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Pledge Allegiance To Christ Rather Than To Caesar

April 08, 2007

The nation of Israel was God’s kingdom on earth

Exodus 19:3-6 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. 5 'Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."

The other nations followed other gods

Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

Psalm 135:15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands.

David’s throne was the throne of the kingdom of the Lord

1 Chronicles 28:5 And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.

The throne of Israel

1 Kings 10:9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

The kingdom of God was removed from Israel

due to disobedience

Deuteronomy 28:15,25 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Daniel foretold of four Gentile world kingdoms

Daniel 2:36-40 " This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 "You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom (Babylon), power, strength, and glory; 38 "and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all -- you are this head of gold. 39 "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.

The fourth kingdom is yet to come

Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Then God’s heavenly kingdom shall come to the earth

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Jesus is the promised Messiah King –

the heir of David’s throne

Luke 1:31-33 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Jesus refused involvement with The kingdoms of this world

Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of ~~the~~ this world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

John 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me.

Follow in his steps

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

All the world governments will soon worship the beast

Revelation 13:7-8 “…power [authority or control] was given him (the beast – the anti-christ) over all tribes, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Christ’s kingdom does not belong to this world

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.

Jesus refused to be made king

John 6:15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

He did not restore the kingdom to Israel

Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

The kingdom of God shall appear at His return

Luke 19:11-12 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

Jesus came to establish His church

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

To make disciples out from of all the nations

Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples (His church, see Acts 2:37,41-42,47) went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen

One flock – Jew and Gentile

John 10:16 "And other sheep (elect Gentiles) I have which are not of this fold (elect Jews); them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock (the church of God Acts20:28) and one shepherd.

Jesus promised them the kingdom

Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Disciples of Jesus are waiting for the kingdom of God

Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member (“Jesus' disciple,” Mt.27:57), who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,

Our King is temporarily away

Acts 3:21 He must remain in heaven until (not forever) the time comes for God to restore everything (at the end of this age), as he promised long ago through his holy prophets (NIV).

The kingdoms of the world will become Christ’s

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

True Christian patriots

Philippians 3:20-21 For our (the saints in the church at Philippi) citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for [or wait for] the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall (at His second coming) change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body (the first resurrection… shall reign with Him a thousand years Rev.20:6), according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Earthly Nationalism is sin

Colossians 3:1-5 If ye then be risen with Christ [in baptism 2:12], seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5 Mortify [or put to death, to kill] therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

All the nations of the earth are corrupted

Revelation 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Christians Come out! Before it’s to late!

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Give your Allegiance to the kingdom of God

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

A better country

Hebrews 11:13,16 These all died in faith…confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Seek the heavenly city that is to come

Hebrews 13:13-14 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.

Ambassadors for Christ

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Jesus taught church and state separation

Luke 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.

The state bears the sword

Romans 13:1-8 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers (state or governing authorities) are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you (the called saints in the church at Rome) want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he (the ruler or magistrates of the state) is God's minister to you (Christian) for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he (the ruler or magistrates of the state) is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore youmust be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they (the ruler or magistrates of the state) are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. 8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

The Lord’s church bears the truth

1 Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Obey god rather than men

Acts 5:28-29 saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!" 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Trust god for the outcome - he is over all

John 19:10-11 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.