INTRODUCTION:

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." (God through the tongue of David in 2 Samuel 23:3)

"If their princes exceed their bounds, Madam, it is no doubt that they may be resisted even by power." (John Knox said this when questioned by Queen Mary about his views which legitimized subjects resisting their princes. Note:  Knox was only partly right.  Only civil disobedience is allowed, and that only when it is contrary to the Bible.  The New Testament never tells Christians of this Age to resist Government by power. -- 2 Cor 10:3-5; Eph 6:11-13)

"The preservation of a free government requires ... [that it not] be suffered to overleap the great Barrier which defends the rights of the people. The Rulers who are guilty of such an encroachment, exceed the commission from which they derive their authority and are Tyrants. The people who submit to it are governed by laws made neither by themselves nor by an authority derived from them, and are slaves." (James Madison)

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." (First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America)
 

THE APOSTLES ANSWER TO THE COUNCIL:

"Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." (Peter and the other apostles in Acts 5:26-29, cf. 5:24-33)
 

MIDWIVES DISOBEDIENT TO THE KING OF EGYPT:

"And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:  And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.  But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive." (The Midwives in Exodus 1:15-17, cf. 1:8-21)
 

THREE HEBREWS DISOBED THE KING OF BABYLON:

"Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of ... all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:14-18, cf. 3:1-27)
 

DANIEL REFUSED TO OBSERVE AN UNJUST LAW:

"It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;  And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first ... the king thought to set him over the whole realm.  Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom .... Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.  Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.  All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes ... have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.  Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.  Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.  Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." (Daniel 6:1-10)
 

KING DAVID REBUKED FOR INJUSTICE:

"And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.  And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man..."(2 Samuel 12:1-7)
 

REHOBOAM'S FAILURE TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE:

"And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. ... And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,  Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. ...  And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?  And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.  But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:  And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?  And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people ... My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.  And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.  So Jeroboam .... the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;  And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, ... I will chastise you with scorpions.  Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people ... So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. ... Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.  So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day." (1 Kings 12:1, 3-4, 5-16, 18-19)
 

CONCLUSION:

"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (God in 2 Chronicles 7:14)

"New Testament Churches were persecuted by the state and state-established churches forcing the New Testament Churches to flee into the uttermost parts of the world. The New Testament Churches fled to the Americas, but only to be persecuted by state-established churches in the Colonies as late as A.D. 1789.  In March 1775, a young Christian Lawyer, named Patrick Henry, rode into the small town of Culpeper, Virginia, and witnessed the brutal public scourging of a preacher of a New Testament Church (called 'Baptists') who had been beaten so badly with whips laced with metal that the bones of his rib cage could be seen because he had refused to take a license to preach from the state-established church. Later, Patrick Henry wrote the famous words that became the rallying cry of the revolution, 'Give me liberty or give me death.'  At the urging of Baptist pastors, spearheaded by Isaac Backus and John LeLand and the architect of the Constitution, James Madison, the first Congress sought to end the persecution of the New Testament Churches in the United States by inculcating the doctrine of the New Testament Churches requiring the complete separation of the Churches from the state into the Religious Liberty Clauses of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by prohibiting Congress from adopting any law respecting the establishment of religion or from prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and by adopting the Ninth Amendment reserving fundamental, inalienable rights of the individual.   James Madison said that what may appear as a right to man may be a duty to his Creator, and every man has the inalienable right to worship his God in accordance with the dictates of his conscience.  Thomas Jefferson said in a letter to the Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut, that the religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment built a 'wall of separation between the state and the church.'" (From the "Petition for Redress of Grievance of Indianapolis Baptist Temple to the President ... and to the Congress of the United States)

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:12-18)