Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 15. Jos 1:16-18; Rom 13:1-3.

Class Outline:

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 15. JOS 1:16-18; ROM 13:1-3.   

 

Announcementsopening prayer:

 

 

ROM 13:1 Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

 

ROM 13:2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

 

ROM 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same;

 

The authority that these Christians are under, Jew and Gentile, is the Pax Romana, Latin for Roman peace which existed from approximately 27 AD to 192 AD. The church up to the point of writing Romans was in a peaceful environment. Their persecution at this point was mostly from the Jews, but the great rule of Augustus and Tiberius had degenerated under Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Rumors were spreading that Christianity was about to come under severe persecution from the state, and this proved true under Nero in 64 AD.

 

Paul and Peter unite in telling believers, Gentile and Jew, to obey the magistrates. The powers that be are ordained of God. No one is above the law. If the Christians behave as true believers should, there will be no difficulty. Magistrates are not a terror to good citizens; only to evil citizens.

 

The Romans did not have a first amendment. A Christian in America has always had the right to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. In our nation this is legal and so to do so is being in subjection to the governing authorities. But we have the privilege of living in the freest nation in the history of mankind and because of that we often fail to look at the historical circumstances of believers living in the time when the Bible was written and ignorantly assume that things then are as things are now.

 

The emperor Nero would not have allowed a redress of grievances. He murdered Christians without trial, and in that time, if they had fought back, like the slave revolt of Spartacus for instance, they would have been wiped out.

 

I pray that the reason this teaching has come to us is not the fact that in the next several years our nation is going to rapidly lose the freedoms we now have. Yet I can see the sun on the horizon and see the sign of the times. I never make future predictions but we would all be fools not to suspect the possibility that something is rapidly approaching where our witness of the Lord is going to be persecuted in this nation to a great extent.

 

For example, a story was posted this week about a veteran Texas police officer who wrote the following:

 

“I have been a police officer for over 26 years and I must tell you that the last year has been the hardest in my career. It feels like a total sense of abandonment by the people who Law Enforcement Officers care about the most. I am tired and I worry about what the future holds for new officers that take up this job. For many years I would encourage young people to seek a career in law enforcement but in the present climate I can’t bring myself to encourage anyone to take up this task.

 

"Something has to change or there will be no one willing to stand up for those who need it the most during the worst of times," [Ricky Hendrix, 26 year veteran of the Plano, TX Police Department]

 

The Christian must realize that not only is he a new creature in Christ Jesus and a citizen of Heaven, he is still a human being in a society of human beings, and he must shoulder the obligations of mass citizenship. The Christian is to integrate his life and activities with all human relationships.

 

Getting back to our Lord's teaching on the separation of church and state:

 

LUK 20:25

"Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

 

The believer is to understand the first and great commandment: he is to render to God the things that are God's; that is, he is to love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. He is also to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; that is, he is to love his neighbor as himself. [Barnhouse]

 

However, what if the government tells you to sin? You must obey God over and above man in that situation.

 

If you were a Christian under the rule of Nazi Germany you were to suffer its injustices.

 

However, when the Nazi's told you to hail Hitler as fuhrer, which to them meant something similar to Messiah, you had to refuse. The same applied to anti-Semitism commands, commands not to teach the true gospel, etc.

 

In other words, if the regime tells the believer to disobey God then that believer must obey God above men.

 

ACT 4:13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

 

ACT 4:14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them [a man born crippled], they had nothing to say in reply.

 

ACT 4:15 But when they had ordered them to go aside out of the Council, they began to confer with one another,

 

ACT 4:16 saying, "What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

 

ACT 4:17 "But in order that it may not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any man in this name."

 

ACT 4:18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

 

ACT 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;

 

ACT 4:20 for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard."

 

ACT 4:21 And when they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which they might punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;

 

ACT 4:22 for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

 

After continuing to preach the gospel and heal multitudes that were brought to them, the Sanhedrin grew wildly jealous and laid hands on them again and threw them in prison. An angel released them and told them to return to the temple to keep right on teaching. Being arrested yet again they are brought before the Sanhedrin.

 

ACT 5:27 And when they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. And the high priest questioned them,

 

ACT 5:28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."

 

ACT 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, "We must obey God rather than men.

 

ACT 5:30 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

 

ACT 5:31 "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

 

ACT 5:32 "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."

 

When a believer is forced to obey God rather than his authority it will usually be the case that he will suffer undeservedly at the hands of that authority.

 

1PE 4:15 By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;

 

The construction here indicates that in the past, as unbelievers, some of them had suffered for these things. They are to leave them in the past and press on in the Christian way of life. However, they are not to think that their days of suffering are over; it's just that the source of suffering will now be different. As positive believers they will suffer undeservedly.

 

1PE 4:16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God.

 

That name, Christian, is the name of Christ, who glorified God in such a fashion. Christ came into the world with imperial power. He brought the kingdom of God with Him, He is God, and He is King and Priest and Prophet. But He came into the world without a noise and in obscurity, and He grew up in patient obedience. He did not impose His own will on others but by uncomplaining endurance of contempt, injustice, suffering and death His power was revealed. He was not like any other imperial king.

 

Such was the fate meted out to Him by others for His obedience to God; but more than that: submission to this treatment is His crowning obedience; for this reason, Jehovah was chosen by Jehovah and endowed with His Spirit.

 

ISA 42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul delights.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

 

ISA 42:2 "He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

 

ISA 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break,

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

 

ISA 42:4 "He will not be disheartened or crushed,

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."

 

ISA 49:1 Listen to Me, O islands,

And pay attention, you peoples from afar.

The Lord called Me from the womb;

From the body of My mother He named Me.

 

ISA 49:2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;

In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me,

And He has also made Me a select arrow;

He has hidden Me in His quiver.

 

ISA 49:3 And He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel,

In Whom I will show My glory."

 

ISA 49:4 But I said, "I have toiled in vain,

I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity;

Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord,

And My reward with My God."

 

ISA 49:5 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,

To bring Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered to Him  (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,

And My God is My strength),

 

ISA 49:6 He says, "It is too small a thing that

You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations

So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

 

ISA 52:13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted.

 

ISA 52:14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men.

 

ISA 52:15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.

 

ISA 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

 

ISA 53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

 

ISA 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 

ISA 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

 

ISA 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

 

ISA 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

 

ISA 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

 

ISA 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?

 

ISA 53:9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

 

ISA 53:10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

 

ISA 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.

 

ISA 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

 

1PE 4:15 By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;

 

1PE 4:16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God.

 

The words, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian" should be understood in their historical background. The Cult of the Caesar was the state religion of the Roman Empire, in which the emperor was worshipped as a god. It served two purposes. The subjects of Rome gave obedience to the laws of the empire, not only as a political, but as a religious duty. It also constituted the unifying factor which bound the many different peoples of the empire into one, and made the military task of holding together its far-flung domain an easier one.

 

The Greek word for Caesar is ‎Kaisar‎. Those who worshipped the ‎Kaisar ‎were called ‎Kaisarianos‎. Christianity appeared as a rival claimant to world worship and dominion. The Lord Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, was looked upon in the Christian Church as the One who would some day come back and take the government of the world upon His shoulder.

 

Those who worshipped Christ as God were called ‎Christianos‎, worshippers of the Christ as against the ‎Kaisarianos‎, worshippers of the Caesar.

 

Rome saw that the imperialism of Christianity was challenging the imperialism of the Caesars, and that it was by its propagation, striking at the very vitals of the empire. It answered this by bloody persecutions. It meant and cost something to be a ‎Christianos ‎in those days.

 

The members of the Imperial Cult looked down upon and persecuted the members of the Body of Christ. That is what Peter means when he says, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed."

 

Their Roman neighbors attempted to force shame upon them for not being like them in accepting Caesar worship, yet the Romans were in the wrong and the Christians in the right, so they should have never felt ashamed, although many around them demanded that they should.

 

Peter remembered that awful night when he cowered before the might of Rome and denied his Lord and that was to never occur again, and he instructed his listeners to not feel the shame that the world demands to be placed on all those who diverge from its way. Petros, the rock, was a pillar in the church and would never again deny his Lord.

 

1PE 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

 

It seems to say that God is going to first judge His church and then the world, but that interpretation falls apart within the context of the passage. This is why we must be careful to not take verses alone but to understand them in the context of what is being written. This is the judgment upon the church by the world, and if they judge the church, which is right and good, then what will be their outcome when they are judged? But they will not be judged by themselves, but by God.

 

This is not the judgment from God but from the world. The world would judge the Christian to be a heretic and persecute him. This judgment would determine the character of Christianity. Was it real or not?