ALL ABOUT GOD

(Sermon Series)

 by Rev. Richard Jones

DO THE RIGHT THING

Romans Chapter 13

FOR WRATH’S SAKE

Romans 13:1-4 (ESV)

1  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. 2  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3  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, 4  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.

Daniel 3:16-18 (ESV)

16  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18  But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Acts 4:18-20 (ESV)

18  So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19  But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20  for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Genesis 9:6 (ESV)

6  “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 (ESV)

1  “If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, 2  then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. 3  Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.

FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE

Romans 13:5-7 (ESV)

5  Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6  For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

1 Peter 2:13-17 (ESV)

13  Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14  or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

FOR LOVE’S SAKE

Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)

8  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9  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.” 10  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV)

4  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

FOR JESUS’ SAKE

Romans 13:11-14 (ESV)

11  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. 12  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. 13  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV)

13  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-9 (ESV)

4  But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8  But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9  For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)

2  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.