Alright, turn back in your Bibles
again tonight to the book of Romans and the
thirteenth chapter. And I want us to take up where
we left off last week and read a few verses. beginning in verse 6. For for this cause pay ye tribute
also, for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this
very thing. Render therefore to all their
dues Tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom,
fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. O no man anything but
to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled
the law. Now, I might could have gotten
a little bigger crowd tonight if I had announced and maybe
advertised my title. Because I call this message tonight,
Tax Relief for Believers. Tax Relief for Believers. And you would think that I had
deliberately selected this text for tonight. But actually, in
God's providence, this is just where we've come in this study
of the book of Romans. I thought about it this morning,
something I've heard all my life, and that is that there are two
things that are sure, death and taxes. And it does appear that
we are now at a point in time when the second part is definitely
sure. It is the news on every hand,
and it is certainly the common complaint And it is the same
on all levels, whether it be on the federal level, or whether
it be on the state level, and if you read the newspapers, even
on the local level. And one thing that I want to
say at the outset of this is this, and that is that I do not
and I cannot and will not condone or try to justify in any way
the things that wicked leaders do to the people. They will meet the judgment of
God. They will every one be dealt
with by God Himself. And all you have to do is read
places like the Psalms and every book really in this Bible, and
you will find that they will all meet the wrath of God. He says, Woe unto them. But that hasn't changed the fact
that God, in His will, has raised up in authority these who do
such very thing. And I thought about it today.
Is there any real relief in all this? Is there any tax relief,
as we would say? And the thought came to my mind
is that there is for God's people, they're the only ones who can
have any reason to be relieved in any way, and there is relief
for everyone who knows God, who believes the Word of God, and
who trusts God, everyone who does so. And if you remember,
Paul has just reminded us that the powers that be are ordained
of God. He said, if there is authority
on this earth, if there is someone raised up to have power over
others, it is God who has ordained that power. And there is no way
around this, and the truth is this ought to really be a consolation
to us. Rather than fussing about those
powers that be, We ought to delight and be consoled and comforted
in the fact that if they are, they are ordained of God. And He is, for every believer,
our wise, our gracious, and merciful God, even as He says, our Father. Christ taught us to pray, Our
Father who art in heaven, thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven. If you remember the word that
God gave to the prophet, the word that is to be spoken to
God's people in every age is this. say unto Zion, thy God
reigneth." David expressed it like this on the behalf of all
of God's elect in every age as they face all that they might
have to face. He said, our God. Our God. is in the heavens, and
it is our God that hath done whatsoever he has pleased." That's
our God. And I want to point out tonight
some things for us to remember and to consider in light of this
time in which we face greater pressures in all these things. They call it, at least some do,
a tax and spend time. What kind of relief might we
find in remembering some things that we are taught in this book? Well, here's the first one. The
first one is we need to remember that no matter how bad we think
we have it, many in the past have had it much worse. Or I could even say this, on
the day and in the age wherein we might think we have it the
worst, it is far better than we deserve. That's the truth. As a matter of fact, anything,
as somebody said, anything this side of hell is far, far more
than we deserve. And I'll give you just one example,
and that is the people that God used as a type of His elect,
of spiritual Israel, the Israelites, they oftentimes As sinners such
as we are, they oftentimes were found in bondage and slavery,
and in the midst of that, it just got worse. Let me read you
something out of the book of Exodus, the words of Pharaoh
concerning them. Now, they were already and slavery
making bricks for the Egyptians. Well, he said, ye shall no more
give the people straw to make brick as heretofore. They were provided the straw
that was used in the making of bricks. But he said, that's coming
to a close. If you think it's bad now, it's
going to get worse. He said to his leader, don't
provide them any more straw to make brick as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw
for themselves. And the tail of bricks, or the
total of bricks, or the requirement of bricks that were to be made,
which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them, ye shall
not diminish aught thereof, for they be idle. Therefore they
cry, saying, Let us go, and sacrifice to our God. Let there more work
be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein, and let them
not regard vain work." That's the people that God identified
with on this earth, a nation of people in which He pictured
His dealings with His spiritual people, and they suffered on
this earth. And even in a greater way, it
was laid on them at the bidding of the one God put in authority. So no matter how bad we think
it might be, no matter how much the pressures of those who lead
us might be laid upon us, there is nothing to compare those in
the past have dealt with much, much more. All right? Here's the second thing. There
are many throughout this world right now in this present age
who have burdens heaped upon them far, far greater than we
do. As a matter of fact, there is
no doubt that the pressure of living under dictators, of governments
that have no concern for their citizens, The pressures and the
burdens and the oppressions that are in so many countries and
so many areas right now are greater than you and I can even imagine. And I'm not talking always about
countries wherein a dictator lives. When you go somewhere
like in England, and you begin to pay for something, and right
at the end they add on something like 17% in a VAT tax. You say, hold on here. 17%. And then you turn this way,
and here's another tax, and another tax, And in countries all over
this world right now, though we moan and groan at the pressure
we think we're brought under, there are multiplied millions
of people who are enduring far, far worse. I'm talking about
not in Pharaoh's day, I'm talking about today. And not only that,
but here's the third thing. And that is that these things
are but a reminder of how God has blessed us as a nation and
individually. Now, I'll tell you this in our
country. There's one thing that's pretty
obvious. And that is that the more taxes
we pay, the more money we've made. And not only that, the
more possessions that we have and the greater prosperity we've
enjoyed, and that's just a fact. That's just the way it is. You
say, well, I hate paying all those income taxes. Would you
like to make less? Or, I hate paying all those county
taxes. Would you like to have less land,
smaller houses, and all these things? All these things, on
one hand, are a reminder of just what God has given us. given us such a bounty, given
us so much more than so many have ever even thought about
having, so much that men and women are literally dying to
come and live where you live. They're literally dying in the
process of trying to get where you and I are in order to live
like we are. So when they tax, when they put
the pressure on, that in itself ought to just remind us of what
God in His bounty has given us. That's just the truth. And then
fourthly, this. These things remind us also of
our real dependence on God. Don't you just hate to find yourself
helpless? Isn't that really at the root
of what grates on us that somebody can tax us or somebody can make
a law and dictate to us what we do? You know it is. I know it is. But you see, it
reminds us of how We are really so dependent on God, and with
all that we have, the more we have, the less we're inclined
to look to Him and trust Him and rely on Him. I'm sorry that's the way it is.
When everything is going so well, When you've got money to jingle
in your pocket, money in the bank, security we like to call
it, there is that great natural tendency of this sinful flesh
to forget God. Hold your place here and turn
back to the book of Deuteronomy, to Deuteronomy chapter 8. Now, I want you to just listen
to this. In Deuteronomy chapter 8, beginning in verse 7, what
the Lord says to these Hebrews that He was about to bountifully
bless. Verse 7 of Deuteronomy 8, For
the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks
of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and
hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive oil and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat
bread without scarceness thou shalt not lack anything in it,
a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest
dig grass. When thou hast eaten and art
full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land
which He hath given thee. But beware! Beware that thou forget not the
Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments,
and His statutes, which I command thee this day, lest, when thou
hast eaten, and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and
dwell therein, And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and
thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up. and thou forget the Lord thy
God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from
the house of bondage, who led thee through that great and terrible
wilderness where were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought where
there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock
of the flint, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which
thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he
might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end. And thou say
in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand have gotten
me this wealth." How quickly we forget how prone
we are in our prosperity, in all that we have, to think that
it is we ourselves who got it of ourselves. But things happen that remind
us that He gave it to us. And then there's this. Fifthly,
we're prone to forget that all we have, as we've just read,
He gave us by grace. When Paul was writing to the
Corinthians, He said it about as plainly as it can be said. He said, for who maketh you to
differ? And what do you have that you
did not receive? Now, if you received it, why
dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? Number one, what we have, we
have as the gift of God's grace. And if that be true, He can surely stop anybody from
taking it from us. You think governments are out
of the hands of God? can tax or do whatever it is
that they do and take from us if God doesn't want them to? Now, you may think a vote can
stop them. You may think that political
pressure can stop them. You may try all these things
with all these people. But I'm here to tell you this. If God gave it to us, I don't
care what it is. I don't care how much it is.
I don't care how little it is. If He gave it to us, He surely
can stop anybody from taking any of it from us. And if He
allows it, then it has to be for our good and His glory. All right? Here's another thing
I want you to remember tonight. As bad as it is, as godless as
they may seem, as wicked as they might do, can you imagine what
this world would be like without civil governments? If God, as He has said in Romans
13, if He had not ordained the powers that be, these civil governments
and magistrates, to execute wrath against evil and be for good
to His people and this earth, what would it be like? One word comes to my mind. chaos. It would be the survival of the
fittest. The few would have everything. And they would kill as many,
hurt as many, destroy as much as was necessary for them to
get it. Now, I know I've said this myself.
What an idiot I am. I've said we ought to just fire
everybody and shut the whole thing down and start from scratch. Maybe so. But before anything
could get redone, it'd be so bad that you can't
even fathom it. If there was like a moment in
time when the whole government fell at one time and men were
left unrestricted in their wickedness to do what they wanted to do,
what they try to do every day. It would be a bad scene, as we say,
a bad scene. You know, I thought about it. You think of some of the dictators
that have ruled. Oh, you know, it just sticks
in our craw as we say that anybody is under the hand of a dictator
in this world. But when those dictators were
removed from power, what happened? We thought it was bad before.
We thought He did bad to them, and when He's taken out of the
way, what do they do to each other? Is that not right? You see, this is God-ordained,
and it's for our good. Not only for the good of His
people, but it's mercy to every person. And then think about
this, seventhly, God has ordained this for our good, our particular
good as His people. Look down in Romans 13 at verse
6. He says, For for this cause pay
ye tribute, for they are God's ministers, attending continually
upon this very thing. That is, God has put these in
authority and they are His servants for good to us and to execute
wrath against evil. Look back at verse 5. He said,
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, not only
for the fact that if you are not, they are the ministers of
God to execute His wrath against you. They bear not the sword
in vain. But not only that, for conscience
sake. Because our submission to those
that God has put in authority is in reality submission to God
Himself. That's right. He says in verse 7, render therefore
to all their dues. Tribute to whom tribute is due,
custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. He says we are to pay respect,
we are to give a certain measure and kind of honor and even money to establish and
maintain civil governments. And yes, even to pay taxes. That's all that word tribute
really means, pretty much. We pay tribute to whom tribute
is due. You say, well, they'll certainly
not do it for me if God put them in authority. Why would He say that if that
wasn't the case? Why would He say that if we didn't have a
little problem with it even as believers. Eighthly, Because God's purpose
of grace, which is in Christ, is inseparably joined to these
and all things. Now you say, can anything good
come out of what is obviously unjust taxing? Just take that. Can anything good come out of
a people being unjustly taxed. Turn back to Luke chapter 2. You say, there's no way any good
could come out of this. Look back here in Luke chapter
2. It says, and it came to pass
in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus. Now, he wasn't an elected official. He was a sovereign ruler. We'd call him a dictator. There went out a decree. He just
said, this is what will be done, that all the world should be
taxed. That is all the known world,
which was for the most part under His rule at that hour. He just said, you go send this
message out. throughout the world. Everybody's
going to be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed,
everyone into his own city. You just couldn't pay it anywhere.
You had to go to your own city. and pay your tax. There was a fellow by the name
of Joseph. He and his wife were mighty And Joseph also went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage
of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused
wife, being great with child." Now, I mean, you talk about a
fellow He's a poor fellow to start with and he's got to travel
back to his home city. His wife's expecting a baby.
They don't have a bus to travel on. They don't have their own
car. It's going to cause a real hardship. But God used that because this
baby had to be born in this city. to fulfill His decree and His
prophecy because He's the Son of God. You think they'd been making
that trip in those times, under those hardships, if it hadn't
been for this taxi? The most significant event at
that point in this world to ever have taken place took place because
of power that God had ordained to be, said, everybody's going
to be taxed into going back to their home city. It's all a part of God's purpose. Because it says, And so it was
that while they were there, the days were accomplished, that
she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn. That's Christ. That's the Lord
Jesus. All right, here's the next thing.
When we pay our taxes and honor those God has placed in authority,
we follow the example of our Lord. You say, well, if He was here,
no. I don't see in anything I read
that there was anything political, earthly political, about the
Lord Jesus Christ one bit. He didn't come to lead a crusade
in the name of a cause. He didn't join one that already
was. Turn back to Matthew chapter
17. Matthew chapter 17. In Matthew 17, look down in verse
24. And when they were come to Capernaum,
they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, Does
not your master pay tribute? Well, he doesn't know nothing.
anything except the garment he's wearing. He doesn't have any
houses. He doesn't have any land. Are
they going to tax a man who's in that kind of poverty? Surely he has every right to
defy that, doesn't he? Does not your master pay taxes?
And he said, yes. And when he was come into the
house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of
whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their
own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are
the children free. but notwithstanding, lest we
should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and
take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened
his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money." I know what you're thinking.
I'd like to catch a few of those fish. What does he say? That take and
give unto them for me and they." You take this money, doesn't
matter how unjust it might be, doesn't matter what the situation
is. They're the ones in authority.
I put them there. You take this money and you pay
your taxes and mine. You pay your taxes and mine."
Anything wrong with following the Lord's example? And then also in that, we avoid
the traps and snares of wicked men and are not caught up in
the things that distract us from looking to and following Christ. You see, this kind of stuff is
what false religionists do, and they think they're serving God. Turn over to Matthew 22. Matthew
chapter 22. You see, The Jews were chafing under the
constraints of the Roman government. There was no love lost between
them. The same crowd that said, we're not in bondage to any man,
they were in bondage to the Romans right then. So the Pharisees, in verse 15
of Matthew 22, it says, then went the Pharisees and took counsel
how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto
him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we
know that thou art true, and teach us the way of God in truth,
neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person
of men." Now I have not learned a whole lot since the Lord saved
me, but I have learned to beware
of those who come with praise first. Now we know, you know,
we know that you are a Christian, we know that you preach the Bible,
we know you tell the truth, we know that You're not under the
constraints of anybody. You know, we know you wouldn't
have anybody to exercise any kind of authority over you. You
just better beware of that. Tell us, therefore, what thinkest
thou? Is it lawful to pay taxes unto
Caesar or not? I mean, the Bible says we're
free. Doesn't God say we're free? Is it lawful? Should we pay taxes,
tribute to Caesar or not? I mean, after all, we're the
people of God, they were saying, and he's obviously a wicked heathen. But Jesus perceived their wickedness
and said, why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Why would I want
to be in league with you who not only don't know God, but
hate God? Why would believers want to be
bedfellows with a bunch of God-hating, gospel-despising people for any
cause? Now you listen to it. Show me
the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. They weren't going to trust him
with much, were they? They brought him a penny. Him, I'd trust you
with more than that. Not much more, but more than
that. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? Who's on this coin? Who's on that dollar you've got
in your pocket? Who's on that big bill you've got, that coin
you've got? Some man whose very image represents
civil government. They say unto him, Then saith he unto them, Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto
God the things that are God's." This ain't a money thing with
God. It's a matter of submission. And the heart bowed to his will
and his authority. And when they heard these words,
they marveled and left him and went their way. You'd think that
being so interested like they were in a man of such a character
that they'd want to find out more from him, wouldn't you?
No. You see, if they were able to
bring him into their camp and cause, he was no more than they
were. And then here's the last thing. We're to remember that the greatest
thing of all in this is that though God allows men
to lay great debts on us to pay, we do not owe, nor will we ever
have to pay the one true debt which we did owe. And that's
the debt of our sin. If they tax me to death in this
world, if they take everything you've got, If they make you pay what you
don't really owe, you'll never have to pay what you did owe. And that's the debt of sin. Christ paid the price of our
redemption with his own perfect blood. He suffered in our place. and satisfied every claim against
us. As a matter of fact, Paul said,
you are bought with a price. He gave his life a ransom for
many. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I And if those that he has ordained
to be in power, if they take every earthly thing we have,
we will have lost nothing. And they'll sure be surprised
when they see God burning every bit of it up with fire. all the gold, all the silver,
all the money, all the title deeds, everything that men value,
He will purge this world with fire and burn it all up and they'll
be surprised. But we'll be glad because we'll
have lost nothing. We'll have lost nothing of any
real value. They'll be judged for all of
their abuses, and we'll still possess Christ, the true treasure. We'll still have the riches of
His grace secured to us. We'll still have that eternal
inheritance that He's reserved in heaven for us. Nothing valuable will be lost. So my words to you tonight are
these. Rest, dear people. Just rest. Let the world gripe and moan. Let them be fearful of what man
can do. Let them live without any peace
of mind and heart. But if you know Christ, just rest. Rest in Him. Rest in God's promises. They're
all yea and amen in Him. Enjoy Christ. Enjoy His gospel. Enjoy the things that He's given
you. Enjoy those spiritual lasting
things. Enjoy your families. Enjoy your brethren and their
fellowship in Christ. Because these things are the
only true relief from taxes. And they only belong to the people
of God that he's loved and given himself for. That he left heaven. He left
the riches of his throne. And the Bible says he became
poor for our sake that we might be made rich through him. What we have in Christ. No man can tax away or steal
away or destroy, because the giver is also the
keeper, and that is God Himself. And
our God, He's in the heavens. Not only that, He's on the throne
as a man. And he is doing whatsoever he
hath pleased. And we're never going to have
to pay. You might scrape up enough money
to pay your taxes, but you can never scrape up enough to pay
that debt of sin. But he paid it all. Rest in him. Relax. Threaten not thyself over evildoers. Enjoy that relief that belongs
to you in the Lord Jesus. Father, tonight we thank you
for your good grace. We are thankful that you rule
and reign We pray that you'd give us faith and confidence
in you that you are now in all that you raise up and allow men
to do, working it together for good to them that love you, to
them that are the called according to your purpose, that you're
doing it for the glory of your name. We thank you that there is always
relief for that people who trust you,
who rest in you, who found that peace that passeth understanding,
the peace of God in Christ, that peace which He made by the blood
of His cross. Cause us to rest in Him. Rest from all these labors and
these frettings. Enable us to graciously wait
upon You. Trust Your purpose. Pay tribute
and honor and custom and fear to whom You've ordained that
they are to be given to. You've given us far, far more and kept us from far, far greater in our Savior, the Lord Jesus,
in whom we thank You and pray. Amen.