Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 16 (Political Wisdom Part 1) (Part 66)

A few Lord's days ago, I had intended to speak to you on the subject of political wisdom out of the Book of Proverbs. And because of illness that week, during my time of preparation, and a number of other things that interfered with my ability to do what I wanted to do with that message, I decided to preach something else that Lord's day and was later asked whether I had preached that sermon on politics or not. Someone had come really wanting to hear that and was afraid maybe they had missed the point. Well, they didn't. I hope you're here today, though, to hear what the point is going to be, because we are going to really take a look at that subject now. Political wisdom. Or, if you will, we could subtitle this the Duty of Rulers and Our Duty to Them as the Word of God Teaches It. The latter portion of the Book of Proverbs, chapters 10 and following in particular, contains a great deal of material addressed to political wisdom. Now, the earlier part of Proverbs, where we have longer paragraphs of material for the most part, does touch the subject of politics. If I could give you an example, Proverbs 8 at the 15th verse, says, by me, that is, by wisdom, kings reign and princes decree justice by me, princes rule, and nobles all the judges of the earth. So God makes it clear, personified as wisdom here, that kings and judges, princes all over the earth, not just among Israelites, but among the Gentiles as well. All of them are to rule according to the word that is found here and the wisdom that he provides. So the earlier portion of the book does refer to politics. But there is a great deal of material in this middle section of the book. And maybe it'd be helpful just for a moment, to review the outline of the Book of Proverbs or something about the general literary breakdown of the book. The first nine chapters contain relatively long treatises on subjects, loose women, on ants and not being sluggards and things like that. Topics that are developed for more than just a verse or two anyway. And then we have the largest portion of the Book of Proverbs, the middle section that is given over to just about verse by verse, or at least two verses at a time, one aphorism after another. Often the subject changes radically. Clearly a combination anthology of materials that have been brought together, wise sayings that circulated in Israel and had, of course, the inspiration of God behind them. That's why they're in the Word of God. And then the last part of the book, which I'm still looking forward to getting to one of these days. We will get to that, I'm sure. We return to another literary style of presentation where you have such things as there are three things and yet four, which this, that, or the other were to take account of a different style of teaching, breakdown of the wise woman according to the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet. So the literary style changes at the end. We're now in the middle section of the book. And what I'm getting at is this middle section repeatedly comes back to political themes. In fact, some of the political wisdom that we read about in the Book of Proverbs and that we're going to be looking at today was actually communicated by and preserved specifically by kings. I give as an example Proverbs 25:1. These also are proverbs of Solomon, obviously the king of Israel, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out. So we have more proverbs of Solomon, but these are Hezekiah's collection. Apparently the king of Israel had certain people, wise men, advisers in his court, that had a collection of sayings that were especially close to or maybe precious to Hezekiah. And so now they are recorded. So here, Solomon the king giving these proverbs, and Hezekiah the king preserving and now communicating them to us. Hezekiah, I hope you remember, is one of the good kings, relatively speaking, of the southern kingdom of Judah. The ninth king, if I remember my list right, forgive me Sunday school children, if I've got it wrong. But anyway, he followed his wicked father Ahaz to the throne and reformed all of Judah. He not only restored the temple and made the Levites to serve in the way they should reform the courts in Jerusalem. So the things of Jehovah were taken care of and the things of the king were taken care of. But he actually reformed the countryside as well. He got rid of the false prophets. And Hezekiah's glory was that he even went out and cut down the sacred groves on the hilltops where sexual idols were established and people went out and worshiped to the gods of nature and so forth. So Hezekiah is well known for his reforming of Israel, and these are his sayings. My point is the king especially is communicating to us. And then there are proverbs that are especially communicated to the king. In Proverbs 31, verse 1, we read the words of King Lemuel, the oracle which his mother taught him. Now, your translation may not have oracle, because the Hebrew could also be translated king of Massah, Massah being one of the tribes that proceeded from Ishmael it's conceivable that this is a. Well, it's probably a non Israelite ruler one way or another, if you take it that. But probably an Ishmaelite ruler. On the other hand, Lemuel, which means in Hebrew belonging to God, could have been one of the precious names given to Solomon. He may be King Lemuel, others have speculated. But what I want you to see, whoever Lemuel may be, the fact is these are the words of King Lemuel, but which his mother taught him. His mother gave him this wisdom, knowing that he would rule someday, whether in Israel or among some Ishmaelite tribe or wherever it was. The fact is, these are proverbs that we read, and yet they were directed specifically to the king. So we have proverbs about the king, we have proverbs from the king, we have proverbs to the king. So with all that in mind, we come to the scripture reading this morning. I'm going to take you through this middle section of Proverbs, and we'll go passage by passage, reading what we are to learn about the wisdom of God for politics. This may take a little bit longer than usual, but it will be well worth our time. First of all, Proverbs, the 14th chapter, which is what we've been studying recently, verses 28 and 35. Hear now. God's word in the multitude of people is the king's glory. But in the want of people is the destruction of the prince. The king's favor is toward a servant that deals wisely, but his wrath will be against him who causes shame. Then turn to chapter 16, verses 10 to 15. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king. His mouth shall not transgress in judgment. A just balance in scales are Jehovah's. All the weights of the bag are his work. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him that speaketh right. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death, but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king's countenance is life, and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain. Chapter 17, verse 7. Excellent speech becometh not a fool, much less do lying lips a prince. Chapter 19, verse 12. The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion, but his favor is as dew upon the grass. Chapter 20 contains a number of aphorisms about politics. First, verse 2. The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion. He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life. Verse 8. A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. A wise king winnoweth the wicked and brings the threshing wheel over them. Verse 28. Kindness and truth preserve the king, and his throne is upholden by kindness. And then in chapter 24, verses 21 to 25, chapter 24. At the 21st, my son, fear thou Jehovah and the king, and company not with them that are given to change, for their calamity shall arise suddenly, and the destruction from them both who knoweth it. These also are sayings of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good. He that saith unto the wicked, thou art righteous people shall curse him. Nations shall abhor him, but to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Chapter 25, the first five verses. We've already read verse one about King Hezekiah's men. They write, it is the glory of God to conceal a thing. But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable. Take away the dross from the silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner. Take away the wicked from before, the king and his throne shall be established in righteousness. Chapter 28 has a number of verses as well. We begin with verse 2. For the transgression of a land, many are the princes thereof, but by men of understanding and knowledge, the slave thereof shall be prolonged. Verses 4 and 5. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them. Evil men understand not justice, but they that seek Jehovah understand all things. Verses 15 through 17. As a roaring lion and a raging bear, so is a wicked ruler over a poor people. The prince that lacks understanding is also a great oppressor. He that hates covetousness shall prolong his days. A man that is laden with the blood of any person shall flee unto the pit. Let no man stay him then. Chapter 29 at verse 4. The king by justice establishes the land, but he that exacts gifts overthrows it. Verse 12. If a ruler hearkens to falsehood, all his servants are wicked. Verse 14. The king that faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever. And in chapter 31, the first five verses. We've already read verse one. I continue with verse two. What my son and what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroys kings. It is not for kings. O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to say, where is strong drink? Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice due to any who is afflicted. And thus far, the reading of God's word. Yeah, I've done something unusual this morning. I don't ordinarily read that many verses at a time scattered through the book of Proverbs, but I did so purposely because I want you to have some impression as to how much, how often, how consistently the wisdom of Proverbs gravitates back, back to political matters. And this does not fit into the late 20th century American culture all about us. Because our culture, and sadly, with the complicity of many who are in the Christian church, our culture is driving for a privatized version of religion. A privatized version of religion that says religion is fine in its place. And its place is, by the way, very narrow, very limited. Religion is a matter of the heart. It's a matter of internal feelings. It's a of matter, matter of emotions and private relationship with God. Religion may be something having to do with what we do for an hour or so on Sunday mornings. It may have something to do with worship and prayer, and you might even have a little religiosity at your table every day when you say grace. But that's it for religion. All the rest of life is secular. Everything else outside of those areas that we've spoken of has nothing to do with your relationship with Christ, God. And so a privatized version of religion, where religion must be kept in private or, if you will, at the same time that homosexuals are coming out of the closet, the church is being sent back into it. Stay in the closet, keep it to yourself, don't bother us, have no public implications, no objective application so that all men have to see it. Just keep it to yourself. Private religion. And if that's what you're willing to do, then we can live with that. That is our modern culture. And as I say, in many places, it's our modern church as well, that is saying this. The separation of church and state, which is a standing political tradition, and by the way, a standing biblical tradition, that's where we learned it in this country. The separation of the institutions of church and state has today, however, become distorted into a separation of religion in the state, so that it's One thing to say that the rulers of the state do not answer to the rulers of the church, be they Pope or presbyter or whoever. It's quite another thing to say that the rulers of the state do not answer to God. We do not, by separating church from state, separate God from the state, separate morality and ethical considerations from the state. But this is the mistake that is made in our modern world. We tend to think if anybody stands up and says what the Bible says, oh no, no, get the church out of here. Well, we didn't bring the church in, we brought the Bible in, there's a difference between them. Or if someone were to stand up and say I have certain convictions because an absolute holy God has said don't bring in the church. But we're not, we're bringing God into the consideration, not the church. There is such a prevailing misconception of church and state relations, such a prevailing misunderstanding and distortion of what the separation is to supposed, supposed to be that it's as though you can't even talk about anything regarding public policy and have your Christian convictions come out. And at the very same time, hypocritically, in a two faced, double tongued way, our culture will be very happy to have people who are not Christians stand up and share their religious convictions. Their religious convictions, whether they be the most bizarre New age nonsense that you've ever heard that any sane person would laugh off. Any educated person would say it's not even worthy of being written up, that can be promoted. You can have the state actually have commissions pushing New age ideology. It can be presented in the classroom, in the public schools. But of course there's a separation of church and state. We don't want any religious considerations if they are Christian religious considerations. And of course person can stand up and say that his God is pleasure. A person can stand up and say his God is money. A person can stand up and say his God is freedom. A person can stand up and promote any number of atheistic perverted religious options, any number of philosophical outlooks on the world which do not come in tune with the word of God and people say that's perfectly acceptable. We are a pluralistic nation, we want to hear every opinion and that's perfectly fine. But if you as a Christian stand up and dare promote your point of view in public as a matter of policy, something that is a moral obligation, who are you to talk to us like that? You self righteous people. You separation of church and state has been grossly distorted today. And sadly many in the Christian church have been beat down and they've accepted that mentality and they have been silenced. Well, you know, if you're going to be a whole Bible Christian, if you're going to stand on the word of God and say everything inspired by God in this book here, everything is inspired of God and this book is to be a model for me and I'm supposed to preach all of it and I'm to be true to the whole counsel of God. The book of Proverbs is going to get you in a lot of trouble. The book of Proverbs is going to put you into hot water today because if you say what the Book of Proverbs says, people are going to say you don't have the separation of church and state down you, you are self righteous. There can't be any absolute answers. I'm absolutely sure that there are no absolutes. That's what you'll be told. In addition to that, there's a bureaucratic hostility to the church having anything to say about public policy. And that bureaucratic hostility is evident from tax exemption laws and procedures that are applied to the church. This is something that our own congregation, praise God, is very sensitive to. We haven't, apparently all of us come to the same conclusions as to how to deal with that issue. But the fact of the matter is we're all very much upset, we're all very much aggravated by the fact that the state seems to want to intrude into the life of the church, wants to lay regulations upon the church. And they go just so far, I believe anyway they go just so far to keep clear of saying to Christians that you can't preach the whole Bible. But I'll tell you, the sermon you're going to hear today and ones that you often hear from this pulpit would be aggravating to humanist state officials. They don't want us talking about these matters. Get your religion back in the closet. There might even be some who I believe will not be victorious in our generation, but some bureaucrats who would even like to pretend that the tax exempt status of the church gives a license to the state to tell us what we can say and what we cannot say. Well, I'll tell you this. The word of God's not bound and the word of man will never stop the true preaching of God's word. And bureaucratic nonsense or not, this pulpit will preach the Bible and will preach all the Bible and I'm sure we'll make mistakes in doing it from here and there, but we're certainly not going to make the mistake of thinking we can cut and paste it back together. There are things in the Bible that are going to have to be said to our culture and we're going to say them. God help us when we make mistakes. And let's have the Christians all about us show us when we've done that. But we're not going to say for the sake of those mistakes or for the hostility of the world that we'll be silenced. We will not. But then there's the Christian church. It's not just the distortion of church and state, not just bureaucratic hostility, but it's the pietism of the Christian church that we fight today as well. Now, I want to be careful here that you understand that I'm talking about pietism, not piety. I'm all for piety. I'm probably more for piety than many of those of you in this audience who are social activists might appreciate. I think there's a problem with many who are involved in social action today. They don't pray very much. They really aren't good students of the scripture. And when it comes to human relations, they flunk. They don't know what the fruit of the Spirit's all about. Gentleness and kind, kindness and peace are not on their tongues. They are not peacemakers. They're hot heads. They're troublemakers. And they not only want to trouble the state, they trouble Israel as well. They trouble the people of God. And then they think because they're so active out there in the world that it's all justified. Well, it's not, my friends. I'll tell you very clearly. Piety is important. Following the character of our Lord Jesus Christ and being a person like him is crucial. Having the fruit of His Father Spirit evident in our lives is crucial. Being warriors of prayer is crucial. Reading our Bibles is crucial. Knowing how to get along with people and counsel people is crucial. All these pious things are part and parcel of the Christian life. But you know, pietism says that's as far as it goes. And that's the problem with pietism. Pietism makes the sum and substance of Christianity, those things like Bible reading and prayer. I guess it becomes a little bit impious then if we pray that God will give us our daily bread and when we get up and go to our work so that he'll give us our daily bread. You see, piety is not enough. Piety must be followed. With what? Obedience, with action, by putting it into practice. God doesn't just fill our hearts with oozy good, warm Feeling God also motivates our feet to go out into the world and preach the gospel. And part of preaching the gospel is good news. Jesus is king of kings. He not only saves us for eternity to come, he saves us from our problems today. And he not only saves us in terms of our family life, he saves us in terms of our political life and our educational life and our economic life and our artistic life and our athletic life and everything having to do with life. Because Jesus came to make the blessings of God flow as far as the curse of sin is found and everything that has been touched by sin. Jesus has an answer for we have a number of churches today that want to stand up and say Jesus is the answer. But you know, it would embarrass them to death, frankly, if they were to preach that and you were to stand up and say, well, if Jesus is the answer, what are the questions? What's he the answer to? Is he the answer to inflation? Is he the answer to the fact that you cannot walk down the street unmolested in our major cities at night? Is he the answer to the sexual perversion about us? Is he the answer to the disintegration of the school system all around? Is Jesus the answer for these things? Oh, no, no, no, we didn't mean that. We meant Jesus the answer for really important things like going to heaven. In other words, Jesus is able to save us for the next life, but he's just impotent for this life. Is that what you mean? Jesus can take care of eternal things, but temporal things are beyond him. Forget it. That's not the lordship of Jesus Christ. That's not the sovereignty of God you read of in the Bible. Pietism is a great distortion of Christianity and it must be condemned. Now, by condemning pietism, I don't mean that we need to go around insulting and being abusive to pietists. Those individuals need to be educated. The they need to be brought into more constructive service in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It's one thing to condemn that movement and say it needs to be changed, another thing to just write off the people. So please be gentle with these people. Show them their air. Draw them into a more constructive lifestyle. And when we do that, then the fact that this country has so many thousands or even millions of professing evangelical Christians will become a country that doesn't have to take a survey to find out. As always, the word of God is going to prove to be powerful, too powerful to tame. Although I don't agree with the apologetical implications of What Spurgeon said once. I think Spurgeon had an interesting idea when he was asked about how he defends the Bible. And he said, defend the Bible. How do you defend a lion? Just let him out of the cage. Lion will take care of himself. Thanks. And the Bible has that kind of power. It's going to burst the seams. It's going to break all the boundaries and restrictions that humanists want to place upon it and which weak willed Christians want to place upon it. The Bible has an answer for life's problems, even political problems. The Bible presents a view of religious devotion that demands everything from us. It even demands our political reasoning and our political commitments. Because Christ is, as I've told you, the King of kings. And if he's not the king over the kings, and he's not a king at all. Ever thought about that? If Jesus is not king of kings, then what's he king of? He's not king of England, he's not the King of France, nor is he the King in China. And he's not even the king or president of the United States. Jesus is the King of kings because he rules from a throne in heaven over all the earth. And if he rules over all the earth, there are no neutral zones, no timeout places for his rule. As Abraham Kuyper said, there's not a thumb's width of creation where Jesus does not say mine. All of it belongs to Him. And everything that kings do will eventually be brought before the throne of the higher justice. And every law passed by man will eventually have to answer to the law above the law. And Jesus will have the final say. And on that day when Jesus speaks, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord, no matter what you said previously. And so the best thing I can tell to those who want to be political leaders today is you might as well get it worked out right now rather than having to work it out later. It's kind of like the commercial that you've seen. You know, you can pay me now, you can pay me later. Well, you can either honor Jesus now or you can honor him later. And it's going to cost you a great deal to honor him later. It's going to cost you your life eternally. All kings and judges of the earth had better kiss the sun, Psalm 2 says, or they shall perish in the way. So don't try to make the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, irrelevant to any area of life. Don't try to make the Word of the King, irrelevant to any area of life. You know what? The Muslims don't make that mistake. The Muslims understand very well that if you follow a God who doesn't have an answer for, for everything, you haven't got a God at all. I received a very interesting letter just this week. You already know I was going to preach on this, but I mean, it's amazing. In the providence of God letter from one of the missionaries in Egypt that listens to our tapes and has come to the Reformed faith through that tape ministry. And he wrote to me something that I thought you would find very interesting. Pardon me for reading my private correspondence, but this I think merits it. After saying a number of things about matters we've been discussing previously, he says, I'm also sure that biblical law is an important link in preaching the Gospel to Muslims, for they rely so heavily on law themselves, taken from not only the Koran, but also from the Hadith, the supposed sayings of Muhammad. For a Muslim, Islamic law is not only a means of justification, justification, but also of salvation. One of the objections I often hear from Muslims, you listen. One of the objections I often hear from Muslims is that Christianity doesn't have laws which regulate all areas of life, whereas Islam does. An interesting issue that is causing much controversy here is the existence of Islamic banks. Banks being run on the principle set forth in the Quran and Hadith. In a Muslim's mind, it is inconceivable that God would not give his subjects guidance in living their lives. I believe that they say this for two reasons. One is that they view the west, especially the US as Christian. Notice they link automatically politics with faith in God. And so they look at US politics and they say, well, that must be what Christian politics means, because obviously Christians have got to have some political implication. Right now on Egyptian television, the US serial Falcon Crest is showing a Muslim sees things like that and links the Christian faith with immorality, thus coming to the conclusion that in this instance there must not be a law structure which binds us. Secondly, they perceive that Christians are very uncomfortable with the Old Testament. We as Christians don't know what to make of it and thus tend to ignore it in favor of the New Testament. And he says, and that's why it's hard for Christians to evangelize Muslims because they say, we've got a world in life for you. What are you offering me? You're offering me something that doesn't even save us from the problems of this world. Why should I think you can save me from the problems of the world to come. And so here's a man who recognizes, ironically, that there is apologetical and evangelistic benefit in the law of God. Not something to be ashamed of. It's something we ought to preach and say, look, God knows what to say about sexual immorality. God knows what to say about inflation. God knows what to say say about neighborly relations and about justice in the courts and oppression to the poor. We've got an answer for those things. And above all, we've got a king of kings who will take us to heaven and introduce us to a new heavens and a new earth one day, wherein righteousness dwells, where all these principles will be enacted perfectly, consistently and forever. No, we cannot privatize religion in our day. We need to look at the Book of Proverbs then, and see what it teaches us about political wisdom. We're obviously going to have to do that at another time, aren't we? I notice all of you know where the clock is when I start saying things like that. The Book of Proverbs, Book of Proverbs has a great deal to say, and I'd like to rehearse some of those themes for you. And then obviously, in another Lord's day, we'll look at them in more detail. Notice that the Book of Proverbs teaches us about godly citizenship. There are passages that we read today in our long series of verses that we read that actually anticipate the New Testament teaching, which are quoted by Peter in First Peter, Chapter 2, and which are alluded to by Paul in Romans, the 13th chapter. New Testament political wisdom is Old Testament political wisdom because God didn't change his mind. God didn't come to the new dispensation and say, well, I guess that wasn't a very good idea. What else can I come up with? And so you'll find the inspired writers of the New Testament, look to the inspired writers of the Old Testament, and they repeat what they had to say. We'll look at that when we get down to the details. You'll notice as well that the Book of Proverbs teaches us the attitudes and the priorities of truly honorable rulers. Proverbs accepts the premise that those who are statesmen are to be noblemen. You notice that the word nobleman has disappeared from the daily newspaper. Statesmen are no longer called noblemen. You know why? Because it would be a joke. Loose living, drunkenness, carousing, womanizing, lying is part and parcel of the lifestyle of the Washington elite, and everyone knows that. Well, it's one thing to Know, it's another thing to accept it. So we don't call our politicians honorable men anymore, and we still have that term we call judges. In fact, when you write to your senator, you're supposed to write to him as the Honorable. So and so, you know, probably would gag you if you had to say that, right? The Honorable. I won't mention any names. Do they delight in truth? Do they? The book of Proverbs says if they don't delight in truth, their whole administration will be corrupt. You know, and Democrats and Republicans today are going to have their toes stepped on. You're not going to like this. Because, see, the word of God is not a partisan affair. The word of God cuts across all party distinctions. And the word of God says, you all are clowns and buffoons in my eyes. You think you can run an administration of justice when you don't care about the truth. It's the honor of a politician to inquire into things. And we accept a president and say, well, I don't know what's going on in my administration. You say, well, then what are you doing being the president? It's dishonorable not to know what's going on in your administration. We have people on the other side of the spectrum. If I can step on everyone's toes today. We have a political party in our nation that thinks nothing when readmitting a man to run for president and just socially accepting that even though he is a known womanizer, confessed as such. We have people who have been indicted for breaking the laws of our land who continue to sit in Congress, for crying out loud. And then we think God will take us seriously. We are clowns. We're worse than that. We're fools. No, we're worse than that. We're rebels. And the king of kings says, it won't go on forever. You will perish in the way. Come back for part two and you'll see how we can keep that from happening. The Bible teaches us what a truly honorable administration would look like. How a ruler would care more for his people and their vigor than for his own reputation. The Bible teaches us that severity is not enough. Authoritarianism is not enough. That one must be concerned for kindness and justice for his people, especially that the weak might be upheld and protected. And, you know, I never have any tendency, never did have any tendency, and I do not now have any sympathy for what was considered the counterculture or hippie movement of 20 years ago. But, you know, even, even those who are completely wrong in their political framework can sometimes be right on particular issues. And the one thing that these people I think were always right about, and we say that we are the land of the free and where justice will prevail, but it is just not true. It's a joke to think that if you don't have enough money for a high priced lawyer, you're going to get a shot in court today. I mean, we're a poor struggling church. It costs us a lot of money to retain a lawyer just long enough to write a contract or two for us and to get us whatever, you know, corporate status we need and so forth. Just imagine that what the poor have to do when they go to court. An honorable administration would not allow that to happen. Next, the book of Proverbs teaches us that honorable rulers do not render unrighteous judgments. Proverbs 16:10. If we might look at a particular this morning in Proverbs 16:10 we read a divine sentence is in the lips of the king. His mouth shall not transgress in judgment. Please don't misread. Shall not. That's not a prediction. That's not a description. That's not saying. As a matter of fact, his mouth never makes mistakes. That shall not is. The Hebrew shall not. Remember? The Hebrew shall not. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not kill. Kill. And here we read his mouth shall not transgress in judgment because there's a finality and authority to what he says. He must not transgress in judgment. He must not violate the laws of God. And when he does, the book of Proverbs says he becomes beastly. And the use of that expression is purposeful because the book of Revelation tells us that in the day of the New Testament Church, when the Roman Empire was in fact violating the laws of God and oppressing the people of God, the emperor of Rome was called the beast. The book of Proverbs tells you that's exactly what you describe your rulers as. Monsters. Isn't it ironic? If we can come up a few hundred years to the time of Thomas Hobbes, the Renaissance, that Hobbes, when he wrote about a ruler who was above the law, who by a social contract made to give him power, is to be called Leviathan, the monster. The Bible says you have rulers who think they're above the law and they will be monsters and they will oppress the poor. The Bible teaches us in the Book of Proverbs, rulers are to be a terror to evil. In fact, it says it in ways which the modern world wouldn't like it says that rulers are supposed to take the threshing wheel and drive it over the wicked. They're to drive them from the land. Their very eyes are to winnow the wicked out. So that the thought of going to court and seeing the judge, the thought of having to appear before the magistrates of the land, the thought of being hauled down to the police station ought in itself strike terror into the hearts of people. As the messengers of death, so is the decree of the king. Is that true? Today the righteous fear for their lives before the government. Today the righteous fear for their freedoms, the righteous fear for their property. Today, do the unrighteous? No. They've got the connections. They know how the system works. It's amazing how mob bosses and thugs in this country, they're not worried about the police, they're not worried about the politicians. They put the politicians as what they are. The Bible tells us rulers are to be a terror to evil. And yet they're to be like the morning dew upon the grass, which is in. Remember in Hebrew thought, that's a beautiful image in a dry parched land. The ruler is to be like that gentle blessing of the dew upon the grass and be a terror like a lion, like a messenger of death to those who are evildoers. Well, here's the key consideration. The book of Proverbs tells us in chapter 16, verse 12 that politics can't be ethically open ended. Politics cannot be a privatized matter where religion and morality have nothing to say. Say politics cannot, as it is defined, absolutely defined in the textbooks on political theory in our day. Politics cannot be defined as the realm of pragmatism and compromise over principle. Because According to Proverbs 16:12, it is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness. For the throne is a stone established by what? By the consent of the people? No, the throne is established by the might of the ruler. No, the throne is established by righteousness. And for want of righteousness, many are the rulers in the land, meaning instability politically. One ruler after another for want of righteousness, the poor are neglected in the courts. For want of righteousness, the innocent are oppressed and are afraid of what happens in our land. For want of righteousness, the country is going to be lost. Don't think God can be mocked. Don't think that Jesus is the king of kings some way in heaven and he's so interested in some kind of cloudy domain that's just totally ethereal and without any relevance to this world. Don't think that he is not offended by what's happening in our country. Don't think that our political rulers are going to get away with this. Don't think that when they neglect the wisdom of God they will yet thrive and be well. The book tells us that those who will not kiss the sun will perish. That's what's happening all around us, friends. And so today, let me call you in this opening message about politics from the Book of Proverbs. Let me call you to remember that we as Christians have an answer even for those problems. We as Christians have a word for the politicians. We as Christians have not thrown off the prophetic mantle that is upon us to say to the rulers and the kings of the earth, kiss the Son of God, serve him, or lose everything. Let's pray. Father, we do ask you today that you would take away our cultural conceptions of our Christian faith, take away all of those restrictions that the world would place upon us and our understanding of our devotion to you. Father, we do not ask that you would take away our piety. We do not ask that you would take away our devotion. We do not ask that you would take away that quiet and precious time of prayer and reading of your word. That you would not take away the love that we share between brothers in the Christian church. We do not ask that you take any of that away. But, Father, we do pray that you would fire all of those things up and make them means that we would become prophetic activity in our day, that we would be out in the world saying that Jesus is not only king of my heart, he's king of the world. That Jesus does not beg people to come into his kingdom. He commands them to come. He requires repentance and a change of mind. And above all, Father, we pray that we would preach for a change of mind so the people would see the depth and the breadth and the eternality of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would put us into this world as salt to preserve it from the decay that is so evident about us. That you would put us in the world as light to scatter the darkness. And Lord above all, we do pray that through this in your grace, power being exercised, that you would hasten that day when all the kingdoms of this world shall indeed be the kingdom of our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen.