Aforetime

 Luk_20:25  And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

This account of the Lord's words are in 3 of the 4 Gospels. Not all of the events in each of the Gospels are the same, for each Gospel is targeted to a different purpose. Yet this is in 3 of the four.

It must be something God wants us to hear.

What does it mean? Well Christ spoke very clearly. The Government of man is to be honored as is the Government of God.

Taxes must be paid, laws must be followed. The Government of man has been installed by God. Thankfully, at the time of America's government being set up we had Godly men who set it up for the people by God and with Godly principles in place.

You might ask why God put dictators in place, why He allows bad people to lead. Does He? Some take that power by force, some are voted in by the people, some are in that position due to bloodlines. The Israelites were given a king for they would rather have a man rule them than God. They got exactly what they asked for, and so have we for the most part.

Yet all governments are put in place by God, what He ordained and what started out as a good thing can and does become corrupted by man.

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 

Here in Romans Paul is telling the people in power what God expects of them. But ,as we see even in the Bible, man corrupts their position and power, given to them by God, for their very own purposes.

How many times were good rulers followed by evil ones in the Old Testament? God ordains, man corrupts, this seems to be man's greatest accomplishment. Corruption, decay, destruction.

So if government is declared and set up by God, how do we then act when they tell us to go against God and His Word?

Many will quote the following verse to stand against the government of man.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 

Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 

But you need to look to context, for here it is that Peter and John are addressing the religious leaders not the government.

Act 5:26  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 

Act 5:27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 

Peter and John were standing here against the religious leaders and their orders to not preach Christ. Do not confuse these religious leaders with the government. For Rome was the government of that day.

God tells us that He set government up, He ordained it, so how do we justify going against government and man when they try to tell us not to listen to God, not to do that which He commands us?

Well, instead of my words let me give you the example of Daniel. He did what he did everyday, he did not make a public display of it, he did not stand in the public square and yell and holler. Instead he did what he did everyday and if it was considered wrong after all the years of doing it then oh well he was going to honor God anyways.

Dan 6:9  Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 

Dan 6:10  Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 

Daniel did not walk away from his testimony, nor did he waver in his resolve to honor God and follow his convictions. Yet never did Daniel rail against the government or the king.

He merely remained faithful.

Daniel was subject to the king and he went to the lion's den for it, but he never wavered, he never lost his temper or his testimony. He was faithful.

When God tells us to go to church and the government says we can not then we must do that which we did aforetimes. When the government passes a law against God, we must stay true to our testimony and our God. We must do what we did aforetime.

Paul and Peter used their times in front of the government to testify and preach, they did not preach sedition, they preached Christ and Him crucified. Daniel did as he always did and never wavered in the good or the bad times.

Those are our examples.

If the government of man tells us that we are not to worship then we must maintain our testimony. If they tell us we can not preach Christ then we must remain faithful in our testimony. Just remember our testimony will be more effective if it is the same before evil men take over as after they take over.

I have one parting shot that many will not like but I am going to say it anyway. If this government in America has gone astray and left God, we Christians have no one to blame but ourselves. For not voting Godly principles, or even not voting. For we the people are in charge of our government, if our neglect or complacency has led us to that point then we are to blame.

We are guilty for not keeping our testimony intact and not safeguarding the government God gave us.

You can not rail against the government for what you allowed.

Hitler was voted in by the people, the rulers only do that which the people allow.

What is our testimony? Is it one of faithfulness, in word and in deed? or is it one of sitting back and allowing the world to take over while we soaked up God's blessings and regarded not that which was placed in our trust?

We must do what we did aforetime.

For that is what got us where we are today. Sedition, open insurrection is not the answer but true to your God, your testimony, and His Word we must be.