The Spheres of Sovereignty： Aligning All of Life with Christ’s Rule
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Summary
What does it mean that Christ truly is Lord over all things? This morning we re exploring the concept of Spontine Supremacy, which means that every sphere of our society must operate under the authority of Christ. God has established distinct spheres of authority for the family, the church, and the state, each of which are accountable directly to God. But most importantly, we will see how Christ s lordship over all of life provides the foundation stone for a healthy society.
Transcript
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This morning, we're understanding what does it mean that Christ truly is Lord over all things.
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This morning, as we begin, I want to give you a bit of an illustration.
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Imagine with me for a moment an orchestra, each musician playing a unique role,
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and each instrument contributes something to the essential overall harmony of this orchestra.
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and the trumpet does not try and take over the role of the cello.
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Every musician must play their part under the direction of their conductor.
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For the symphony to reach its intended beauty and crescendo,
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This congregation is a picture of God's design for human society.
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In his wisdom, God has ordained distinct spheres of authority,
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each with its own responsibilities and boundaries.
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these spheres must operate in harmony fulfilling their god-given roles under the lordship of
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jesus christ when each sphere respects the authority of the others when each sphere is
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able to look at each of the others and understand their boundary lines society flourishes
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it sounds beautiful when a society does this like an orchestra all in tune
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it's something that we are drawn into it's something that makes our hearts happy
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but what happens when an orchestra plays off tune when the violin isn't tuned in quite right
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the cello is missing that note nobody wants to listen to this we are repulsed by the noise that
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we hear and instead of being drawn into the beauty of this orchestra we recoil
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it's the same in societies when different spheres of sovereignty do not play their part
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in the society, when they're trying to overstep, overreach, or pull back their own boundaries.
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It's like terrible music. Nobody wants to be a part of that society.
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Today, we're going to dive into the biblical concept of sphere sovereignty, which teaches
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that God has established distinct spheres of authority
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We'll explore what the scriptures say about these spheres
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But most importantly, we will see how Christ's lordship over all of life provides the foundation stone for a healthy society.
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If you want a healthy society in America, you have to recognize that Christ is Lord.
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Understanding sphere sovereignty is not just a theological exercise.
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It's not just something for us to check a box this morning.
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No, this has real, practical implications for how we live as Christians in our own country.
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When these fears are misunderstood or abused, society is inept.
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when families neglect their God-given responsibilities,
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when the church fails to stand as the pillar of truth in society,
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or when the state overreaches into areas that God never designed for it to reach into,
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we witness the breakdown of society and the distortion of God's good design.
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as we explore this topic this morning we have to remember that god's word is sufficient
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to guide us in every area of human life through scripture we can see and understand how to
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navigate the responsibilities of every sphere of life how to resist tyranny
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how to understand how we are to operate faithfully within our own sphere just like an orchestra
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thrives under the leadership of their conductor so too must every sphere of life operate under
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the ultimate authority of jesus christ the king of kings and the lord of lords
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to give you an example from our own society why this is so important
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did you know in 2022 california passed senate bill 107 this bill allowed children from other states
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where gender reassignment surgeries are restricted to receive those procedures in california
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without having to inform anybody what's going on with their child,
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these children can go to California and get their sex changed.
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if you do not affirm gender reassignment surgery.
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How do we live in such a great and glorious society
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we have not rooted our laws or our society in the teachings of holy scripture
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we've allowed secularism moralism christless conservatism to come in and dictate to us
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how we are to live you can't go into the public sphere and tell them the reason why this law is
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wrong is because Christ is Lord. Not in America today. The church hasn't taught this.
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Christians haven't believed this for a long time. Today, we think that Christless conservatism
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may be enough. That just parental laws, that economic realities will stop this tide of
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tyranny and wickedness coming from our government, I want to tell you this morning that it won't.
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Christless conservatism is bankrupt. It teaches us nothing about our God-given roles or
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responsibilities. It's rooted in worldliness and secularism. What the church needs today
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more than anything else, is a theology that teaches that Christ is Lord over all of life.
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And this morning, we're going to see just that.
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In sphere sovereignty, Christ is the foundation and unifying force that holds everything else
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together. If you look in your handout, you'll see Christ is the greatest sphere.
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He is the sphere that encompasses all other spheres.
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This is important for us to recognize right off the bat.
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This theological framework was first articulated by the pastor and statesman Abraham Kuyper.
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He has a famous quote that everyone who ever teaches sphere sovereignty has to quote.
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Quote, there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine.
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Kuyper's insight reminds us that every aspect of your life and my life exists and operates under the authority of Jesus Christ.
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it's his sovereignty that gives your life meaning it's his direction that tells you how you are to
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live it's the lordship of jesus christ that makes this world make sense without christ
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us. Without Christ, this world makes no sense. What is the purpose of death? Why do we suffer?
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How are we to live? If Christ isn't Lord, we have no answer to these things.
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is because Jesus Christ is Lord over your family
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the reason why our churches ought to be ordered
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is because Jesus Christ is Lord over the church
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ordered is because Jesus Christ is Lord over the state
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We don't have another political theology as Christians.
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We have nothing else to offer the world except that Christ is Lord.
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Kuyper taught that all spheres of human life operate under the authority and sovereignty of Christ.
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He likely derived this from our scripture texts this morning.
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I want to reread it here in this section of our sermon.
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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
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For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.
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Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.
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my daughter when i was reading this passage kept adding and to him daddy yes and to him
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what we need to see in this passage is the overarching dominion of christ
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there isn't one aspect of human existence that was left out of that passage
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everything exists by christ and for christ everything full stop
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there's not one aspect of the creation that exists outside of his lordship
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this concept is crucial to get sphere sovereignty right
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in your family you lead by raising your children and loving your spouse according to god's word
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recognizing Christ's lordship over your family.
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worship together, and live in obedience to the scripture
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In the government, you recognize its accountability to Christ
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because Jesus Christ is Lord over the government.
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christ lordship is the anchor it's the cornerstone that everything else is built upon
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the first the first sphere we're going to look at within the sphere of christ lordship
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is the sphere of the family the family is an institution that was established by God himself
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and is a principal building block upon which a society is built without solid families
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no civilization has a chance to last through the years without solid families every society
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will crumble as families are the bedrock of a healthy people group.
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But what we need to see this morning is what is the sovereignty or the reasonable jurisdiction
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of the family. I want to offer two points where the family is the supreme authority
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under the lordship of Christ. These two points aren't exhaustive. There's many more. But if I
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exhausted every boundary line of the sphere of sovereignty, we would never leave this sermon.
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The first area of sovereignty for the family is in the discipline of the children.
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In the Shema and Deuteronomy 6, God clearly instructed the people of Israel to raise their
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children in the instruction of the Lord and to teach them his ways. In verses 6 and 7, it says,
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And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently
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to your children and shall talk of them when you sit down in your house and when you walk by the
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way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Parents, it's your duty to teach your children
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the word of God. That's your Christian duty. You have been given that duty by God himself.
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Parents are the only ones who have this specific calling for children.
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Parents, you have to realize that if you do not take charge of the education of your children,
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of the teaching of the Word of God to your children, nobody else will.
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You can't pawn off your duty to educate your children to other people.
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it's not how it was designed to work no you are called as a parent to understand the word of god
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for yourself so that you can then turn around and give that word of god to your children
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the church can't replace you the state can't come in and replace you
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there's only one you for your children according to the word of god you are the sovereign over that
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teaching we have to take up this mantle as parents
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second the family holds primary authority over their own provision and care
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But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for the members of his household,
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he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
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This underscores the family's responsibility to provide for themselves.
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Men, it's your duty to provide for your families.
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You are called by the word of God to make enough money and provide enough resources
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What happens when they don't fulfill these God-given responsibilities?
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many of us don't like the idea that somebody else may be interested in seeing your family succeed
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we think that we're it we don't need anybody's help
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the thought of independence comes in i don't need your help to raise my kids i can raise
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my kids myself thank you very much this is often the spirit we see in the church
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but this is why if you see on your handout every sphere overlaps with each other they don't touch
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each other as though they have nothing to do with crossovers they're not just separated under the
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lordship of Christ, they overlap. Why? Because the church has an equal interest in seeing your
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family succeed, as does the state. If your family isn't successful, if your family isn't a healthy
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If your family isn't a healthy family, America will not last very long.
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The church and the state are interested in seeing you be successful in your God-given
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responsibility to honor your husband, to lead your families, to obey the word of God.
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the church and the state both are interested in that but who more often than not is more
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interested or more willing to get involved with your family the church or the state
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the state every time the state is all too eager to step in to help you when times are hard
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Who's going to step in when parenting is abusive?
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Who's going to educate your kids when you don't want to?
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The state is neither as equipped nor as capable to support your family as the church is.
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The church ought to be the one that steps in and helps your family in times of need.
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The church is the one who is supposed to step in and make sure that you can make ends meet.
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The church is the one who's supposed to come alongside you and assist you in the education of your children.
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We want to come alongside you in the education of your children.
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not to replace you not to take over your role but to support you the church is uniquely gifted
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for this purpose not the state what we've seen when the state steps in
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and tries to play this role is generational dependency
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When the state comes in to supplement the family,
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of who is best equipped to help who in sphere sovereignty.
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This is why we need to understand the sphere of the church.
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that was established by God in the Old Testament with Israel.
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Sorry, dispensationalists, but that's where it began.
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While many areas of authority belong to the church,
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In 1 Timothy 3.15, Paul says that the church is the pillar and the buttress of the truth.
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The church is the pillar and the buttress of the truth.
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Meaning that it is the church's duty and responsibility to be this pillar in society.
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You get this idea of like a Roman structure with these large pillars that hold up the whole structure.
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The church is that pillar holding up this structure.
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The church preaches the gospel truth to the world.
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Can you imagine a Muslim trying to preach the gospel?
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have to be given to diligent study of the scriptures
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so that you could go out and teach the truth to society.
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Sadly, in many churches today, they're led by pastors who are not given to the study of the scriptures.
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Pastors who are ill-prepared to defend their congregations from falsehoods and from heresies.
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far too many pastors in america today neglect our responsibility to shepherd
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the people of god and you see the fruits in our society
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we have no idea what we were put on the earth to do
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we have no idea how the gospel relates to government how the gospel relates to our family
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We have no idea about these things because pastors have not taught these things.
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The renowned preacher Martin Lloyd-Jones once said,
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The most urgent need in the Christian church today is true preaching.
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And as it is the most urgent need in the church,
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it is obviously the greatest need in the world also.
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The church desperately needs men who are serious
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about expounding the scriptures to the people of God,
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equipping them for the work of ministry in our world.
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if the church does not take up this responsibility nobody else will
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the word of god is too hard not in the sense of understanding but in the sense that it kills your
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flesh nobody will naturally be drawn to read the word of god it kills us no governor is going to
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naturally say, hey, I want the Bible to be the central truth that we govern all laws in this
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state. No governor is ever going to say that, unless the church teaches him to say that.
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It's the church's duty to take up the ministry of the word and to give it to a dying and lost world.
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this naturally leads to the second area of authority for the church that is over the sacraments
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jesus instituted the sacraments as a means of grace and it is the responsibility of pastors
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to administer the sacraments faithfully in first corinthians 11 27 through 29
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Paul warns those who partake in the Lord's Supper
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before coming and partaking of the Lord's Supper.
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This is to ensure that the congregation is pure.
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If you take the sacrament of the Lord's Supper
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you eat and drink condemnation upon yourself.
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Jesus didn't give everybody the blanket authority
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He gave it uniquely to the leadership of the church.
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We have to be reminded that the world needs to hear the word preached.
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Needs to see the sacraments faithfully administered.
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Without these things, they will never believe what we have to say.
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lastly we have to understand the limitations and authority of the government
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so far we've seen that the family rules over the training up of children
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and over their provision we've seen that the church is responsible for administering the word
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and the sacraments. But now we're going to see how the state plays a role in God's beautiful design
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for order in societies. And this is by far the most controversial part of this sermon.
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Most Christians are happy to admit the lordship of Christ over their families.
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most christians don't struggle with the idea that christ is lord over your churches
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but what most christians fail to recognize is the lordship of jesus christ over the government
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we have failed to handle this issue correctly in the church for a long long time
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That lie is this, that the government is inherently wicked and evil and will always be in conflict
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with the church of Jesus Christ until he returns.
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I believed for years that the church had no responsibility to the state.
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That we had no relationship to them other than animosity and conflict.
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But do you realize, church, that the word of God teaches an opposite reality?
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That it's not essentially made up of wickedness.
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Instead, the church's responsibility to teach the word needs to be focused on the fact
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that the government is a minister of goodness and justice.
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That the government is a deacon of God's justice in the world.
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Look with me, if you would, in your Bibles to Romans 13, 3-5.
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I'm not going to say everything that needs to be said about this passage because Dale needs something to preach on next week.
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So I'm merely going to use this as a text to show you why this lie, or why this is even a lie in the church to begin with.
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For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
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Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?
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Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.
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For he is the servant of God, the deacon of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
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Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.
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What many of us heard growing up from this passage is submit to the government.
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What we failed to see for too long in the church in America
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is that this passage doesn't merely teach submission.
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Get out of your minds that Romans 13 is just about submitting to the government.
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That that's all that you have to learn from these verses in the Bible.
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No, what Romans 13 is teaching us is that we as Christians
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have to understand the biblical boundary lines for the government.
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God established the government to be a minister of goodness,
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The government is supposed to be a visible representation of the justice of God.
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When a society is ordered, with God's justice leading a people,
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So you might be thinking, yeah, when the government acts like this, they are a blessing.
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But aren't there clear signs in our world today that our government doesn't act in this way?
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Our government does not act according to the word of God.
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What do we do when the government doesn't operate within their biblical limitations?
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What do we do when we get laws like Senate Bill 107?
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Do we do, as the church has said for far too long in America,
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that the government is to be submitted to and not resisted?
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what the Bible teaches about the role of the government in the world.
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For too long, we've had a theology of mere submission.
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But that is not how the founders of this country founded this country.
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Nor is it how the church has operated throughout church history.
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They tell the story of what the church is to do when the government turns tyrannical.
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When the government does not operate within their biblical limitations,
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We thought that they merely died for preaching the gospel.
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That they were telling the world how to be set free from sin
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That is not the whole story of the martyrs of church history.
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that's not all that we have to learn from their testimonies
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did you know that polycarp the bishop of smyrna
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was not burned at the stake for standing on the street corner and preaching the gospel
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that's not why polycarp died if you don't know who polycarp was he was the bishop of smyrna
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polycarp died because he would not admit that caesar is lord and not christ
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that statement is the most dangerous statement you will ever profess in your lifetime
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Jesus Christ is king over all nations that is the most dangerous profession of faith you will ever
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give why it kills any king's idea of lordship of true sovereignty as though he operates without a
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Lord. Professing the Lordship of Jesus Christ will get you in the most trouble in this life.
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Not just freedom from sin. Not just the death, burial, and resurrection. Those things are
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foundational for the church. We have to preach the gospel. But all while recognizing that the
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gospel matters because the Lord is Lord over everything. Ignatius wasn't thrown into the
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Colosseum for preaching salvation to sinners. He was thrown to the Colosseum because he would not
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declare Caesar is king, is Lord over his life. Justin Martyr was not beheaded for living a simple
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quiet life, but because he boldly proclaimed Christ is Lord. Justin's powerful words help us
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understand what the cost may be for Christian resistance. He says, quote,
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the lover of truth ought to choose in every way, even at the cost of his own life,
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you are united to the lord jesus christ who is sovereign over everything that he has made
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it is your duty as a christian to tell the government that they are not lord though they
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would like to be. They don't get to tell the family to send their kids for gender reassignment
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surgery. They don't get to tax you at exorbitant rates. They don't get to mandate how you live
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within the comfort of your own home. The government does not get to dictate how you educate your
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children? What are the standards of education that your children need to know? The government
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doesn't get to say this. Why? Because Jesus Christ has told the government their limitations.
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Their overreach requires Christian resistance. Submit where you can.
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that we need to take away from this teaching this morning.
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Two, you need to be able to recognize that when a sphere becomes tyrannical,
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you have to know when to submit and when not to submit.
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Jesus doesn't call for blanket submission without qualification.
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When your husband tells you to sin, wives, it's your duty not to submit to your husband.
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When your pastors command you to sin, it is your Christian duty not to submit to your pastors.
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And when the government tells you that you must submit to their sinful edicts, it is your Christian duty not to submit.
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as long as these fears act within their god-given responsibilities and roles you're free to submit
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sounds like an oxymoron free to submit but that's exactly what it is
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god's good order allows good and just and right boundaries for authority
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And in that type of operation, we are free to submit.
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It's a blessing when these things operate rightly.
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When they become tyrannical, it's your duty to recognize when not to submit.
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It's not enough to just navigate these spheres, just to understand how they work,
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It's not enough for us just to figure out how we're to operate within our own spheres.
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It's our duty as Christians to support and to build institutions that operate rightly within these spheres.
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It's our duty as Christians to build solid, healthy churches.
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It's our duty as Christians to build solid, healthy families.
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Schools that could come alongside those families and assist and help.
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It's our duty to build coalitions in political parties that will not waver on biblical truth.
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It's our duty as Christians to support lasting institutions that will outlive us.
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Be things that our children can assimilate to and propagate.
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We won't feel this disconnected lostness in America.
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Our grandchildren will be able to see the fruits of our labor
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This isn't just a theological teaching this morning.
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Take it up, Christian, and obey the word of God.
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for the good boundaries that you've placed on authority,
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what to do when tyranny comes into our society.
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God, I ask for your church that we would be more faithful in understanding these things and applying them.
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That we would be a people who are able to profess rightly that you are Lord over our society.
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that there's not one square inch of the human existence
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that we would see this world taken over by Christ.