INVINCIBLE CHURCH 9-29-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
9/29/2024
God’s Government- 1 Samuel 8:1-20
In the first part of the Old Testament, most societies of people and nations had kings and rulers as their form of authority and government. But, God chose the Jewish people and the nation of Israel to reveal Himself to the rest of the world, so God was the direct authority and king over Israel.
Then God used prophets, priests, and judges as His human liaisons to govern and guide His people. In God's perfect plan, His design for government in God-honoring societies is to provide protection and infrastructure to keep the people safe and orderly—nothing more.
But throughout history, people have tended to start expecting the government to provide more for them than God's plan calls for. In today’s message, we are going to see how a lack of trust in God’s plan allows the government to have too much power, control, authority, and responsibility in society.
Considering all the evil and foolish things going on in the world right now, it’s plain to see that our nation is in serious trouble. We are witnessing a downward spiral into depravity and perversion, and in many cases, these evil/pagan people don’t even try to hide it!
Despite the obvious spiritual nature of this, most people in America today say that the issues we are facing are political. So, if we change the political parties, the House of Representatives, the Senate, or the President, things will get better. But, the reality is:
Political paganism in American government is not the primary problem. The main cause of the moral decline in our country is really due to spiritual decay in society. When the government endorses, legalizes, creates, or legislatively permits evil, we see both the symptoms and consequences of spiritual decay.
But even if the government can’t find a way to legalize their evil agenda, pagan political leaders will still give their approval of, and even encourage, evil—which is a prophetic sign that the government has drifted away from God. It’s a parallel to what we see back in:
1 Samuel 8: 1-10 NIV When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” 10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.
Samuel was the prophet and judge that God had chosen to lead Israel at that time. In verse 1, it says Samuel was getting old, so he decided to appoint his sons as judges over Israel. But verse 3 tells us there’s a problem—his sons are dishonoring God.
Samuel's family wasn’t living according to God’s standards! The family of the nation's leader was dysfunctional—sound familiar? The more a government moves away from God, the more it removes itself from God’s divine protection. So, the elders of Israel asked Samuel to appeal to God for a different government. A couple of things to note here:
A lot of the problems that people want the government to fix today have happened because people aren’t following God’s design for the nuclear family! We wouldn’t have many of these issues if families were functioning the way God intended them to. Verse 6 says Samuel wasn’t happy and was probably offended when the people wanted a worldly king to guide and judge them.
Samuel prayed and told God that the people wanted a worldly government to manage the affairs of the nation. This meant the king would be their authority and head up their government. So, God told Samuel, “Give them what they want, because they haven’t rejected you—they’ve rejected Me!”
When God’s people allow the government to overrule, oppose, and make decisions against His will, then the people are rejecting God. God ordained government to manage society and to keep order on His behalf, according to His perfect plan. In verse 8, we see that the people rejected God:
Just like they did with all their foolishness after He saved them from Egypt! After a while, it gets hard to understand how people just continually decide to reject God. God knows this, so in verse 9, He tells Samuel to warn them about how a worldly king is going to rule over them.
1 Samuel 8: 11-20 NIV 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
He's telling them, if they want to operate like everybody else and trust a king to lead the government, then He’ll give them what they think they want! But God wants them to know that He’s not going to be involved in or bless a worldly government. Then Samuel tells them how they’ll know God’s not in it:
The government will start by taking a tenth of your belongings and tax you at the rate you’re supposed to be giving to God first! Remember, it’s just like the tithes and offerings that every true follower of Jesus should be giving back to the Lord from the first fruits of our income.
It’s God’s plan and principle for funding His work through the church! Tithes and offerings are also a tangible way for us to faithfully show God we trust Him and love Him for who He is! Tithes are to be given from man back to God, and it’s been God’s expectation for man all the way back in Genesis.
Everything belongs to God, and He provides us ways to have everything we need! We’re also expected to manage and steward the resources that He allows us to have, part of which is obediently giving back tithes and offerings to Him for funding His church. Then, He promises additional blessings from our obedience to Him when we’re sacrificially generous.
It is also the only principle where He allows us to test Him—and we should—because the blessings He promises for those who are obedient in this area are incredible! But instead of receiving His blessing, many people choose to reject it by allowing the government to “play God.”
God warns us that when we allow this to happen, the government is always going to require more from us than He does! The worst part of all this is that God has to condemn His own people—not because they wanted a king (there are many good and godly leaders out there) but, He condemns them because they wanted a system of government like all the other nations had! God had already given them His perfect plan for their life, which included a system and process to keep them reconciled to Him, along with the huge bonus blessing of His grace and mercy.
But, they rejected Him, so He had Samuel warn them that the worldly system of government will try to exclude God from everything. And the more we exclude God, the more we become like the people of 1 Samuel 8! So, we can’t put government ahead of God and then complain that taxes are going up!
We can’t put government ahead of God and then complain that government is too big! When the government is allowed to replace God, they’ll try to take over the role of God. The tragedy is that many of God’s people vote for the government to play God because they don’t have a biblical view of government. We see an example of this way back in...
Ezekiel 43:7-12 NIV 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings[a] for their kings at their death. 8 When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them forever. 10 “Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations[c] and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations. 12 “This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.
So, God and His glory come to the temple, and God declares it’s His throne in His temple, and He rules from the temple! However, the people brought the worldly kings of the government into God’s temple and tried to set the "worldly kings'" feet next to God’s feet.
The people symbolically made the evil/pagan government equal with God, even though they knew that God and the government are not equal! God gave the people the freedom to choose Him as their King or choose the government to be their king, but there’s no option to have both as their kings!
Today, it’s like the church allowing "worldly politicians" to demand and direct what they "can or can’t" do, instead of the church faithfully living by and testifying to what God has commanded and called His church to do! God says the government isn’t supposed to replace Him, and there’s no such thing as a "God plus government" plan!
There’s only one valid plan, and it’s God’s plan! There are no "government rules" and "God’s rules"—there are only God’s rules! Which God proclaimed from His temple and His church. But a lot of times, that’s not what we’re seeing in the church these days, and especially not in society!
So, if we want to help turn our nation back to God, we have to filter out the "lies and deceit" of the enemy and take the action God calls us to take in keeping our nation in alignment with His will and ways—which, at the very minimum, is to cast our vote in the elections!
The enemy’s strategy to distract us is always the same: bombard us with so much information that we have a hard time discerning who’s for us and who’s against us! We know that God is always for us, and He’s promised to provide us wisdom. So, our strategy is always the same:
Seek God first, and He’ll provide us the wisdom we need to vote for the leader He’ll use to heal our land! The challenge for us is to pray continually and look past the "foolish noise" of social media and campaign rhetoric!
Then, diligently and prayerfully discern the fundamental platforms and policies of each candidate that best represent the values of God’s kingdom! Our responsibility as believers is to make our choices guided by God’s values and His biblical principles!
Another problem today is that way too many churches and way too many people in churches have made the basis of their faith something called "civil religion," which in large part involves political parties and affiliations! But God doesn’t "ride the backs" of political parties!
God doesn’t identify with politics, period! Now, God deals with politics and politicians for sure! God has ordained His perfect form of government, and man has interfered with it in exponential "worldly ways" ever since! But God is on the throne, no matter how people vote!
And every legal citizen ought to vote and be politically engaged, because part of our responsibility as a true follower of Jesus is to manage and steward the plan that God has blessed us with! And we should be praying and thinking biblically to discern how God would have us vote!
We’re always supposed to be representatives of God’s kingdom before we go into the voting booth, and after we come out of the voting booth! The reality is, none of the political parties fully represent all the principles of God, so we have to be the representatives of God’s kingdom!
And we can’t fully align ourselves with anything other than God—especially political parties! We’re supposed to measure everything for alignment with God’s plan and His Word! The government is His, and He’s on the throne! If the government is dishonoring God, then we have to "call them" on it!
The point is: worldly kings and the people aren’t equal! Worldly government and God aren’t equal! Our allegiance is to God, but we are called by God to respect the government leaders.
The Bible says we’re to respect God’s ordained government absolutely, but we’re also supposed to provide significant godly influence on government!
In verse 10, God is telling Israel, “Don’t bring those kings and their chaotic, evil ways before Me! Don’t put those kings next to Me, and don’t bring their pagan ways into My presence!” So, we don’t live by two sets of standards—we only live by God’s standard! God’s view in His church is the only view that matters.
God says, “Sin and iniquities” aren’t a problem to be solved by the government—sin and iniquities are a spiritual problem! In verse 11, He says, “Make this known to the people of Israel, who are My covenant people (which is the Church in the New Testament of today)!
Make known to them the design of the temple, and tell them to build it the way I said to build it! The parallel for us today is to build the Church the way Jesus says to build it—not the way a “skinny jean” pastor or a mean, “old curmudgeon” pastor says to build it!
Use God’s instructions to design all its accesses and entrances, and follow all of God’s statutes and laws! Write it down while they watch so they can see with their own eyes its entire design, and they’ll have no excuse for failing to do them!
In verse 12, it’s declared as the law of God’s temple. It’s an entire area on the top of the mountain, and all the ground around it is most holy because it’s the law of God’s temple! God says, if they’re serious about Him and not just playing religion for their own belief system, they’ll structure the temple according to God’s laws.
Don’t put the government before God and then say, “The government plan is the plan we have to follow!” God says, “This is My temple, and when someone’s in My temple, they’re expected to follow the rules and laws of My temple!”
Illustration: Just like in your own home, there are rules for kids and visitors regarding language, smoking, shoes, pets, etc. In the same way, as God speaks to His people about His temple, He declares that there are rules! So, teach His people the laws, rules, and statutes of His temple. God built the temple so His people could be in proximity to His Holy Spirit!
In today’s parallel: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit haven’t changed, and never will! The temple that houses the Holy Spirit is now the Church—and the Church isn’t a building, it’s the people! Jesus is building His church where the Holy Spirit resides in us!
Likewise, a church is only honoring God when it’s operating in obedience to God’s Word, and not just allowing the rules of society to take over—even if those rules come from the government! God’s church only operates and functions by God’s laws, rules, and statutes!
But more and more today, we’re seeing God being pushed out of the culture. He’s being slowly and methodically marginalized, and the only reason He can be marginalized out of the culture is because He’s been marginalized in the church!
Even many professing Christians in the church don’t want to follow the laws of God’s Word. In many cases, it’s gotten to the point where, for fear of offending somebody, the people in the church want to adhere to a worldly, human viewpoint over God’s viewpoint!
So, they decide to do what they think is best, even when it disagrees with what God says! They go with their preferences, purposes, and pleasures instead of God’s. When people bring worldly laws and ideologies into the church, it exponentially dishonors God!
This is how the enemy continually influences the culture to keep expanding civil government until it trades God Almighty for the god of government. It’s always been a spiritual issue, not just a political issue!
We have traded God for the favor of partisan politics. Now, partisan politics not only wants to control the culture, but it also wants to control the church! God’s intention for government is to be a civil servant for His people. To protect His people, keep order in society. So that His people can get the work of Jesus done productively and unhindered! God never intended government to be an answer for the basic needs of life for His people.
God’s perfect plan includes the answers for: healthcare, taxation, education, the family, and all moral issues of our day!
God has an answer for everything, and every bit of it is in the Bible! But, because many people in the church don’t want to know the laws of God, they listen to what the worldly kings and governments have to say about everything!
That’s how they make their political decisions! God says to Samuel, “Tell the people in the church: Don’t be evil like the people outside the church!” God has: laws, rules, principles, covenants, and instructions!
When the church is operating and functioning properly, it becomes the conscience and example for government and society to follow! One of the most important things a true follower of Jesus can do is to live a successful way of life by putting God’s rule of law and His plan for government first!
Being obedient to God’s Word and holding leaders accountable to do the same must always be one of our top priorities!