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All right, good morning everybody. We are there in Exodus 19. Now, I have been working through a series for some time. We started the series on, remember, being in subjection to the authorities that God has put over us. And, you know, always when we preach on submission, it's not the most popular topic. But thank you for sticking around so far. And then we kind of flipped it on its head and we started to speak about those in authority and the responsibilities that those in authority have when it comes to having people under them. And when we looked at submission, we were talking about how we as God's people need to submit under the authorities and the governments that God has put over us. And I'm not here pretending that our authorities and government are perfect. I know when it comes to human beings, there's always going to be some level of corruption. And even in the time of Israel, the governors and authorities were many times corrupt. Nevertheless, God has instituted governments as an authority to be over the nations. The title for the sermon today is, Governing a Nation, Governing a Nation. And so today, you know, unless you're a politician, might not directly apply to you, but it's still good to know what God expects from our governing politicians, our judges, our lawmakers. You know, God has a lot to say about this. And the reason we read in Exodus 19 is, obviously Exodus 20 is very famous for containing the Ten Commandments. But Exodus 19 essentially has where God begins to speak to the children of Israel as a nation, okay? They came out of Egypt as the children of Israel, but they were to become the nation of Israel. And if you look at Exodus 19 verse number 5, God says to them, Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. So God says these words to Moses, and Moses is to tell these children of Israel, hey, you want to become a holy nation, a nation under God, then you've got to keep the covenant that God, which of course is the Old Testament, the old covenant, that God instilled in that nation. Like I said, the title for the sermon today is Governing a Nation. Now Australia, we need to make this very clear, Australia is not a nation with a covenant with God. You know, again, very clearly, when it comes to the covenants that God instills with man, you know, God is the one that comes with the conditions of that covenant, whether it's the old covenant and the new covenant, then man is the one that agrees to that covenant that God instills. So here we have God essentially expressing to the children of Israel, if you want to be a nation under me, you've got to keep my commandments. And then later when Moses comes and presents it to the nation, they say, yes, we're going to keep the commandments that God has asked us, we're going to keep the covenants, and then God signifies that covenant with blood. We have the blood of the animals taken and sprinkled upon the people. And then we have the new covenant. Today we have the New Testament that we live under, the new covenant. And again, God is the one that comes with the conditions that we're all deserving of hell, of punishment, because of our sinful nature, our sinful condition. But then God also promises us our Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for us 2000 years ago, rose again from the dead, and he did everything necessary for us to go to heaven. It's by simple faith. And so we enter that covenant, the moment we put our full faith and trust on Christ alone, the moment we do that, we are sprinkled by the blood of Christ, we're cleansed by his blood, and we enter into that new covenant. So I say that because I'm trying to demonstrate to you that Australia does not, as a nation, does not have a covenant with God. Nevertheless, we have the first five books of Moses. Primarily though, Exodus, you know, the full books, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, those are the four books primarily, where God gives instructions of how a nation must be governed. All right, that's a huge chunk of your Bible. And you know, if we have a nation, if you know, if we have people starting a nation or creating a government, you know, in 1901, Australia became a federation, and we became our own sovereign nation in 1901 with our own constitution. And you know, at that point, when people are coming together and forming a government or forming a nation, you know, we should be, just like anything in life, should be looking at God's Word, God is the creator, God is the one that's created authorities, and saying, how does God want a nation to be governed? All right. Now, if you can come with me quickly to 1 Samuel, come with me to 1 Samuel chapter 8, come with me to 1 Samuel chapter 8, we are going to bounce around in the Bible quite a bit to get some ideas of how God wants a nation to be run. Again, remembering that we don't have a covenant with God, all right. So for example, when the nation of Israel had a covenant with God, you know, that nation was not allowed to have other religions. They were not allowed to have other gods on the land, or you were put to death. But of course, we don't have that covenant with God here in Australia. And so the closest thing we can possibly get is the freedom of religion. And I've spoken about this recently when we had Australia Day, and we talked about the blessings that come on this land and how God has richly blessed this nation. But you know, when it comes to Moses, and then establishing themselves as a nation, then when they went into the promised land, and they finally had their own inherited pieces of land that God has given them, the system that the nation was under was a system of judges, all right. So there were judges, they didn't have any kings, they didn't have any prime ministers or anything like that. They had a nation of judges. That's how God first instilled that nation to be run. And some people call that system a kritaki. Is that the right word? Kritaki. They call it. Some people call it a kritaki. And it's kind of like where we get the word, you know, in English, we say, you know, to criticise something or to be critical. We're saying we're passing judgment on that. And some people refer to that system of judges as that term. And prior to that, when it came to Moses, of course, you might say that was a clear theocracy where God was, you know, passing out his laws very clearly through Moses. But even then, Moses had a system by, he had some elders which helped him to judge over the land. And so we see this merging of theocracy where God is in charge to a system where the judges are kind of in charge, but still they're supposed to be passing the laws that God has put upon the land. And then in 1 Samuel 8, verse 7, we have this story, you could call it an unfortunate story. But in 1 Samuel 8, verse 7, it says, And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto me, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. So this is when the children of Israel decided we don't want judges anymore because Samuel's sons who became judges were corrupt. Surprise, surprise, human beings can be very corrupt. Even the children of Samuel, even the children of a great man, Samuel. And so they desire a king over them like the other nations. And now from this time forward, Israel would be under a monarchy. Where instead of having God as the primary one they would look to, they would look to a man, a king, who they would hope to do the best for their nation. And of course, you can finally say if you want, you know, when Christ walked this earth, very complete governing system because they were under the thumb of the Roman Empire. And so Judea at that point in time was a state under Rome. So, you know, what we have in the Bible are many different systems of governance over a nation. You know, I would say, of course, the system of judges is the ideal one that God first instituted with that nation. You know, that should be a system that works best. But regardless of whatever system there is, if you have corrupt politicians, if you have corrupt judges, it ruins it for everybody, okay? And that's because it's not the system that's the problem so much. You know, I mean, you could consider when Christ comes back and rules for a thousand years on the earth, every nation is going to be under him. You could call that a dictatorship if you want. But we have one who is the most righteous and always righteous and always just ruling over the world. And of course, that's going to be the best governing system ever because we have Christ as the head in that situation. So it's not always the system that's the problem. It's just that it's sinners that are trying to run a system. You know, I would rather be in a dictatorship with a God-fearing man, a man who's, you know, passing the laws of God over Australia than a democracy where no one fears God, where people hate God and the laws that have been passed, you know, contrary to his word. So it's not so much the system like I'm trying to say. It's whether we're doing things the way God wants things done over a nation. Can you come with me to Deuteronomy 16? Come with me to Deuteronomy 16. Deuteronomy 16. And while you're turning to Deuteronomy 16, I'm going to read to you from John 18. John 18, you know, when Christ was arrested before he was crucified, he was brought before Pilate. And Pilate's kind of like, you know, asking him questions and Jesus Christ is remaining silent. You know, he's not defending himself or anything like that. But he says these amazing words in John 18, 36. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence or not from here. Christ's kingdom is from above. And he says, you know what, if my kingdom was of this earth, my servants would fight, they would deliver me from the hands of these Jews that are seeking to crucify him. And so, you know, God, Christ does not want us to necessarily fight for some kingdom on this earth. Here our kingdom is above, our kingdom is the heavenly kingdom. When Christ comes back and he rules over this earth, we're going to rule and reign with Christ. It's a kingdom that's not from here, even though governance is going to be here, but it's a kingdom that comes from above. Christ is returning one day and is going to rule over the entire earth in a very strong dictatorship, as I said. But regardless, like I said, this sermon is primarily to our Prime Minister, it's to our lawmakers, it's to our politicians. You know, if you're someone that decides to get into government one day, this is the kind of sermon that you want to listen to because you want to understand how God wants a nation to be run. And you know what, if we were to, I don't know, if we were to discover some random island in the middle of nowhere and we were to go and settle that place and create a nation and a government, you know, we start to decide, well, how do we want to govern this place? How do we want our laws to work in this place? I mean, there's no better place to go than God's word, wouldn't you say? You know, how does God want a nation to be run? And so this is why we can't just ignore the first five books of the Bible and go, oh, that's just something in the past and there's really great teaching of how to run a nation. And so the first thing that, you know, I want to look upon today is in Deuteronomy 16, verse number 18, Deuteronomy chapter 16, verse number 18. It says here, judges and officers shall thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgments. You know, God wants a nation to have a justice system, okay, where we have judges and officers that will take people that have done wrong or, you know, or judge between a matter in a civil matter between two people. He wants that throughout all the tribes, throughout all the gates, the gates are often a place where judgments were passed or, you know, where people are allowed to enter or exit into towns or cities. And, you know, God wants every tribe of the nation to have judges that they can go to in a time of difficulties to sort out their matters. It continues in verse number 19, thou shalt not rest judgment. Rest is like wrestle, all right? What is, you know, you're to pass judgment and not twist the laws is what God's saying, right? You pass judgment according to the laws that God has prescribed. It says here, thou shalt not respect persons. Just because the guy is powerful or rich or someone is poor, you're not to change the laws based on who they are. You know, we are not to be respected of persons. It says neither take a gift for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. You say, I just want to give a gift to someone, you know, my judge. He's going to judge over a matter and I'm going to come and bring him a cake, all right? Or like what happens in some places, I'll come and drop a thousand bucks, you know, in an envelope to him. You know, we're not to bribe our judges, judges are not to take bribes. They're not to take gifts. They're not there to be impartial when it comes to passing down their sentences. And then it says in verse number 20, that which is altogether just, shalt thou follow, that thou mayst live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. So we're to follow all together that which is just, okay? And that shall live. God says, look, there's a blessing. If you have just judgment on the land, there's going to follow a blessing. There's, you know, going to be able to live a life that is fruitful and longevity of life and things are going to generally run well for a nation when you have just judges. Now again, we know that we don't really live in a nation where everything is just. Lots of things are unfair. We know there is definitely respecter of persons. And we know there are many ways that in Australia you can, you know, dodge taxes and hide things and you know, I mean, there are many ways to pervert judgment. But at the end of the day, as I'm saying to you brethren, you know, when God says people to judge over a land, they are to be just, not to be respecter of persons. Doesn't matter who they are and not to take any bribes, not to be corrupt in their judgment making. Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 20 please. Deuteronomy chapter 20 now. Deuteronomy chapter 20. God wants a justice system on the land, okay. He doesn't want us to just decide things between ourselves if there's a, you know, a matter of crime, something that is serious. It needs to be brought to people that are respected in the nation, people that have been put into that position to pass judgment. What else does God want in a nation? Deuteronomy chapter 20. Deuteronomy chapter 20. Deuteronomy chapter 20. And the other thing that God wants in a nation is a defense force. Nations should be able to defend themselves. Just like God allows human beings to defend themselves, have, you know, self-defense. You know, God wants, understands that there are people that seek to hurt you and harm you. And God is definitely in favor of self-defense and is obviously in favor of self-defense of a nation. So God does, you know, see that when it comes to governing a nation, we must have a defense force or a military. Now Deuteronomy chapter 20, you can read it, most of it in your own time, where God is essentially laying down some rules about how to be, how to bring about an army and who is to be part of it. But I also want to show you some other things here in verse number 5. Deuteronomy chapter 20 verse number 5. It says, So when, you know, we have instructions on how to put together our army or military, there are certain people that will not be enlisted, all right, into the military. If you have just built a house, you know, you spent all this time, all this effort, you know, all this money to build a house and then like there's a war the next day. It's like, well, no, he's got to be able to dedicate it to the Lord. He's got to be able to utilize it, okay, for a period of time. So if you've just completed a major project like that, you are not to be enlisted. Look at verse number 6. And what man is he that have planted a vineyard and have not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. So you just bought a piece of land, your first crops, your first vineyard, whatever it is, right? You haven't even eaten of the fruits of it. You know, again, you've invested, you've worked hard. That man is not to go into the military, okay? Let him enjoy the labor of his hands. Verse number 7. And what man is there that have betrothed a wife and have not taken her? Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her. So you're recently engaged, you're about to get married or you are recently married, you know, you've not consummated that marriage yet, you've not had the time. In fact, the Bible gives a year in another passage to be with your wife, then that man is not to be enlisted in the army either. Okay, continues in verse number 8. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, what man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. So if you're faint-hearted, if you're not courageous, if you're not able to go into battle, you're just going to demoralize the entire army. This is why, you know, today if you're enlisted in the army, they put you through some really hard training to toughen you up, to strengthen you that you would not, you know, just give up at the first, you know, sight of trouble that you'd, you know, have a firm face and go forward and fight those battles. And so anyone that's a coward essentially is not to be recruited into the army. And then verse number 9, and it shall be when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. So again, structure even in the military, captains and, you know, officers over certain people. And so the military and defense force is something that God does speak of. And I'm not talking about an attack force. You know, there are many wars that have been raged in the last decades that I personally do not agree where there's been, it's not a defense. It's, you know, you're defending your own borders. You're defending your own people. That makes sense. But going in and just attacking random nations makes no sense to me. Taking their resources makes no sense to me. It is definitely not something that God prescribes in the Word of God. But let's go to another passage. Let's go to Exodus 22. Exodus 22, please. Exodus 22. Now again, on Australia Day, I preached on the blessings of Australia. And I'm going to talk about that toward the end again. And we're just blessed to be in a country that is somewhat following some of the structure that we see in the Bible when it comes to a nation, a nation building. When you think about the nations that people generally want to migrate to, okay, you would say, look, it's definitely like the Western nations, wouldn't you say? You know, and the reason for that is that most Western nations have some type of history, some type of foundation built on God's Word. Okay, some fear of God. Somewhere along the lines, the politicians of these nations said, we have a fear of God. Let's try to imitate or follow what we see in God's Word as best as we know how for our nation. Generally, these are the nations today that are still blessed. These are still the nations today that people want to migrate to. Okay, so there's a lot of blessings that comes on a land and people if governments were just to follow what God prescribes. Look at Exodus 22, Exodus 22. And this is super important. It might seem insignificant, but it's super important. And this is the protection of private property. Okay, we need a government that allows human beings, its citizens, to own property. I don't mean necessarily a piece of land, that's great, but I'm just saying anything, tools, right? Vehicles, whatever it is that we have that God allows us to purchase our own clothing, right? God is in favor of private property. This is why we have commands like Exodus 22, verse number one. If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep or kill it or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. Private property. If there's no such thing as private property, how do you steal? No, you can steal from a man because God is in favor of private property. And of course, we need laws that will stop people from entering your house and taking your possessions. God has a really great way of dealing with this, right? If someone steals your ox, let's say someone steals your work vehicle, whatever it is, right? They're to restore to you five vehicles in return. I mean, we wouldn't worry about having keys, like locking up our vehicles. We'd be like, hey, steal my car. Take it, right? Especially me with so many kids, right? Take my car and give me five because my boys are going to learn to drive. That's going to solve a lot of my financial difficulties. I mean, God's ways are always the best. You know, and someone steals your sheep, return four sheep for a sheep. You know, this is really, this is just, this is how God views things, right? If you've been, if your private property has been taken, there needs to be restitution and more, you know, it's gone like a pain of interest almost on the restitution that you've given that person that you stole from. But yeah, protection of private property, that's important. This is why communism never works. This is why every country that has tried some type of communism, they fail. Like nobody wants to migrate to a communist country, okay? Because what's the point of laboring and having your ox and having your sheep when the government can just take themselves coming, oh, that's mine. You know, that belongs to me. Thank you for all your labor. Thank you for your hard work, but it all belongs to me. We even saw when God is enlisting people into the military. If you've labored, you've built something up, let them enjoy it before you take them into the battle where they might lose their life. And then someone that has not labored for those things can take it from them. God is definitely in favor of private property. And you know, that's a blessing that God gives us. And you know, we often talk about our rights being taken away from us. And I believe that a lot of that has been happening for a long time. And you know, property that we purchase is never really ours, you know. And you know, what this demonstrates is essentially that, you know, if this continues, if this continues to develop in our nation, that God's blessings are slowly being taken away from our land. All right, but I still believe we live in a very blessed nation. Okay, overall, and God has been very long suffering with Australians. Can you come with me to Deuteronomy 24, Deuteronomy 24? What else is a government supposed to look over? They're also to look over marriage, divorce, and adultery. Marriage, divorce, and adultery. Now obviously divorce is not something God ever wants, but God also understands that people do it. You know, it's just going to happen. And so in many ways, God had to create some type of rules around divorce, even though that is not his intention, all right. And in Deuteronomy 24, I just want to read this to you. Deuteronomy 24, verse number one, it says, When a man have taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he have found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcements, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. The reason I read this passage is I want to show you that when it comes to divorce, there needs to be some type of public record, a bill of divorcements, okay. Because I've had several discussions with different brethren that say, you know, should government be involved in marriage, you know, should, you know, if I want to marry a woman or, you know, do we really need, you know, a, what do you call them? Sorry, what was that? A celebrant. Do we really need a representative of the Commonwealth of Australia there? Well, yeah, we need to document, we need to legalize, we need to acknowledge that, you know, this marriage has taken place. Like if you're going to document your divorce, if there's going to be a bill of divorcement that she can carry and I guess file, you know, the other thing is that you need to remember that when it comes to the Bible itself, how the Bible has genealogies of, you know, this family had this many kids and then this family had this many kids. I mean, all of this has been recorded. It's kind of like we have the register of birth, deaths and marriages today in our nation, you know, well, we can see in the Bible, they clearly recorded marriages and children and births and deaths as well. You know, this is a way that God keeps track of, you know, the citizens of a nation and we should be able to recognize legally marriage and recognize legally when a divorce has taken place. Come with me to Leviticus 20, come with me to Leviticus 20, please. Leviticus 20, Leviticus 20, Leviticus 20. Well, you're turning to Leviticus 20. I'm going to read to you from Malachi chapter 2, verse number 14. It says here in Malachi 2, 14. What, sorry, yet ye say, wherefore, because the Lord have been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously. God is rebuking some of the men in Israel because they've not been dealing with their wives properly, okay? Then he says this, yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant. The wife of thy covenant. You see, when you get married, you enter into a covenant, all right? We have God's covenant for us, documented in the Bible from Old Testament to New Testament, and we don't think we should document our covenant between husband and wife. You know, this doesn't make sense. For God to be able to use these words, that she's the wife of thy covenant, every marriage we enter into is an agreement, is a covenant that should be documented and recorded, all right? Now you're there in Leviticus 20, Leviticus 20 and verse number 10. Leviticus 20, verse number 10. This is about adultery. It says, and the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Look, this is God's judgment. We know that God is not a respecter of persons. You think God's a respecter of nations? When God says look to Israel, adultery requires the death penalty. Ah, but not Australia. Not in 2025, pastor. That's old fashioned. No, no, God is not a respecter of persons, and God is not a respecter of nations, and 2025 is not more a respecter of 2025 than it was when these laws were written. This is God's perfect judgment when it comes to this matter. And it's really sad because adultery runs rampant in our nation. It's horrible. It's even praised sometimes. Like, you know, I remember just going to work and then just finding out like, I'll tell you one story where a man's wife emailed the whole company because she found out that her husband cheated on her with another woman at work. All right, emails everybody, the whole list of everybody, you know, accusing him and his kind of just laughing. It's like, look how foolish my wife is and people like defending him for the adultery he's committed. I'm thinking, this is wicked. That man deserves to be put to death. Say, well, that's really harsh, Pastor Kevin. But here's the thing, you wouldn't need to put that many people to death before people straighten themselves out and go, I'm not going to do that now, right? I mean, maybe I did it before. I'm definitely not going to do it now because I want to live. You know, God's judgment isn't just about wiping out, you know, thousands of people. It just requires a few people and the rest of the nation gets fixed, gets straightened out. But this is the law of God. And you know what's wonderful about that? It's very hard once you've committed adultery on your spouse. It's very hard for that marriage to work as effectively as it did before. Very difficult. There'll be trust issues, you know, and every time you're out, your spouse is going to be thinking, what are they up to? There's going to be a lot of anxiety, like I said, trust issues, accusations that may or may not be true thrown around. It's destructive to a marriage. And we don't have a, unfortunately, we don't have laws in Australia that condemns adultery to this extent. But if it were the case, if you know, you were able to put the adulterer and the adulteress to death, what would that create? Well, the marriage would be null and void because it's till death do us part. And that party, the innocent party would be free to get remarried. They would not be breaking the laws of God of remarriage because their spouse would have been put to death at that point in time. These are God's laws and it protects the victims. It protects those that would like to move on with their lives. And it really makes it very hard in Australia where they're not putting adulteress to death. Anyway, this is the nation that we live in. Like I said, it's not perfect. There's always corruption. But this is the nation that God has put us in. But yes, definitely governments should be over marriage, divorce and adultery. Come with me to Leviticus 19, Leviticus 19 and verse number 33. Leviticus 19 and verse number 33. The Bible says, and if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, you shall not vex him. A stranger is a foreigner, a visitor, a tourist. If someone wants to come and visit your land, we should allow the doors of tourism. We should allow people to come in and enjoy, you know, the nation that we have here. And you know, Australia is definitely run, our economy is definitely run by a big portion on tourism. You know, it's a place that people want to come and visit. And you know, God's all in favor of that. But also not just visiting, but also migration. It says in verse number 34, But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. All right, so we have someone that wants to migrate to the nation. You say, should we have some rules around that or just anybody that wants to migrate? Of course, we must have some rules. And it says here, but the stranger that dwelleth with you, look at this, shall be unto you, shall be unto you as one born among you. You know, one thing, and we do this in Australia, I don't know how perfect it is. But generally speaking, if somebody is migrating legally, they've got to demonstrate some knowledge of Australia, of what an Australian is. You know, we talk about Australia being a multicultural nation. So far it's working okay, but often multicultural countries can get really out of hand. Okay, because people bring their own culture, they bring their own religion, they bring their own laws eventually. Okay, and those laws start to overpower the laws of the land and can create a lot of problems. Now when it comes to migration, God wants you to migrate and become like those people of that land. You know, when it came to the nation of Israel, if you had some false god, you know, you come from some other nation worshiping some false god, and you wanted to migrate to Israel, then you've got to be like those among them. You've got to be like one born in the land, your god must become the god of the Bible. Okay, and that of course is going to create peace, a peaceful situation. Of course, they're going to bring their cuisines, they're going to bring slightly the different cultures that brings a little variation. Those things necessarily are not wrong in of themselves. But the major issue that God saw with foreigners coming to the land was bringing their false gods, bringing their false religion and defiling the land. And so, you know, God is in favour of tourism, God is in favour of migration. We should have legal migration, of course God would be against illegal migration. So why the government does need to oversee this, we don't want to just open the doors to absolutely everybody where people bring in their laws that are contrary to Australian ways or, you know, religions that are contrary to God's ways, things like that. You know, there needs to be some oversight when it comes to migration. You know, there's a few of us here in this church that are still waiting for visas and things. I know it's a headache sometimes and we pray for God to expedite things. But I want you to understand, it is proper, you know, there is a proper way to do things. It is something that God has given governments to oversee. Can you come with me to Romans 13? Come with me to Romans 13. Romans 13. Like I said, this is a bit of a different sermon today, may not apply to you exactly. But I hope, you know, you can think, okay, by knowing what God expects, you can look at your own nation of Australia here and say, how well are we doing? You know, is our government doing what they need to do? Are they overstepping their boundaries? And I would say yes to all those things many times, right? They aren't always doing what they need to do and many times they are overstepping their boundaries. You know, when it comes to the Bible, all of God's laws of directing a nation are right here. This is how thick it is. This is how you govern a nation. And a lot of it is not about governing a nation, but that's how thick it gets. But you look at the laws of Australia. Do you think it's going to be containing one book like this? No, they create a lot more rules, a lot more, you know, a lot more infringement on your rights. And, you know, you have libraries full of laws of the land. And all we really need is this, of course, we really need God's Word. But in Romans 13, I already spoke about the justice system. And the justice system, of course, one of the points behind it is to punish crime. And I already spoke about the death penalty when it comes to adultery. But look at Romans 13, because some people might say, well, you know, the death penalty, that's just an Old Testament thing, right? We're now in the New Testament. God does not expect nations to be run in such a way. Well, Romans 13, that's pretty New Testament. I mean, I don't know how much more New Testament you can get than the Book of Romans. But Romans 13 in verse number four, it says, talking about governments, it says, for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. So the government is a minister of God to thee for good. Okay, God wants us to have goodness. And one way is the government and what brings good into a land and to our lives is the punishment of evil doers. And in particular, it says that the government does not bear its sword in vain. Okay, governments have the power of the sword, you know, and it's not in vain. It's not to be useless. It's meant to be used, utilised and profit for the good of a nation. You know, even in New Testament, God is in favour of the death penalty. I mean, why does he use a sword for? I don't know. I mean, besides putting someone to death. And of course, you know, this has been written to the Romans. This is a time when there was the Roman Empire, Roman occupation about many nations. And even then, God is expecting the Roman Empire, not Israel of the Old Testament, but the Roman Empire to pass, you know, punishment of death penalty when required. And again, you say, well, how do we know when we can put people to death? And of course, that's all covered for us in the Bible, in the Old Testament. You know, from Exodus to Deuteronomy, God speaks of the death penalty as a necessary punishment for certain crimes. Let me read some of those crimes to you. First degree murder, okay, that's someone dies and he intentionally went out to kill that person. First degree murder, adultery, we've seen that, rape, kidnapping, human trafficking, slavery, incest, homosexuality, bestiality. All of these things are worthy of the death penalty according to God's word. Even testifying falsely in a capital case. You know, if you're a witness, you've been brought up to testify and someone might be put to death if they're found guilty and you testify falsely. You lie, you're trying to cause that person to be put to death. If you're found to have lied, that person needs to be put to death. Coming into Deuteronomy 17, I want to show you something. You've probably not seen this one before. Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 17, or you maybe not noticed it. And I'm not giving you a full list of things that require the death penalty. But did you know rebelling against judgment, rebelling against judgment is worthy of the death penalty in God's eyes? Now you can read most of it in your own time, but look at Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy 17 and verse number 10. Sorry, I'll just turn there. Deuteronomy 17 and verse number 10. It says, and thou shall do according to the sentence. You can read the chapter in your own time. So there's a sentence, there's a judgment. You need to do according to the sentence. Which they of that place, which the Lord shall choose, shall show thee, and thou shall observe to do according to all that they inform thee. So when someone passes judgment or sentence on you, you've got to do it. All right? According to the sentence of the law, which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment, which they shall tell thee, thou shall do, thou shall not decline from the sentence, which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. And look at verse number 12. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest, that standeth to minister, there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel. So if you're brought to a court, you know, to the courts, and you've got, you know, let's say you stole a sheep, right? And the judgment is you've got to restore four sheep. That's, you know, theft is not worthy of the death penalty, right? Theft requires restoration, and multiply it. It needs to be a multiplied restoration. You go, well, you know, I just, I don't want to do it. I don't believe I should restore four sheep. All right, well, if you're not going to listen to the judgment, you're not going to listen to the sentence, you're not going to do it, then that man needs to be put to death. Okay, so again, you know, we're going to be constantly, you know, putting people to death if our governments followed God's laws. No, it just requires one or two times, and everybody will listen and pay attention, boy, I better take judgment seriously. I better not muck around with the justice system that nations have. All right, so these are things worthy of the death penalty. So punishment for crimes against humanity is definitely something that governments need to be involved in, okay? But it's not just the death penalty. Like I said, we've seen there's restitution, okay? Repaying multiple times the value of stolen or damaged property. There's corporal punishment, which is maybe whipping for certain offenses. You probably read about that in Deuteronomy 25. Even exile or banishment for some severe crimes that it doesn't require the death penalty, but some people were to be driven out of the land or driven away from the cities because they're just a menace to society. They've not done something worthy of being put to death, but there's such a menace that they're just better off away from society because they're not helping whatsoever. And there's another one where God instilled certain cities of refuge. This is if you've committed manslaughter. You know, you killed a man by accident, all right? Let's say you're driving your car and you know, you're not intentionally going to kill somebody, but you have an accident, someone dies and you know, you're judged a manslaughter. You know, God had certain cities of refuge that you could go and hide and be protected in because sometimes there'd be revenge from the family not understanding that it was just an accident and you know, that was a different way to be judged to hide yourself from an accidental killing. So these are of course, God requires the government to punish crimes against humanity. Can you come with me to Leviticus 11, Leviticus 11, Leviticus 11, please? So governments must have a justice system, a military or defense force. They should oversee the protection of private property, oversee marriage, divorce, adultery. We should have laws about foreigners and migration. We should have punishment for crimes. And something else that really stood out to me, you know, again, we might say, well, this has nothing to do with us because you know, things have changed from the old covenant to the new covenant and I agree. I agree largely this has changed. But in Leviticus 11, okay, let's read verse number one. It says, and the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, speak unto the children of Israel, saying, these are the beasts or animals, which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. So God had here some dietary laws and we know there were certain animals that were clean and unclean and the nation of Israel were to eat the ones that are clean and God spends a lot of time telling them what animals are considered clean that they could eat from. Now we know that was a picture of clean representing the people of God and the unclean representing the unsaved Gentiles and then of course in the New Testament, God clarifies that was just a story, an image that we can eat of all animals because God has made people of all nations clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Okay, so we understand the spiritual application there. But if you just drop down to verse number 39, there's something else here in Leviticus 11, 39. It says, and if any beast of which ye may eat die, hear that touch of the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the even. And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the even. He also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the even. So this is if you come across a dead animal, a dead body, a dead carcass and you touch it, that the person, not the carcass, the carcass is obviously unclean, but the person that touched it is considered unclean. And what I want to continue the thought here is that obviously, this isn't just about they've been unclean or unclean, but God has been mindful that when it comes to a dead animal, they can be all kinds of diseases. They can be all kinds of issues with the food. And so that person is to be unclean for a period of time. They're to wash their clothes, etc, etc. And so I do believe that God has instilled governments over food standards or food quality. Okay, there should be some type of control over the foods that have been offered and sold in the markets or sold in restaurants. Right, that people aren't just finding some dead kangaroo on the side of the road and chopping it up and then offering it to people to eat. Okay, because there can be all kinds of problems, all kinds of disease and even death that might result from that kind of quality of food. So it does appear to me just by taking a very practical view on this, that God is concerned for a nation over its food standards or its quality. Come with me to Leviticus 13, Leviticus 13. And verse number 3, Leviticus 13. Now again, you can read the whole chapter in your own time and then get your own thoughts around it, but just want to show you something here. In Leviticus 13, verse number 3, if you found some type of disease on your skin, some type of sickness in your body, you know, you were to go to the priests and show yourself and the priests were to pass judgment over that sickness. It says in Leviticus 13, verse 3, And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh, and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy, and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean. Now of course, we don't have the Old Testament priests today, but nevertheless, we have the instructions of how they are to govern over a nation. And so again, I do believe that our governments should have some type of health services. Okay, we can show yourself. We can, you know, go to certain doctors or go to certain GPs, whatever, and say, look, I've got this issue. What's your assessment, right? What do you think I need to do? Do I need to keep myself, you know, away from others? Will it spread? You know, is it contagious? You know, what can I do to take care of myself? You know, that is something, health services, something that governments should oversee. And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about Pastor Kevin, you know, our doctors have gone too far, and you know, we're injecting our children, our babies, with 50 vaccinations, as soon as they're born, aren't they made perfect in the eyes of God? Like I said earlier, there's corruption everywhere. There's corruption at all levels. Nevertheless, if things are done properly, righteously, in God's ways, these things are supposed to work. They're supposed to enrich a nation. They're supposed to help a nation. I know there's corruption at all levels, but it is what it is, brethren. And for people that are fathers, that, you know, you've been given authority to look over a family, have you always made the right decisions for your family? Have you always been fair 100% of the time? I have to tell my kids, life is not fair, okay? Because I may not remember what I did about that situation 10 years ago with one child, and make it fair today for another child. You know, we're limited human beings, and sometimes we're going to make mistakes. And whenever you put human beings into position of authorities, they're not always going to get things right. But they should desire to follow God's Word as closely as possible. And what I see is that God has also overseen that government should have some level of authority when it comes to health. Come with me to Acts chapter 1 now. Come with me to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. I'm near the end now, brethren. So obviously, we can probably say that government should be doing a few extra things. I'm not going to go into any greater detail here. But I would say, when it comes to governments, they should also obviously oversee finances, making sure there are just weights when it comes to dealing with nations, things like that, that the Bible speaks about. What are some other things that you might think that governments should do over a nation from a biblical perspective? Any other thoughts around that? Like I said, freedom of religion. Now, when it came to the nation of Israel, because of their covenant with God, they would not allow any false religions. But we know that when the children of Israel were under Egypt, that God wanted to release them, that they would be free to serve and worship God. Okay, so it's wonderful that we in Australia have the freedom this Sunday to come to a church and worship and serve God. You know, freedom of religion is simply something that we would want that governments should employ allowing people to worship the God of the Bible. There might be some other things that you can think about that governments should be doing or involved in from a biblical perspective. But really, when we think about most governments in the world, they're definitely way too huge, way too big. Like there should not be a department of education, for example. I mean, think about what our kids are learning in school today. This is why I homeschool. I homeschool my kids. In fact, God tells parents and fathers they're to teach and train their children. This is something that God has given fathers and mothers to do over their kids. So, yeah, get rid of the department of education. Okay, and then what are they teaching? All kinds of nonsense. You know, I went to a Christian high school. I think I told you guys this. A Christian high school, and when it came to science, they taught us creation, not evolution. And then while I was in high school, I don't know if it was the year 9 or year 10, the government passed the law. The state government said, all right, if you want to receive government grants, you need to start teaching evolution in your Christian schools. So, next class, we're there. We're listening to evolution. We're learning about all evolution and the millions of years and blah, blah, blah. And then at the end of the class, my teacher said, all right, you need to pass the test. These are the answers for you to pass the test. But we know it's all garbage and God created everything in six days. But, you know, when government gets involved, of course, they're going to really mess things up when it comes to that area. You know, God never creates some department of education in the Old Testament. You know, so, you know, obviously there are many departments. You know, I would say governments should oversee infrastructure to some extent. Okay, you know, when I think about God prescribing how to build the tabernacle and even the temple to some extent, you know, God gives direction and to the politicians and to the government authorities to ensure things are done in a proper manner. So, yeah, even when it comes to infrastructure, I believe that government should be involved in some level of that. They're probably too involved, too much red tape. You know, you can't even cut down a tree that's over three meters in your own backyard these days. You know, something like that, right? I mean, maybe they overstepped their mark to some extent. Again, there's corruption at all levels. But, you know, you might add some additional things that you can think about when it comes to God's Word. But what I want you to notice here is in Acts 1, verse 6, please. Acts 1, verse 6. You know, we're never going to have this perfect government on this earth, okay, until Christ comes back. And he shows us for a thousand years what the entire earth under Christ should look like, okay? But in Acts 1, verse number 6, they asked Jesus this question. When they, therefore, were come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? Okay, so the servants, the disciples of Jesus, they're kind of interested. Like, are we getting rid of the Roman government? Are we getting rid of them? Are you going to help us establish our nation like it was in the old times? And verse number 7, he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. Jesus was not concerned with overthrowing the Roman Empire. I want you to understand that, okay? And I'm trying to demonstrate to you what government should be like. And I hope, you know, Prime Minister Albanese and any future prime ministers will listen to this sermon so they would think about what a nation should look like. But you know what? I'm not interested in overthrowing the government. Like, I'm not interested in protesting and rioting against government. Even if we have, you know, some foreign power taking over Australia. Some people say there is no foreign power over Australia. Well, whatever. Even then, even then, I'm not too worried because Christ was not worried. Christ, you know, for him, it's like, it's not for us to know. That's not important. When it comes to the thousand years, okay, we'll rule and reign with Christ then. If you continue reading Acts of the One, he tells you, look, don't worry about it. Go and preach the gospel. You know, instead of worrying about the power of government, worry about the power that God gives us by his Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to all creatures. That's what we need to be focused on as God's people. Now, come with me to Psalm 2. Come with me to Psalm 2. I'm almost done. I'm almost done. Come with me to Psalm 2. Now, what I like about Australia is that we're a new nation, a relatively new nation. 1901 is when we became a nation, okay? Obviously, there was settlement before that, but once we became our own sovereign nation, that was 1901, the 1st of January, 1901. So we've been a nation for 124 years. And, you know, the highest law, if you want to consider it that way, the highest documentation of our nation is the Constitution of Australia. And I'm going to read to you the first sentence of the first paragraph of our Constitution. It says here, whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, and the next phrase blows me away, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble federal Commonwealth under the crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established. You know, when our authorities, when our politicians came together and they drafted the Constitution, at the very beginning, when they state all the states that Australia is made up of, they said, we're humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God. I preach this to them no longer, right? The blessings of Australia. Yeah, look, this is a good thing to humbly rely on. You know, at the beginning of our nation, there was a fear of God. Okay, they said to God, look, we're relying on your blessings. They're saying, we're going to fail as a nation. We're going to fail as a people unless you give us your blessings, God, Almighty God. Like, could you imagine our politicians speaking like that today? And look, Australia is relying on the blessings of Almighty God. God can take away his blessings and we'd be a disaster of a nation. God has blessed this nation at least for 124 years. Okay, so far, you know, under this. But here's what's really sad. I feel like God has kept up his side of it, his blessings on this nation. But when it comes to the politician, the people of this land, it says they're humbly relying. Would we say that Australians are relying on the Lord today? Would we say they're humble before the Lord today? No. We're a very prideful nation. She'll be right, mate. Right? You come to people, you give them the gospel. Just like I had a few weeks ago, right? I just want to die and go to hell. I just want to burn in hell. I don't want to be in heaven. I want to be with my mates in hell. Complete disrespect toward God. Pride against God. She'll be right, mate. Well, I'll be right. No, no, no. Our politician said we're humbly relying on God. It's not we'll be right. We shall be right. No. We're only right if we're humble before God. We're only right if we rely upon his blessings on this land. This is what a constitution says. The most important document of our nation. But Australia has gone a very different way the last 124 years, hasn't it? A very different way. And as I said, when I preach that sermon about the blessing of Australia, God gave the nation of Judah 490 years to get right. All right, so maybe we've got a third of our way through Australia's relying on the blessings of God before his judgment falls. Who knows? Okay, who knows? But that's how we started as a nation. I think it's a great way to be. You know, I'm kind of, is envious the right word here? I get envious a little bit when I see the American politicians, how they speak, you know, about God, about the fear of God, God's blessings on the nations. And again, there's corruption there at all levels. Don't get me wrong. I agree. But there's a recognition of God. There's a fear of God. There's a thought of God. When they come into, you know, you know, when they're taking on offices quite often, they put their hands on a Bible, you know, and they're promising God in the nation that they're going to do what they can to be the best that they can, right? To serve God as faithfully as they can over that nation. And look, I know that our politicians aren't all going to be saved and they're definitely not all going to be independent Baptists. But all I want from them is to have a fear of God. To think about what God would expect them to do with this great authority over a nation. Look at Psalm 2. Look at Psalm 2. You're in Psalm 2, I believe. Psalm 2, verse number 10. This is the instruction that our kings and authorities must have. This is what comes from God. Psalm 2, verse 10. Be wise now. Therefore, O ye kings. God wants our kings, our authorities to be wise. When? Wise now. Be wise today, right? Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Serve the Lord with fear. I want our politicians to have a fear of God. I want, yeah, rejoice. We can rejoice as Australians, but I want them to tremble and think, man, this can all be taken away from us if we're not humbly relying on the Lord. And then it says in verse number 12. Kiss the son. That's an Old Testament reference to Jesus. Kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Notice that. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him in the son. Again, those words from the Constitution, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God. Man, at the beginning, our politicians had put their trust in him and they were blessed in return. We've been blessed in return in this nation. But notice that God wants the authorities of all nations. Now, be wise now, therefore, O ye kings. All right, to fear the Lord, to rejoice with trembling. You know, the Bible says, I'll just read to you one more passage. The Bible says in Proverbs 29 2, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. All right, if we, again, it doesn't, it's not the system. Systems break because humans break, because humans are sinners. All right. But if we have, whatever system we have in place, we say we're a democracy, fine, whatever. All right, but it's about these politicians making sure that they're righteous. They do the right things. They pass the right laws. They judge righteously according to God's ways. But they have a fear of God, and when that happens, brethren, the people rejoice. But when we have the wicked in power. I don't know how, and I'm sorry if you voted Labor, I'm not against you. But I don't know how we have a Prime Minister who couldn't keep his marriage together, and we expect him to keep our country together. It doesn't make any sense. You can't, you get divorced, you can't keep your marriage together. How are you going to rule over an entire nation? So when it comes to pastors, pastors of the churches, this is the husband of one wife having faithful children. God knows, how can you pastor a church unless you have your family together? How much more a nation? Anyway, look, we have sometimes wicked people in power. At the end of the day, I understand that our politicians don't all fear God. They're not humbly relying upon him. But I tell you now, I am. I humbly rely on the blessings of the Lord. My family humbly relies on the blessings of the Lord. This church humbly relies on the blessings of the Lord. So there's blessing of Baptist Church and Crown Baptist Church and other God fearing churches. You know, we as a people, we can humbly depend on the blessings of God or rely on the blessings of God. And you know, at least for the time being, you know, if we can remain faithful to him, the fear of God, understanding what his word has to say in the areas of authority that we do have, maybe, just maybe, we can continue these blessings to continue here on the land of Australia, where we can have the freedom to serve God. We can have the freedom to preach the gospel to the lost and do something great for him. Anyway, brethren, the title for the sermon today was Governing a Nation. I hope it's been educational for you guys today. Let's pray.