If you have your Bible turned to Rome in 131 through 7, this week we're going to talk about government. What is due Caesar? And if you have a Bible and you're in a place where you can open it, you might want to open it to that chapter. The 13th chapter, the first 7 verses and we'll be looking at that all week with our continuing study of Paul's letter to the Church of Rome. Before we turn to that text, let's go before the throne. And Father, we're glad that you have given us your word, that you didn't just trust it, word of mouth, you wrote it down. Father, thanks for allowing us the privilege of studying your word, of drawing from that the message that you would speak to us personally. Father, we got another week coming up. We asked that during this week you would teach us obedience and that the end of the week you would be pleased. Father, we're not what we were, and we thank you for that, but we sure know we've got a long way to go, and we ask forgiveness for that. Father, you know the times when you told us to go and tell, and we sat and watched the times when we didn't care, the times when our doubts overwhelmed us, the times when we were outright first-degree disobedient. Father, forgive us. Father, we're thankful for the imputed righteousness of Christ. We're thankful that we stand before you clean because of his blood sacrifice. And Father, what a great and wonderful privilege that he is to come boldly before the throne. Father, when we come before you with our needs, you know what they are. We've enumerated them before the so often in the middle of the night. Sometimes, and we're lonely sometimes, and sometimes it hurts really bad. And so we come as a child, would come to a father, a father who is trustworthy and faithful and wise and sovereign. And Father, on the altar before you we place our lives. We're yours. You're a property. And we trust you. Teach us to trust you more. Father, we praise you because you're worthy of our praise. We thank you because of all that you've given. And we ask that as we study your word, that you would speak to our minds and our heart, and then our feet as we go out and live it. Father, forgive the one who teaches his sins, for they are many. We would see Jesus and Him only. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, this week on Key Life, we're continuing with our study in the book of Romans. If you have your Bible turn, as I said, to the 13th chapter of Romans verses 1 through 7. While you're finding that, let's take a moment to review what we saw last week in our study of Romans. The text then was Romans 12, 17 through 21. And if you were listening last week, you know that we went down one side road. We noted the recognition by Paul of the impossible verse 18. Then we looked at the subject of revenge. And what is Christians weird to do when we've been the recipient of injustice? We saw the spiral of evil, Romans 13, 17. We saw the witness of perception, 17b. The blessing of peace, 18. The advantage of belonging, 19. The reminder of God, 19b. The assault of righteousness, verse 20, and the victory of obedience, verse 21. Now, we're ready to turn to our text for this week. If you've got your Bible ready, Romans 13, 1 through 7, where my good friend Paul writes as follows. 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. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil works. Do you want to be unafraid of the authorities? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the scene. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For because of this you also pay taxes. For they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs fought fear to whom fear honor to whom honor. Now obviously that's a very difficult text, and before we do anything I want to give you a hermeneutical principle. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament, the letters interpret the Gospels and the whole interprets the part. It's important that we lay down those ground rules. I hate government. In fact I always thought that I was unhappy that the Soviet evil empire came to an end too quickly. I was in high hopes that they would bomb Washington, and before they got to Virginia we would have gotten the whole thing straightened out. Now I'm just joking about that part, so don't send me letters. However I was not joking about my feelings, about government. Power really does corrupt. And absolute power really does corrupt absolutely. Emil Bruner said that government is our own sin magnified a thousand times. Maybe true. However government is something with which we all must deal, and it may be a surprise for you to know that the Bible deals with the subject quite adequately. This week using our text from Romans 13, 1 through 7, we're going to look at what God says about government and power. Now I'm going to do that in three sets of teaching sections. First I want to give you three biblical presuppositions. And then secondly I want to give you three biblical implications, and thirdly I want to give you three biblical exceptions. Peter Berger said this about American government. If India is the most religious nation in the world, and Sweden is the most secular in the world, America is a nation of Indians ruled by Swedes. Someone has said that the philosophy of our government is as follows, if it moves tax it, if it keeps moving regulated, if it dies, subsidize it. Central and the subject of government, let me give you some definitions that someone gave to me. Communism is where you have two cows. You milk the cows and give the milk and the cows to the government. Socialism is when you have two cows, you give one to the government and milk the other and pour one half of the milk down the drain. Capitalism is when you have two cows, you sell one for a down payment on a boat, put the other cow and the boat in your wife's name and declare bankruptcy. Well, enough of that. I could go on, but the question is this, what are Christians to do with government? If we are citizens of another kingdom, how do we deal with our citizenship of this kingdom? What do you do about a corrupt government when the government asks you to do something that is contrary to what God asks you to do? Those are the questions before the house, and without further chit-chat, let's dig in. Now, in order to make sense out of any system, one must define the free suppositions upon which the system is built. Because the Bible has a very clear philosophy of government, it behooves us to look at three of the biblical priest's suppositions upon which the Bible builds its view of government. So, let's look at them. biblical priest's supposition number one, unbridled mankind, is walked to destruction and chaos and death. Romans 13-3, for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Romans 13-4-B, for he, the civil magistrate, as this does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. I'm conservative in my politics. I told you before, I'm to the right of Ginghis Khan and I thought Ronald Reagan was a communist. You know why? Because classical conservatism takes into account the reality of human depravity. My kids went to a Westinghouse experimental school years ago near Boston. They used computers, they had open classrooms, and the children were encouraged to learn at their own base. They said, listen, these are wonderful children, they want to learn, we must not interfere with that. Now, why did they have that kind of school? Well, because someone's educational philosophy said the children are good, that they genuinely want to learn, and we prevent them from learning with our outmooted educational philosophy. Well, that sounds nice, and I wish it were true, but dear friend, it's not true. Children are not by their nature nice. A child would rather not learn than learn, and a school system that doesn't take that into account is going to fail. And when back to that school a number of years ago, and it's boarded up, it's an empty four-learned monument to the silliness of a philosophy based on anything but the reality taught in the Bible. Did you see the movie South Pacific of the play? You'll remember there's a young lieutenant who falls in love with a Polynesian woman. And he wants to take her back to the States, but he can't because of prejudice, and he sings a beautiful song. You've got to be taught to hate. Well, it's a pretty song, but it's a silly philosophy, you don't. You don't have to be taught to hate, it's natural, it's as American as apple pie. People are always saying just how bad are people? Alan Thompson tells about a man driving through the country when he saw a sign in front of a country store, rabbit burgers 25 cents. The man was intrigued by the idea, and the price so he stopped, when inside bought a rabbit burger. While he was eating, he spoke to the owner, I stopped because I saw your sign and your price are these made completely from rabbit meat? Well, mostly rabbit, the owner replied. What do you mean mostly rabbit asked the man who was eating the burger? Well, I put in a little mule, too. What do you mean by a little? Well, 50-50 replied the score keeper. Well, what do you mean by 50-50? The story keeper said, you know, you put in one rabbit, and you put in one mule. Listen dear friend, our nature has tainted how much isn't the question, but it is. And that's the reason government is ordained by God. If we were as nice as the liberal say we are. If we were as prone to goodness and benevolence as the liberal say we are. If we were as benevolent as the liberal say we are, there wouldn't be any need for government. We would all do right to one another, to ourselves and to God, but came we tall. It's just not true. I know it's not true about thee, and I wonder sometimes about me. The Bible starts with the basic reach-uposition, and that is man's proclivity for evil, and if you don't take that into consideration your government and your education will be bad. Now let me give you the second biblical reach-uposition. Anarchy is that lack of authority which impedes man's good and God's glory. Romans 131, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and the authority that exists are appointed by God. Romans 133, for rulers are not a terror to good works. Listen, without government you wouldn't be able to live, work, worship, or be the kind of witness you can be. Form is necessary for life, and for walking the Christian walk. The Bible teaches three important authority structures to wit the family, second the government, and thirdly the church. Whenever any of those are weakened, the resulting chaos is apparent. For instance, the breakdown of the family in America is not only tragic because the family's God's priority. The breakdown of the family is caused devastating results to our own culture, the divorce rate, illegitimate birth rate, the rampant crime, the oppression of the poor, all of those things can be traced to the breakdown of the family. Now that's true of government too. Government is to people as an airplane is to a pilot. Without the airplane, there is no flying. There's a great book that you'll get if you haven't read it. It's my Peter Collier and David Horowitz. It's titled, Distructive Generation's Second Thoughts About the Sixties. Now both Peter and David were radicals in the sixties, but they grew up. It's a pity a lot haven't grown up and they're still saying the silly things. But as they grew up, they looked back on the sixties and saw it as a terribly destructive time for our nation. Let me read a paragraph or two to you. This is what they write. The sixties might have been a time of tantalizing glimpses of the New Jerusalem. But it was also a time when the system, that collection of values that provide guidelines for societies as well as individuals, was assaulted and mold. As one center of authority after another was discredited under the New Left Offensive, we radicals claimed that we murdered to create. But while we wanted a revolution, we didn't have a plan. The decade ended with a big bang that made society a collection of splinter groups, special interest organizations, and newly-mitted minorities whose only common belief was that America was guilty and untrustworthy. This is perhaps the enduring legacy of the sixties. The political philosopher Michael Walter expressed this adversarial sensibility when he confessed in a recent article in the New Republic that it is still true, that only when I go to Washington to demonstrate do I feel at home there. In the unfinished attack against authority, we had weakened our culture's immune system, making it vulnerable to opportunistic diseases. The origins of the metaphorical epidemics of crime and drugs could be traced to the sixties as could literal ones such as AIDS. Now what are these guys saying? They're saying that authority in general and political authority in particular are necessary for the well-being of people. Now if you're given a choice between anarchy, that's no government all, and totalitarianism, that's complete government reaching into every aspect of everything that you do. The street smart Christian will always choose totalitarianism, now I said, because we know that without government, without structure, without authority, not even a good structure, as long as we have a structure, Christians can bring witness to Christ and God can be glorified. Alright, let's look at Biblical priest supposition number three. God has ordained all authority in general and governmental authority in particular, Romans 131. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Father is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Is that mean God ordained Bill Clinton? To mean that God ordained George Bush, yes, and Ronald Reagan, you better believe it. Yes, that's exactly what it means. Someone tells about Kepler, the astronomer who was a believer who was troubled by one of his friends who denied the existence of God. Kepler had constructed a model of the sun with a planet circling around it and it was quite beautiful. And he was visited by his friend who noticed the model and the friend said to Kepler, that's beautiful, who made it. And Kepler smiled and said, why nobody made it? Just made itself. Christian faith starts with the sovereignty of God. Not only does God exist, he creates all the leaders. He is the one who has ordained government for his own purposes. On the morning of Lincoln's death, a crowd of 50,000 people gathered before the exchange building in New York. As you can imagine, feelings were very high. The tears were flowing. People were frightened. There was, as a matter of fact, a great danger of violence. And then a man stepped from the crowd to the front of the balcony and shouted, fellow citizens. Clouds and darkness around the balcony, his pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne, mercy and truth go before his face, fellow citizens. God reigns. And the government in Washington still lives. Man who said that, by the way, and this is the rest of the story. It was General James A. Garfield, who was 16 years later to become the 20th President of the United States, and himself was assassinated. Was God in charge of that? Absolutely. Government, sometimes even bad government, is ordained and created by God. Alright, very quickly, let's review the three basic principles that come from this text that are very, very important for our understanding of our relationship with government. First, unbridled mankind is want to destruction in chaos and death. Now that's the first in other words, we're bad and we need some government. Two, anarchy is that lack of authority which impedes man's good and God's glory. And number three is this, as soon as I can find it. God is ordained all authority in general and governmental authority in particular. Now, it isn't enough to have biblical foundations or presuppositions. One has to ask, so what? As you know, I teach homologics and communications to reform theological seminary, and I've noticed by listening to a lot of sermons that they give me a lot of information that I simply can't use, sort of like an economist. I mean, they're right. But when they finish, I don't know what to do with the information. And so I say to the students, you write your sermons, do all your work, and before you go into the Pope, ask yourself, so what? And if you find an answer to the question, so what? Then burn the sermon. Don't preach it. It's irrelevant. It doesn't make any difference to anybody. The problem with preaching is it doesn't get down in dirty where we are. In other words, it doesn't speak in a practical way as to what we're to do and how we're to act and the difference that scriptures make in our lives. And if you're preaching, you don't tell people that, then don't tell them anything. Because you're useless. So you ask, so what? If there's no answer, then there should be no sermon. So the question now is this, if we have these three biblical foundations or presuppositions, so what? So let's check out some implications that are really important. Biblical implication number one, God's glory, is the primary reason for all that exists. Now that's presupposed in the text for this week. You remember the wonderful doxological praise statement that we studied in Romans 11? It ended with these words, Romans 11, 36, for off him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever I'm in. The institution of government is, as is everything else, created for the glory of God not the happiness or the copacetic relationships of human beings. Let me give you an example. Rome was one of the most oppressive governments in the history of the world, unless you, of course, were a Roman citizen. But if you lived under Rome, you were nobody. It was within that context that the Christian faith was born. While Rome was a great military power, was often oppressive, the upside was that Rome provided a common language, a road system that went throughout the Western world. A common coinage in Pax Romana peace throughout the world, was Rome harsh, you bet it was. The persecutions against Christians were sometimes quite frightening, and so many of our brothers and sisters died for the cause. But within this context the Christian faith spread like wildfire, and God was glorified through it all because of the government of Rome and because that government made it possible. Is government sometimes cruel? Yes it is. But I want you to know government is from God. What's the implication? God's glory is the primary reason for all that exists. If he gets glorified it did what it was supposed to do. And biblical implication number two, bad authority is better than no authority. Now that's the implication of this particular text, but let's look at some other scripture. If you have a Bible, turn to Matthew 22, 15 through 21. You, Baptist of already, found it for you Presbyterians. That's the first book in the Newt. Matthew 22, 15 through 21, then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent to Jesus their disciples with the Herodian saying, Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth. Nor do you care about anyone. For you do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do you think? Is it waffle that they taxes to Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why do you test me, you hypocrite? Show me the tax money. So they brought him a denarius. And he said to them, whose image and inscription is this? And they said seizures. And he said to them, render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. When they heard these things they marbled and left him and went their way. Now let me give you one other passage that is not directly related to this idea of government, but is indirectly. Rome gave the religious leaders the power of government. And this is what Jesus says about them, Matthew 23, 1 through 3. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes to his disciples, saying the scribes and the Pharisees, that is the religious leaders who had become governmental leaders, sit in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works. Or they say, and they do not. Now why did Jesus say that about giving to Caesar who was corrupt? Why did Jesus say that people should obey the corrupt and hypocritical Pharisees? Let me tell you why. Because bad government is better than no government. And because bad authority is better than no authority. If you want to read a novel that will keep you awake at night, read William Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies. It's a story about these group of quite nice boys from a boy's school stranded on an island after a plane crash. In spite of the efforts of a few leaders to form an organized society, the group reverts to primitive religious rights and ritual murder. And I mean, as you read through that book, you think, good heavens, before the end of the story everything is chaos and confusion, and when you read it you will think I may not like my president. But he's better than no president at all. You Democrats can say that about Ronald Reagan and George Bush and you Republicans can say that about Clinton. Even if you don't like him, he's better than no president at all. The truth is dear friend. When the policemen talk about the thin blue line, they're right. That keeps chaos and barbarism apart from civilization. It is a thin blue line. That's why I get kind of uncomfortable when everybody goes after the police. Now, I think that policemen are police officers or corrupt like everybody else. I think their centers like everybody else. But I'll tell you something I'd rather have them than nobody. I remember when Al Cap was asked about police brutality. I'll tell you, he was a man who's a liberal who's changed to be a radical conservative. And when people ask him about it, he said, I didn't change you change. I'm the same old Al Cap. Anyway, Al Cap was asked about police brutality and he said, different. I thought that's why we paid them to be brutal. We didn't pay police officers to be nice to reason they carry them. We pay them to be brutal. I don't want to make light because that's a serious problem. But I think we've got to be very careful. We've got to affirm the police establishment, the governmental authority in a country because even if it's bad, it's better than none. And I would suggest that you draw that principle directly from God's word. Okay, three, this is another in the final implication. God requires the support of God's people for authority. Not only that, when you submit to His ordained authority, you submit to God, Romans 13-7. Render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear honor to whom honor. In 1 Peter 2, 13, Peter says this, therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, or to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of those who do good, for this is the will of God that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Let me tell you something is important, at the heart of human sin is a hatred of authority. When Paul talks about the law of God, he talks about the rebellion and the anger that wells up and the heart of human beings because of the law of God. I told you before I have an authority problem, get mad at stop signs, don't like it. I mean, if you show me authority, I will rebel against it, and so I don't like this text that I'm teaching particularly. I don't want to be anybody's mother and I don't want anybody to be my mother. I mean, I want to be able to do my own thing in my own way the way I want to do it, and I want you to know that's the heart of human sin. Let me give you a principle, a clandestine forbidden act is attractive more because it is clandestine, or forbidden than because it's sinful. The word clandestine means forgiven, so let me give you the principle again, a clandestine act is attractive more because it's clandestine than because it's sinful. I've been reading Winchell gossip power and culture of celebrity by Neil Gagler, my son-in-law gave it to me for Lance Christmas, and I've just gotten to it, it's great. Gagler says that Walter Winchell was capable of great kindness, but most of the time he was given over to great hatred. Let me tell you what Winchell wrote, I have forgiven, but I don't have to forget, I'm not a fighter, I'm a writer. I wait until I can catch an ingrate doing something bad, and then I take a picture of it. When some heel does me dirt, I return the compliments someday, and the paper on the air with a bottle of ketchup on the skull. I don't make up nasty things to write about them, I wait until they get locked up for taking dough for pimping, and then I make it public. I'm addicted if you bet I am. Dorothy Parker said with greater profundity than she knew poor Walter, he's afraid he'll wake up one day and discover he's not Walter Winchell. And then Gable says that the tragedy of Winchell was that he did wait to find that he was no longer Walter Winchell, in fact he awoke to find that he was no longer anybody. What was Winchell doing? Well even if he didn't know it, he was affirming his own autonomy by striking out of authority. He said, I'm somebody and I define myself in rebellion against all authority. An authority problem is that the heart of human rebellion is in. When I was a young pastor I was having horrible trouble in the little church, I was serving down and keep going. I mean these people were driving me up a wall, I didn't know what to do with, and I didn't know how to fix it. So I went to a very mature Christian friend and I said look, these people are ugly and their mother dresses them funny and if I could just have a few funerals I could fix this church. And he said, your problem Steve is that you got an authority problem. And he said, let me tell you how to fix it for the next three months. I want you to submit to anything that anybody tells you to do no matter how stupid you think it is. When something to it was angry because the flowers were not straight on the altar, I want you to go and straighten the flowers, I don't want you to say a word. When you're asked to jump I want you to ask, how high on the way up will your friend almost die during those three months? I mean, you don't know me that well but it was awful. There's the worst thing I ever went through in my life. But let me tell you something else, during those three months I grew like a weed. I assumed that all authority was from God and even if I didn't like it I would submit to it and it was his business to change the authority. It was my business to submit to it. Now that includes government too. Christians are aware that government, even government that we don't like has a higher authority and that authority is God. Our responsibility except in certain circumstances that we're going to discuss later on is to submit to that authority. John 19 Jesus is standing before Pilate and Pilate is amazed at Jesus and says, do you know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Jesus replies, John 19 11, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Now we talked earlier about the three areas of authority that God has instituted, the family and the church and government. Now I believe, and this is going to sound sexist and some of you guys are going to write me letters on it, but I'm going to say it anyway because I believe the Bible teaches it. The Bible teaches that the Father is to be the priest in the head of the household and the Bible teaches the women are to submit to their husbands as to the Lord. Yes, and that's not very equal. Let me tell you something. The reason women have trouble submitting to their husbands is that their husbands aren't under authority. Every human being is given a place to be under authority and if we're not under authority we've become nothing but tyrants. Does it mean for a man to submit to his wife or for a woman to submit to her husband? I'll tell you what it means. It means that the husband often submits to his wife more than she submits to him. He's the one who decides, but I'll tell you something. If you're going to love your wife as Christ loved the church, it means that you will submit to them maybe more than they submit to you. That's what servant authority is all about. But be that as it may. I believe that God does set up authority structures. Now I'm not as strong on those authority structures as somebody say like Bill Gofford. But I believe in authority and I hate authority. And you do too, you just don't admit it. But I'll tell you something, authority is instituted by God and when you submit to that authority you are submitting to him himself. Now those are the implications. You say, yeah, but what about abortion? What about the civil rights movement? What about the American revolution? What are there any time when we don't submit to authority and we tell them to go jump in a lake? Now if you've been listening and you don't have those questions, your brain dead. The truth is that the philosophy of authority that I've just articulated from God's word creates all kinds of difficulties and questions. What about civil disobedience? What about bond offer and nemolers opposition to Hitler in the Third Reich? So and one must be very careful here because we're sinful and we're fallen and we'll look for excuses. I want to give you what I perceive as three biblical exceptions to submission to governmental authority. Now Jim Boise in his book Foundations for Christian Faith says that there are three requirements that must be met but for Christians stand against government. And I would suggest these are good because of our sin nature we have a tendency to want to go out and rebel against any kind of authority no matter what it is. But Jim Boise says there are three things. First individual Christians must have it firmly fixed in their minds that God is truly sovereign than human affairs. Secondly, there must be comprehensive and perceptive knowledge of scripture on the part of individual Christians and church bodies before an individual Christian and a church can act against government. Thirdly, when confronted with a contrary claim by some strong social pressure from government we need to be willing to surrender everything. Okay, one of the three exceptions. One authority can be challenged when it goes beyond its designated boundaries. In Daniel 6 you might remember there was a king by the name of Darius. Daniel was highly favored by the king and everybody got jealous so they got the king to have a royal statue of himself made. And then they got him to put out a decree that for 30 days nobody in the kingdom could worship anybody except that cold-ed statue. Now that would be silly except that if you worship somebody other than the king's statue then you could get executed for it. And then in Daniel 16 you read a man who stood up and spit in the face of government. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went home and in his upper room with his windows open toward Jerusalem he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as was his custom since early days. Daniel was required to do something that government had no right to ask. And at that point he stood up and said no way Jose. Now he said it in Hebrew or Persian or whatever. But that's what he meant. No way Jose when Christ said that we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar he was saying the government has a proper sphere. For instance government should maintain the proper peace. Government should maintain proper boundaries. Government should keep public order but when government moves beyond its proper sphere of defined authority from the Bible when government binds my conscience requires that I do that which violates my conscience then government has moved beyond its sphere of authority and Christians and the church should stand against government. I'm pro-life. And there are those that would ordain by authority abortions in America to keep the birth population down. Now if that should happen if that should happen do I have the right to violate and stand against government yes why because of the first biblical exception authority can be challenged when it goes beyond its designated boundaries. Secondly authority can be challenged when it requires that which God forbids or when it forbids that which God requires. You will remember that Peter and John had healed a man who had been crippled from birth and as a result of that Peter and John got quite an audience. They were preaching in the town square and were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin court. They were told to cease and desist and they said no way. And then they got arrested and brought before the court. Or before that acts for nineteen to twenty but Peter and John answered and said to them whether it's right in the side of God to listen to you more than God you judge for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. And then they got arrested and then they got brought before the court again and the court said to him didn't we tell you to stop talking about Jesus you have filled Jerusalem with this doctrine and tend to bring this man's blood on us. And then acts five twenty nine a year come sportsman but Peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men. When Martin Luther stood at the die of worms he said here I stand I can do no other so help me God. At that point he said I will obey God and not man no matter what the cost. When the government demands that we turn from God then the Christian has no choice but to turn from the government and be disobedient. Richard Wormbrand is a good example of that. He died in the face of communist despotic Romanian government and he paid a great price for it. He was speaking once at a church in America and he said the thing that he never saw were tears among American youth and a girl in the front row giggled in Wormbrand and he didn't wear any shoes because his feet had been so warped because of the torture Wormbrand went down to the first row and he said I want to sing a song for you young lady. I've heard it from the young people in Romania in my country in the prisons it's on the mouths of Christians everywhere in Wormbrand screamed. He was saying a great personal cause Christians must stand against government when government requires that Christians do that which is forbidden by God. If they tell you not to worship should you worship yes sir you most certainly should because you're acting in direct submission to God. Then the biblical exception number three and this is a little bit difficult but I believe the Bible teaches that authority can be challenged when its corruption is greater than its integrity. First Kings 18 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible and that chapter allows you to challenge the 450 prophets of Bale. I don't know which I had time to go into because of a fun chapter you know jazz of elves friends were doing some bad things and it's a long story but it's a story of man stand against government and God how God handled it in a wonderful way ending with Elijah having to flee. First Kings 1838 through 40 the fire of the Lord you remember it started with a sacrifice and the prophets of Bale tried to bring fire on their sacrifice without a match and Elijah just made fun. He said where's your God maybe he's a way on vacation somewhere and then Elijah took his sacrifice soaked it in water I mean the thing was dripping and then and for Kings 1838 through 40 then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it they fell on their faces and they said the Lord he is God the Lord he is God and Elijah said to them seize the prophets of Bale do not let one of them escape so they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishan and executed them there. Christian must be very careful here but there does come a time when the government is so corrupt and so unjust that a Christian has no choice but to stand against it. So Jean Eatson was a good example of the Christian who stood against the corrupted despotic government so Jean Eatson upon entering prison for his stand said this from the moment you go to prison you must put your cozy past firmly behind you. At the very threshold you must say to yourself my life is over a little early to be sure but there's nothing to be done about it. I shall never return to freedom I'm condemned to die now are a little later but later on in truth it will be even harder and so the sooner the better. I no longer have any property whatsoever for me those I love have died and from them I have died. From today on my body is useless and alien to me only my spirit and my conscience remain precious to me. Civil disobedience as in the civil rights movement or under Hitler under the third right with people like Bonhoeffer who died because he stood and Nemolar who suffered because he stood he got to be willing to give it up but when the government becomes that despotic and no longer fulfills the realm described in the Bible then as a Christian you can turn away from that government. Martin Nemolar was arrested for preaching truth under the third right and he was thrown into prison many thought that he would eventually be executed during his time in prison it is said he was visited by another minister. The minister said to Nemolar that if he would just be silent on certain issues he could be afraid why Martin the minister said why are you in there and this is what Nemolar said. The question is not dear friend why I'm in here the question is why are you out there you think about that I'm in.