'heaven’s Citizens And Human Government' Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). the Christians role with government (vs 1&5)

(2). the rule of government (vs 1b-2)

(3). the reason for government (vs 3-5)

(4). the response to government (vs 6-7)

(5). the rival against government (vs 5b)

SERMON BODY:

Well, the new government is up and running,

• And life goes on pretty much the same as it did before they took power!

• Of course, time will tell if Labour are able do a better job than the Tories.

• So, we will have to wait and see!

• Joke: As one man once said,

• “I don't approve of political jokes... I've seen too many of them get elected.”

• Joke:

• Question: Do you know the difference between socialism and capitalism?

• Answer: Capitalism is man exploiting man, & with socialism it is the other way round!

Ill:

• I wonder if anyone here has dual citizenship?

• I haven’t yet, I say yet,

• But because my father was American so I can apply for a USA passport if I want to.

• A dual passport would make me a citizen of two countries.

• TRANSITION:

• As a Christian I already have dual citizenship.

• Because every Christians is a citizen of two kingdoms:

• God's eternal kingdom and an earthly physical country.

• i.e. The New Testament teaches that we are citizens of heaven.

• (Philippians chapter 3 verse 20, (Ephesians chapter 2 verse 18-19; chapter 6 verse 20).

• i.e. But as the recent Euros football and the soon coming Olympics remind us,

• Our world is divided into a variety of countries (195 in total.)

• You were born in one of them –therefore you also have earthly citizenship.

• Because we are residents of two realms, we should learn to live responsibly in both

• We should not be uninvolved or uninformed.

• We must learn how to balance our allegiance to both realms

• These verses deal with how we can behave in our earthly societies,

• According to the values of God's heavenly kingdom?

(1). The Christians role with government (vs 1&5)

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

Ill:

• I wonder who your favourite Prime Minister was?

• Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, Ted Heath, Maggie Thatcher, Tony Blair,

• Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Rishi Sunak, and now of course Keir Starmer.

• Imagine if you had been born in another country and your leader was,

• Pol Pott, Kim Jong Un, Vladamir Putin, Idi Amin or Adolph Hitler!

• (Maybe out choices weren’t so bad!)

• TRANSITION: Now amazingly this passage declares it is that men like that,

• Who are in some sense, servants of God.

• (Now that will make interesting content for the Thursday house group!)

When the apostle Paul refers to governing authorities,

• He uses a phrase that can best be translated "the powers that be."

• He is not just talking about heads of state, i.e. Prime Minister/President etc.

• He is talking about all levels of authority,

• All the way down to the local Councillors, the Police etc.

• For those of you at school, your teachers and members of staff!

• The apostle Paul, tells us how we should think about these "powers that be."

• He says, that in some way, they are brought into being by God himself.

• We will delve into that a little bit more later on in this sermon.

Note:

• No one type of government is commended over another.

• He doesn’t say Conservatism is better than Socialism,

• Or that imperial is better than monarchical and republican.

• We are just told to submit to the authorities, because God instituted them.

This does not mean that all the powers accord with God's will in what they do.

• There are good and bad authorities,

• God-fearing and godless governments.

Ill:

• Many of you know Moldova is a Country I visit every year,

• I work alongside the Moldovan Mission, for a 10-day gospel preaching undertaking

• There are very much two attitudes to the Government.

• The older people/seniors in Moldova,

• Can remember when the Russians invaded and ruled their land.

• I have asked some of them did, they prefer the Russian communism or self-governing,

• They often reply under communism, “We all had food and we all had jobs!”

• Ask the young people and the last thing they want is communism back,

• They like capitalism and Western ways; they all want true democracy.

• (still have many restrictions that may shock you, if I had time to explain).

• Joke told of a man under the communist system,