Introduction: Defining Sovereignty

Sovereignty is a theological term belonging to God alone; states are independent but not sovereign. Men deny God's sovereignty to place it in man or government.

Okay, John chapter 19. We're going to read verses 6 through 16. Listen carefully to the title of the message, because I'm going to have to explain it, not only by introduction, but the whole time that I preach. Okay. The title of the message is, "Swearing Allegiance to the Sovereign State." Look in John chapter 19 beginning there with verse 6. John 19 and verse 6:

"The Jews answered, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; and went again into the judgment hall, and said unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not to me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 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. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat him down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was about the preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour, and he said unto the Jews, Behold your king."

"But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus and led him away." Again, the title of the message is "Swearing Allegiance to the Sovereign State." Let me begin by saying that sovereignty is a theological word and not a political word. When we talk about state sovereignty, we're actually talking about state independence. That just simply means that each state is independent in the sense that it is capable of running itself and existing by itself without the aid of Washington, D.C. We must remember that it was the states that created the federal government and not the federal government that created the states. The states existed prior to the federal government and hopefully they will exist well beyond the federal government.

But sovereignty is a word that belongs in the realm of theology. Theology is the doctrine or the study of God. God alone is sovereign. The truth is there can only be one sovereign, one ultimate, and one absolute. And that one sovereign, one ultimate, one absolute is not the state, it is not the federal government, it is not Washington D.C., it is God. There is no state or government that can exist without God. It is God who sets up rulers. It is God who takes down rulers.

The Bible says in Psalm 75, verses 6 and 7, "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." So it's God who puts rulers up, it's God who takes rulers down. Now, if God only is sovereign, and He is, how then can I title this message, "Swearing Allegiance to the Sovereign State"? Well, the answer is very simple. Wicked men deny God's sovereignty. And they deny God's sovereignty only that they may place sovereignty either in man or in a government. Let me make an observation that should be very clear. No one can exist without a sovereign. You must have a sovereign. And if you deny that God is sovereign, then you're going to locate sovereignty either in an individual, a man, or either in a government. So how can I say "Swearing Allegiance to the Sovereign State"? You see, men in their wickedness, men in their rebellion, men in their unbelief and paganism will always attempt, when they deny God, to locate sovereignty in man or in the state. So the state is not sovereign. The federal government is not sovereign. Simply because men desire that a state be sovereign, they want it to be sovereign, they proclaim it to be sovereign, does not make it sovereign. Men may want to believe it, and men may want to act like the state is sovereign, but only God is sovereign.

Nimrod: Tyranny by Force

Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, was the first to reduce men under government by force, becoming a mighty hunter against the Lord and a type of totalitarian tyrant.

Now, let me show you how far back this rebellion goes. I want you to look in your Bibles if you would. Hold John 19. And by the way, after a while you're going to think I've forgotten all about John 19. But I haven't. We're going to come back there. But I do want you to look in Genesis chapter 10. Genesis chapter 10. And let me show you the beginning of man's claim for sovereignty. Genesis chapter 10, and we're going to read verses 8 through 11. Genesis 10, verses 8 through 11. And we're going to be reading about Nimrod. Notice if you would, Genesis chapter 10, verse 8, "And Cush begat Nimrod."

"He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." Now notice if you would, the Bible says that Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Actually, he was a mighty hunter against the Lord. And so Nimrod here is the individual who has pushed his own designs in brazen defiance to the Lord God. So Nimrod then was a mighty hunter against the Lord. Nimrod did not hunt animals, he hunted men. He was so mighty, he was so imperious, he was so despotical, he was so tyrannical, that all down through the ages, whenever you have a totalitarian tyrant, he may actually and literally be referred to as another Nimrod.

Now Nimrod's civil character as ruler and a governor reveals his despotism. Nimrod was the first in the Bible to reduce men under what you and I would call a form of government. How did he reduce men under his form of government? Either through force and usurpation or either through persuasion and his deceitful and devious manipulations. In other words, Nimrod was the man who wanted not just to be king, but to be sovereign. I want to give you two quick quotes from two commentators on Genesis chapter 10, verses 8 through 10. The first one is from Arthur Pink. I want you to listen carefully. He says this, "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth." The first thing that we note here is that Nimrod was a descendant of Ham, through Cush. In other words, he sprang from that branch of Noah's family on which rested the curse.

Next, we observe that it said he began to be mighty, which seems to suggest the idea that he struggled for the preeminence and by mere force of will obtained it. Finally, we observe that he began to be mighty in the earth. The intimation appears to be that of conquest or subjugation, as though he became a leader and a ruler over men, as indeed he did. "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord." In so brief a description, the repetition of these words, "mighty hunter before the Lord," are significant. Three times in Genesis 10, and again in 1 Chronicles 1:10, the word "mighty" is applied to Nimrod. The Hebrew word is "gibbor" and it is translated in the Old Testament as "chief" and "chieftain." The verse in Chronicles is in perfect agreement with these in Genesis: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth." The Chaldean paraphrase of this verse says, now listen carefully, "Cush begat Nimrod who began to prevail in wickedness for he slew innocent blood and rebelled against Jehovah." Observe "a mighty hunter before the Lord." If we compare this expression with a similar one in Genesis 6:11, "The earth also was corrupt before God,"

the impression conveyed is that this rebel pursued his own impious and ambitious design in brazen and open defiance of the Almighty. By the way, the word Nimrod actually means "we shall rebel." Now, the eclectic Bible says this, and I think this is very interesting. Earthly power is first found with the family under the curse. It begins with Nimrod. It is always the case that things develop more quickly on the evil side than on the good. Nimrod was a mighty rebel. His name means rebel, and his character before God was that of a hunter. I think this observation in these neglecting notes is very good. Listen carefully. Jehovah took account of his character.

It was exactly the opposite to a shepherd. A hunter gratifies himself at the expense of his victim. But a shepherd expends himself for the good of the subjects of his care. God's ideal king is that of a shepherd. David was taken from the sheepfold. This was the place where he learned to be king. Moses, too, was a shepherd, and he became king in Jeshurun. The Lord loves a shepherd. A shepherd gathers, protects, and feeds the flock, the opposite of a hunter. Nimrod was a rebel towards God and a hunter towards men, all that will come to a head in the last great Gentile power.

We see the beginning here. It is the character in which earthly, imperial power appears on the scene of scripture. Now listen, corruption and violence are the two principles in Babylon and Nineveh. Babylon is marked by corruption and Nineveh by violence. There is vain glory that corrupts in Babylon. It was the scene of man's glory, the most corrupting influence that you could think of. And Assyria was the violent enemy of God's people. These things are deeply interesting and important. Great principles are set before us in a few simple words. Scripture can say so much in a word or two. These words contain the moral history of the world and of man's actings.

So it doesn't matter really which commentator you go to. Every one of them are going to say this simple fact that here Nimrod was the first who tried to reduce people under his power. He was a tyrant. He was a despot. And you've got to understand that this was actually the culmination, the first culmination of what happened back in Genesis 3 and verse 5. You remember when the serpent tempted Eve and he said,

And remember I've told you before that the Hebrew word for "knowing" has the force of "determining."

In other words here was the serpent's temptation. You don't need God to tell you right from wrong. You don't need God to give you His law. You become your own God. You make your own law. You determine right and wrong for yourselves. So here Nimrod then literally forced people into a tyrannical subjugation in order that he might have his empire.

Israel: Trading God for a Man

In 1 Samuel 8, Israel rejected God as king and demanded a human king like the nations, trading freedom for security and bringing upon themselves standing armies, taxation, and servitude.

Now secondly, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 8. I want to take it a little further. This is all background for John chapter 19. But let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 8.

Now, I want you to understand that Nimrod began his kingdom by force. Force of arms. Martial law. Subjugation. No problem. We understand that. I want you to look in 1 Samuel chapter 8. Years ago, and it has been a number of years, I preached from this passage, and the title of the message was, "Trading God for a Man." I'm not going to re-preach that message, but I am going to use this passage again and show you some principles. So I want you to look in 1 Samuel chapter 8, and let's begin reading there with verse 6. 1 Samuel 8 verse 6. In fact, let's read—yeah, verse 6.

now this is the children of Israel,

out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles."

Now, I want you to note something. Israel wanted a king. They wanted a man as king. They were, in essence, trading God for a man. If you will look back in verse 7, God makes this exceedingly clear. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee," watch carefully, "for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." So their choice and their actions demonstrated they did not want God to be their king. They did not want to be under God's law. They did not want to be under God's rule. They wanted a man. Now, if you'll hold 1 Samuel 8, but look in 1 Samuel 12 and verse 12, because Samuel, again, emphasizes this point. 1 Samuel 12 and verse 12, he said to the children of Israel, "And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king."

So God was the king of Israel. And here the people are saying, "No, we don't want God, we now want a man as king over us." So inherent then in this demand for a man to rule over them was a rejection of the rule of God. Now it is true that in the Old Testament that God often ruled in and through men. See, He was ruling in and through Samuel. And by the way, when there were wars in the Old Testament, in fact you have a whole book of this, God raised up judges. And God ruled in and through those judges who then led the children of Israel in war and God gave them victory. But God was still king. He was ruling in and through these men. When you come to 1 Samuel chapter 8, you now have a different ball game. You now have a horse of a different color. It's not that they're wanting God to rule in and through their king, particularly. They're just saying, "We don't want God. We want a man to be king over us. We want a man so that we can be like all of the other nations." And may I remind you that all of the other nations were pagan. They were heathen. Number one, we want to be like all the other nations.

And number two, we want a king who will fight our battles for us. Oh, now wait a minute. What did they say? We want a king who's going to fight our battles for us. Verse 20: "that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles." Not that we want him to lead us so that we may fight. No, no, no, no, no. We want him to do the fighting for us. So here then is an abdication of personal responsibility. Here's an abdication of refusing to learn the martial arts, the art of war. Here's an abdication of refusing to defend yourself and your country. No, no. We'll just hire someone to do it for us through the king. What we want is not personal responsibility, but security. And so we want this king so that we'll be like everybody else and that he will fight our battles for us. In other words, we want someone who will take care of us and protect us.

Benjamin Franklin wisely said this, "Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." And what was Israel willing to give up? Freedom. What was Israel wanting? Security. And they found by giving up their freedom, they lost both their freedom and eventually their security as well. One of my favorite quotes is from Samuel Adams, who before the Philadelphia State House on August the 1st, 1776 said this to the people. He said, "If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace.

We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands that feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget you are our countrymen." If you love servitude more than freedom, what did he say? "Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. Go from us, we don't want you around us. If you prefer servitude to liberty and freedom, and may posterity forget you were ever our countryman." Listen, chains always rest upon those who forsake personal responsibility. Chains always rest upon those who want something for nothing. Chains always rest upon those who want government to provide for them.

You heard the old saying, "Come shackles, come shackles." With everything the government gives, comes the shackles. There's always a continuing loss of liberty and freedom. Do you realize what has happened in our country today? Most Americans are lost in the tranquility of their servitude. Either their chains do not clank loudly enough, or they've turned a deaf ear to the clanking of their chains. Again, it was Benjamin Franklin who said this. Listen carefully.

"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prized the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Now listen carefully. Benjamin Franklin was right in one sense of the word when he said, "A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and to prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved." However, he overlooked one thing. When a nation of well-informed men who know their rights from God, who deliberately turn their backs upon that truth and upon that knowledge and refuse to acknowledge those rights, it is not their ignorance that enslaves them, it is their rebellion that enslaves them. You know what happened in 1 Samuel chapter 8? It was not their ignorance, it was their rebellion. God had given Israel His law. God had given them His Word. Samuel was a preacher and a teacher of righteousness. Look in your Bibles in 1 Samuel chapter 8 verses 19 and 20.

In fact, go back if you would. Go back in verse 9 first. God says, "Now therefore hearken unto their voice," that is, they want this king, alright I'll let them have him. "Hearken to their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." And after Samuel showed them all the horrible aspects of an earthly king, skip down now to verse 19, after he got through teaching and instructing and informing them, "Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us." In other words, here was their attitude. We don't care what God says. We don't care what you say. We will have a king. So it was not their ignorance that enslaved them. It was their rebellion.

Now, I want you to look at 1 Samuel 8 before we go back to John 19. And I want you to see very quickly the consequences that any society faces for rejecting God as King. Okay? First of all, look in verses 11 and 12. The first consequence is there will be a standing army. And by the way, our founding fathers said that a standing army was the bane of liberty. Notice if you would, verse 11, "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you.

He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots." In other words, you're going to have a standing army. You see, in the Bible, there was not—by the way, David was actually the man who came up with the standing army. Saul had a little bit. David is the one who made it really much larger. But until that time, everything was the local militia. That it was the people who fought. You see, the king could not have a war if he did not have a standing army. In other words, if people did not agree with the war, they didn't fight. But when the king gets a standing army, then he orders them wherever he wants them to go, regardless of the will of the people. It doesn't matter. So he says, first of all, there's going to be a standing army.

Secondly, there's going to be state-enforced labor, work camps or assigned duties, verse 13. "And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers." And if you'll skip down to verse 16, "And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work." By the way, you'd be absolutely flabbergasted to find out the percentage of American people that now work for the federal government. So there will be enforced labor and work camps. And by the way, if martial law does get fully in our face, you'll see even more of that. Number three.

There will be increased taxation. Look at verse 15. "And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants." Skip down to verse 17. He said, "He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants." The average American would be happy if the federal government only took a tenth. By the way, what does God demand? A tenth? What is the king doing? Claiming to be God, or equal with God, because he's demanding the same thing that God demands. So there's going to be increased taxation. Fourthly, there's going to be a loss of liberty and freedom. Look in verse 17 and 18, he says this. Verse 17, he said, "He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants." You shall be his servants. You're going to end up working for him.

Do you realize the average American now works through the month of July just to pay his taxes? So six to seven months out of the year, you're working for the king, for the government, for the empire. That's what he said. You shall be his servants. Fifthly, there will be totalitarianism. Look in verse 18, he said, "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you." In other words, you're going to get so sick and tired of this, you're going to cry out. But sixthly, I want you to note, there's going to be a price to be paid for your rebellion. He said in verse 18, "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day." In other words, you will reap what you sow. You wanted a man? God said, I'll give you a man. And when you get him, you'll wish you never had him. It's kind of like those people in the desert who said, "Give us meat to eat, we're tired of this manna."

God said, "Well, if you want—" they said, "We want quail. That's what we want." God says, "Fine, I'll give you quail." And while the flesh was in their teeth, the Bible said He killed the fattest of them for their rebellion. They wanted quail. Once they got it, they would to God they did not have it. Same thing here. Now, you say, what in the world has all this got to do with John 19? I want you to watch.

The Consequences of Rejecting God's Rule

Rejecting God as king leads to a standing army, state-enforced labor, increased taxation, loss of liberty, totalitarianism, and unanswered cries for relief.

Now, I want you to look at 1 Samuel 8 before we go back to John 19. And I want you to see very quickly the consequences that any society faces for rejecting God as King. Okay? First of all, look in verses 11 and 12. The first consequence is there will be a standing army. And by the way, our founding fathers said that a standing army was the bane of liberty. Notice if you would, verse 11, "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you.

He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots." In other words, you're going to have a standing army. You see, in the Bible, there was not—by the way, David was actually the man who came up with the standing army. Saul had a little bit. David is the one who made it really much larger. But until that time, everything was the local militia. That it was the people who fought. You see, the king could not have a war if he did not have a standing army. In other words, if people did not agree with the war, they didn't fight. But when the king gets a standing army, then he orders them wherever he wants them to go, regardless of the will of the people. It doesn't matter. So he says, first of all, there's going to be a standing army.

Secondly, there's going to be state-enforced labor, work camps or assigned duties, verse 13. "And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers." And if you'll skip down to verse 16, "And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work." By the way, you'd be absolutely flabbergasted to find out the percentage of American people that now work for the federal government. So there will be enforced labor and work camps. And by the way, if martial law does get fully in our face, you'll see even more of that. Number three.

There will be increased taxation. Look at verse 15. "And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants." Skip down to verse 17. He said, "He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants." The average American would be happy if the federal government only took a tenth. By the way, what does God demand? A tenth? What is the king doing? Claiming to be God, or equal with God, because he's demanding the same thing that God demands. So there's going to be increased taxation. Fourthly, there's going to be a loss of liberty and freedom. Look in verse 17 and 18, he says this. Verse 17, he said, "He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants." You shall be his servants. You're going to end up working for him.

Do you realize the average American now works through the month of July just to pay his taxes? So six to seven months out of the year, you're working for the king, for the government, for the empire. That's what he said. You shall be his servants. Fifthly, there will be totalitarianism. Look in verse 18, he said, "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you." In other words, you're going to get so sick and tired of this, you're going to cry out. But sixthly, I want you to note, there's going to be a price to be paid for your rebellion. He said in verse 18, "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day." In other words, you will reap what you sow. You wanted a man? God said, I'll give you a man. And when you get him, you'll wish you never had him. It's kind of like those people in the desert who said, "Give us meat to eat, we're tired of this manna."

God said, "Well, if you want—" they said, "We want quail. That's what we want." God says, "Fine, I'll give you quail." And while the flesh was in their teeth, the Bible said He killed the fattest of them for their rebellion. They wanted quail. Once they got it, they would to God they did not have it. Same thing here. Now, you say, what in the world has all this got to do with John 19? I want you to watch.

John 19: The Jews' Trump Card

When Pilate sought to release Jesus, the Jews played their trump card: 'If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend.' Pilate understood he could not be a friend of both Christ and Caesar.

In Genesis 10, tyranny was brought on by Nimrod through force and usurpation and martial law. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, tyranny and totalitarianism is brought on through rebellion. "No, we're not going to listen to God. We want a man. We don't want God's law. We'll take man's law." By the way, I've told you repeatedly, every king rules by his law. So if you've got God as your king, His law is your rule. If you have man as your king, he's going to rule by his law, which is not necessarily going to be God's law. Well, let's go back to John chapter 19 and let's see how all this kind of works together because in John 19, I want you to see another way that you can slide into tyranny and despotism. In fact, I might say this, in John 19, we find an easier way to slide into tyranny and despotism. This easier way of sliding into tyranny and despotism is so gradual and so easy that most do not realize what has happened until it has already happened.

And then once it has happened, no one can believe the cause or the reason for the tyranny. You've heard the old adage, you can't see the forest for the trees. Things are right in front of you and you never notice it. Well, I was reading through John 19. In fact, I've preached on this passage a number of times. And then it just hit me the other day as I was reading this passage. I thought, that's exactly what has happened in America and we don't even realize it. Now in John 19, Pilate was determined to let Christ go.

The Bible tells us that he knew that the chief priests and the Pharisees had delivered him for envy. That Christ had done absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, Pilate pronounced Christ innocent three times. If you count the time when Pilate washed his hands and said, "I will have nothing to do with the blood of this just person," that's four times. But let me just give you, in John 18 and verse 38, if you want to look there, Pilate said to them, "What is truth?

I find no fault at all." In other words, there's no fault in Christ. Look in John 19 in verse 4. "Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him." Wow! Look in verse 6. "When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him." Three times! Pilate says he's innocent. He's just. There's nothing in this man worthy of death. And that's when he washed his hands and he said, "I'll have nothing to do with the blood of this just person." Well, those chief priests and those Pharisees and Sadducees were getting very upset and violent. Because three times now, he's openly proclaimed that Christ was innocent. And it looked as if Christ was going to escape their hands.

Wow. They wanted Christ dead. They wanted Christ out of the way. So what did they do? They played their trump card. They pulled the ace that was hiding up their sleeves. Watch verse 12. After Pilate now, after Pilate had three times said he's innocent. "And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him." In other words, Pilate wanted him to go free. Pilate was working for Christ. He wanted him out of there. He knew he was innocent. But the Jews did not want Christ out of there. They wanted Him crucified. Watch what happens. Here's their trump card. "But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." Ah. Pilate, let's test your loyalty. Are you loyal to Caesar? Are you the friend of Caesar? Or do you want to be the friend of Christ? Now, you see, these Jews knew that there was nothing that could produce more horror and more terror in Pilate than to be portrayed as one who was against Caesar.

And let me show you how powerful that trump card was. Remember, look at verse 12 again. "And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him," right? But when they said, "If you let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." Watch verse 13. "When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha." In other words, when it's laid down on the line, when he found out he was going to be reported to Caesar as being contrary to Caesar, because he let this man go who claimed to be a king. When he heard that, that settled it for Pilate. He was going to have Christ crucified. That's all it took to convince Pilate. Now, let me tell you, Pilate understood something that the average Christian today seems to never ever comprehend.

Let me say that again. Pilate understood something that the present day Christian never ever seems to comprehend. What did he understand? First, he understood that he could not be a friend of Christ and a friend of Caesar at the same time.

If civil rulers ruled biblically and scripturally, if they governed themselves according to the law of God as He has laid down their duties and their boundaries, it would be possible to be a friend of Christ and of Caesar because Caesar then in that case would be ruling biblically and he too would be a friend of Christ. But when Caesar pits himself against Christ and against His law, it is impossible to be a friend of Christ and a friend of Caesar at the same time. Why? Because Caesar is claiming Lordship. He's claiming Godhood. And there's a problem. You can't be a friend of Christ and a friend of Caesar at the same time when Caesar is contrary to God and contrary to His Word.

And so here's what these people are saying to Pilate, "Whose friend are you going to be? Are you going to be Caesar's friend and live? Or are you going to be Christ's friend and let Christ go and Caesar kill you?" But he understood he could not be the friend of Christ and the friend of Caesar at the same time. Here's something else that Pilate understood. Look in verse 12 again. They said, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend." Here it is. "Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." The second thing he understood is whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. Pilate understood that Caesar would not tolerate or allow any criticism, or any dissent. All discontent, all discussion, all disparaging remarks must be silenced. It must not only be done positively, but negatively as well. Listen to me now. If you are pro-Christ, and Caesar understood this, if you are pro-Christ, that means you're anti-Caesar. If you merely say, "Well, I'm standing up for Christ and I'm standing up for what's right," how is Caesar going to interpret that? Well, you may be standing up for Christ and you may be standing up for what you think is right, but you're standing against me. And I don't like your standing against me. I don't like your speaking against me. I don't like your remarks against me. That is why in the last 20 to 30 to 40 years, there has been so much from our own federal government against Christ, against the Bible, against Christianity, because Christianity and the Bible and Christ condemns what Caesar is doing.

We Have No King but Caesar

The chief priests declared 'We have no king but Caesar,' choosing the vile Tiberius over Christ. This rejection of Christ's sovereignty was a choice for Caesar's tyranny.

And when you speak that, what Christ says, then you're speaking against Caesar. And Pilate understood you can't be the friend of Caesar and the friend of Christ at the same time. And he also understood that if you were pro-Christ, you were anti-Caesar. Now, I want you to watch closely what follows. See, in verse 13, when Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, of course, to the judgment. Now watch verse 14. "And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." We have no king but Caesar.

The hated Roman emperor that had ruled over them with an iron glove, this vicious, vindictive, mean, ungodly reprobate of a despot, they are now claiming as their only king. When Christ was crucified, Tiberius was Caesar. Caesar was a title. All of the Caesars, although they had different names, all of them were called Caesars. Just like all the kings in Egypt were called Pharaohs. You had Augustus Caesar, you had Julius Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, Claudius Caesar, but they were all called Caesar. But Tiberius was the Caesar when Christ was crucified.

This man was so vile, so wicked. Suetonius, the Roman historian, goes into depth regarding the madness of Tiberius. Suetonius said that he would have sex with people of all ages and sexes. He was very cruel to his subjects. He would arbitrarily have people executed for crimes as harmless as speaking ill of Augustus Caesar, who preceded him. Suetonius also describes one example of Tiberius's madness and being such a reprobate, where Tiberius would force one of his subjects to drink large quantities of wine, and then he would have their genitals tied so tightly that they could not urinate, and he would rejoice in watching them in agony. When Tiberius died of natural causes, Suetonius describes the sheer joy of the Romans at his death, they actually and literally danced in the streets. They were so happy to get rid of Tiberius.

It was as if they had awakened from a nightmare. It is this man that is so wicked and so vile that the Jews said, "We have no king but Caesar." We will take Tiberius over the Son of God. They acknowledged that they did not want, they did not need, nor did they desire any king but Caesar. Caesar was sufficient for them. And God took them at their word. They preferred tyranny to Christ. They preferred the word of man to the word of God. How visibly stupid and ignorant and rebellious can one be? First, they revolted from the spiritual kingdom of God, and secondly, they then preferred the tyranny of the Roman Empire, which they greatly abhorred, to the just government such as God had promised them. So when wicked men fly from Christ, they not only deprive themselves of eternal life, they heap upon their own head misery after misery by their own choosing, by their own doing. Incidentally, and I know that you know this, but this Roman Empire that they professed to love and wanted only Caesar to reign over them around 33 A.D., by 70 A.D.

the Roman Emperor sent Titus to Jerusalem and destroyed the city and killed over a million Jews.

Wow. The Jews rejected Christ and suffered under tyranny. Now watch this. We must ask, if they got what they deserved, and they did, why is the whole world in such a mess? Did we crucify Christ? Did we reject Him? Why is it we cannot throw off Caesar's yoke? Oh yeah, oh yeah. I know a lot of the answers and I know, yes, Christ died for our sins, I understand that.

Why We Are Under Caesar's Yoke

When you reject Christ, you choose Caesar. America is under tyranny because it has rejected God's sovereignty, Christ's kingship, and His law, swearing allegiance to the sovereign state.

But you see what I'm saying? Listen carefully. Why cannot we throw off Caesar's yoke? Every now and then, everybody gets tired of the corruption, and the incompetency, and the taxation, and the natives begin to revolt, and they begin to speak out, and Caesar's been pressing hard, and guess what he does? He says, "Oh, I'm so sorry." He lifts that thumb from that point, and he presses on another one equally hard. Ah! Well, he got relief over here. Thank God, thank God, we've got relief. But he's pressing over here equally hard as he pressed over here. But oh! Everything's all right. We've got some relief. It doesn't matter where he presses, we're still under his tyranny. Why in the world are we still under such a yoke?

Now watch verse 15 again. "But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them," watch, "Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." What were they saying? Here's what they were saying. We don't want Christ. We don't recognize Him as King. We will not have this man to reign over us. We will not have Him to be our ruler. Are you listening? Do you realize that when you reject Christ, you choose Caesar? When you reject Christ, you choose Caesar. When you refuse, listen carefully, when you refuse to bow to the sovereignty of Christ, you are swearing allegiance to the sovereign state. It's that simple.

Why are we in the same mess as the Jews? Because we've done the same thing that they've done. We've rejected the sovereignty of God. We've rejected the supremacy of Christ. We've rejected His law and His kingship. And we've chosen for ourselves our Caesar. And we have the same tyranny. And the same loss of liberty. Now watch. You may be under the heel of a tyrant by force of arms like Nimrod. You may be under the heel of a tyrant by your own rebellion. You may be under the heel of a tyrant just by refusing to submit to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. But it doesn't matter how you get under the heel of a tyrant, you're still under the heel of a tyrant. What has happened in this land is we have turned from God, we've turned from Christ, we've turned from His law, and in doing so, we chose the sovereign state as our God and as our King.

You know, our Lord said it very plainly in Matthew 12 and verse 30. He said,

Applications: Choose Christ or Caesar

We must choose to serve either the sovereign Christ or the sovereign state. Obedience to Christ means contending with wicked rulers; the godly find happiness in Christ's royal authority.

Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. We must make a choice. We will either serve the sovereign Christ or the sovereign state. We cannot serve both Christ and Caesar for each one of them claims sovereignty. If I had time, I could show you in the first century, the question was, who is Lord? Because Caesar was claiming Lordship. Everybody can quote that passage just about in Acts 4 and verse 12 where Peter said,

Talking about the name of Jesus Christ. Did you know when Peter said that in Acts 4 and verse 12, he was declaring war on the Roman Empire? Because it was Caesar Augustus who had spread through the Roman Empire after a star appeared in the heaven around, I think it was around 30 B.C. Caesar Augustus had proclaimed,

Caesar was claiming Godhood and Lordship. And when Peter quoted that in Acts 4 and verse 12 to Jesus Christ, Peter was saying, Caesar is not Lord, Jesus Christ is Lord. And he was declaring war upon Caesar. May I remind you of Proverbs 28 and verse 4. Don't turn there, let me just quote it. The Bible says, "They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them." Now listen to that. "They that forsake the law." What law? God's law. A king rules by his law. "They that forsake the law praise the wicked." So, if you forsake God's law, if you deny God's sovereignty, and you forsake His law, you're praising the wicked. You're swearing allegiance to the sovereign state. "But such as keep the law contend with them," that is, he fights against them.

How do I fight against them? By obeying Christ. By recognizing His sovereignty. By bowing to His law word. You remember it was William Penn who said, "Disobedience to tyrants is obedience to God." Why? Because you recognize the sovereignty of God. The second application is this. It is and it should be the sole happiness of the godly to be subject to the royal authority of Jesus Christ. We love His kingship. We love His law. We love His kingdom. We love His subjects. We love His worship. We love His Word. He is our Savior and He is our God.

And when Caesar comes and commands us to do that which is unbiblical and ungodly, we must say with Peter and the other disciples in Acts 5 and verse 29, "We must obey God rather than men." Because Jesus Christ is King of kings and God of gods and Lord of lords. Christ or Caesar, there's no other alternative. How do I know who my sovereign is? The question is, whom do I obey? Whose law do I obey? To whom is my worship directed and my prayer request sent? I find it extremely irritating and aggravating that the average professing Christian will cry out to the federal government before he will cry out to God. Who is your sovereign? Either Christ or Caesar. What those Jews did in John 19, reject Christ for Caesar. We must bow His sovereign authority. We must obey His law and bring our lives into agreement and conformity to His word in every area that He gives us grace to. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank Thee. We acknowledge Your grace and Your mercy. And Father, we acknowledge You are the only Sovereign. And Father, we bow to Thee through the Lord Jesus Christ. Your law is supreme. And Father, may we bring our lives in conformity unto it. Help us, Lord, to give Thee glory and honor and worship and praise, for Thou alone art worthy. And Father, we pray that you will grant thy people, first of all, repentance. And then, Lord, grant us faith and grant us obedience.