Romans 13:1-5 ESV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
As a general rule, this is what we are to follow. But, are
there exceptions? Yes, there are. And, they are biblical exceptions.
First of all, I do believe that all human authorities that
exist have been instituted by God. I believe he puts rulers in place, and he
disposes kings, too. And, I believe we are to follow the laws of the land and
obey those in authority over us, unless the laws and the rulers command us to disobey
our Lord and any of his laws or commands (Biblical examples of this: Daniel,
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Jesus and his New Testament apostles).
For, not all authorities are good. And, our doing good is
not always going to be met with approval of these rulers, either. The primary
example of this that comes to mind is Jesus, and how he was put to death by
both the religious leaders of God’s temple and the governing authorities, and
he did no wrong at all, although they accused him of wrong. In fact, he was
sinless.
Also, we read in the book of Revelation, in chapter 13, about
a beast (one world government), and another beast (false religion) which are
conquering peoples, nations and Christians, which is happening in our day and
time.
They are going after Christians to destroy them because
these beasts are of Satan and his kingdom, thus they hate Jesus Christ and his
followers and his gospel of salvation. Thus, we are commanded not to bow to the
beast or his image, or worship him, or take his/its mark (characteristic
traits, influence, impact, sway) on our foreheads (minds) or on our hand (deeds,
actions), which may also include an actual physical mark (See: Revelation 14).
So, this calls for much spiritual discernment via prayer,
for this false religion beast and this one world government beast are out to
deceive even the elect of God, and they are very skilled at what they do, too. And,
don’t think you can’t be fooled, either. You would be surprised if you knew how
much you have already been deceived, I would imagine. I know that I was. So,
don’t believe everything you read or see or hear coming from anyone, really,
but especially from preachers, politicians and news reporters. Pray about this.
Romans 13:8-10 ESV
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
To love as God loves is to prefer what God prefers, which is
what is holy, righteous, good, pure, honest, trustworthy, and just (fair). This
love is not based on feelings or on the basis of the good of others. It comes
from God, and it is self-sacrificing. And, it gives of oneself to the
legitimate needs of others what is for their good, as God defines “good,” and with
regard to what God determines is beneficial for them. In fact, this is what it
means to bless others, which is what we are to do even to our enemies.
We are to love all people, in fact. This doesn’t mean we
will have mushy-gushy sentimental feelings about everyone on this earth,
though, for that is not what divine love is all about. But, what it does mean
is that we will treat others the way in which Jesus has treated us. He loved us
despite our sin, and he willingly sacrificed his own reputation, time, heart
and life for us so that we could be delivered from our slavery to sin and live
for him.
Thus, one of the main ways in which we love other people,
like Jesus did, is that we are to be the Light of Christ to them. This is like being
a lighthouse, which not only lights the way for people and shows them the way
to safety, but which also warns them of danger lying ahead, so that they don’t
go the wrong way and get injured or lose their lives. Thus, this is about
sharing the gospel of our salvation in words and in actions, and it is about
telling people the truth, for it is the truth which will set them free.
It is not love, though, if we lie to people, if we trick and
deceive them, and if we ignore their sinful addictions and pat them on the back
and tell them they are ok. We need to warn them of the dangers of continued sin
and the consequences of wrong choices. And, we need to guide them to the truth
regarding holiness and righteousness, and that this is the way we should go.
We need to tell them that faith in Jesus Christ means death
to our old lives of sin, and that, by faith in Jesus, we receive new lives in
Christ to be lived to his righteousness. For, it is not love if we coddle
people in their sin, or if we lead them into sin, or if we join in with them in
their sin, or if we sin against them in any way. For, love does no harm to its
neighbors (friends, family, fellow believers).
Romans 13:11-14 ESV
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
None of us can predict exactly when end times events will
take place, for we don’t know exactly the timing of all these things, or even
what is literal and what is symbolic in the book of Revelation, especially with
regard to numbers of days. But, we are supposed to know when the time is near
by the signs which we have been given.
I believe, if we are in tune to the Holy Spirit, and we are
willing to have God speak to our hearts with regard to what is presently going
on in our world, and what that says about the times in which we now live, that
we should realize that we are nearing the end. And, that much of what has been
prophesied with regard to these last days is already taking place, at least to
some degree, such as is prophesied in Revelation 13, for example.
I think we can get our preconceived ideas of how this all is
supposed to look by what we were taught early on in our lives in whatever
church fellowship we met with. But, what if we were taught wrong? Or what if
our teachers didn’t have it right? And what if we are thinking it should look
one way while these events are taking place right under our noses and we don’t
even see it because we didn’t expect it to look like this? I believe that is
happening.
What I know from what the Lord has taught me is that this
beast is formed or it is soon to be fully formed and it is still developing.
But, that it has been conquering nations and peoples and Christians for a long
while now, and soon we are going to see just how far along this beast is in its
formation and in its readiness to truly rule the world. And, we will see that
the USA has been a central part of that beast all along, and that our
government leaders actually serve this beast (the all-seeing eye of the elite
of the world).
But, even if that was not the case, that doesn’t change the
truths written in this passage of scripture, for not one of us knows when we
are going to die or if we will wake up in the morning or if our home or town
will still be here when we do wake up. So, we have to live every moment as
though it could be our last, realizing that our salvation is getting closer to
being made complete when Jesus returns.
So, how should we be living while we wait for Christ’s
return? We should be getting rid of all moral filth, lies, deception, gossip,
adultery, porn, hatred, violence, envy and the like. And we should make no
provision for the flesh at all, meaning we need to cut out of our lives those
things which lead us to sin, too, so that we are not led into sin, and so we
don’t continue in sinful addictions. And, we need to conduct our lives in
holiness, in righteousness, in purity, in integrity, and in faithfulness, all
in God’s strength within us.
For
Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
Saturday, November 3, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, that you love
us enough to warn us of danger ahead and to light the way for us to walk in
your truth.
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