The governing authorities |
The submission to the governing authorities
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It is
written: “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 ….” (Romans 13:1-2 –
NKJV). |
Brothers,
the governing authorities which exist in this country (as well as in the
other countries) are appointed by God, and we must be subject to them; no
matter what political party they belong to, we must honour them and show all
good fidelity and respect them. Peter says: “Submit yourselves
for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men ….” (1 Peter |
Paul said:
“Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to
whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:7 – NKJV). So
every governing authority must be honored and feared, in that it is appointed
by God. As far as we are concerned, as citizenship of this country, we must honour
the President, the Prime Minister, the deputies, the senators, the ministers
of the Government, the policemen, the Carabineers, the Revenue Guard Corps,
the judges, the public prosecutors, the mayors, town councillors, district
councillors, and any other authority appointed by God. |
The
governing authorities command to pay taxes and they must be paid to the
authority because it is written that we must render “taxes to whom taxes are due” (Romans 13:7) and because Jesus said:
“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Luke |
When Jesus
began His ministry, the people of Israel was under the rule of Rome: the
emperor of the Roman empire was Tiberius Caesar, the governor of Judea was
Pontius Pilate, and the tetrarch of Galilee was Herod (who had married his
brother Philip’s wife), yet Jesus (who was a Jew according to the flesh) did not
incite the crowds to rebel against the Roman governing authorities, He never
forbade to pay taxes to Caesar (even though He knew that part of the taxes
would be used to maintain the roman army), He did not head any revolt against
the roman authorities which ruled at that time, and when He was before
Pontius Pilate and Herod He did not dare to insult them, nor was He
disrespectful toward them, but rather He respected them; Jesus Christ left us
an example in everything, that we should follow His steps, therefore we will
do well to be subject to the governing authorities, to honour them and to
pray for them so that God may save them, help them to rule over men in
righteousness, and protect them, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life
in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:2 – NKJV). |
Brothers,
I want you to know that no one of us has the right to make fun of the
governing authorities; he who thinks that he has this right is devoid of
understanding. Why do I say this? Because in the midst of the people of God
there are some who take delight in making fun of the governing authorities, by
telling jokes about them! Some so called pastors tell these jokes to the
children of the Sunday School; yes, even this abominable thing happens in the
midst of the saints. Whereas Jesus took up the children in His arms, laid His
hands on them, and blessed them; these men of corrupt minds take up the children
in their arms and tell them jokes against the governing authorities. These
people, as ungodly mockers at feasts, open their mouth to vomit the rubbish
they have put in their heart. They like ‘the newspaper cartoons making fun of
politicians’, they say this openly and they are not ashamed to say such a
thing; they take delight in speaking evil of the governing authorities as the
children of this age do, and the people like them because they entertain them
with funny jokes. In hearing these people, we mourn because these men lead
astray the people of God. |
I want to
tell you this also: you must not take part in politics. In other words, you
must not vote this or that political party. Taking part in politics is not
fitting for the saints: politics lies under the sway of the wicked one and
anyone who takes part in it becomes corrupted. Today in many places of
worship, during the election campaign, one can witness real electoral
meetings because the pastors of these churches are not ashamed to urge
believers to vote for a particular political party or a particular candidate;
and when they don’t say it openly they make believers understand it. Why does
this disgraceful thing happen among the saints? Because these pastors,
instead of praying for those who are in authority and urging the flock to do
the same, seek their favor endorsing their candidacy in order to obtain
important privileges from them. And thus they are involved in politics. No
wonder, therefore, that today during the electoral campaign we hear from some
pulpits the same ‘election slogans’ we hear in the streets and in the market
places. |
But there
is something else that these pastors do in order to obtain important
privileges from the governing authorities: they bribe them. Let me give you
an example. We know that the word and the signature of the local authorities
are necessary in order to build a place of worship; now, there is no harm in
asking the local authority for the permission to build a place of worship,
but the fact is that in some cases this permission is not granted because at
that particular time certain laws do not allow believers to build a place of
worship in that place. What happens then? It happens that those pastors who
fear God accept the decision of the local authority, while those who do not
fear God make all efforts to obtain the planning permission anyway. So they
go to the local authority which is appointed to grant the planning permission,
but they don’t go to it empty-handed but with ‘their donkeys and camels loaded
with gold and silver’ and thus they obtain the long-desired planning
permission. Have you understood how they got the planning permission? They
got it by bribing the local authority. |
What does God
say about those who act in this way? God says: “Woe to those who go down to |
Brothers,
know this, that God punishes all those who carry out plans that are not His,
forming an alliance but not by His Spirit. Therefore, those who bribe the
governing authorities in order to obtain what it is not lawful for them to
obtain will be punished and put to shame by the Lord at His appointed time. However,
there is something else which must be said: when the place of worship is
dedicated to God, those who have acted in this perverse way make moving
speeches and they say: ‘Let us thank God for giving us this place of
worship!’ But it was not God who gave them that place of worship, but Mammon,
because they obtained the planning permission by relying on money (in that
they paid a backhander) and not on God (that is, not on His holy ways).
However, who knows how things went? Of course those believers who stay with
that church on that day as well as many believers who belong to that church
do not know anything about the backhander paid for the release of the
planning permission. Does God like this way of acting? No, He doesn’t, for paying
a backhander is a crime even when the backhander is paid in order to build a
place of worship or to obtain a permission for the
spread of the Gospel. I say this so that no one may deceive you by saying:
‘Brother, the end justifies the means!’. Know that
God does not justify the unlawful means some believers use to spread the
Gospel of Christ. Do you know why? Because He loves righteousness. |
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When Christians must disobey the governing
authorities
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Now let us
see when we must disobey the governing authorities, which are appointed by
God, in order to please God. If the governing authority commands us to do
things which we as believers are not allowed to do, then we must not obey
that command, even though we will be persecuted by the governing authority. |
In the
Scriptures are recorded some incidents which show clearly how those who fear
God must behave when the governing authorities issue a wicked order. |
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Here is what happened in Egypt when the children of Israel were still slaves
of the Egyptians: “And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of
which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And
he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them
upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a
daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as
the king of |
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During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of |
Brothers,
as you can see, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego disobeyed the order of
Nebuchadnezzar, for according to that order they would have to disobey the Word
of God, which states that we must not worship idols. So they refused to
worship that statue made by king Nebuchadnezzar and because of their refusal
they brought the judgement of the king on them, but God gained glory and
praise through king Nebuchadnezzar. |
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When the apostles Peter and John were brought before the High Priest, the
rulers, elders and teachers of the law, they were commanded “not to speak or
teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for
yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts |
Now,
before Jesus was taken up into heaven, He gave the apostles the following
order: “Go and make disciples of all nations …. Teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19,20 –
NIV), but the members of the Sanhedrin gave them an order which opposed the
order of Christ, for they warned the apostles not to teach the Word of God,
but the apostles preferred to obey God rather than men, even though because
of their refusal they were persecuted by the Sanhedrin. That’s how we must
behave when the governing authorities command us to do something which is
contrary to the will of the Lord. |
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Rulers are God’s ministers
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The
apostle Paul says: “For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what
is good, and you will have praise from the same. 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, an 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” (Romans 13:3-6
– NKJV). |
It is
clearly written that rulers are God’s ministers, who serve God by punishing
those who practice evil, and that’s exactly what we see for both the judges
and the magistrates (the Weymouth New Testament reads Romans 13:3 as follows:
“For judges and magistrates are to be feared not by right-doers but by
wrong-doers. You desire--do you not? --to have no reason to fear your ruler.
Well, do the thing that is right, and then he will commend you”), who are
among the rulers Paul speaks of, defend the cause of those who are offended
and damaged and grant them justice against their adversaries. According to
the law of Moses, the children of Israel had to appoint judges and officers
whose task was to acquit the innocent and to condemn the guilty, as it is
written: “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the
Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the
people with just judgement” (Deuteronomy 16:18 – NKJV), therefore God wants
judges and magistrates to be appointed in every nation and He wants them to judge
people fairly. |
If we do
evil, we will be punished by the authority, but if we do what is good we will
have praise from the same, we will live safely and quietly and our conscience
will not rebuke us. For we believers must submit to
the governing authorities not only because of possible punishment but also
for conscience’ sake (that is to say, in order not to defile our conscience).
Now, we believers must strive to have a conscience without offence toward God
and men, that we may please God; therefore, lest we defile our conscience we
must obey the governing authorities. Some do not want to have a clean conscience, I am not surprised, for I know that even in
the days of the apostles there were some people who rejected a good conscience.
But do you know what happened to them? They shipwrecked their faith. |
Luke wrote
the following incident which happened at Philippi, while he, Paul, Silas and
Timothy were in that city to preach the Gospel: “And it came to pass, as we
went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met
us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed
Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high
God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she
many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same
hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they
caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do
exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us
to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up
together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and
commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they
cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having
received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their
feet fast in the stocks” (Acts |
However,
it must be said that after the great earthquake which shook the foundations
of the prison, and after the keeper of the prison and his household believed
in the Lord, when the magistrates (the same magistrates who had torn off the
clothes of Paul and Silas and had commanded them to be beaten with rods)
heard that Paul and Silas were Romans, they came and pleaded with them and
brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city. Furthermore, I
remind you that God turned the harm that the magistrates had done to the
apostles into good, for while they were in prison the keeper of the prison
believed in the Lord Jesus with all his household.
Paul himself said: “And we know that all things work together for good to
those who love God …..” (Romans 8:28 - NKJV); is it not true that even that
imprisonment suffered unjustly worked for good to Paul and Silas and worked for
the salvation of a whole household? |
Brothers,
know this, that no matter what injustice or violence or persecution those who
love God suffer from the governing authorities, God will turn it into good. The
Scripture cannot be broken; if the persecution against the Church did not
work for good to those who love God, that would mean that God is no longer
able to turn evil into good and that He has lied. However our God is sitting
on His throne and He reigns and He controls every circumstance of our life
and at His appointed time He turns evil into good. God cannot lie, He is not
a man like us; in His great faithfulness He will turn our mourning to joy and
many in seeing this will fear the name of God and will acknowledge that the
Word of God is truth. |
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God judges the governing authorities who rebel
against Him
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On the Day
of judgement God will judge the governing authorities according to their deeds
because it is written: “God will bring to judgement both the righteous and
the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every
deed” (Ecclesiastes |
However,
let no one think that only in the Day of Judgement will God punish the
governing authorities for their evil deeds, and thus before that day the rod
of the wrath of God will not strike them, for it is also written: “If the
righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the
sinner” (Proverbs 11:31 – NKJV). |
Therefore,
brothers, let no one deceive you with empty words, for God judges the
governing authorities on the earth. He inflicts His punishments on those
governing authorities who practice evil, for He is no respecter of persons. |
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Saul was appointed king of Israel by God, but because of his rebellion God
put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David, as it is written: “So
Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord,
because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a
medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed
him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse” (1 Chronicles |
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The prophet Daniel said to Belshazzar the following things about
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: “O thou king, the most high God gave
Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And
for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages,
trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he
kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But
when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from
his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from
the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was
with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet
with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the
kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will” (Daniel
5:18-21). |
Daniel
recognized that God had made Nebuchadnezzar king over |
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the days of the apostles it came to pass that “Herod the king stretched out
his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of
John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he
proceeded further to seize Peter also” (Acts 12:1-3 – NKJV) and he arrested
Peter and put him in prison. But God delivered Peter through one of His
angels. After these things, the following incident happened: “Now Herod had
been very angry with the people of |
That king
was punished by God for he had not given glory to God; and we have to
recognize once again that God shows no partiality, not even toward the kings He
sets over the kingdoms of the world. |
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God uses the governing authorities to accomplish His
purpose on the earth
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Let us see
now how some roman authorities helped Paul when he was seized by the Jews in |
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The hearts
of kings are in God’s hand |
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Wisdom
says: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1 – NKJV). |
Let us see
now how God in ancient times turned the hearts of some powerful kings so that
it might be fulfilled what He had said through His prophets. |
In order
to punish the |
Here is
what God said through the prophet Isaiah: “That saith of Cyrus, He is my
shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to |
Here is
what God said through the prophet Jeremiah: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have
caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; … after seventy years
be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward
you, in causing you to return to this place” (Jeremiah 29:4,10).
Jeremiah spoke in the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, kings of |
Therefore,
to sum up, God foretold the length of the Babylonian captivity, and predicted
which king would let His exiles go free and rebuild |
At the set
time of which God had spoken, was fulfilled what God had foretold through His
prophets a long time before, for it is written in the book of Ezra: “Now in
the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the
mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and
put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God
of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me
to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you
of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which
is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,)
which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:1-3). The exiles that Cyrus let go returned to
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However,
in ancient times there was a king whose heart was hardened by God so that he
might oppose the order of God to let His people go free, I refer to Pharaoh
king of |
I have
written these things so that you may understand that the authorities which exist are appointed by God, and God uses them in
order to perform His wonderful purposes. To the Most High God, who is
sovereign over the kingdoms of men, be the glory
forever. Amen. |