go even back, like I said earlier, to the Babylonian captivity.

When the Israelites were taken to Babylon,

they had everything taken away.

Their homes, they were separated from families.

They knew nothing.

And what were the people encouraged to do?

They were encouraged to pray for the well-being of Babylon in Jeremiah.

Now, on the flip side of that,

we're never to obey any persecution.

Over God.

Acts 5, 29.

But Peter and the apostles answered,

We must obey God rather than men

when they were told to stop preaching the gospel.

My friends, the gospel is salvation.

And we must always proclaim it.

No matter the cost.

No matter the cost.

1 Peter 2, 13 says,

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,

whether it be to the emperor as supreme.

But if we're subject to the Lord's sake,

then we are to engage in civil disobedience

when the government prohibits us from doing what the Lord commands

or attempts to do what the Lord commands us to do.

Or attempts to do what the Lord commands us to do.

Or attempts to do what the Lord commands us to do.

Or attempts to do what the Lord commands us to do.

Or attempts to do what the Lord commands us to do.

Or attempts to compel us to do what the Lord prohibits.

We must stand up.

If the government ever tells us

we can no longer proclaim the name of Jesus.

But here's another thing we have to realize.

Because some of us go,

Well, they're already doing that.

Oh, we're going to get all riled up.

We're going to just get mad at everything.

So often we complain about government as Christians,

but we spend no time blessing our neighborhoods,

our schools, our towns, our state, or our nation.

We complain so much more than we pray.

The more I look at God's word,

Paul didn't say, Fight Nero.

He didn't say, Fight Nero.

He said, Do good.

It's way too easy for us to lose our minds about politics, guys.

And when we do, here's what's happening.

We're failing to see the God who never left his throne.

He's still over government.

I mean, should we engage in the political process?

Absolutely we should.

We need people to run for office and to vote.

Our vote should be a biblical vote.

Abortion, taxes, caring for the poor,

immigration, and caring for them.

Sexual immorality.

All of those things should influence our vote

based upon the truth in God's word.

Should we speak truth to power?

As it's possible, when necessary, with honor.

Not being a jerk for Jesus, because that's not a thing.

But here's the other thing, too.

We cannot make an idol out of a person or a political party.

Because let me tell you this.

No president is going to save you.

No political party is going to save you.

No government action is going to save you.

Because at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow,

and every tongue will confess that he alone is Lord,

and he holds all of the power.

We serve him first, him alone, him always.

And what does it look like?

Taxes to whom taxes are owed.

Revenue to whom revenue is owed.

Honor to whom honor is owed.

what it looks like. We get so caught up in politics. Why? The political system's going to

fail eventually. We serve a greater kingdom. I'm not saying not to get it. Some people will go,

oh, well, you just don't want us to get it. No, get involved. But look like Jesus when you do so.

Look like Jesus when you do so. We have to walk out of here this morning knowing this,

that we must submit our lives to God and seek to bring him glory in every situation. Every

situation. Commentator put it so well, and he said it like this. We have to submit to the

governing authorities, acknowledging God's design for them, and thank God for all the good that is

done through them. We need to pray for those in leadership. I love this passage of scripture,

1 Timothy 2, 1 to 4. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions,

and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions,

that we may lead, what? A peaceful and quiet life.

Some of us are not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to do that.

in this room are way too loud. I'm preaching the word. Come on, guys. Godly and dignified in every

way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be

saved. Let me say that again. Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge

of the truth. How we show Jesus will help people come to know, and if we rant and rail about all

this stuff that doesn't point to him,

they're going to miss him and see you. Avoid being the kind of Christian who spends more time

criticizing than praying. Be a good citizen. Pay taxes. Obey the law. Be respectful. Pour yourself

out for the needy. Live with a clear conscience before God. Serve your city and your country for

the common good. Engage in the political process with truth and justice and the common good in

mind. If you're a civil leader, lead with biblical values and bring your convictions into the public

arena. Proverbs 13, 4 says it like this.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. We all need to rest in

the providence of God. Some of us need to calm down and rest in God. Rest in him. God is sovereign.

No matter the circumstances, our testimony must be our God reigns. And make your ultimate

allegiance to King Jesus. Danny Akin says it well. So as a devoted follower of Jesus,

I will say yes to obeying the government and paying taxes to Caesar, but I will say no to

disobeying the word of God and worshiping a man or an institution. That's what a Jesus follower does.

That's what we're called to be as Jesus followers. How are we doing? What does your social media look

like? I mean, let's really hit it where the rubber meets the road. What does your social media look

like today? Some of us in here need to take some posts down. In a group this size, I guarantee some

of us got to take some posts down if we're going to follow Jesus. We got to make a decision. Engage.

Do good.

Like I said earlier, submit your life to God and seek to bring him glory and him alone. Heavenly

Father, thank you so much for your word. I thank you so much that it is so intensely practical.

That though Paul wrote this to the Romans at about 70-ish, 80-ish AD, somewhere in there,

thousands of years ago, it still applies to us. God, I pray you would help us to be good citizens.

Not because we want to necessarily serve a government or even perpetuate a government,

a nation, but because we want to honor you and we live for your kingdom. And we want everybody

around us to be able to see you in us. And so Lord, as you called the Israelites in Babylon,

Lord, we too pray for our nation. We are so divided, so much pain and anger. God, I pray

we would carry the light of Jesus into the middle of that and not be part of it. Pray that we

wouldn't add to that pain, to that division. Lord, we know that when we preach the gospel,

the gospel can be divisive because we're calling people to you. God, we're known to be divisive for

so many things that are not even close to the gospel. And sometimes how we share the gospel,

we are just jerks about it. God, help us to see the person that we disagree with most,

that we're most angry with, with the love of Christ. Help us to love well. Help us to be lights

everywhere we go. Help us to ask for forgiveness if we need to ask for forgiveness where we fail,

because we will. I pray.

For our nation, may your name be lifted high. Pray for our federal officials. Pray for President

Trump, Lord, that God, you would help him to make decisions that are honoring to you. I pray for our

governor. Pray that you'd give Governor Whitmer wisdom to know the decisions she must make for

the common good. And I pray that you use her for your glory and the good of the people. I pray for

our government officials that are here today. Bless them, God. Thank you for them. Pray that

you would use them for your glory as well. Give them discernment. Give them wisdom. God, we ask

the same for us.

Help us to carry the name of Jesus. Help us to love like you do. We submit to you. We seek to

bring you glory. In Jesus' name we pray.

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