Dale Partridge - Romans 13_3-4 The Divine Purpose of Government

00:00:00.000 Amen. Well, I appreciated Corbin's point around religious tolerance. I think we have been

00:00:16.780 misapplying this idea for many years. I often talk about religious freedom. I think that it

00:00:25.680 It is the most anti-Christian idea that you can have in a nation.

00:00:29.900 Jesus Christ is certainly not for religious freedom.

00:00:34.000 We just recited together the Great Commission to essentially baptize the nations and teach them to obey all that Christ commanded.

00:00:44.020 We know the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.

00:00:49.300 We also know that it is the second commandment in the Decalogue to have no idols.

00:00:54.000 no Christianity should not be for the freedom of religion we should be desirous that all people

00:01:03.680 come to Christ now what a privilege it is to continue this series on Romans especially chapter 0.94

00:01:11.220 13 especially at this perfect timing around the inauguration of this new presidency and

00:01:17.600 administration. I believe that we have set a fairly solid foundation for this particular

00:01:24.100 chapter. As many of you know, Corbyn offered several weeks ago a sermon on the spheres of

00:01:30.760 sovereignty, kind of the intersection between family and church and the state. It really gave

00:01:39.980 us an understanding of how these spheres function and how they relate to one another, not

00:01:47.580 just individually, but together. Ultimately, that sermon taught us that God did not only

00:01:53.520 institute the family and not only institute the church, but he also instituted the state.

00:02:00.820 And I believe that is what this passage in Romans chapter 13 firmly teaches, and I believe

00:02:06.480 we will see that. God is the founder of government. Now, we've grown up, many of you that are

00:02:12.680 millennials or or you know gen z we've grown up with a pretty bad experience with government

00:02:19.020 but god is the founder of government he holds all authority appoints all kings and rulers according

00:02:25.980 to his will and for that and i'll say this in and of itself government is good government is good

00:02:35.140 It is an invention of the Lord.

00:02:39.560 Now, corrupt government is not good.

00:02:42.220 But government, when ran according to the law of God, is great.

00:02:47.500 Three weeks ago, I offered a sermon on the theology of authority.

00:02:52.080 And this is important because it showed how Jesus reclaimed the earthly authority that was lost in Adam's fall.

00:02:59.680 That was taken in Adam's fall.

00:03:02.320 And that authority has been essentially taken back through the cross, resurrection and ascension, where now all authority has been given to Christ.

00:03:14.000 So I need you to understand this because all authority has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth.

00:03:25.940 Essentially, authority is good because Christ has restored authority and power. 0.64

00:03:34.800 Now, we also learned that Christians have to distinguish power from persons.

00:03:41.600 It's important. That's a very vital distinction, to distinguish power from persons. 0.95

00:03:48.460 Power is pure because it all stems from Christ.

00:03:50.860 All power and authority come from Christ.

00:03:53.980 But persons can be perverted because of the fall.

00:03:58.520 Now, this distinction really gave way to this concept of conditional submission,

00:04:05.060 which teaches that Christians are called to submit to these God-ordained powers or rulers.

00:04:12.320 But that is conditioned upon those rulers submitting to the power and rule of Christ.

00:04:20.680 In other words, when the person perverts the power, which we have seen, when the person perverts the power, and they do that by violating the law of God, the principles of righteousness in the scriptures, that's called tyranny.

00:04:35.560 It's called tyranny.

00:04:38.000 We're not required to submit to those people in those particular moments, but are called to submit to their ruler's ruler, who is Jesus Christ.

00:04:47.200 This is the concepts we talked about, is that we must obey God rather than men.

00:04:52.180 We went extensively on that concept.

00:04:55.240 But last week we also learned that God often permits tyranny.

00:04:59.380 He often permits tyranny as a way of expressing judgment upon a nation,

00:05:05.800 of disciplining a particular nation or people, or to drive those people to repentance.

00:05:12.280 And I don't know about you, but I have seen actually in the last several years a significant degree of repentance in America.

00:05:22.100 I think it got so incredibly painful for the last several years with the sexualized agenda, pushing it on our children.

00:05:33.740 I believe we finally hit bottom and realized that this is not right.

00:05:43.100 And there was a fair degree of repentance that I was seeing among our nation.

00:05:51.340 But our response to tyranny needs to be examined.

00:05:54.040 And here's the important point that I made last week.

00:05:56.760 Unfortunately, when facing tyranny, which again, we all got to experience in a fairly significant degree during 2020, 0.97

00:06:05.080 the church Christians often rush to righteous rebellion. 0.97

00:06:10.420 You know, again, I obey God, not man.

00:06:12.520 They rush to righteous rebellion without first asking what sins brought such divine judgment upon us.

00:06:20.960 That was an important point to make.

00:06:24.480 Yes, rebelling against wickedness is right.

00:06:29.880 Defy tyrants is part of the American way.

00:06:33.460 But doing so without first examining why God allowed such a judgment upon us is wrong.

00:06:43.320 And I think that is something that we can look at as a church and as a country.

00:06:50.120 In the face of tyranny, repentance needs to precede rebellion.

00:06:55.820 Repentance needs to precede rebellion.

00:06:57.820 when when you get a country that has such difficulty from rulers yes we are to rebel

00:07:08.720 against their tyranny but not before we go oh lord what are we doing to deserve such evil and

00:07:16.180 wicked rulers why have you appointed such people well and again you quickly find out through the

00:07:21.380 narrative of scripture that it's to drive us to repentance it's a upon judgment which would drive

00:07:26.040 us to repentance, or it's upon discipline to drive us to repentance. God causes all things

00:07:31.720 to work together for our good. And America, we know, by God's grace, is certainly experiencing

00:07:42.220 some degree of reprieve from moral tyranny. But if we asked ourselves what sins and unfaithfulness

00:07:51.380 caused God's judgment under the previous administrations?

00:07:57.560 Like, honestly, have you asked yourself that?

00:08:00.400 What did we tolerate as a church

00:08:04.320 that deserved such judgment and discipline?

00:08:14.840 Again, we've been granted a mercy under this new administration,

00:08:19.920 But we should not be content with the state of America.

00:08:24.920 I talked about this last week.

00:08:28.220 We came off of the ICU, and we shouldn't be content that we're now walking the halls of the hospital.

00:08:36.060 This is enough.

00:08:37.340 No, it's not enough. 0.77

00:08:39.880 Homosexuality, pornography, divorce, feminism, abortion, they all continue to plague our land. 0.95

00:08:46.540 Christless conservatism. 0.98

00:08:51.540 Prescott is like, that's the flag over this town.

00:08:54.420 Christless conservatism. 0.93

00:08:56.000 We're conservatives that are on our way to hell.

00:08:58.940 I often say to people, you know, the one thing that conservatives and liberals have in common

00:09:02.880 is that they're both going to hell if they don't repent and trust in Christ.

00:09:06.460 We need to actually call people out.

00:09:11.020 Oh, you're a gunslinging, an NRA wearing, you know, conservative.

00:09:14.860 Great. Do you know Christ?

00:09:16.540 because you're in sin.

00:09:22.560 Now again, this administration is a step in the right direction.

00:09:26.420 But I believe it's merely a lesser form of judgment. 0.83

00:09:30.880 Trump's great, but he's not the Christian president 0.99

00:09:36.320 that we would really love to have. 0.97

00:09:38.340 He's great, and I really appreciate the work

00:09:41.200 and the administration that he has.

00:09:42.760 But we still have much purging to do within the church

00:09:45.140 and within our culture and within this town.

00:09:49.080 Secondly, what is happening nationally must also be applied locally.

00:09:54.580 And yes, I promise I'll get to the text here in a minute.

00:09:57.560 But what's happening nationally has to be applied locally.

00:10:02.860 Again, this administration is not our savior.

00:10:06.760 This administration has simply made it easier for us to Christianize our towns

00:10:12.140 through the gospel primarily to uphold righteousness and we shouldn't ask national

00:10:18.880 political leaders to do what we are unwilling to do locally and that is what that is the ditch

00:10:25.700 of the conservative movement we love what you're doing over there but i'm afraid to say anything

00:10:30.660 locally we love pete hegseth uh how he's banning transgenderism in the military

00:10:40.240 fantastic uh but are you willing to push for that here in prescott

00:10:47.420 now again we speak the truth in love but are you willing to say anything 0.99

00:10:54.160 we love that tom homan is tightening down our borders and making a community safer 0.99

00:11:00.740 we love that are you willing to uh report illegal immigrants 0.99

00:11:06.920 or do you just like it when someone else does it for you we're a republic this nation

00:11:15.160 we love that trump is banning teachers from discussing gender ideology

00:11:20.240 in elementary schools but are you willing to tell your employers

00:11:24.880 the places that you work the education committees that are here in our town

00:11:32.440 that using preferred pronouns in your email

00:11:35.980 is not only perverted and distorted,

00:11:39.120 but also sinful. 0.94

00:11:41.240 It's lying. 0.93

00:11:44.600 And again, this isn't stand back and watch Christianity. 0.64

00:11:48.820 I think quiet Christianity has reigned 0.55

00:11:51.020 for like 75 years. 0.99

00:11:54.840 Quiet Christianity is really what got us here. 1.00

00:11:58.140 We can't even, when I read the stuff 0.99

00:12:00.160 from the 1700s and early 1800s from Christian ministers and from Christian politicians,

00:12:04.980 it would make us blush.

00:12:08.540 We have forgotten the degree of masculine Christianity, 0.99

00:12:16.720 and we've traded it in for an effeminate form of Christianity.

00:12:21.060 It's very emotional.

00:12:23.460 It's very strange.

00:12:24.940 and you don't see the gap

00:12:27.060 until you go back in history

00:12:28.720 and start to look

00:12:30.200 and you go,

00:12:31.320 oh my goodness,

00:12:32.480 we have drifted a long way.

00:12:42.240 And so if these moral changes

00:12:43.720 don't hit home,

00:12:44.600 they don't hit.

00:12:46.760 That's the key.

00:12:49.120 And yes,

00:12:49.840 they have to come

00:12:50.280 through the lens of the gospel.

00:12:51.460 They have to come

00:12:52.340 through Christ.

00:12:54.940 But they have to come.

00:12:57.660 And so what I want you guys to do this week is I want you to pray that you, in whatever moments the Lord may give opportunity,

00:13:05.200 to carry the change that's happening in D.C. to Prescott.

00:13:10.520 Now, last week, we got a chance to discuss Romans 13, 1 through 2,

00:13:15.940 which essentially taught that all authority comes from God and that every living soul is to submit to that authority because they come from God.

00:13:21.860 essentially authority is derived derived authority any authority that is had by a pastor or by a

00:13:28.980 parent or by a father or by a ruler is derived authority there is no authority nobody has any

00:13:35.140 intrinsic authority when a wife submits to her husband it's because she's submitting to god 0.55

00:13:40.160 through her husband she submits to her husband because the authority that her husband has is 0.93

00:13:44.420 only given to her because the authority that christ has and so it is derived authority

00:13:49.740 so rejecting rightful authority means rejecting not only the rulers that god has appointed but

00:13:56.440 also rejecting god himself you can't reject authority and not reject god that that is the

00:14:03.620 real message that's coming through here now this week i saw an elementary school teacher on social

00:14:09.920 media uh on her you know tiktok or whatever she was doing bragging about you know she's at a

00:14:18.180 federally funded school bragging about how how many ways she's rejecting Trump's executive order

00:14:24.860 to remove transgender ideology from schools and what she needs to realize is that this isn't just

00:14:32.880 rebellion against Trump it's rebellions against God and there will be judgment upon her for that

00:14:40.180 reality it said actually at the end of verse 2 it says those who resist authority will incur

00:14:46.400 judgment. Now, this principle of rejecting authority doesn't simply apply to the civil

00:14:51.200 sphere. There's authority figures all over the place that we need to discuss. Any rebellion

00:14:56.260 against rightful authority will incur some form of judgment or some form of discipline.

00:15:01.680 And this applies to children, it applies to wives, it also applies to husbands, it also applies to

00:15:06.320 mothers and servants and masters and civilians and magistrates. There is authority figures all

00:15:11.080 over the place and there is calls to submission. Again, we live in this world that doesn't want to

00:15:14.720 have any authority at all and doesn't want to have any sort of honor system or respect.

00:15:20.760 But God is a God of order. And again, yes, we are to defy tyrants. A wife is to defy her

00:15:26.800 husband when her husband is calling her to belligerent sin.

00:15:33.500 But the reality is, is that the vast majority of those commands that a husband might give or that

00:15:41.180 a ruler might give, or that a teacher might give, or that a police officer might give,

00:15:45.720 we are to submit, even if our flesh does not like it or agree with it.

00:15:51.260 I was reading a stat about the number of

00:15:53.340 increasing, or the increasing number of people resisting

00:15:57.000 arrest. It's so ridiculous to me. 0.88

00:16:01.000 You just watch these people resist arrest and get shot. 0.95

00:16:05.080 This is not something that was historical. No.

00:16:07.920 just obey what the police officer says and you won't get shot it's really easy

00:16:14.380 so again i believe this rebellion against the root a rebellion against authority is the root

00:16:21.720 of our own corruption and i want to talk about that as we open up here our flesh hates authority

00:16:26.020 i'm not talking about your neighbor i'm talking about you you hate authority in your sin in your

00:16:32.100 flesh, you hate authority. Every single one of us in this room hates authority in the flesh. We

00:16:38.860 despise submission. We long for autonomy. We love individualism and independence. And in America,

00:16:45.140 freedom reigns, right? We love it. Now, we have to remember that every sin that we have ever

00:16:52.840 committed is a rebellion against authority. Every sin you've ever committed is a rebellion against

00:16:58.340 authority. The first sin, Adam and Eve, a rebellion against authority. Now today, Paul reminds us of

00:17:08.820 the antidote for our hatred of authority. Obedience. Do what is good. You want to know how you stop

00:17:17.900 hating authority? It's just obey it. Obey authority. Authority, as we learn here, is not

00:17:28.100 a terror to obedience. It's a terror to the

00:17:32.200 disobedient. Paul says in verse 3,

00:17:36.440 he says, for rulers are not a cause for fear

00:17:39.920 for good behavior, but for evil.

00:17:43.620 Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is

00:17:48.080 good, and you will have praise for the same. It's really

00:17:52.200 quite simple. Do you want to not

00:17:56.240 hate authority? Then have a heart of submission. Now that's only going to happen through the Holy

00:18:01.840 Spirit and Christ. But first, if you look down at verse three, because we're going to follow this

00:18:07.160 expositionally, I want you to remember that whenever we see the first word of a sentence

00:18:13.240 begin with four, that is an indication that you're about to have an explanation clause or a

00:18:19.480 clarification clause of the previous claim. And so at the end of verse two, it said, those who resist

00:18:25.940 authority will incur judgment. So this verse is an

00:18:30.240 explanation of that. So those who resist authority will incur judgment

00:18:34.300 and then he gives an explanation. For rulers are not a cause for fear, for good behavior, but

00:18:38.300 for evil. Do you want to not have fear of authority? Then do

00:18:42.300 good. So it's an explanation of that claim.

00:18:46.940 Those who resist authority will incur judgment.

00:18:50.580 Essentially Paul is saying is if you fear judgment, obey. You want to get

00:18:54.200 done with the fear, then obey. The second, I want you to note that the term rulers here is in the

00:19:03.360 plural. And it's not limited in my study to magistrates or governors at this particular

00:19:10.080 point in this passage. In the Greek, it simply means first in rank. That's what that word means.

00:19:15.540 It means first in rank. Arkone, the Greek. In other words, it's speaking to rulers in a universal

00:19:23.480 sense and i think this is very helpful and very practical for everybody in the room because it

00:19:29.860 would include police officers and teachers it would include ceos of companies it would include

00:19:35.540 parents and pastors and ruling elders and even hall monitors and high schools and those terrible

00:19:40.220 hoa presidents okay it's going to include all of those people anybody that has some sort of

00:19:47.180 rightful authority that's ruling again rightfully appointed rulers who wield authority are not a

00:19:57.360 cause for fear if you're obedient the problem is is that we have a soul that outside of christ is

00:20:06.340 prone to autonomy we don't like authority even we know that the curse to the woman in the fall

00:20:15.420 in the garden, is that her desire will be to dominate her husband, but he will rule over her. 1.00

00:20:24.100 The vast majority of feminism that we're dealing with today is a result of people who hate 1.00

00:20:30.580 authority. Men love to abdicate authority and to be passive, and women want to take it. 1.00

00:20:36.760 There is a confusion of moral and gender chaos that is ensuing because of this particular reality. 0.53

00:20:44.020 We struggle with authority.

00:20:48.920 Now, one of the best ways to mitigate our fallen hatred for rule and authority is to recognize the value rule and authority's presence brings and the pain their absence causes.

00:21:01.880 I think I'll show you an example here in a second.

00:21:04.240 But I think you're going to really love that we have rule and authority in this land and that it's not absent.

00:21:09.600 Do you enjoy the safety of your neighborhood?

00:21:12.060 I do.

00:21:13.540 I do.

00:21:14.940 We live in Granville.

00:21:16.300 It's a great little spot.

00:21:17.820 It feels very safe.

00:21:19.700 I enjoy that.

00:21:21.800 The fact that no one can come and rob our home or steal our car without punishment.

00:21:26.120 I appreciate that.

00:21:28.780 I love that if I pay my electricity bill, they have to keep the lights on.

00:21:33.600 That's a good thing.

00:21:37.020 Children, are you grateful that your parents can't sell you for profit? 0.94

00:21:40.440 yeah it's a good thing wives are you grateful that a husband cannot hit you and abuse you

00:21:48.740 without crime yes this is a good thing these are all blessings of rightful rule and authority

00:21:55.940 we like rightful rule and authority it is a good thing when it is godly on the flip side imagine

00:22:03.140 the chaos that would erupt in a world filled with sinners and no rule and authority. Imagine

00:22:12.960 that just for a moment where everyone does what is right in their own eyes. No law to

00:22:20.860 uphold justice and no rulers to punish evil. I'd give it about 24 hours before we'd be

00:22:29.260 begging for anything, some sort of order.

00:22:34.800 When you look at it that way, we begin to appreciate the presence of rule and authority.

00:22:39.220 Yeah, okay, I like rule and authority when it's Christ-like, when it's godly.

00:22:44.680 Proverbs 29.2 reminds us that when the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the

00:22:48.860 wicked rule, the people groan.

00:22:52.560 I certainly groaned the last couple years. 0.97

00:22:56.080 Oh Lord, come.

00:22:58.620 Restore this place.

00:23:01.620 Now the only reason a person would hate or fear rightful rule of authority is because of selfishness and sin.

00:23:10.240 That's the only reason that you would really hate rule and authority is because of your own selfishness and your own sin.

00:23:15.440 Paul even says, rulers are not a cause for fear for good behavior.

00:23:18.660 so whenever you in your own life

00:23:22.420 are frustrated

00:23:24.120 with rule and authority

00:23:26.040 it's because of your own selfishness and sin

00:23:28.200 I'm talking about rightful authority

00:23:30.480 that is the obedient

00:23:34.460 do not despise rule and authority

00:23:36.720 now think about your own life

00:23:40.840 just for a moment

00:23:41.440 what form of rule and authority

00:23:45.120 in your own life

00:23:45.980 do you find yourself rebelling against

00:23:48.540 why do you hate that rule and authority

00:23:54.240 is it because they are tyrants

00:23:58.260 or is it because you want to do

00:24:02.260 what you want to do without restriction

00:24:04.200 and again I think if we're honest and again self love is blinding

00:24:09.780 if we can look at ourselves honestly I think we'll get to a place of repentance

00:24:13.540 oh you realize how much we need Christ

00:24:17.240 Paul says that all rulers and their

00:24:21.220 authority are appointed to punish evil

00:24:23.240 that's what they're there for

00:24:26.140 the primary reason is to punish evil

00:24:29.160 uphold righteousness and punish evil

00:24:30.880 if you do not commit evil but rather obey

00:24:33.120 you have no reason to fear that authority

00:24:34.580 in fact you have every reason to appreciate that authority

00:24:38.940 it protects you from the selfish

00:24:41.220 and sinful acts of others in fact

00:24:42.620 now rightful government

00:24:45.480 whether in the family whether in the church whether at the state is an immense blessing

00:24:52.140 order god is a god of order according to first corinthians but when the power is not perverted

00:24:59.380 by the persons and the law of god is executed righteously what happens happiness joy we we can

00:25:08.160 enjoy our community, economic prosperity. A lot of really wonderful things erupt out of order.

00:25:18.340 It actually helps us understand 1 Timothy 2, verses 1 through 2. It says,

00:25:21.520 First of all, I urge that supplications and prayers and intercessions and thanksgiving

00:25:27.240 be made for all people. And then he says, for kings and all who are in high positions

00:25:33.220 that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

00:25:41.240 Yeah. Pray for them.

00:25:44.580 Because when we have righteous leaders, we get to live a quiet and peaceful life.

00:25:52.600 Now, Romans 13.4, Paul offers further explanation.

00:25:56.140 If you look again, we see that word for.

00:25:58.180 If you're following along here, you see the word for in verse 4.

00:26:01.560 It says,

00:26:03.820 For he is God's servant for your good.

00:26:08.560 But if you do wrong, be afraid.

00:26:12.660 For he does not bear the sword in vain.

00:26:15.760 For he is the servant of God, an avenger, who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

00:26:23.480 So first, I want to point out that the object of the pronoun he,

00:26:29.440 Again, I'd love to see your heads down looking at your Bibles, but the ruler is God's servant for your good.

00:26:36.980 You can read verse three or verse four that way.

00:26:39.000 It says, for he is God's servant for your good.

00:26:41.380 You could really say, for the ruler is God's servant for your good.

00:26:47.600 Second, I think the focus narrows on ruler here.

00:26:52.460 Because it was talking about rulers and the plural in the previous verse.

00:26:57.000 verse. Now it's talking about a specific ruler, and it's qualifying that ruler as a particular

00:27:03.780 person with civil power, especially capital punishment, as we're going to see here in a

00:27:08.600 second. And third, I want to point out that the ruler is male, because the word ruler,

00:27:19.500 archon is in the masculine gender in the Greek. Now, this is no small issue. This is a massive

00:27:27.280 issue. The word ruler, archon, is used 10 times in the New Testament. Its usages are in every

00:27:36.560 single gospel and the book of Acts and Romans. And in every single one of those usages, it is in

00:27:45.120 the masculine gender. That is to say the Bible assumes masculine civil rule. Now you guys have 0.90

00:27:55.380 heard my sermons and expositions on biblical patriarchy and the inconsistency of complementarianism

00:28:01.080 and the fact that complementarianism believes that you have father or masculine rule in the church

00:28:07.140 and in the home, but then all of a sudden it disappears in the civil sphere. And all of a

00:28:11.540 sudden the wife who is to submit to her husband at home and the woman who is to submit to the 0.80

00:28:15.660 elders of the church all of a sudden is the leader now in the civil sphere she cannot lead in the 0.54

00:28:21.500 church she cannot lead in the home but she can lead all the churches and all the homes in the

00:28:26.320 entire state it's radically and logically and theologically inconsistent it also creates a

00:28:33.320 situation where you're as a man you're a husband at home you're leading your home you're a husband

00:28:37.480 or you're a pastor at church you're leading the church and then you go to work and all of a sudden 0.97

00:28:40.740 Now you're submitting to women.

00:28:42.060 It creates all types of logical and theological confusion and perversion that has never been bought into by the church or the state up until the movement around feminism. 0.99

00:28:53.340 And so, again, we've got to figure out our moment.

00:28:56.440 Where are we?

00:29:00.140 I want to remind you, just because something's common doesn't mean it's normal. 1.00

00:29:07.540 It's common to see an egalitarian, feministic culture. 1.00

00:29:12.660 It's not normal. 1.00

00:29:13.840 The Bible tells us what's normal.

00:29:15.760 History is even very helpful on telling us what is normal.

00:29:19.280 You just go back 120 years and just go, let me look at society real quick.

00:29:23.900 It'll give you a little bit more of a taste of what is normal.

00:29:26.540 Not because they had it right in 1900.

00:29:29.720 It's because it had always been the same from 1900 all the way back to the beginning of time. 0.75

00:29:36.580 in terms of order of society and male and female rule

00:29:39.080 and all those generalities and principles regarding this particular issue.

00:29:46.640 The Bible calls us to pray for kings and princes, not queens and princesses.

00:29:53.000 Every New Testament usage of judge or governor or elder is in the masculine gender.

00:30:01.860 Again, this directly challenges this complementarian view.

00:30:05.660 Complementarianism was a word that was invented in 1988 by men that I respect.

00:30:10.460 But it was the middle way.

00:30:14.780 Well, we're not egalitarian. 0.86

00:30:16.640 And we're afraid of patriarchy because our wives will be mad.

00:30:19.580 So let's come up with this middle way, complementarianism.

00:30:23.320 No.

00:30:24.900 What we need is biblical patriarchy. 0.86

00:30:28.280 Rightful patriarchy.

00:30:29.800 Patriarchy that models Christ-likeness. 1.00

00:30:33.240 Women have no problem. 0.56

00:30:34.120 I've never met a woman who struggles to follow her husband if her husband acts like Christ. 1.00

00:30:39.120 That's not a problem. 0.65

00:30:40.720 In fact, every time I meet a woman that struggles with submission, it's because her husband is not acting like Christ.

00:30:50.840 Now, according to Scripture, male authority is the exclusive God-ordained pattern in all areas of life, including civil government.

00:30:58.940 And that's a big deal because most Christians and almost all conservatives believe that the Bible sanctions female civil rulers when it does not.

00:31:07.320 There was never a, did you know the only female queens that are mentioned in the scripture, the Queen of Sheba, Queen Vashti, Queen Jezebel, they're all of foreign pagan lands.

00:31:20.440 Israel never had a female queen. 0.92

00:31:21.700 and the whole example of deborah is i'm going to raise up a woman because the men are such 0.98

00:31:31.000 cowards i'm going to shame the woman or shame the men with this woman

00:31:33.900 that was an exception of judgment not a standard for how we should run 0.99

00:31:40.260 civil sphere politics as christians today 0.99

00:31:43.360 there was a recent study on the historical voting records and bills passed under female

00:31:49.580 political representation it proved just by looking at the historical voting records

00:31:53.840 that the legalization of abortion and homosexual marriage would not have passed under an all-male

00:31:58.420 voting bloc so again there is something that we need to address as a society something

00:32:08.320 women were designed in a beautiful and glorious way to be nurturers

00:32:17.220 and they are sympathetic empathizers 0.93

00:32:22.220 because it helps them to be great mothers

00:32:25.520 and wives and homemakers. 0.89

00:32:27.600 It is what makes them excellent 1.00

00:32:29.320 at what they are made to do.

00:32:32.660 But putting them into positions of power

00:32:34.440 makes them have to be like men. 0.99

00:32:37.080 In fact, if you look at all of the women 1.00

00:32:38.440 that are in power, 1.00

00:32:39.140 I actually just saw this.

00:32:40.180 You've seen this picture maybe on social media.

00:32:41.860 It shows all the men trying to be confirmed

00:32:44.920 in Congress.

00:32:47.220 You know, it shows Pete Hegseth and all the different appointees that are there and RFK. 0.58

00:32:52.460 And it shows on the other side, all these women yelling at these men. 0.66

00:32:57.880 And it causes so much conflict between the moral and gender chaos that's going on. 0.62

00:33:08.080 And so there's something that needs to be had around male and female order in society. 0.81

00:33:12.440 what we have done in this particular civil sphere has not proven to be better for this nation

00:33:21.920 it has proven to be worse we have gotten over the last hundred years more morally corrupt as a as a 0.59

00:33:29.520 nation statistically so under the egalitarian feministic movement i don't know what the solution 0.90

00:33:39.260 is. It's complex, but we need to do something different, and we need to change at a deep

00:33:47.080 and theological level. Next, Paul makes two interesting claims. First is that the ruler

00:33:54.440 is God's servant, and actually the word servant in the Greek is the word we get for deacon.

00:34:04.900 So, these rulers are God's servants.

00:34:09.640 They're God's deacons.

00:34:11.300 And it says that he is for your good.

00:34:15.700 For your good.

00:34:17.960 I mean, anyone who formerly is God's servant, is appointed, ordained as God's servant,

00:34:24.160 deserves honor.

00:34:25.520 Deserves honor.

00:34:27.260 And we live in a society that really lacks honor and respect.

00:34:30.460 If you watched the recent inauguration, you saw the Master of Ceremonies.

00:34:35.420 He would say, the Honorable Mike Johnson, the Honorable George W. Bush, right?

00:34:43.260 You heard him say those things.

00:34:44.600 This was good.

00:34:45.940 Praise God for saying that.

00:34:47.380 Yes, we should honor public servants.

00:34:52.380 I would say even for the position, not even for the particular person.

00:34:56.280 You've heard in the military, it's salute the rank, not the person.

00:35:00.460 I think that's helpful. Salute the rank, not the person.

00:35:04.460 If that person has been put in authority over this particular nation by God,

00:35:08.760 you can honor and respect that position without necessarily honoring and respecting the man behind it.

00:35:18.820 Then Paul says, again, they are for your good.

00:35:21.680 One theologian remarked on this statement, and I thought this was interesting.

00:35:24.480 He says, quote, even a dictatorship is better than no rule at all.

00:35:28.160 The darkest days in Israel's history were those days described in Judges 17.6 when, quote, everyone did as he saw fit, end quote.

00:35:38.600 Just a few days, even a few hours, without law in today's society would result in utter chaos. 0.96

00:35:46.720 I think that's true. I believe that's true.

00:35:49.560 I often use the phrase to describe the romantic state of our relationships in America as bad love is better than no love.

00:35:56.400 And so everybody runs to bad love instead of having no love.

00:35:59.560 And I think the point he's trying to make there is that tyrannical order is even better than no order.

00:36:04.660 Which is interesting.

00:36:07.080 I'll take Biden over no order.

00:36:10.800 Anarchy.

00:36:12.600 All day.

00:36:15.660 Now again, we're not to settle for tyrannical order.

00:36:17.800 No, we're to examine ourselves before God.

00:36:19.400 We're to repent for those sins that brought apart that judgment and that tyranny.

00:36:22.620 and were to defy that tyrannical rule and were to pray for those leaders and disciple those leaders

00:36:27.180 that they might actually submit to the law of God.

00:36:30.420 But again, I expect in the past few weeks, as moral order has seemingly emerged

00:36:37.280 in a way that we haven't seen for, you know, a decade or so,

00:36:43.320 we can start to see how these rulers are for our good.

00:36:46.320 They are for our good.

00:36:48.880 They protect our rights. They secure our freedoms.

00:36:51.600 They guard our liberties.

00:36:54.640 This is a good thing.

00:36:56.620 Paul says, but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.

00:37:03.120 The word but, again, I'm a grammarian.

00:37:06.000 I like to understand what the word is being said.

00:37:08.680 I think that's why the vast majority of great theologians were actually attorneys before they went into theology.

00:37:13.860 the word but is a contrast clause and it's showing the difference between the peace

00:37:19.740 that's had from those people that obey and the fear from those people that are disobedient and

00:37:28.280 insubordinate that's the contrast here if you do not obey the rightful rulers and authorities

00:37:33.980 you should be afraid then we see a four again you see it again it says but if you were if you do

00:37:41.160 wrong be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain he's explaining why you should be afraid

00:37:46.600 it's the explanation clause of why you should be afraid that is under god's authority these

00:37:53.120 rulers have the right to take the lives of lawbreakers

00:37:56.440 okay that's a big statement right there in order to maintain order these rulers have been given

00:38:05.640 the sword to maintain that order. Now, this, I would argue, again, is the justification to assemble

00:38:13.640 even things like armies and military to deploy against those nations that threaten our liberties.

00:38:22.600 This is part of that systematic justification for those realities. Then the apostle closes

00:38:27.620 with one last explanation clause saying, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out

00:38:33.580 God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Not only are rulers authorized to use deadly force against

00:38:41.440 evildoers, but that force, this is key, that force is to be seen as the hand of God carrying out the

00:38:51.860 Lord's wrath upon evil. When you watch a police officer on a social media video

00:38:58.100 taking the life of somebody who is resisting arrest and causing harm,

00:39:03.560 you are not necessarily to see a man taking the life of another man.

00:39:10.680 You are to see God's justice and wrath being executed through one of his deacons.

00:39:19.420 Now, I believe that this passage, if taught correctly,

00:39:25.040 in military schools and police departments

00:39:27.580 would eliminate a great deal of trauma

00:39:31.120 for those who have the shame

00:39:33.200 laying on them for taking life while on duty.

00:39:38.180 I can't tell you how many people I've even met

00:39:40.780 that struggle still decades later

00:39:44.740 from taking life in military life

00:39:47.820 or military work

00:39:49.960 if they would just understand this passage

00:39:53.260 for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

00:39:59.700 These men must learn that justly taking the life of evildoers is lawful and even righteous.

00:40:07.860 It's righteous.

00:40:10.460 It's an execution of justice.

00:40:15.080 In the same way that God uses an ordained pastor to baptize a person,

00:40:19.340 i'm a lawfully ordained minister of the word i am i am here by the calling of god by the laying

00:40:27.240 on of hands to administer the sacraments to to baptize and lay the mark of the covenant upon

00:40:33.220 the bodies of god's people and to give the lord's supper which offers assurance for your salvation

00:40:38.480 in the same way that the lord is working through me to to bless you in the same way the lord is

00:40:47.540 working through the government and the police officers and the rulers of this land who take

00:40:51.920 life to punish evil. That is a very important point that this generation must take into consideration.

00:41:02.540 So as I close here, we learn that authority and rule are part of God's ordained structure for

00:41:12.100 society. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. If you want to know where government came from,

00:41:16.880 It came from God.

00:41:19.360 And just as the family and the church can be corrupted,

00:41:22.820 every one of our families and our churches are corrupted,

00:41:26.340 so can the state.

00:41:27.420 But the corruption of those particular entities

00:41:29.840 does not mean that we just eliminate them

00:41:31.280 or that they're inherently or intrinsically bad.

00:41:35.520 No.

00:41:37.220 No. 1.00

00:41:40.700 That's simply a reason to purify them and reform them.

00:41:44.040 And when I say reform them,

00:41:45.120 we want to take them back to Scripture.

00:41:46.880 how is scripture said that the family ought to be run?

00:41:50.560 How is scripture say that the church ought to be ran?

00:41:53.740 How is the state supposed to be ran according to scripture?

00:41:58.780 And so as Christians, it's our duty to disciple the state.

00:42:02.520 The separation of church and state is not the separation of God and state.

00:42:05.820 It is the separation of the church and the state in the sense that the church is not to be

00:42:11.940 afflicting civil punishments on citizens.

00:42:16.880 And the church, or sorry, and the state is not to be baptizing people.

00:42:22.420 Yes, that separation of church and state is good.

00:42:25.600 But it does not mean that we have a secular or godless state.

00:42:28.980 There is no secular, sacred divide in Scripture.

00:42:32.280 It's all the Lord's.

00:42:34.460 And so our job is to disciple the state, to call the rulers to obey God.

00:42:41.480 And then, and this is the hard part, our duty is to submit to those rulers.

00:42:46.880 even when our flesh disagrees,

00:42:50.060 as long as there's not tyranny.

00:42:52.380 But we do so in the power of Christ.

00:42:54.420 Amen?

00:42:55.540 Amen.

00:42:56.060 Let's pray.

00:42:58.260 Father, we thank you, Lord, for order.

00:43:00.720 Lord, we ask that you would help us understand it more,

00:43:03.040 that you would restore order to our society,

00:43:05.620 to our homes and to our families and to our churches.

00:43:09.160 Lord, that you would give us

00:43:10.600 the joy of order.

00:43:14.040 or that we might not return to the chaos

00:43:18.160 that we have lived through for the last 10, 20 years

00:43:21.020 that has been declining decade after decade.

00:43:24.840 Lord, we ask that you would motivate this church

00:43:28.500 and these people here that this isn't a time to rest.

00:43:32.900 It's a time to run.

00:43:34.740 And Lord, that we would push as the church locally

00:43:37.840 and nationally, that we would push further and further

00:43:41.140 to a more Christianized nation.

00:43:44.040 We ask for your help in this, in Jesus' name, amen.

Dale Partridge - February 03, 2025

Romans 13_3-4 The Divine Purpose of Government

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