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00:01 And I was and I when I was preparing this message, I imagined myself on this
00:07 stage looking at each and every one of you uh looking all the looking at um the
00:12 congregation here at First Baptist. And I thought that this subject would be a breeze because in this church most if
00:22 not all of us are good lawabiding taxpaying citizens. So there's actually
00:27 nothing much to talk about. However, uh this is also a a message
00:33 that that I'm very inadequate to talk about. If I knew that Yishan was around,
00:39 I would have asked her to preach half of this sermon on the civil law part.
00:45 Um so today we're going to talk about how the gospel living how how and gospel
00:50 living and the government how does Christian relate to the government and this is uh today uh although I'm not
00:57 going to talk about the whole chapter of Romans chapter 13 I will focus on verse
01:02 1-7 which is the part that talks about relating to the civil government and the
01:07 conclusion actually in verse 14 and this is a very important part to for us to
01:13 know that the context text as well as the the structure and the unity of uh of
01:19 this text. So let me let me uh propose to to you
01:25 for to further understand this text that there is actually a unity in Romans chapter 12 and chapter 13.
01:32 uh how do we know that I have uh underlined the the words over there uh
01:39 in Romans 12 verse 1-2 this is an introduction uh intro the the thematic
01:45 introduction about living sacrifice about how gospel living is all about
01:51 about renewing our mind and then in verse 14 chapter 13:14 it says that uh
01:58 do not think about how to gratify the desire of the flesh so it's very nicely put in a unity. So it has a starting and
02:06 it has an ending. So it starts with renewal of the mind and then ends with do not think about gratifying the desire
02:13 of your flesh. So I have put this uh I have put this structure for us to to fully appreciate
02:19 the the the unity or the relationship between the text between uh Romans chapter 12 and chapter 13 is more of
02:26 like a revision because we have been hearing passages and uh preachers on
02:31 Romans chapter 12 um on the first part and Romans chapter 12 uh 12 on the
02:38 second the the second part which talks about loving our enemies. And then today we we will focus on our relationship
02:46 with the government. So actually this is how uh the the whole structure is
02:52 uh the whole structure is in Romans chapter 12 and chapter 13 the introduction and then talks about the
02:58 transformed life our behavior in an organized faith institution which sometimes we call the church behavior in
03:04 a Christian community behavior in general community behavior in a country and then we talk about the overarching
03:11 principles in our behaviors and the conclusion is that the urgency of this
03:16 transformation information in our lives and the resources that's provided by God which is Jesus it ends with clothing
03:24 yourself with Jesus I'm a diagram person so I think this may
03:29 help um it's a progressive thing so could you see that uh it is it is
03:37 it is well thought of because sometimes we think that how come suddenly Paul
03:43 talks about the government because he talks about loving what he talks about the church about leadership about
03:49 giftings and then he talks about how to relate to one another be hospitable be devoted to one another love your enemies
03:56 and then suddenly he talks about the government but it's actually not suddenly if you can see that it is a principle of inside out
04:04 talks about how we behave in the church how to be behave with fellow believers the community and the government
04:11 and today we're going to zoom into one particular part which is the government.
04:16 Yeah. Or the civil law. How does Christian relate to the or how do we
04:21 engage the the Christian uh the how do Christians engage the civil law?
04:28 And many times we we think about spirituality as something that uh we are
04:33 trying to escape. Spirituality in the sense that uh we we meditate and then we
04:40 have an out-of- body experience. But Christian spirituality is actually very different. Let me read you a quote. A
04:47 quote that is by uh John Sto. He says that why should Christian get involved.
04:54 In the end there are only two possible attitudes which Christian can adopt towards the world. Escape and
05:00 engagement. Escape means turning our back to the world in rejection. Washing
05:05 our hands of it and stealing our hearts against its agonized cry for help.
05:12 In contrast, engagement means turning our faces towards the world in compassion, getting our hands dirty,
05:19 sore, and warned in its service, and feeling deep within us the stirring of
05:25 the love which cannot be contained. If we truly love our neighbors and be and
05:32 because of their worth, we shall be concerned for their total welfare, the well-being of their soul, their body,
05:38 and their community. and our concern will lead to practical programs. This
05:44 what the church is all about. This what First Baptist Church is all about. Our spirituality is an engagement. We engage
05:51 the community. We engage with one another in the church, with fellow believers, with the community at large
05:58 and the government. So over here in this church, we do not teach you to be
06:03 detached from from our context, but we want to learn how to attach and how to
06:11 engage our context in our community. And today we're going to zoom in and talk
06:16 about the government. So let's just look at the text the text that that we will
06:24 that we will ponder upon. But and basically there is two things that Paul
06:30 asks us to do everyone and which I have underlined in red be subject to the governing
06:37 authorities or to submit ourself and I underline and do what is right. So
06:43 basically is submit and do right. I highlighted the green color because that
06:49 is actually the main point. Uh because most of
06:55 the query or question about this text is that do we really need to submit to all
07:03 authorities and all governments? Over here Paul tells us that yes because it
07:10 is established by God. um for for us to understand more easily.
07:16 I've also done this diagram um just for us to to understand it easier
07:22 over here. Uh if you have your Bible, please read the the text with me uh or just follow the text. Uh I'll be reading
07:29 from verse 1 to verse 5. Romans chapter 13:1 to verse 5. It says that everyone
07:34 must submit himself to the governing authorities. So everyone here is the good guys and
07:42 the bad guys. those who do right and those who do wrong. Everyone
07:50 for there's no authority except which God has established. The authorities that exist
07:57 as has been established by God. Consequently, he who rebel against the authorities are rebelling against God.
08:04 He who rebel, he is rebelling against God. that those who do so will bring judgment
08:10 on themsel which the government will punish. For rulers hold no terror for those who
08:16 do right, who submit to the government.
08:22 For but for those who do wrong, he punished the those who do wrong. Do you want to
08:28 be free from the fear of the one uh free from do you want to be free from fear of
08:34 the one in authority? Then do what is right.
08:40 then he will commend you. So the government will commend you means pray
08:45 uh say oh you're all right you're okay for he is God's servant to do you good
08:51 but if you do wrong be afraid for he will not bear the sword for nothing he is God's servant and agent of wrath to
08:57 bring punishment to the wrongdoers therefore it is necessary to submit to the authority not only because of
09:03 possible punishment but also because of conscience. The conscience part is because we are relating to God about
09:10 doing right. So there's a positive and negative motivation. The positive motivation is
09:17 it is a conscience thing because we recognize that it is established by God. Therefore when we submit we are
09:24 submitting to God. So our conscience are clear
09:29 and the negative motivation is so that we do not get punished. So very simple it's a very very simple
09:35 text very easy to understand. So what is so how do we relate to the government?
09:41 Submit and do right. It's just these two point submit oursel
09:48 to the government and do what is right. Now the the biggest problem is
09:57 after we're going to discuss is this um but before that let's let's
10:03 just talk about the the ending the practical part the practical part of of this text it says this is also why you
10:10 pay taxes for the authorities are God's servant who give their full time to governing give to everyone uh give give
10:19 to everyone that you owe to them if you owe them taxes pay taxes If revenue then revenue, if respect then
10:24 respect, if honor then honor. So the word taxes actually means a direct tax. It is like income tax or property tax
10:32 and revenue could be uh is indirect tax like sales tax, toll or good service
10:37 tax. So at that time they they have all this. So in today's application is the same that we pay our taxes because we
10:45 because it is God's servant. Now the the question to ponder upon taxes is uh
10:52 why do we pay tax? Well, of course it's very clear is because they are God's servant.
10:60 What is the relationship between tax economical growth and Christian love? Um
11:05 let me just uh show you this. Uh I actually learned this in a context of
11:12 wealth disparity. Uh I am not an economic major but this
11:18 is something for us to to understand in a very simple way. So I'm going to ask Bart to help us out right. So Bart says
11:26 with zero tax rate there's no productive government spending. This is based on uh growth model in the in the economic uh
11:35 theory in the formulation growth models involve government government spending.
11:41 So uh government spending where where do government get their money is from taxes. So if let's say there's no tax
11:48 that means there's no productive more productive government spending and so no production and therefore no growth and
11:55 we don't like that because we want our salary to grow. We want our saving to to
12:01 grow. Um we want to have more money so that we can buy uh better houses uh
12:07 better living. We we want to not just eat vegetables. We want to eat meat. So
12:12 we want some form of growth. Um so what do we do? So when the government starts
12:18 taxing the capital which is our capital gain either in business uh in our in our
12:24 income it's spending on services raise of product productivity factors. So when
12:30 the government took our takes our money in terms of tax then they're supposed to build roads um provide the protection in
12:38 terms of a civil uh civil protection by the police uh pro protect our borders by
12:44 uh funding the the military so that we can have a safe environment for us to to
12:49 enjoy. But there is a point
12:58 there's a point at which it reaches the maximum because then the tax become too
13:03 high and after tax return to capital decrease too much and it dis it's
13:08 disencourages capital accumulation the main driver of growth that means if the government taxes too much then we cannot
13:15 save a lot then we feel very depressed we don't like the we don't like it then
13:20 uh the number of uh the number of employment goes down. So it it has a
13:26 diminishing return. A very high tax rate can really harm economical growth. Um so
13:33 this is the formula. Don't tell me how the formula works. Uh ask ask Elder
13:38 Richard. Yeah, he he will tell you how this works. So basically the we we know we
13:47 know that there is a growth maximum tax rate and it is determined by
13:52 technological parameters and time invariant and all the other factors.
13:58 So there is actually an optimal tax uh taxation of the government so that it
14:05 give us the best benefit for all of us. And of course um this this model also
14:12 take into consideration of wealth distribution which we're not going to talk about it today. But basically I want to show you that um there is a
14:19 relationship between tax economic growth economical growth and our well-being.
14:27 So actually paying taxes is about loving our neighbors.
14:33 We do not pay tax just because the government tells us so. We do not pay
14:38 tax just because the government is instituted by God. We pay tax because it
14:44 is a loving thing to do. Those who have more give more. Those who have less give less. We trust the government that has
14:50 the best economist that can uh that formulates the the the best tax
14:55 distribution. Um we just have to trust God that they
15:02 made their calculation right. All right. So this is this is about
15:07 civil law and text very simple very easy for us to understand the the problem
15:13 with this text or with this scripture is this did God really establish just all
15:20 governments because we know that many people are not very happy with many
15:27 governments. If you were to open our newspaper or read news for the past I
15:33 would say for the past five years many people are not happy with their
15:39 government. The US is the people in United States
15:45 are not happy with the government. The people in Europe are not very happy with the government. The people in Asia are
15:51 not very happy with the government. The people in Africa is not very happy with the government. Especially
15:58 right now um the conflict in Egypt, people are not very happy with the
16:03 government. So did God really establishes all the governments
16:09 including the bad ones?
16:14 And the second prevailing question is that what if the government is corrupted?
16:19 Do we still submit? These two are prevailing questions. to
16:26 to understand the text is not difficult. To understand the text basically Paul is saying everyone submit and everybody do
16:34 right. So I I I will tackle these two questions today.
16:39 Did God really establishes all government? That means we are asking this question. Is God really in control?
16:46 So, we're going to go through a survey of of the Bible from the Old Testament
16:51 to the New Testament, from the book of Exodus, all the way to uh the book of
16:58 Revelation. But, of course, I'm just giving a few examples. We want to look at what what God has to say and what the
17:04 Bible has to say about so-called bad government.
17:11 Okay? during uh the time of uh during the time when the Hebrews were in Egypt,
17:16 the Pharaoh was not a very good Pharaoh.
17:22 He put the Egyptians into uh he puts the Hebrews into slavery
17:29 and not just ordinary slavery. It was a hard slavery
17:39 and it was bad. They cry out to God, "God, help us." They they they pray for
17:47 a deliverer because they were oppressed because the new Pharaoh or new king did
17:53 not know who Joseph is.
17:59 And the pharaoh was afraid that if let's say the the Hebrew which is which is multiplying like crazy were to join
18:06 forces with the enemy they could be in trouble. So they force them into hard labor. And this is actually what uh
18:13 Exodus says. Um but I which is God will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though I
18:21 multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hands on Egypt and will and with
18:28 mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my division, my people, the Israel, and the Egyptians
18:35 will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hands against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.
18:43 So he said, I will harden Pharaoh's heart. That means God is in control.
18:50 God is in control of Pharaoh. Well, the next one is uh is the book of Daniel. Over here it
18:58 says that he which is God changes times and season. He deposes king and raises
19:04 up others. He give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. So it
19:09 says that God is the one who set kingdoms and God is the one who disposes kingdom.
19:16 In Jeremiah, we know that one of the most evil uh ruler in in our history is
19:23 Nebuchadnezzar. He is he is ruthless. But then over here in Jeremiah chapter
19:28 25:9, it says, "I which is God will summon all the people of the north and my servant,"
19:35 could you see that? My servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, declares the Lord, and I will bring them
19:42 against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and
19:47 make them an object of horror and scorn and everlasting ruin. Nebuchadnezzar,
19:53 the evil emperor, God's servant.
20:02 That's what the text says. And last one is Revelation 17:17.
20:07 Uh, for God has put into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their loyal
20:15 authority until God's words are fulfilled. So this beast um before this it will describe
20:21 this beast as 10 heads um I don't know seven horns ugly. I tried to find a a
20:30 picture of it. I couldn't find it. Um, so maybe I have to let you imagine a
20:35 beast that has 10 heads, seven horns, I don't know how many eyes, um, come
20:40 there's lightning coming out from from the mouth. Basically, it's an ugly, evil, powerful beast. And over here,
20:50 John actually says that God put it into their hearts.
20:56 God agreed to hand over the beast their royal authority. So God gave the beast
21:04 authority. So the conclusion is if you look at the
21:10 Bible is that it's true God actually established all the governments in the
21:18 past, in the present as well as in the future.
21:23 So no matter how chaotic this world is, God is in control and God is sovereign.
21:31 The next prevalent question is what if the government is corrupted?
21:37 What should we do? Should we still submit to the government who is or who
21:42 is corrupted? Well, the text suggests this. The text didn't differentiate it. The
21:49 text tells us that you know if the government is corrupted then you don't do this. No, it says that God
21:57 established the government and this is the things that you and I should do. Submit and do right. So we want to
22:04 explore the Bible again to find out how this holds in balance.
22:11 How do we submit and do right to a government that is not good or who is
22:18 corrupted? The story of Cypra and Pora which is in
22:24 Exodus these are midwives uh because the
22:29 the Hebrews are or the Israelites are multiplying. So the pharaoh gets very uh very
22:35 agitated and he was afraid that the the Israelites are multiplying much faster
22:41 than his own people. So he asked these two midwives to go
22:47 and kill all the male babies. As you deliver the babies, if it is a boy, kill
22:55 it. If it is a girl, let it live. That was the order that was given to Cypra
23:02 and Pora. And what did they do? The Bible tells us that they fear the Lord
23:10 and they did the right thing. They didn't kill the babies.
23:16 And Pharaoh found out about it. Why didn't you do what I say? And then uh
23:22 Cypra and Pua said well you know the the Israelite women are very different from
23:27 the Egyptian women. They are very strong. We run we literally run towards
23:34 the the the delivery and when we reach they have already delivered
23:39 so fast. Well
23:44 that is a blatant lie right now. How can how can Cra and Pora who
23:54 went against the the law and didn't follow a direct order from the king or
23:60 of or Pharaoh and then lie to Pharaoh. That means it's it's a sin and yet they
24:06 found favor in God. Isn't it very difficult to to comprehend? And
24:14 then the Bible actually tells us that these two midwives found favor in God
24:19 and God blessed them to have their own families.
24:24 Here it tells us a balance of doing right and submission. So uh this is this
24:31 is a an example that they did the right thing but they did not submit
24:37 and the end result is is a good result. As you can see, I I will tell you that
24:42 the sever the severe rarity will actually increase. Next is Queen Esther.
24:48 I got to start with the women first uh if you don't mind. Yeah. Next is Queen Esther. Yeah. Queen Esther's very famous
24:56 uh phrase, if I perish, I perish.
25:02 Well, for a start, she is an Israelite and it is wrong for her to marry to
25:10 marry a foreigner. So, she already sin against God,
25:17 but she submitted to the government at the time. But God put her there for a reason.
25:26 And when that reason came because uh because her her tribe was was being uh
25:32 threatened, she asked the whole tribe to pray for her and she said that I will see the
25:40 king and she knows that that is against the law
25:46 and she knows that if the king were to kill her, a capital punishment, it is
25:52 actually within his prerogative. He could do that. That's why she said if I
25:57 perish I perish. So she went against the king by seeing
26:05 the king. And she knew that the consequences of it could be her death.
26:12 So but she know that it is also the right thing to do to save her her people. So it's a balance of doing right
26:19 and submiss and submission. So she did the right thing and she expect the worst
26:26 which is uh her life being taken away. She did the right thing and she is
26:33 totally submissive to the the will of the king which is the government at that
26:38 time. But we know that it it has a good ending
26:44 and yes Daniel as well a good ending for Daniel. Uh there was an addict that
26:50 was being an addict that was uh being uh established for a number of days that
26:56 everyone can only bow down to the statue or to to the king. And
27:04 immediately Daniel went back to his home in his upper room, opened the window and pray
27:11 towards Jerusalem. That is a total rebellion against the
27:20 addict that was instituted. But he did the right thing. And guess
27:25 what? He was caught
27:30 and he was submissive to the law. He said, well, um, he didn't resist being
27:37 thrown into the lion's den. And and you know the rest of the story. It was a good ending. The lion didn't eat him up.
27:43 And in fact the the the king was so compassionate with Daniel and says that
27:49 I hope your God will save you. And uh Daniel's friend Shadrach, Meshach
27:54 and Abednego. Another story um they have also established a law that you have to bow down to the statue of of the king.
28:02 And Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego says that I will not bow down to this statue.
28:10 My God can save me but even if my God don't save me if I
28:16 were to die I will still not do what you have asked me to do.
28:21 So they did the right thing and yet they also submit to the local government and
28:26 the consequences supposed to be death. So they were throw into the furnace uh the the the fire. Of course it was a
28:34 good ending. Now things are getting a bit different. Now the ending is not very good. Um,
28:41 Acts chapter 5 is about the apostles. They went preaching
28:47 and then they were caught by the Sanhedrin, the the religious police and they were given stern warning not to
28:52 preach and a classic respond they say that who should I obey? Should I obey
28:59 God or should I obey men? That means they will continue to preach.
29:05 Uh the ending here is not so good. They didn't they were not miraculously released. They were given flogging. That
29:12 means they were going to rotan. All of them kind of rot and then they were released.
29:19 So it is a once again a balance of doing good and submitting. They didn't resist
29:25 the the the caning or the flogging. And then lastly the author of Romans
29:32 Paul. What happened to him? He did the right thing. He preached the
29:38 gospel. He was in prison. But this guy has no good ending.
29:49 He was executed but he submitted to the authority.
29:57 So over here when you look at when we look at all these characters in the Bible there is a balance between these
30:02 two bad government evil government corrupted government and
30:09 yet they submit and they do the right thing. It's a balance.
30:15 So Paul's premise in Romans chapter 13 1-7 holds true.
30:23 what he prescribed is a true prescription and is consistent throughout the Bible
30:30 that the people of God their role is to do right before God and
30:37 by doing right if it is against the government they also submit to the
30:42 consequences either um being uh put to death or flogging or
30:51 confiscation of their properties.
30:57 In Malaysia, we are still fine. Now, we I want to conclude with this uh
31:03 Romans 13:14, it says, "Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires
31:10 of the flesh." Over here, clothing yourself is two things. Number one is positional.
31:18 The book of Romans talks about we taking the the clo of righteousness from Jesus.
31:25 So it's a positional thing. So when we have Jesus we clothe with Jesus we we
31:31 can have this self we can have this healthy self-esteem.
31:37 And then the next one beside pro uh beside positional it is also provisional.
31:44 provisional in sense that the salvation has been given to us.
31:50 So we clothe ourself with Jesus Christ. Now why Jesus?
31:58 Beside it is positional beside being provisional
32:04 it is also because Jesus modeled it to us.
32:13 Jesus was brought towards Pontius Pilate, a perfect man who did not break any law.
32:23 And the Bible tells us that after a long a lengthy u a a lengthy investigation,
32:33 Pontius Pilate actually didn't find Jesus did anything wrong.
32:38 And then he In ro in John chapter 19:10,
32:44 Pilate said this to Jesus, do you know that I have the power to
32:51 release you? John chapter 19:10, do you know that I
32:57 have the power to free you, to release you? And verse 11, this this is Jesus
33:03 response. You have no power over me
33:09 because your power is actually given unless your power is given
33:15 to you from above. Jesus said that you have no power over me.
33:21 Unless your power is given from above. So it is consistent with the text of
33:28 Romans chapter 13 verse 1 to5. And Jesus modeled it to us. He was in
33:37 total submission to the law and to the governance at that time. An unfair,
33:44 unjust, evil government. And he was and he is
33:50 the king of kings and the lord of lord and god himself. He submitted to the
33:55 government and he did the right thing for us.
34:05 He molded it to us. Submission and doing the right thing.
34:11 Holding these two together at the same time. So today the summary is very simple.
34:20 How do Christian relate to the government? It's only two things. We submit and we do what is right. And if
34:28 occasion doesn't allow us to do what is right, we still do what is right.
34:36 But we gladly take the consequences, including
34:41 our death. Christianity is not a religion that
34:48 takes up arms. We do not only refuse
34:56 to hit the other person. We do not even we do not only refuse
35:03 to attack that person, but we also refuse to hate that person.
35:15 Submit and do right. Let us pray.
35:32 Dear God, we thank you for this text that you have given us to teach us and to prescribe to us how we relate to the
35:39 government and to the civil authority, God. And you have modeled it to us in
35:45 your son Jesus Christ how he per perfectly submit to your will as well as
35:51 to the will of the local government at that time. God as your children we do so because it
35:58 is consistent with the whole Bible as we have uh as we have approached it today.
36:05 God give us strength uh and also give us that and you have also given us that provision. teach us to clothe oursel
36:12 with Lord Jesus Christ who model it to us in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
