Government: God’s Gift To Mankind (2024)
Government: God’s Gift To Mankind (2024 series) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 36:02
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The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper
Ask the men to come and have a seat at the front.
If you have trusted in Christ alone for salvation, then you are welcome to participate in the Lord’s Supper. It has significance to you. If you have not trusted in Christ, then you are more than welcome to watch and listen. This ordinance of the local church is a celebration and a remembrance of our Savior’s sacrifice of Himself for our sins.
Christian, during this time, take a moment to ensure that you are right with God and with man. Examine yourself. If you haven’t already, confess, in other words, admit any known sin to God and claim His forgiveness. During this time, meditate on what your Savior did to bring you salvation. Think about His sacrifice and how He did it for you. Praise Him and thank Him as you talk with Him in your heart.
Pray and thank the Lord for giving His body and shedding His blood for us.
Serve the bread
Read Matthew 26:17-20, 26.
Partake
Serve the grape juice
Read Matthew 26:27-28.
Partake.
Sing last verse of #351 Near The Cross
Introduction
Introduction
Turn to Genesis 9:1-6.
As you’re turning to Genesis chapter nine, I'm going to read 2 Peter 1:3.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
As Christians, we believe that God has given us principles from Scripture to guide us in all areas of life, including in matters of human government. We believe that the Word of God is authoritative in all matters of life and practice, but the responsibility rests on us to search the Scriptures, to grow in our knowledge of our Savior, and to allow the Holy Spirit to apply those principles to our lives today.
That is our objective this morning. We want to search out Bible principles to guide us concerning our citizenship here on earth.
As a Christian, you are a dual citizen. You’re a citizen of the United States of America, but more importantly, you are a citizen of the kingdom of God. The Bible offers principles regarding both citizenships, therefore, we must be careful not to neglect our responsibilities in either one. One reason for this study is because it is becoming more and more apparent that our country is approaching a grave crossroads. This is not just my opinion, many learned people are saying this.
One such person is a man by the name of Victor Davis Hanson. Dr. Hanson is a highly regarded historian, professor, and author. I don’t know if he is a believer or not, but because he knows Greek and Roman history so well, I respect his analysis of current events. I want to read for you a portion of what he wrote on January 8th of this year.
In the last six months, we have borne witness to many iconic moments evidencing the collapse of American culture.
The signs are everywhere and cover the gamut of politics, the economy, education, social life, popular culture, foreign policy, and the military. These symptoms of decay share common themes.
Our descent is self-induced; it is not a symptom of a foreign attack or subterfuge. Our erosion is not the result of poverty and want, but of leisure and excess. We are not suffering from existential crises of famine, plague, or the collapse of our grid and fuel sources. Prior, far poorer, and war-torn generations now seem far better off than what we are becoming.
[I deleted a short paragraph here where he assigns blame for why this is happening]
In short, we are seeing fissures that America has not experienced in our cultural history since the Civil War. The radical Left apparently feels such chaos, anarchy, and nihilism are necessary to topple past norms and customs and thereby adhere to a socialist, equity agenda that no one in normal times would stomach.
Some of the decay is existential and fundamental; some anecdotal and illustrative. But either way, while decline came about gradually over decades, its sudden and abrupt chaos during the three years of Biden’s presidency has shocked Americans.
Dr. Hanson then proceeds to identify seven areas in which our nation is seeing rapid decline:
Financial Implosion
Military Crises
Race
The Sexes
Lawlessness
Education
The End of Sovereignty
He concludes:
In sum, American civilization has been turned upside down, and we have a rendezvous soon with the once unthinkable and unimaginable.
- Victor Davis Hanson, January 8, 2024.
You may or may not agree with his analysis, but at the very least, you would probably agree that there is a lot of uncertainty in our country right now.
Very few Americans think the future is bright for our country.
Very few are pleased with the direction it is going.
Very few think our government leaders - whether elected or unelected - are performing their duties well.
Americans may disagree on the solutions, but they generally agree that we’re not going in the right direction.
In such a pivotal time as this, when Americans are searching for answers, we would do well to go back to the beginning and study what the Creator has to say about this thing we call “government.” Rather than ignoring the problems facing our country, we must seek out Bible principles to know how we ought to navigate these dark waters.
In 2017, I began to write a thesis paper to answer this question I had: “what does the Bible say about human government?” Simple question. Complex answer. After roughly 1000 hours of study, the paper came to be right about 200 pages. Please understand, I don’t consider myself an expert on the matter. I’m not trying to set myself up as one. I certainly didn’t exhaust everything the Bible says about this. I’m just sharing with you my background and that I am passionate about this subject.
As we progress through this mini series, I’m sure it won’t answer all of the questions that you have. It may raise many more besides. If so, get a question card from the information table, write down your question, and then give it to me or drop it into an offering box. I can’t possibly cover everything I’ve studied in this mini series. Rather, I hope that this series begins conversation and personal Bible study. My desire is that the Scriptures will be our guide both through this series and through this year’s presidential election.
Read Genesis 9:1-6.
More than 180 years ago, a preacher was writing a short essay about the American form of government and he wrote these words:
Next slide here:
“If people had virtue enough, there would be no need of any government. Government becomes necessary on account of the vices of men.” - John Leland
The man who made that statement was a Baptist preacher named John Leland. He was an influential man during the founding years of our country and not just because of his itinerant preaching ministry, though that was extensive. He became famous in the colonies for his public support of President Thomas Jefferson. Leland even oversaw the creation of a wheel of cheese weighing more than 1000 pounds which he personally delivered as a gift to Jefferson during his presidency.
I bring your attention to Leland’s statement because it teaches us this indisputable reality of life: we need government.
Next slide here:
The title of my message and series is this, Government: God’s Gift to Mankind.
Government: God’s Gift To Mankind
Government: God’s Gift To Mankind
Why do we need government?
John Leland told us why in his statement:
“If people had virtue enough, there would be no need of any government. Government becomes necessary on account of the vices of men.” - John Leland
Leland was saying that if people were good, we wouldn’t need government. We need government because people are not good.
To put it into biblical terms, man has a sin nature.
And that’s why we need government today.
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We need government because we have a sin nature.
Turn back just a few pages to Genesis chapter six and you’re going to see what mankind was like without any human government. Genesis chapter six and later on, the book of Judges tells us what mankind is like without the restraint of government.
Read Genesis 6:5, 11-13.
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
If that doesn’t convince you enough, the Bible spells it out more clearly elsewhere:
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Psalm 14:1 (KJV 1900)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works,
There is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14:3 (KJV 1900)
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Yes, mankind has a sin nature. If left unrestrained, this nature will lead to several patterns:
Mankind will tend to do evil rather than good.
Mankind will tend to be violent rather than peaceful.
Mankind will tend to be in control rather than submit to control.
Mankind will tend to reject justice and instead pursue vengeance.
Mankind will tend to greater chaos and disorder.
This idea that man has a sin nature is not popular today, but that’s an inescapable part of a biblical worldview. It is what helps the Christian make sense of the world in which we live. It explains why there is war. It explains why there is crime. It explains why there is suffering. It explains why we need government.
Obviously, not everyone in our country agrees that man has a sin nature. The battles we see in our government today are not just clashes over government policy. That’s what it is at the surface level. Of course, there’s always the personal vendettas and objectives of policy makers that play into it also. But in the bigger picture, the battles are over opposing worldviews. Different worldviews lead to very different policies. Different worldviews ultimately lead to very different forms of government.
We all know that our government is an imperfect institution filled with imperfect and sometimes downright wicked people, but we need this institution because of our sin nature.
The Bible shows us something else that we need to consider in this context, and it is this: God has provided another way to control the sin nature of man. Government restrains the sin nature by force, but another power exists and this power is completely different. It works internally rather than externally. It is by choice rather than by force. It is unseen rather than visible. If you want to be truly free from obeying the sin nature, then you must place your dependence in Jesus Christ alone as your deliverer from sin. That is the only way of finding true freedom because man cannot control the sin nature; the sin nature controls man.
Next slide here:
We need a Savior because we have a sin nature.
You can find patterns throughout the Bible in which God has ruled over mankind in various ways, but each method has always proven to us that we need a Savior.
Robert Winthrop, a member of the Whig party during the nineteenth century and a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said the following:
“Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.” - Federer, America’s God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations, 702.
Application: This begs the question: what power are you submitted to? Have you submitted to the power of Christ, or are you still rejecting Him and attempting to control your sin nature on your own? You are not the master of your sin nature. That’s impossible. If Christ is not your master, than your sin nature is. I invite you to trust in Christ as your Savior and deliverer from sin.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Christian, our country faces many complex perils, but you can be encouraged. God has not left us without answers. He has not left us without hope. He has told us both how to conduct ourselves as citizens and why we can be hopeful about the future. Make sure that your worldview, your system of beliefs, is grounded on the Scriptures. Therein we find both answers for the present and hope for the future.