Read Textual Sermon from Jack Hibbs
Our Calling in a Rogue Culture
We, as believers regarding government, are to be the most ardent of Christ followers. And if that’s true—if we’re going to follow Jesus closely—I want to run through these first eight things up front.
Number one, the Christian is to be the most biblical and God-honoring. Period. The Christian is to be the best citizens of any community. The Christian is to be the wisest of voices in private and in public. The Christian is to be the conscience of the city, the state, or the nation. The Christian is to be the brightest of lights in the darkest of places. The Christian is to be the saltiest of salts where decay and death are. The Christian is to be the most loving and attractive in the culture. The Christian is to be much hated and rejected among all who disagree.
When people say, “I disagree that God exists,” if you hold your ground, Christian, you’re going to be hated. We talked about this on Wednesday night.
But to be a Christ follower, these five things God will do. We are to be courageous—God does that. We are to be informed. We are to be vigilant. We are to be winsome. And we are to be blameless.
You are going to be accused because you know Jesus. People are going to call you and label you with all kinds of evil against your life. They’re going to tell you this in your family. They’re going to say, “She’s the weird aunt,” or, “He’s the weird—” It doesn’t matter. They’re just going to let you have it, because the bottom line is Jesus. Amen. Amen. Just don’t let there be any truth to it.
Because if you don’t heed what I’m encouraging you to embrace right now—that is, you embrace the Lord Jesus Christ—I promise you, you will never win public opinion. You don’t have to. Follow Jesus, and these things will be ours to both enjoy and to suffer. But the end is glorious. Amen.
It’s a time, church—it will always be a time, and this time will increase for us—that you and I exercise godly obedience. We must determine (don’t raise your hand), but if you’re a Christian today, the time is now upon us—I have no doubt—that we must choose to obey God rather than man when man creates laws that are anti-good. Amen. And just don’t write me and tell me that you disagree—it’s ridiculous. You’ll just expose yourself. This has always been the case.
By the way, how do you ever plan on becoming a persecuted believer, a martyr for Christ—which is a badge of honor—if you’re going to be like jello on the wall? No wonder churches don’t mention the word martyr or persecution. “Oh, don’t say that. Isn’t it the 21st century?” Yeah—it means in the 21st century persecution’s been perfected.
And many of you have suffered what I call white-collar persecution. We obey government, but when government goes rogue and crosses the line of Scripture, then we stand with God.
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” — Acts 5:29, KJV
When Government Crosses the Line (Acts 5)
Acts 5:17: “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.” But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors—that’s awesome—and brought them out and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” That is, the Christian life—the gospel.
When they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those who were with him called the council together with all the elders of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. Watch this: when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying, “Indeed, we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Isn’t that awesome? That’s like a movie thing—but this is real.
Now when the high priest (verse 24), the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. “Boy, are we in trouble.” So one came and told them, saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
When they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?” What’s the name? What’s the name? Jesus. “And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” What city do you live in? Wouldn’t it be great if this same indictment was placed upon us? If I got called in before the authorities, wouldn’t it be awesome if they said, “Look at you. You have filled the whole city with this doctrine.” Oh, wow. May that be true of Anaheim and Irvine and Pasadena—wouldn’t that be great?
“And intend to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Verse 40: “And they agreed with them, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.” So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Woo! Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Tremendous.
The preaching of the gospel—the proclamation of the gospel—it cannot be outlawed. It cannot. You say, “Wait a minute, in some countries it is.” Yes, in some countries it is a law not to preach Christ, but you can’t actually outlaw it. “Wait, what are you saying?” You can make laws against it, but no one’s going to obey that.
Think of it. Do you think the believers in North Korea are being silent? No. Just like the believers in Iran are not being silent. How do we know? Because the church is growing there. Amen. What about the believers in Saudi Arabia, where it’s illegal to preach? They’re whispering to others.
We’ve even heard bold greetings in secular settings—“He is risen.” That apostolic kind of greeting—wow.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you… for My sake.” — Matthew 5:11, NKJV
Divine Government and the Lordship of Christ
Number two is that the government of God reveals the lordship of God—from sovereignty to lordship—all learned by the government of God. We see this in verse five: His divine government over His people—Lordship.
“Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.” Listen, you don’t have to worry about wrath if your conscience is clear before the Lord. How do you have a clear conscience? Obey the Lord. Why should I obey the Lord? Don’t you want to live? Yes, I do. I want to live. Then listen: receive His divine government over your life. It’s called Him being Lord, friends.
There’s a debate—can you have Jesus as Savior and not have Him as Lord? Some say you have to have Him as Lord to have Him as Savior. I don’t know about that stuff; I just know this: He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. And the last time I checked, the most minuscule definition of the word Lord means Master. Did you know that?
Did you know that in the original Greek language of the New Testament, the word often rendered servant regarding our lives is doulos—slave? I’m not going to apologize for that. The Bible says God is our Master and we are His slaves. Amen. Slaves can be defined by their Master. And I’m happy to tell you that I have a very good Master—that I love being His slave.
We’ve all learned not to be the slave of man—that’s for sure. But even if this message lands in a country where slavery rules the land, the New Testament addresses it and says to the slave in a foreign land, “Be obedient to your master; be a witness for Jesus. You might win your master to Christ.” And if you are a slave owner somewhere in the world and you’re a believer, Jesus is your Lord and you are a slave to Him—so treat those under you with respect and dignity. In some countries, if a slave owner became a Christian and turned his slaves loose, they would be killed. Think of that. So what do you do in such a difficult situation? I thank God that my Bible is so perfect that it even handles the most difficult and ugly situations.
What is the absolute shift in the entire equation? Becoming a believer. Who’s your Lord? After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He was called both Lord and Christ, and it changed everything. Prior to the resurrection, people did call Jesus “lord” as in “sir” or a landowner’s title. After the resurrection, it all changed.
Thomas—doubting Thomas—said, “I will not believe until I can touch Him.” Jesus shows up—doors locked, windows shut—and suddenly appears. “Thomas…” Can you imagine? “Come on now, put your fingers in the holes of My hands.” And Thomas says, “My Lord and my God.”
“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” — John 20:28, NKJV
(If you intended a different phrasing here—for example the Greek terms you referenced—let me know and I’ll adjust that line exactly to your intent.)
That warms your heart. Are you a doubter? Jesus is saying, “Look at the holes in My hands.” That’s what love says to you. Yes, Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords—and that truth will spare you from deception.
“Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” — 1 Peter 2:17, NKJV
Households, Taxes, and Honor
Verse 6 tells us that the divine government of God and His lordship is to be in your family: “For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.”
You say, “How does that beget the family?” First, state the obvious: pay your taxes. “I don’t agree with the gov—” Pay your taxes.
If you refuse, they’ll still get it—through penalties or jail. You won’t answer for what authorities do with the tax money—they will. By us paying taxes while they do foolish things, our obedience heaps, as it were, judgment on them. Does that make sense?
And civically, yes—but your home has civics too. Your family is like a little town. You have little citizens in your house. It’s true. Various rooms—some of them can be jails at certain times. There’s a king and a queen and there are subjects, and this whole realm is a little civil body politic. God establishes this because, Dad, Mom, God is teaching your children how to be citizens in the world through you and your leadership.
Can I put it this way? Your kids should see you, in a sense, like the Lord Jesus Christ. Should you be loving to your kids? Absolutely. Should you condone evil? No. God would never do that. God would say, “That was evil. Did you see that?” So right now, I’m going to be the arresting officer. We’ll hold court. Everyone agrees—including your sisters—that you’re guilty of this crime. Mom will plead your case; I’ll listen. Then we’ll consult and declare the penalty. Family works like this. It’s the government of God.
Finally, closing with verse 7: “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”
What a beautiful place to end: honor. Do we honor our elected officials? Yes. Yes, we do. Around here, many of them go to this church. We’ve known them for years—awesome people. There are also people elected to local, county, and state offices who are actually anti-Christ in their positions. How should we treat them? With honor. Yes, it’s hard. It’s part of being a disciple. You honor them.
“Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.” — Romans 13:5–7, NKJV (sel.)
Friends, rejoice in this: Jesus Christ will never lose His lordship because He will never act unbecoming of the Lord that He is. You will never have to fear God changing His mind on saving you, because He knew what He was doing before time began when He invited you into His kingdom.
Questions This Sermon Answers
- When must Christians obey God rather than governing authorities?
- How does Acts 5 model courageous witness under persecution?
- What does it mean to live under God’s “divine government” and Christ’s lordship?
- How should believers relate to taxes, officials, and civic honor (Romans 13)?
- What does “honor all” look like toward both supportive and hostile leaders?
- How can families reflect God’s government in everyday discipline and love?
