INTRODUCTION: Michael Cassidy, the founder of African Enterprise visited P W Botha in South Africa on October the 8th 1985. ‘It was the time of the National Initiative for Reconciliation, and Michael hoped for signs of repentance and for assurance that apartheid would be dismantled. He was to be bitterly disappointed. This is his account of what happened: ‘I was immediately aware on entry to the room that this was not to be the sort of encounter for which I had prayed. The President began by standing to read me part of Romans 13.’ One of the verses that was read was Romans 13:2 which talks about the responsibility of every person to obey the government. Romans 13:2, ‘Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement.’ This is one of the more abused verses in the bible. Paul has just given us two positive reasons for why every person should submit to the government in verse 1, God has created government authority; and He has providentially brought even the bad governments to rule. In verse 2 Paul draws the necessary inference and gives a negative reason for everyone to submit. The inference is that if God ordains government, and the ones we are presently under then, by inference, to resist the government is to resist God. And those who do resist God in this way will suffer, in the words of the KJV, ‘damnation.’ Paul has left no doubt as to our responsibility, twice he has emphasised everyone and he has argued for it with both positive and negative motivations. For those of you who are familiar with Puritan history you will know that the English Civil War of the 17th century was fought about how one interprets Romans 13:1-7. There...

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INTRODUCTION: In Christianity there are two types of happily ever afters.  There is the final happy ending where Jesus will return and all enemies will be put under foot.  All evils will become undone and there will be no taint to our eternal joy.  And then there are happy endings under the sun.  These are resolutions from conflict that bring about good but not ultimate good.  These are the sorts of victories that you and I enjoy as Christians whether it is in our sanctification, church growth or preaching the gospel.  We make head way but we are harassed.  We take 3 steps forward but one step back.  We gain victories but they are not pure and free from all sin and defeat is often close on the heels of victory.  Here the realities of the fall are like flies in the ointment of our success.  Last week we looked at how God working out His purposes and moving the plot line forward does not necessarily square with our idealistic and romantic notions of progress.  Well today we get to consider how victories are also to be stripped of their romantic and idealistic notions when won under the sun. David has won the victory over Absalom and is returning as King.  You would expect to see this homecoming as a happy time but it is tinctured with disappointments, delays and deceit.  Against this dark background we are given a good vantage point for observing David returning with grace.  David is a man who knows God’s grace and patience.  And as he returns to Israel we see him operating on the basis of grace.  The chapter divides in to two parts revolving around four conversations with Judah, Shimei, Mephiboseth and Barzillai.  The first two are those who resisted David and supported...

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INTRODUCTION: Christians can and should submit to bad governments.  They are not submitting to the devil but God.  How is this possible, because God has given the authority relationship of government to man, and He has sovereignly put even the bad governments in place.  This is the gist of what we have been saying Paul is impressing upon the Romans in our section so far.  Submission to the Roman Government was a point of contention and they needed some motivation to submit.  Paul’s motivation is that government authority is a common grace gift of God to fallen man, and now in this message we will be exploring the idea that Christians can and should submit to bad governments, because God has sovereignly appointed bad governments. Now you and I live in a day of political liberation where we have seen the removal of monarchs, the casting off of the oppression of colonialism, we sit in a privileged position where we are reaping the benefits of hundreds of years of Christian influence in the west.  We assume democracy, intervention through the UN and other peace keeping forces to overthrow tyrants and are deeply sympathetic to bloody revolution as we have seen in the Arab Spring where several countries in the Middle-East sought to throw off political oppression.  The Arab Spring is a term used to describe the political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, that began in 2010 and whose ramifications are still being felt today.  Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and other Arab countries saw various forms of political uprising for more liberal democratic freedoms.  Authoritarianism, human rights violations, the great recession, political corruption and other matters were evils that could not be tolerated.  Now when you and I...

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Introduction: Love made a god becomes a demon.  This is a paraphrase of a point C S Lewis makes in his book The Four Loves.  When we love something too much, when we make a god of it, we turn it into a terrorising demon in our lives.  Central to the books of 1 and 2 Samuel is the notion of God sovereignly causing His will to come to pass, the same is true of 2 Samuel 18:1-19:8 as we see God judging Absalom.  But there is always a side story as we have documented the sins or obedience of the others involved.  In our portion today we witness David, the man credited with being a man after God’s own heart, being self-absorbed and a man after his own heart.  David is absorbed with a selfish love for his son.  Perhaps to your mind, the words selfish love are mutually exclusive and there can be no such thing.  But it is not true.  Our sinful hearts are able to make love a selfish thing and David does in this chapter. Civil war has broken out between those loyal to David and the huge army Absalom has amassed to kill David.  As David addresses his forces he says, ‘Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom,’ v5.  Absalom is a traitor who deserves to die, and yet David loves his son so blindly, that he asks for gentleness for Absalom.  Absalom will die, as a fulfilment of God’s purposes.  And when the good news is told David, it is bad news and he turns victory into defeat by his selfish grieving.  Joab has to come in a be a ‘dutch uncle’ who tells David the hard truth.  So as we go through this chapter I want you to think...

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Introduction: There are two extremes we need to avoid as we investigate the biblical teaching on our relationship to the government.  We can call these overrealised and underrealised views of the kingdom.  The overrealised view of the kingdom totally confuses the governments of this world with the rule of Christ.  That rule which will one day rule over the new creation is attempted to be installed now.  This results in conflating the work of the church and the state.  This spiritualises the work of political activism as kingdom activity. It tends to be a liberal tendency and attaches to liberation theology, and the social gospel.  Historically the Roman Catholic Church which viewed the Pope having power over the kings of the earth is a case of an overrealised view of the kingdom.  On the extreme, we have underrealised views of the kingdom.  There are those that view the whole notion of government as a necessary evil that has come about after the fall.  Traditionally Anabaptists have had an antithetical relationship with government.  Separatism that seeks to isolate itself from the influences of government as if they are somehow dirty do not recognise the fact that God has made the institution of government. We have already laid the foundation that Christians can submit to the government without compromising the rule of Christ, and that they can have a relationship with the church that does not demand that the state become an arm of the church.  Today as we continue looking at Romans 13:1 we want to establish that God has created government as a good thing, and will look at this sphere of authority along with the others appointed by God.

Introduction: God fulfils His promises; or God works all things together for good, these are phrases we often hear but don’t always have an accurate picture about how God works it all out. The fall of Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 16:15-17:29 is a great portion of Scripture which demonstrates in great detail how it happens. Contrary to the Christian movies and their soft edges the way things actually pan out in reality while under God’s control have a very different feel to them. We will see that God does bring His purposes to pass, but it isn’t pretty and suitable for a child’s fairy tale. We will see terrible sins fulfilling God’s will; we will see nail-biting moments where everything looks like it could collapse in a moment. We will see evil overcome not by the rise of a great hero who publicly overcomes in honest combat but evil self-destructing. And we will see the weak and ‘despised’ things of this world being used by God to bring His purposes to pass. This is important for us to note because we are in God’s hands and He is working out His purposes and fulfilling His promises in our lives, but they don’t look and feel like the fairy tale endings of Christian movies and novels. This section is food for thought not because of any great moral examples but because it gives us a realistic view of how God’s sovereignty works.

Introduction: Human beings are political animals. We are deeply invested in who is in power and is making the big decisions that affect our lives. And as we move into a new chapter in Romans we move into the most systematic teaching in Paul on the matter of the Christians relationship to the government. Historically the relationship between the Christian and the state and the church and the state has been fraught with difficulties. A number of questions assail us as we being to think about this area. Must Christians submit to governments? Are governments a necessary evil and an institution resulting from the fall? Can a Christian disobey the government? Can a Christian be part of a violent revolution? Can a Christian hold office? Must a Christian answer a government’s summons to fight in a war? Can and should the church start Christian political parties? Can Christians vote for politicians of other religious beliefs? Can Christians work with unbelievers in common political goals? Is political activism part of the great commission? Are all governments under the control of the devil and to be identified as the beast in Revelation? In a democratic society is it a sin for a Christian not to vote? Can a pastor preach on who the congregation should vote for? These questions and more will be addressed in our look at Romans 13:1-7. We must note from the context how Paul got to talking about our submission to the government. You will remember that at the beginning of chapter 12 Paul called us to respond to God’s mercy by being a totally consecrated living sacrifice, meaning that we should serve God with our whole lives. Paul then began to map out the various areas will this will need to be applied. Firstly, we are to...

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Introduction: I have made serious financial mistakes. You almost certainly have as well. What is the one item that comes to your mind that you wish you hadn’t sunk so much money in to? When I was a teenager, I spent all the money I had saved working on the farm for the last five years on a computer. I wanted a computer primarily so I could use it to play computer games. I had begged my dad to let me buy one for two years in a row and he finally decided to just let me do it. I learnt a ton from this experience. I think I looked at every computer there was on TradeMe. And then finally I choose one. Unfortunately, within six months I was over computer games. And worse than that a year after I brought it, it had depreciated to be only worth half its original value. Today, ten years or so down the line, it is worth maybe five dollars at a garage sale. That was a serious financial mistake, and it reveals the priorities of my heart while I was in high school. We make often make terrible financial decisions because the priorities of our hearts are in the wrong place. Money is like a stethoscope that allows a doctor to hear how our hearts are beating. The way you handle your money reveals your heart. Even if you are very conservative with your purchases. Greed is a sin doesn’t necessarily involve any spending at all. Covetousness is a sin that usually involves giving everything you have to get the next greatest item. But both of these sins come from a heart that thinks money or the things you can get from money ultimately satisfy. Money is an idol in both situations....

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Introduction: There are many New Year’s resolutions relating to food. Eating less, eating right, eating clever, we change our eating habits to improve our lives whether it is for our weight, our blood pressure, our performance, etc. Today I want to share some eating tips in relation to spiritual health. In the book of proverbs there are many texts that talk about food and eating, I would like to point you to just three. We will be considering ‘eating’ texts as they relate to sin, suffering and satisfaction. These are three areas we all need instruction in for 2018.

2 Timothy 4:1-8 4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (No manuscript is available for this sermon.)