Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Throughout the Bible God reminds us that He is in charge. That does not mean everything is being done according to His will. It does mean that every person is accountable to God for their choices.
Throughout the Bible we read of appointed governments. There were no elections. People did not have a choice with regard to who would govern them. Governments were changed through war. Certain people were appointed to government and then a dynasty was established. The government remained within a certain group of people.
In our world, England still functions under such a system. They have elections for lower levels of government, but the monarchy is appointed. The people do not have a say in that. It is true that the king is more or less a figure head now. The monarchy used to have more power than they do now.
The Bible tells us that we need to be subject unto the higher powers. There are people that believe that means there should be blind loyalty to the higher powers. That is not what God means. From the book of Acts we see that even though the Romans were the governing body, and Judaizers were given certain power by them, true Christians did not bow to the governing bodies on all things. When it came to spiritual matters, Christians bowed to God first of all.
The different factions tried to usurp authority where they did not have it, but they failed. In Acts 4&5 we read that Peter and John did not allow the system to silence them. They would not stop speaking in Jesus’ name regardless of the threats made against them.
We read in Acts 9 that Saul had the authority of the Roman government and the false religionists, to arrest born again people “of this way”. However, they could not stop true believers from meeting and teaching the truth. God allowed persecution to take place, but He also limited the amount of the persecution. He also interfered in one of the main leader’s life. God stopped Saul on the road to Damascus and would not allow him to go any further with his evil plans. Saul chose to submit to the will of God and repented and was saved. He was then taught by Jesus Christ and prepared for ministry, serving God, rather than seeking to defy Him.
Paul faced much opposition as did other saints, but they continued to do the work that God called them to do. Churches were established and in spite of the best efforts of the enemies of God, churches continued to meet and souls were saved.
The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ shows us there were churches in various parts of Asia at that time. Most of them needed some correction, but there were still true churches around. Church history shows us that there have always been true churches in every generation since the time of Christ. Church history also shows us there have been churches that seemed strong for a time, but eventually were corrupted because they turned away from God.
In our text, we read “there is no power but of God”. This is true whether we look at Venezuela or Russia or China, or the U.S. or Canada. In North America we “pride” ourselves in holding elections. It should be obvious that the whole election process is rigged. Pundits talk of people voting in blocks to try to change certain areas to a different party. Too often people believe such lies. I have never received a phone call from neighbours telling me that we should all vote a certain way to change the current system. People are quite independent. Most people vote based on their pocket book, not on what is good for the country. However, even then, elections are won by bigger money than the citizens of the country have.
What we need to understand is that ultimately, in spite of all the corruption and the human manipulation, God still puts people in places of power. It is no secret that I am not a supporter of our current government in Canada. Anyone outside of the power of the government propaganda machine, should understand that we have a very corrupt government. They do not care about you as an individual. All they want is for you to agree with them and be quiet. They do not like to be exposed for their corruption. Eventually, the antichrist will come on the scene and he will be welcomed by the majority of people of that time. There will be no Christians on the earth when this man comes on the scene. Eventually a few people will be saved, but the antichrist will do all he can to try to destroy both Jews and Christians.
It is important to remember that we need authority over us. We should remember that God is the ultimate authority, and under Him are kings and queens and presidents and prime ministers and premiers and mayors and reeves, etc. Every person who chooses to put themselves in a place of authority is accountable to God for the leadership or lack thereof that they give.
In the spiritual realm, that also applies to the local church. God’s Word does not support denominationalism. The Word of God teaches local church autonomy. Every pastor should be a God ordained man. Most pastors today are man ordained, but not God ordained. This is important because Jesus made it important.
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Church is not a human invention. There was no church in the Old Testament. There were assemblies. God raised up the nation of Israel and He made His law and His tabernacle/temple the centre of life for the nation of Israel. That law was to be exemplified by them and it was to point the other nations to the true God.
Over time Israel chose to defy God, and the nations around her were able to draw Israel to their false gods because she had rejected the true God. God removed His protection from her and He brought the Assyrians in to capture the north and He brought the Babylonians in to capture the south. When the Babylonians came in, they destroyed the temple and they stole the vessels of the temple and stripped it of its gold. The gold was symbolic of the deity of God/Jesus Christ.
For seventy years the land of Israel was polluted by foreigners. The Jews were living in exile, but God did not abandon them. He gave them prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel and others to remind them of their sin and the reason they were in exile. Most of the Jews did not like what they heard from these men and they stubbornly continued to live secular lives.
God, Who is faithful to Himself, brought the Jews back to their land after the seventy years and told them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. Nehemiah was in charge of rebuilding the walls and Ezra was in charge of rebuilding the temple.
The walls were rebuilt in record time, but the people delayed in building the temple. They got involved in building houses and in materialism. God sent men like Haggai to remind the people that the temple was important and needed to be built. God showed them they were not having success in their materialistic endeavours because they neglected Him.
Fast forward to the time of Christ. Jesus Christ did not come to overthrow the pagan government that was occupying the land of Israel. He came to show the Jews the need to know the true King that was of the lineage of David, but Who was superior to David. That King was Jesus Christ.
The Jews rejected Jesus Christ as their Saviour and King and God cut off the Jews at the root and graffed in a new thing, referred to as a “mystery”. That new thing was the local church. Churches are supposed to be the body of Christ. There are certain characteristics that define a body. Jesus Christ defines His true body in the Scriptures. The pastor, who is to be ordained of God, does not have the right nor the authority to define that body any way he wants to. As mentioned, today most pastors are not ordained of God and they have taken great liberties with their local church. Sadly, most people do not read their Bibles and they just accept the smooth talking leaders they have chosen. They go along with the corruption, making sure to keep the name of Jesus in their corruption. The fear of God is gone for most.
However, God has not changed. He is still just as holy as He ever was. He is still just as powerful as He ever was. If He were a man, He would have destroyed His opposition long ago. We can see how wicked governments work to silence any opposition to their plans. They work hard just like king Saul did to destroy David. Saul did not succeed in his plans. Our governments cannot succeed in their plans either.
Those who are truly born again need to be encouraged in their purpose in life and need to pray for their government and to pray for godly pastors. We need to be led the right way. We need to understand our place on this earth as saints. We are not pawns for the government to play with. We are to be people of God who help our governments to see the need to know the true God. There were men of God in the Old and New Testament who did that.
Are you a man of God today? There are less and less of us around all the time. Don’t grow weary in well doing. Put God first and serve Him with your life.
Pastor Bartel
