No. 86 - IT’S A MATTER OF GOVERNMENT By: John J. Blanchard July 8, 2006 The title of today’s sermon is “It’s a Matter of Government.” I am going to start by reading from the 1983 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia. I will be reading from pages 272 and 273 to start. This is their article on government. “Government is one of humanity’s oldest and most important institutions. From earliest times, some kind of government has been a vital part of every society. When we think of government, we generally mean the government of a village, a city, a state, a province, or a country. But just as important are the governments of a family, a school, a church, a social club, a baseball team, a corporation, or a labor union.” We think of governments sometimes in far too narrow of a sense. Government actually extends into every aspect of our life. This article goes on to define government. “What is Government? Every group of people - from a family to a nation - has rules of conduct to govern the lives of its members. For example, a family may have a rule that all its members be on time for meals. This rule makes it possible for the family members to eat together and then go about their own business. Like most rules, it is meant to keep life running smoothly for group members. “The rules made by a group are really decisions about matters that affect the group as a whole. The decisions are designed to encourage or require certain kinds of behavior, or to discourage or forbid other kinds of behavior by individual members. “Group decisions can be made either consciously or unconsciously. Baseball officials consciously agree to the rules that govern the game.” Dropping down a paragraph and continuing: “Unconscious decisions are the result of habit, tradition, or custom. For example, there has never been a law that two men must shake hands when they meet. But in most Western countries, it is considered proper for a man to offer his hand when he greets another. Unconscious decisions govern the way we dress, the kind of furniture we choose, the way we talk to our parents, and thousands of other important and unimportant activities of our daily lives. Habits, customs, and traditions also affect our conscious decisions. “Rules of conduct, whether consciously or unconsciously made, are not likely to have much effect unless people obey them. If the members of a group were permitted to ignore or disobey its rules, a society could not operate. Soon there would be no law or order. Imagine what would happen at a busy street corner if motorists were free to disregard the rules and signals that govern traffic. “Most persons obey the decisions of their group willingly. But some must be persuaded to obey by education, or forced to obey by the threat of punishment. Football teams have referees who enforce the rules of the game. Clubs, corporations, and labor unions have officers who enforce their regulations. Cities, states, provinces, and nations have police officers, judges, and soldiers who enforce their laws. Enforcement usually means some kind of punishment for persons found guilty of disobedience. Those who have the power to control behavior by making and enforcing the rules of a group are often called a power structure.” A DEFINITION OF GOVERNMENT “We can define government as the process within a group for making and enforcing decisions that affect human behavior. When we use this definition, it does not matter whether the decisions are conscious or unconscious, or enforced by persuasion or by punishment.” That starts to broaden our view of government, but we get a sense here that government and the rule of law, if done correctly, are good things. They are imperfect because imperfect people are involved, but they are good things. They are rules of conduct that help society and families, and structures within those societies and families, to operate smoothly to the benefit of all. We can also see that we are all part of several governmental structures at the same time. They start with the basic unit of the family and the rules that govern the individual families, and then increase in size to society at large which involves things like tradition, habit, morality and accepted behavior. Government ventures out into the area of economics because the commerce and the livelihood that the people need to have within society also must have rules so that people can get paid for their labor and purchase the things that they need for life. Then you have your public laws (your national laws). These filter down to your cities, villages, states and provinces. But you have your governmental system over the country itself. We all exist in all of these governments, plus others that we choose to be a part of like clubs or organizations in which we say we will abide by these rules. I used to belong to the country club in our nearby town. That would allow me to golf on the golf course if I maintained certain decorum on the golf course and helped maintain the golf course. I had to abide by the rules of the organization. We are all part of many different governmental structures. One of them that was mentioned in here was church. We will get into that as we go along through the sermon. The fact of the matter is that there must be a higher authority that is recognized for government to work or at least the group at large making rules that the entire group say they will abide by. Somebody has to make the rules to have government. Those rules must be followed by the people who have agreed to exist in that governmental system. We find rules for society in the forms of laws and statutes. We find rules in cultures that determine traditions, manners and acceptable behavior. To be in those societies and cultures we agree either consciously or unconsciously to follow the dictates outlined by the authority and by the accepted societal government. That makes us a willing participant in the government in which we find ourselves. There is that saying, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” When we travel abroad, we have to operate under the laws of that society or culture. We cannot take the laws with us from the United States or Canada and impose them on the people we are visiting. We have to be flexible depending on where we go on the planet earth to make sure we are following the government and the cultural norms of wherever we happen to be. It is a willing thing. They allow us into their country. We willingly obey their laws. Within our own country, we do the same. Now the necessity of government presents us with certain fundamental issues. These are certain dilemmas that come part and parcel with the concept of government. We are going to address three of the big ones here in just a moment. 1. HOW MUCH GOVERNMENT DO WE WANT? The first one is how much government do we want? Turning in the same World Book Encyclopedia I am going over a couple of pages to page 275. They have a section called “How Much Government? Many questions about government concern the relations between public and private power structures. How far, and over what kinds of activities, should the functional jurisdiction of public governments extend? Should the goods and services needed by the people be produced and provided entirely by private governments?” Or should they be provided by individuals? These issues start to come to the fore when you say, yes, we want government. How much government? They break it down into several types of government here. You have anarchy or anarchism. “Some persons believe that public government should have little or no functional jurisdiction. The most extreme belief of this kind is called anarchism. Anarchists would eliminate all public governments. They would let only individuals and private groups govern the activities of a country. Anarchism has few followers today.” The second form of government is totalitarianism. “At the other extreme from anarchists are those who believe in totalitarianism. They would put no limits on the functional jurisdiction of the public government. Public governments would own all land, buildings, farms, mines, schools, newspapers, and radio and television stations. Public governments would make the rules governing the family, church, club, corporation, and labor union.” So you have two extremes: anarchism and totalitarianism. Between the two you have what is called pluralism. “Most nations have both public and private governments to make and enforce rules of behavior. These countries are called pluralistic because both private and public governments have jurisdiction over the activities of the people. Under pluralism, most goods and services are produced and provided by individuals or private groups. But public governments regulate many of these economic activities.” (as well as other important activities within the country) “In all pluralistic nations, the powers of both public and private governments depend generally on certain beliefs, customs, or traditions. In the United States and Canada, most of the people believe firmly in freedom for the individual. By custom and tradition, Americans and Canadians want as little interference as possible from their public governments. They put great emphasis on personal liberties and place firm limits on governmental powers that affect the rights of individuals.” So you have this issue that comes with government, and that is how much government? Are they going to tell us everything concerning our daily lives? Are they going to tell us nothing and leave us all free to do whatever we please? Or is there going to be some sort of balance where there is a private sector and a public sector. The private sector is the individuals, corporations and groups being allowed to operate freely within the confines of a public system that has overall jurisdiction but leaves as much freedom to those individuals, groups and corporations as possible. So that issue is there: how much government? How can we preserve our liberty and still have law and order? That is the issue. There is a saying that the Founding Fathers in the United States would often refer to, and it is that government which governs least governs best. But you still must have government. My thought on the subject is that people which govern themselves the best need the least government. 2. THE WORK AND THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT The second dilemma we want to address is the work and the purpose of government. What do we want government to do for us? If you get the chance to get your hands on a World Book Encyclopedia, you would find on page 279 of the 1983 edition the article “Government at Work”. They bring out three main issues regarding government and the purpose of it. It is for (a) defense (b) commerce (c) for taxation. Let’s see what it says in just a part of each of these groups. “Defense: Probably the most important function of a national government is to make and enforce laws for the nation’s defense.” We want to have a free and safe society, so we want defense from our enemies and defense from criminals, obviously. So the first function of government is to provide a stable and safe environment for the citizens of that nation. The second function of government is “Commerce: The broad power of the federal government to regulate interstate commerce is used to make laws that have a far-reaching effect on the nation’s economy.” These are fair labor laws, fair pricing anti-gouging laws, laws that would prevent monopolies from taking over and taking huge segments of the national wealth away from people and denying opportunity. We need laws from the government to protect the individuals, so that we can all go about our daily lives conducting commerce to take care of our families and fulfill our responsibilities financially and economically. The third main function of government is taxation. Here is what the book says about taxation. “The broad federal powers ‘to lay and collect taxes’ and to provide for the ‘general welfare’ are used for many activities. Some tax funds support the functions of the federal government under its defense and commerce powers. Other tax money supports the huge social security program, including unemployment insurance, old age pensions, and aid to families with dependent children. General welfare functions include programs that fight poverty, finance public housing, assist in slum clearance, and maintain national parks. None of these programs, or the agencies that conduct them, is mentioned by name in the Constitution. They are established by laws that the Constitution considers ‘necessary and proper.’” We have less fortunate people in the country that need government help. Taxes allow for that. We have educational systems within the country that need tax dollars to function. We have national assets that we all take part in and enjoy like national parks and the coastlines of the country. These have to be maintained by taxation. Private individuals and private corporations would not be the right avenue for taking care of many aspects of the country. All of us can take care of them through taxation and turning that money over to the governing authorities so that it can be dispensed and dealt with. Of course, it is never done perfectly because we are talking about human beings, but it is done to the best of what we can come up with in the societal structures that we have. So that is the second big dilemma for government. What is its purpose, what is the work that it will do and how it will do it. 3. WHO WILL BE ALLOWED TO GOVERN? Another dilemma and possibly the biggest is who will be allowed to govern? Who is going to govern? Once again we are going to turn to pages 275 and 276 in the World Book Encyclopedia under their article “Who Governs? Throughout history, people have developed may forms of public government to make and enforce rules of conduct. These forms of government may be grouped according to certain principles under which they operate. The most important principles of each government may be established by answering the question: ‘Who governs?’ “All governments belong to one of three main groups. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, sometimes called the Father of Political Science, named these groups: (1) monarchy - rule by one person, (2) aristocracy - rule by a few persons, and (3) democracy or polity - rule by many persons. “Aristotle described monarch and aristocracy as government by men of superior character and intelligence. These men were expected to make and enforce laws for the benefit of all the people. Democracy was described as government by and of the people - and also for the good of all. “If a government ruled only for the benefit of those in authority, not for the good of all, it was called corrupt. A corrupt monarchy was a tyranny, a corrupt aristocracy was an oligarchy, and a corrupt democracy was a tyranny of the majority. A tyrant ruled to satisfy his appetite for power or wealth. Similarly, an oligarchy ruled to increase the power or wealth of a few men. A tyranny of the majority meant government by crowds. Usually the poor ruled the rich. Many tyrannies developed during times when governments were overthrown and angry mobs swept aside personal freedom and private rights.” There you have a very good description of who governs and how it is allowed to govern. I want you to note that tyrannies develop when angry mobs sweep aside personal freedom and private rights. They also sweep aside other institutions of government and tear them down. We have seen that many times in history with disastrous results for all the people involved. The result of this mob mentality is anarchy (the break down of government) or tyranny. It goes either way. When a mob sweeps aside all rights of the individuals, you find anarchy which means no rule of law (might makes right). Or you find a tyranny because a tyrant comes to power to restore law and order usually by the muzzle or barrel of a gun in today’s terms. We do not want to ever see anarchy and tyranny because mobs will not willingly obey the laws. MOBS AND TYRANTS IN THE CHURCH Both anarchy and tyranny exist, unfortunately, in God’s Church today. That is where we want to spend the rest of the sermon. The rule of law based on love should be operational in the Church. We used to say “give versus get”. When the authoritative structure that was in place in the Philadelphia Era of God’s Church (which was there for the benefit of all of God’s people) willingly followed the rules, we had a system of “give versus get,” and “give” was the more powerful side. Love was expressed. We did not have “might makes right”. People willingly wanted to obey the rules. This rule of law was swept aside when “the mobs took over”. When the mobs took over and broke the Church apart, tyrants emerged. This has been the recent history of the Church. We want to talk about government in light of what has happened to the Church and apply some of the principles that we read in the World Book Encyclopedia to God’s Church. What happened in God’s Church, when people rebelled against the government because the government went sour, was a “throwing away of the baby with the bath water”, so to speak. It was anarchy. Throw out all the bums! Get rid of everybody! In the world when you see a country do this, you have mob rule. In the Church what happened was everybody became equal. There is no authority. Everything breaks down. No one is going to be told what to do. The opposite extreme is people running to a tyrant to establish law and order. So today you have the Church divided basically between people who want a strong authoritative structure over them (yielding their power to tyrants), or you have people who want no authority over them at all. The example in the World Book Encyclopedia is when you come to a corner that should be ruled by the laws that govern traffic with stop signs, street lights and people who willingly obey, and no one cares. It is the idea I have my rights, and you are not going to tell me what to do! My SUV is bigger than your car. I am going to drive over the top of it! This is what has happened in the Church. People with a little bit more financial wealth or a little bit more intelligence or a forceful personality push everyone else out of the way. No one wants to be told what to do. RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES This happened in the Old Testament. We are going to turn there and see what a mess happened. Turn, if you would, to Judges chapter 17. Verse 1: “Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, ‘The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears - here is the silver with me; I took it’ And his mother said, ‘May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!’ So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, ‘I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.’” There is a story going here about some money gained illicitly that was going to be used for a bad purpose. Verse 5 of Judges 17: “The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols, and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.” The man made his own idol (his own shrine), and he chose his own son to be his personal priest. Verse 6: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” With no authoritative structure, people often take upon themselves their own deciding capacities to make rules, laws and statutes. Their thinking is no one else is going to tell me what to do. I am going to do what I want. Verse 7: “Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there.” He was a priest by birth. Continue reading Judges 17:8-13. There was a system where people could buy a priest for themselves. They could name a minister, so to speak, for themselves and for their whole family. They could create their own shrine, their own altar and their own temple. They could make their own laws. It was a mess. You also had people who were priests by birth. They were part of the Tribe of Levi who were willing to sell themselves to whomever would take care of them. That example is one I use today because very often that is basically what has happened in the Church today. People set themselves up to be a priest, or they select someone to be their minister, or buy themselves a minister or ministers selling their services. The authoritative structure of the government of God has broken down. The result is the mess that we see today. BIBLICAL STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT This governmental structure in the Church is God ordained. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. God is the one who sets up His own government, and it must operate correctly in the way He intends for it to operate. Read Ephesians 4:1-9. This is speaking of Christ’s death. Continue reading verses 10-13 of Ephesians 4. This governmental structure, which is at the behest of Jesus Christ (the head of the Church), exists in one body called the Church through one Spirit (the Spirit that He and the Father share). It is the mind power of God that runs the body that is called the Church. We should be unified. We should be following the governmental structure that Jesus Christ has installed in the body. GOVERNMENT FOR DEFENSE Continuing in verse 14: “…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ…” In other words, the setting of the government was for the benefit of the entire Church for defense, first of all. It is for defense against false doctrine. That is what we are being told here. It is one of the purposes of the government in the Church. Continuing in Ephesians 4, verse 16: “…from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” That, of course, we understand is commerce. We will get to that. We need the governmental structure that Jesus Christ has installed in the Church for very good reasons. They are basically the same reasons we need good physical government on the earth. Let’s turn to I Timothy chapter 1. Read verses 1-3. It is the governmental structure. Paul was teaching his servant, Timothy, who was a servant to the people that he must defend against false doctrine. Read I Timothy 1:4-7. Paul tells Timothy as a young minister your job is to keep out false doctrines, prevent arguments, keep people on the straight and narrow and not allow a proliferation of teachers. Paul is telling Timothy that a proliferation of teachers with everyone having their equal weight in their opinion is going to break down the congregation. We must have government within the Church of God. Turn a few pages over to II Timothy chapter 4. Paul continues in another discourse to Timothy. Read II Timothy 4:1-5. These are strong words from Paul telling Timothy to keep the government together, keep out false doctrines, and do not allow a proliferation of teachers even when the people who have itching ears want lots of teachers and lots of opinions. He says do not allow that to happen, because that will break down the law and order established in the Church of God. Turn, if you would, back to Matthew chapter 23. Read verses 1-3. Christ says even when your government is not the best that it should be and not functioning properly, it is better to have order and structure. Do not follow the evil dictates, but obey those things that must keep the government together. This is a truism unless your government is leading you against the principles of Jesus Christ. We want to stay together when we have a disagreement. We do not want to stay and tolerate false doctrine when it is being promulgated. There is a difference, but we must have government. We cannot break down the Church every time there is an argument or a disagreement over something. Peace should be a way marker in the Church. TEACHERS ARE NEEDED Read what Christ goes on to say in verses 4 to 8 of Matthew 23. Teacher here means master. Verse 9: “‘Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers…’” (masters) “‘…for One is your Teacher…’” (master) “‘…the Christ.’” The reason I emphasize that teacher is master is because we just read in Ephesians that part of the government is the establishment of those to teach. They are apt to teach. We must have teachers in the Church. Some people twist these scriptures to say I will have no man over me. I will have nobody teaching me what to say. That is not a correct understanding of the scriptures here. The Bible does not contradict the Bible. It all goes together in harmony. Matthew 23, verse 11: “‘But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.’” Christ says I do not want hypocrisy in the Church, but He is telling the people to be patient. There is some hypocrisy in the Church. Please stay together because of obedience. Do not follow evil, but please try to stay together harmoniously. Do not let things break down and follow the hypocrisy, obviously, but keep the body of Christ together. It is the Holy Spirit that guides the Church. If we willingly listen to the Bible (to Jesus Christ) and to those He has inspired to teach us, we can learn how to follow the truth. We can hear the shepherd’s voice. Jesus Christ said I am your Master, I am the Rabbi, I am the Teacher, but does He not dwell in the Church? Therefore, He can give someone in the Church the ability to teach. That person can be imbibing in the word of God and trying very hard to follow the dictates of Jesus Christ. That person can allow Him to inspire him because He dwells there. That is the type of teacher that Christ says we must listen to because the Holy Spirit is guiding him and thereby guides the body. Turn, if you would, to John chapter 16 because this is explained there. Read John 16:1-15. Therefore the truth will come to us by the promptings and the guidance of Jesus Christ’s Holy Spirit dwelling in the Church. He says when I do this, I have one body. In that body, I am the head, but I have apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers. I work in this way. It is My governmental structure. We are all part of that one body if we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We have to let God govern in a godly way. We must yield ourselves to that method. He is the one who established government. AN ENVIRONMENT FOR FORGIVENESS What are the three issues involving government? Defense: as we saw, it is the same in the world. We have to be protected from false doctrine. Commerce: the freedom and the safe environment to grow in holy righteous character in which to express love to one another, in which to express forgiveness to one another, in which we can wash one another’s feet and serve one another willingly. This is the purpose of the body of Christ. After defense from evil, it is the ability to grow in holy righteous character (the riches of God). We have to have a body to practice these things in. One cannot practice forgiveness by themselves. You have to have someone to forgive. One cannot ask for forgiveness if they are off by themselves. Therefore, offenses will occur. But for us to grow in holy righteous character and to practice these principles, we need one another. We need the body of Christ. We have to have defense. We have to have a place to conduct spiritual commerce. If you will, please, turn to Matthew chapter 7. Here Christ warned us if we are to have a place to conduct commerce and have stability, we are going to have to watch out for those who would destroy the family of God. Christ is speaking in Matthew chapter 7. Read verses 15-20. Christ warned that savage wolves would come, but we have to observe the fruit. If tyranny is the result of following a certain individual, that is bad fruit. If anarchy is evident in a small group somewhere where everyone’s opinion is of equal weight and there is no governmental structure at all, know that wolves have come in among the sheep. They have divided the flock of God. Turn to Acts chapter 20 please. As Paul was departing from a small church congregation he warned them. Acts 20, verse 28: “‘Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.’” Paul knew with the power of his authority gone after he left this congregation, savage wolves from among the congregation and outside the congregation would come in and destroy the Church with false doctrine. Therefore, we need the Church, and we need the governmental structure that Jesus Christ put into place to keep out false doctrine. It is needed to defend the flock. It will also promote a healthy viable congregation and stability where we can practice those things that will develop holy righteous character. The trunk of the tree is love, brethren. We need to love and care about each other and willingly obey the laws of God. Read the love chapter (I Corinthians 13) when you get a chance. We can understand all prophecy, we can speak in tongues and we can have all knowledge, but without love, it is a waste of time. It is an absolute waste of time. We need to focus on serving one another, loving each other and caring about one another. Then we will be bearing the fruits that God intended. RESOURCES FOR THE CHURCH As we discussed, the third dilemma we face when we have government is there must be taxation to pay for the goods and the services that only government can provide. In the Church today because of the break up of the body of Christ, we have a tremendous lack of resources. There is no good system for taxation, so to speak. Those tyrannical groups that can command taxation (can command tithing) and make people do it by fear, find that the money is wasted. It is wasted on false doctrine. It is wasted on the benefits of the few through bribes, you might say, through the buying and the selling of ministers and the setting up of oligarchies. It is a sad commentary that God’s tithes are wasted in such a manner by fear mongers who are tyrants. Brethren, we need to willingly want to support God’s work. I am not here to be a tyrant for tithes. No minister should be twisting anybody’s arm or threaten people to make offerings. It is entirely up to you. We have the freedom to obey God or not. We need to make the choice. Many people no longer tithe. Many people believe that tithing has no benefit. God says it does, but many people believe that tithing and offerings have hurt them over the years. God says, no, what I am offering you spiritually is so far above money that if you feel that way, keep it! I don’t want it! I am not going to belabor the point, brethren, because it usually only offends people, and they are people who do not want to give willingly anyway. We need to just “want” to follow God’s laws, and we need to want to bring the good news to people. We have to want to have beautiful feet that share this wonderful news with others. If we do not feel strongly enough about it to support it, that is between the individual and God. God loves a cheerful giver. You remember II Corinthians 9:6-15. You need not turn there, but God loves a cheerful giver. If we are not going to be cheerful in our giving, keep it. That is what God says, but He does warn us. Turn to Malachi 3. I would be remiss if I did not read this scripture. Malachi 3, beginning in verse 8: “‘Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, “In what way have we robbed you?” In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse…’” We are God’s nation (spiritual Israel). “‘…that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’” Verse 11: “‘And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,’ says the Lord of hosts; ‘And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord of hosts.” If we want God’s blessing, we must follow His laws and statutes. We must follow His principles. When we want proper government to function well for us, it has a cost and God says it is up to you. Do you want to support it or not? Enough said about tithing. A CONGREGATION OF THE WILLING I want to give a few concluding thoughts about Church government. We came into God’s Church and said, yes, I will do all that You say. He gave us His Holy Spirit and wiped away all of our sins. We willingly agreed to a covenant with God that made us citizens in His spiritual nation. It made us citizens in His kingdom. We agreed to do it. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 2. We are called citizens of God’s country. Ephesians 2, starting in verse 19: “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…” We are fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God (the body of Christ). Verse 20: “…having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” The body of Christ was put together to be a dwelling place for Jesus Christ. It has a governmental structure, and to have a governmental structure you need willing citizens. They must be willing to follow His rules. Turn to John chapter 14. Read verses 15-18. Jesus Christ has come to us in the form of His Holy Spirit (His mind power, His mind essence) which dwells within us, causing the body to work as a unit with each part doing the part that it is supposed to do. Each part has a part to play. Let’s do the part each of us was called to do. Willingly serve God and our brothers and sisters in the faith. Turn to Matthew chapter 22 and read verses 34-40. These are the two great Commandments, brethren. They are love. They embody love toward God and love toward our fellow man. God is observing whether we willingly want to obey these Commandments or not. He knows who is willingly doing this. He knows who is willingly supporting it. He knows who the hypocrites are. He is checking to see who is a willing sacrifice. God is very, very much involved in the Church and in His government. However, we have very, very important parts to play. Without citizens there is no need for a government. As we saw in Ephesians chapter 2, we are the citizens of that societal structure (the kingdom of God). We want to look at a couple of examples of government in action in the early Church. Turn to Acts chapter 6. Read verses 1-7. As the Church grew, the apostles could not be governing every aspect of the Church. They said our main purpose is the ministry to the flock, the ministry in the word and studying God’s word. In their case, writing part of God’s word was their purpose. We cannot be bothered with petty little things about who is being treated fairly here, but that is important. We want you to choose seven people you trust who you know are filled with the Holy Spirit. This means they will fall into the government of God perfectly. When we pray over them, we are going to lay hands on them and ordain them. Those were seven deacons. You see government at work here. They listened to the people. The people put forth seven people of wisdom who they knew had the Holy spirit by the way they conducted their lives. They saw their fruits. The apostles laid hands on them, and the Holy Spirit was given to them in a double portion. This was the government of God. There was no evidence here of continued arguing like some saying I did not want Prochorus in there! I voted for such and such. No, it was peaceful. It was cooperation. It was not arguing. This was the government of God at work properly. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 4, just turn back a page. There were certain rules of accepted behavior at that time. Now we operate a little bit differently today, but we have accepted rules of behavior in the Church just like we do in society. This was interesting the way they had chosen to do it. Acts 4, starting in verse 32: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul…” They were cooperating. “…neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” They had chosen to put everything into one pot and then distribute it to those in need, as we will see. Continuing in verse 33: “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” The system was accepted behavior at that time in the Church. It was probably of necessity as they were becoming outcasts from society and had to take care of one another and these twelve disciples. They had come up with this system. It is not the only system. We operate a little differently right now. We have free-will offerings. We have tithing. They did not need to tithe if they gave everything to the Church, but this was the system that they operated by. But there was freedom. You did not have to do this, but if you did not want to do this, you could not be a hypocrite. God enforced this government. This was government structure in the Church at that time. Continue in Acts 5, verse 1: “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” These two people were pretending to agree with the system, but in their heart they did not. So they held back, as we will see, but they did not have to participate if they did not want to. What was wrong was their hypocrisy, the lie that they were putting forth. Continuing in verse 3: “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own?’” He did not have to sell this. It was accepted behavior, but he did not have to do this. This is not the law of tithing. This was free-will stuff here. Paul says in verse 4: “‘ While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?’” He said when you sold it, that money was yours. You did not have to bring any of it to us. “‘Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’” He said why do you want to look like these other people who were mentioned (Joses, the Son of Encouragement, and the others who sold everything and gave it). He said why did you want to look like them? You did not have to do this. Now notice Peter did not beat him up. Verse 5: “Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.” Peter did not say go thrash or stone this guy, but you see government in action. God did something. Continued reading Acts 5:6-11. Peter knew what was going to happen to Sapphira because of what happened to Ananias, but he did not pray that either one would die. That surprised them all, but God was showing that they had lied to the Holy Spirit. When they lied to the apostles and they were hypocritical about it, they lied to the Holy Spirit that dwelled in them. It is Jesus Christ’s Holy Sprit that dwells in the Church (the body). That is why Peter felt so bad. He said you did not have to do this. If you wanted to keep your property and keep your money that was okay, but because you were hypocritical about it, you sinned. That was the government of God in action at that time. It is different today, but we see many calamities and suffering in the Church because people are not obeying the laws of God. They are doing it hypocritically. They want to look like they are obeying, and they don’t. There is a lot of sadness and sorrow in the Church. People are pierced with many sorrows because of hypocrisy. We have to willingly want to follow the government and willingly participate in the kingdom of God. SUBMITTING TO GOVERNMENT FOR HEALING There is another example of God’s government at work in the early Church. Turn to James chapter 5, beginning in verse 13: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” We see the example of going before the elders and getting anointed, to submitting to the governmental structure the way God outlined it and the blessings that come. Primarily we are forgiven of sins. Secondarily, we are healed. God heals in a lot of ways. God knows when it is time to heal. We do not judge God for that. What we are looking at here is the government in action. There are many people today who want healings but will not submit to anointing in many of the groups. In our former association, they virtually pitched anointing out the window. What happens is we are not submitting to the government of God. Of course, God wants us to pray directly to Him for healings, but He says go to them. Let them anoint you. It is a willing thing showing the structure that God has set in place. It is a matter of obedience, but God did not say if you do not get anointed, I am going to beat you up with a 2 x 4. Notice, it says let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders. When you get to the elder, let him anoint you. It is all willingness and cooperation. It is getting along, brethren. It is not jealousy, and it is not infighting. POWER IN HUMILITY I want to conclude with a glimpse of the most powerful people in the Church today and possibly the most powerful person in God’s Church over all time. That is subjective but one of the most powerful people, I could certainly say that. Let’s start with Moses, who was one of the most powerful people God ever used. Turn to Numbers chapter 12, verse 1: “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married…” They were judging Moses because, whether we feel it was a mistake or not, they did not like whom he had married. “…for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?’” So they started to deride and put down Moses. “‘Has He not spoken through us also?’” Aaron knew that there had been some miracles at his hand so he said who do you think you are? “And the Lord heard it.” Continuing in Numbers 12, verse 3: “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)” At that time, Moses was the meekest, humblest man on planet earth! Verse 4: “Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!’ So the three came out.” You can read the rest of the story yourself. God was not happy with the attitude of Aaron and Miriam. But Moses was very powerfully used by God even though he was the meekest man on the earth. It is why he could be used powerfully by God. Turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 1. There is a little example about this meek man. We are talking about government here. This meek man had to head up a government. Deuteronomy 1:9, Moses is speaking: “‘And I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I alone am not able to bear you. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.’” He says here I am, I have to take care of millions of people! Verse 11 of Deuteronomy 1: “‘May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you! How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints?’” He says I am one man! How can I do all of this? He says choose wise men. This is very similar to what we saw in Acts. Continue reading Deuteronomy 1:13-17. He says you are acting on my behalf as a servant of God. Do it righteously and fairly. Do not show partiality, but I need help. This was Church government at that time. Verse 18: “‘And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.’” Moses was saying I am powerfully used by God. I know it! Even when my brother speaks against me, he gets in deep trouble. But he said I cannot handle all of this! I need help! But you are going to have to do it the way I would do it as a friend of God, fairly, kindly and without partiality. If something is too tough, bring it to me. But I physically cannot handle it, so I need support. That is God’s government in action on the earth. Notice the meekest man on the earth was the head of this nation of millions. That is the way God runs things. Now turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 5. We will see the powerful people in any generation of the Church. They are the most powerful people, and I am sure the captains of tens, fifties and hundreds were like this, or they would not have been chosen. Read Matthew 5:1-12. This is God’s government in action. To the extent that we have these characteristics, we can be among the most powerful people on the earth. Moses in his day was the most powerful man on earth, and he was the meekest, humblest man on the planet. Some words of caution, brethren. We have a congregation of the willing. We want to do things just because it is the right thing to do, and that is God working in us. This shows His fruit. But we must never mistake meekness for weakness among one another and myself or any of the other elders. When looking at each other we must never mistake kindness for cowardice. We must never mistake patience for laxness. We must never mistake liberty for no rules. LIBERTY IN LOVE The motto of the Philadelphian Era was give versus get. A good motto for the Laodicean Era would be liberty in love. We are preparing to liberate this entire world! We must show them how liberty is properly used and how we can be free to obey God’s beautiful government. Let’s conclude with Romans chapter 8. Verse 18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”