John MacArthur gives a brief synopsis of the work of the church as it relates to culture and society. In this short video, he shares part of his life story and where he was when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.
In the second video, Dr. MacArthur answers some questions as it pertains to social justice and the role of the church in society.
Tailspin – the word is used to describe the motion of an aircraft that is in a diving descent combined with the aircraft spinning around and around. It is a problem that has caused the crash of many aircraft when the pilot cannot recover.
Cambridge English Dictionary defines tailspin as – “A situation in which something starts to fail or lose value and gets more and more out of control.”
Our society and culture is in a tailspin. Our country is in a tailspin. To be honest, I believe that western civilization is in a tailspin.
There are myriads of situations where things have either started to fail or have lost value. This has caused our country to get more and more out of control. Here are a few of the many reasons why this is true.
1) God is no longer considered relevant.
The atheist Voltaire stated (as have others in various forms), ““In the beginning God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.”
The west has long abandoned seeking after God and there is nowhere this is more evident than in so-called evangelical circles. Men and women proclaiming themselves to be messengers of God have twisted the Scriptures to mean whatever they want them to mean. The number of evangelicals who believe the fundamentals of the faith has dropped drastically and even the Scriptures are no longer held up as the authority for all that pertains to life and godliness.
2) The Scriptures are no longer revered.
The Bible is the ONLY book inspired by a holy God. ALL other books that are proclaimed to be “holy” are bogus. They were written by men who had no true love for the almight God of the universe. ONLY the Bible changes lives, and ONLY the Bible offers hope to all of mankind who will come to the foot of the cross and place their faith in Christ alone. PLUS NOTHING and MINUS NOTHING.
3) The laws of God are ignored.
When Jesus Christ (Yeshua) walked this earth, He fulfilled every aspect of the law. During His ministry, He gave two laws that all are to follow or they stand in defiance of God and will remain separated from His holiness.
First, we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and body. Simply stated, if there is anything that you love MORE than you love God, then are willfully, deliberately, and wickedly defying the first command by creating idols of your own choosing.
Second, we are to love our neighbor as we already love ourselves. Our world has twisted this on its head and tells us that we don’t love ourselves enough. The world says we need to think more highly of ourselves before we can care and love others. However, the Bible says that we are NOT to think of ourselves highly, but in lowering ourselves in humility, we are to esteem and raise others up.
4) Morals are no longer considered absolute.
Doris Day sang her way into many homes when she sang “Que Sera Sera.” Loosely translated, it means “Whatever will be, will be.”
Today’s society and culture considers as acceptable everything that is opposed to the holiness of God. They flaunt their wickedness in the faces of true believers by the trampling underfoot of Biblical marriage, the Biblical roles of men and women, the Biblical definition of family, the Biblical definition of government, the Biblical definition of life, etc.
To be clear, per the Word of God:
A) Biblical marriage is between one man and one woman for life. It is NOT between two men, two women, a human and an animal, a human and an inanimate object, etc.
B) Biblical roles are defined by God. This means that if you were born a man that you will die as a man. If you were born a woman then you will die as a woman. NO amount of mutilation or medicine will ever change that.
C) Biblical families are families that consist of one man and one woman having children and raising them to the honor and glory of God.
D) Biblical government is one that recognizes the sovereignty of God and seeks God for wisdom and understanding so that they may know how to govern rightly.
E) Biblical definition of life is that it is given by God for He alone creates life. This means that abortion for ANY reason undermines the sanctity of life as given by God.
Conclusion:
Currently in America, there is much destruction taking place because a black man, sadly, lost his life. We have something due process of law in this country. This means that the court system and jury of their peers will be charged with determining whether the police officers involved were to blame.
However, despite all the destruction, I see NOBODY protesting at the loss of life that takes place due to gang activity every single week in cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit.
Despite all the looting and burning, I see NOBODY protesting at the loss of life that takes place by the tens of thousands every year in predominantly African-American communities when pre-born infants are MURDERED.
The looting, protesting, burning, destruction of property, endangering of the lives of innocent individuals has NOTHING to do with a single individual who lost his life. ALL of this is taking place because of the total depravity of the heart of man.
This has NOTHING to do with race, politics, or whatever reason you want to put in the blank. Man flouts the law of God, corrupt governments let it take place, and the results are being seen on the nightly news.
When morals are whatever you determine them to be, then the strife, hatred, confusion, etc. that we are currently seeing take place in America is justified.
When God is not honored and worshipped, then life is meaningless.
When the laws of Christ are hated, then mankind will use any and all excuses they can to ruin the lives and properties of others. Anarchy will reign supreme and people will live in fear.
When the rules that govern life are devoid of the Bible, then the rules are meaningless and will change daily to suit the whims of those seeking to enforce them.
Those who are true believers need to pray for wisdom. We need to humble ourselves before God and seek forgiveness for ALL the areas in which we have walked contrary to the laws of God. Our churches need to seek forgiveness for failing to uphold the truth of God’s Word and proclaiming that it is good and right for ALL that pertains to life and godliness. We need to pray for revival and seek God’s face.
ONLY then will the world sit up and see that there truly is a difference and a joy that comes from loving and following Jesus.
The emperor of Rome from AD 54 to 68 was Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, also known simply as Nero. The emperor was not known for being a moral and ethical person, to say the least. In AD 64 the great Roman fire occurred, with Nero himself being suspected of arson. In his writings, the Roman senator and historian Tacitus recorded, “To get rid of the report [that he had started the fire], Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace” (Annals, XV).
It was during the reign of Nero that the apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans. While one might expect him to encourage the Christians in Rome to rise up against their oppressive ruler, in chapter 13, we find this instead:
“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:1–7).
Even under the reign of a ruthless and godless emperor, Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells his readers to be in subjection to the government. Moreover, he states that no authority exists other than that established by God, and that rulers are serving God in their political office.
Peter writes nearly the same thing in one of his two New Testament letters:
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king” (1 Peter 2:13–17).
Both Paul’s and Peter’s teachings have led to quite a few questions from Christians where civil disobedience is concerned. Do Paul and Peter mean that Christians are always to submit to whatever the government commands, no matter what is asked of them?
A Brief Look at the Various Views of Civil Disobedience
There are at least three general positions on the matter of civil disobedience. The anarchist view says that a person can choose to disobey the government whenever he likes and whenever he feels he is personally justified in doing so. Such a stance has no biblical support whatsoever, as evidenced in the writings of Paul in Romans 13.
The extremist patriot says that a person should always follow and obey his country, no matter what the command. As will be shown in a moment, this view also does not have biblical support. Moreover, it is not supported in the history of nations. For example, during the Nuremberg trials, the attorneys for the war criminals attempted to use the defense that their clients were only following the direct orders of the government and therefore could not be held responsible for their actions. However, one of the judges dismissed their argument with the simple question: “But gentlemen, is there not a law above our laws?”
The position the Scriptures uphold is one of biblical submission, with a Christian being allowed to act in civil disobedience to the government if it commands evil, such that it requires a Christian to act in a manner that is contrary to the clear teachings and requirements of God’s Word.
Civil Disobedience—Examples in Scripture
In Exodus 1, the Egyptian Pharaoh gave the clear command to two Hebrew midwives that they were to kill all male Jewish babies. An extreme patriot would have carried out the government’s order, yet the Bible says the midwives disobeyed Pharaoh and “feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live” (Exodus 1:17). The Bible goes on to say the midwives lied to Pharaoh about why they were letting the children live; yet even though they lied and disobeyed their government, “God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them” (Exodus 1:20–21).
In Joshua 2, Rahab directly disobeyed a command from the king of Jericho to produce the Israelite spies who had entered the city to gain intelligence for battle. Instead, she let them down via a rope so they could escape. Even though Rahab had received a clear order from the top government official, she resisted the command and was redeemed from the city’s destruction when Joshua and the Israeli army destroyed it.
The book of 1 Samuel records a command given by King Saul during a military campaign that no one could eat until Saul had won his battle with the Philistines. However, Saul’s son Jonathan, who had not heard the order, ate honey to refresh himself from the hard battle the army had waged. When Saul found out about it, he ordered his son to die. However, the people resisted Saul and his command and saved Jonathan from being put to death (1 Samuel 14:45).
Another example of civil disobedience in keeping with biblical submission is found in 1 Kings 18. That chapter briefly introduces a man named Obadiah who “feared the Lord greatly.” When the queen Jezebel was killing God’s prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them and hid them from her so they could live. Such an act was in clear defiance of the ruling authority’s wishes.
In 2 Kings, the only apparently approved revolt against a reigning government official is recorded. Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, began to destroy the royal offspring of the house of Judah. However, Joash the son of Ahaziah was taken by the king’s daughter and hidden from Athaliah so that the bloodline would be preserved. Six years later, Jehoiada gathered men around him, declared Joash to be king, and put Athaliah to death.
Daniel records a number of civil disobedience examples. The first is found in chapter 3 where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down to the golden idol in disobedience to King Nebuchadnezzar’s command. The second is in chapter 6 where Daniel defies King Darius’ decree to not pray to anyone other than the king. In both cases, God rescued His people from the death penalty that was imposed, signaling His approval of their actions.
In the New Testament, the book of Acts records the civil disobedience of Peter and John towards the authorities that were in power at the time. After Peter healed a man born lame, Peter and John were arrested for preaching about Jesus and put in jail. The religious authorities were determined to stop them from teaching about Jesus; however, Peter said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19–20). Later, the rulers confronted the apostles again and reminded them of their command to not teach about Jesus, but Peter responded, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
One last example of civil disobedience is found in the book of Revelation where the Antichrist commands all those who are alive during the end times to worship an image of himself. But the apostle John, who wrote Revelation, states that those who become Christians at the time will disobey the Antichrist and his government and refuse to worship the image (Revelation 13:15) just as Daniel’s companions violated Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to worship his idol.
Civil Disobedience—Conclusion
What conclusions can be drawn from the above biblical examples? The guidelines for a Christian’s civil disobedience can be summed as follows:
• Christians should resist a government that commands or compels evil and should work nonviolently within the laws of the land to change a government that permits evil.
• Civil disobedience is permitted when the government’s laws or commands are in direct violation of God’s laws and commands.
• If a Christian disobeys an evil government, unless he can flee from the government, he should accept that government’s punishment for his actions.
• Christians are certainly permitted to work to install new government leaders within the laws that have been established.
Lastly, Christians are commanded to pray for their leaders and for God to intervene in His time to change any ungodly path that they are pursuing: “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1–2).
Christ Alone Wyoming 