Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Terry, for the good song; I appreciate that. We're going to begin looking at Romans 13 this morning, and this is an interesting text. You know, we're in this application section of the book of Romans, taking all the doctrine that we've learned and applying it, and that can become rather interesting. 

So I thought it was important, as we come to this section on our relationship to the government, that we take kind of a broad view. We're not going to get past verse 1 this morning, but I want us to begin to think about what we have thought, what's been kind of traditional in the church, and maybe recent in our lifetime developing in the church as far as attitude, purpose, and why we have the government and why God created this institution.

As we come to our text in Romans 13 concerning the Christian's place, attitude, and relationship to government, I'd like to talk for a few minutes about my philosophy of preaching and teaching. It's interesting sometimes how people respond to certain messages. Sometimes I think I have a great message, and it all falls flat. Other times, I'll be preaching through the Word, giving the sense of it, and people are really impacted; the Holy Spirit's working and encouraging them. I'm always grateful but sometimes surprised at how people react to certain messages. 

Then there are those times when I'm just going through the Word verse by verse, teaching in context, and people get really upset, and that surprises me as well. It's an interesting role I have in the church, to preach and teach the Word of God. But here's the thing that I always come back to: I just want to say what God's Word says. That's my job. I leave the rest to the Holy Spirit to make it effective in the lives of believers. That's always my prayer, that God will, by His grace, make it work because I know that I cannot. I'm just depending on Him to work in our hearts, to open our ears, to hear His Word so that it might bring His will to pass in our lives. 

People have asked me on occasion—my wife has asked me—how I can say the things I say sometimes. I remember early on, preaching in Jude and 1 and 2 Peter, where there are some really hard things. What I want you to understand is that I am so fixed on the words, on the meaning, on saying what God is saying, that I often don't think about the impact until I'm delivering the message. I wouldn't change that; I think it's all that I can do. 

There are hard things in the Scriptures. The truth is that we are all imperfect. We all have wrong ideas, wrong ways of thinking, and therefore wrong ways of acting. The plan and purpose of God is to conform us to the likeness of His Son, to sanctify us in a progressive, continual way, and He does that through the preaching, teaching, and study of His Word—through a renewing of our minds and confronting of our sin, encouraging our hearts to faith and trust in Him. 

So in the places where we need change, we need to change the way we think or act. In areas where we might have deep-seated convictions or ways of thinking that may be traditional but not necessarily Scriptural, we may feel a little uncomfortable studying what God's Word says. From my perspective, in studying and preparing for these messages, I don't think about that. Certainly, I don't think about mitigating the Word or softening it in any way. I just want to understand what God is saying and convey that understanding to you the best way that I know how. That's all that I want to do so that He might use His truth to encourage, strengthen, and change each one of us according to His will.

I'll give you an example. After I was first saved and came to faith in Jesus Christ, I realized that the Bible was the only source of truth and that it makes perfect sense of man, God, and the world around us. God gave me a tremendous desire to know His Word and His truth because I didn't want to be deceived again. The first books I studied in depth were Romans and Galatians, and I was in a situation where I could just spend hours a day for months on end studying these books.

One of the truths that became most clear to me was the issue that Paul addresses in Galatians 1:6–10: the issue of a false and a true gospel. The dividing point between those who preach a lie—a false way to heaven—and those who preach the truth. The point Paul makes here is that a man is to be judged by the gospel that he preaches. That's the end of the story. 

So I knew that the church I had come out of, the Roman Catholic Church, preached a works-plus-faith, sacramental salvation, and I was clear on that. But when I began to learn what most Protestant churches taught, I found that they also taught a sacramental salvation. They were trusting in the baptism of their children and the Lord's Supper to save them. They only had two sacraments instead of seven, but it was the same false gospel. This was a revelation to me, but it was unmistakably clear in the Word of God when we applied it to the doctrines of these churches.

I thought this was pretty important, so I began to teach and preach. When I would come to these texts, I would simply say what it says and make the application clear and important. The first message I preached from this pulpit was in August of 2005 on Galatians 1, a message called "Non-Compromise." What I found in general was that this teaching—making this point—not necessarily just here but in general, caused people to become upset. 

I didn't understand this at the time, and I didn't even anticipate it. I mean, I understood the pain associated with loved ones who are lost in false religion and the heartache that comes with their unwillingness to receive the truth. I understand that very well. But what I didn't understand was the believer's unwillingness to accept, receive, and hold fast to that truth and to make the application of that truth to their lost loved ones who were in these false churches. 

Without a clear understanding of the truth and a willingness to apply it, there’s no hope of grandma being saved. That's what I saw, and that's what mattered to me. There's no hope for us as believers in the church to grow. So you see, no matter how hard the truth is, no matter how agonizing it is to apply it in our lives and to the world, we cannot, we must not compromise the truth. We must hold fast to the truth. We must accept it, believe it, rejoice in it, and be encouraged by it. 

Because no matter how hard the truth is sometimes, it's still encouraging to us as believers in Jesus Christ. It still points us in the right direction and helps us to think and act the right way. Because there is no love without truth. 

On most of these issues, the Scriptures are very clear. If our desire is to know the truth, then we will—we have that promise through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit guiding us. But the question for each of us is, do we really want to know the truth? Do we really want to submit ourselves to what God is saying and believe and obey Him? Am I willing to change the way I think about things if they don't come into consistency with the Word of God?

For me, and I think for much of the church in America, Romans 13 is one of those texts. A text that is abundantly clear in what it is saying, that sits beautifully in the context and flow of what Paul is teaching us, and a text that is supported by several other texts in the New Testament and even in the Old. But it may be a message that is a little challenging to the way I think about things and perhaps the way that I live in relationship to the government and to those in authority over me.

There are very practical and important truths that we need to explore here and be open and willing to accept to allow the Spirit of God to make those changes in our thinking. That's the whole point—growth, sanctification. This seems to happen most effectively in these application sections of the Scriptures, where we must take these truths that we know, the doctrine, and apply it to our lives.

So my apologies for a very lengthy introduction. I just want to share with you what is on my heart as I study and prepare and work through these texts, first for myself, and I struggle through them, and then to share them with you. 

So let's read our text in Romans 13 beginning in verse 1: "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. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good, but if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience's sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."

I want you to pay special attention to verse 4, where he answers the question we had back in chapter 12 about not having personal wrath, not executing vengeance, but leaving that to the Lord. Here he gives us a place for wrath: that the government, those in authority, are God's ministers and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. This helps us understand the purpose of government—why God created this institution—to maintain order, to pursue the guilty, to protect the innocent. 

Well, we won't complete this text today, but I want to give you an outline with three points. You have that in front of you. First, we're going to see subjection to authority. Second, we're going to see the source of authority. And third, we're going to see service from authority. Today we'll look at that first point and the three subpoints. 

What does it mean to be subject to authority? What is the purpose? And to what extent are we to be submissive? Well, Paul starts out with a very clear statement in verse 1. He says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities." Every soul means every person, every one of us, no exceptions. Everyone is to be subject to the governing authorities.

Now, in order to really understand what Paul is saying here, we cannot divorce it from its context. This exhortation sits wonderfully in the flow and context of what we've been studying, and paying attention to this will help us understand. We've been learning in chapter 12 a new perspective on our lives as believers. 

We saw in the structure of chapter 12 a call to service: a self-sacrificing life of service to God in light of what He has done for us and who we are in Him. Based on the mercies of God, on our salvation, on the doctrines, Paul said, it is a reasonable service to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God. 

Then beginning in verse 3 down through verse 21 in chapter 12, Paul began to show us what this looks like in a very practical way, in the context of our various relationships in this life. He explained what our attitude and relationship should be within the church and the body toward other believers. 

Then he taught us how we should relate to men in general, to the lost, and even to our enemies. These words were contrary to our world, to the philosophies of men, to the natural way of thinking, and even to our own way of thinking, perhaps in some areas. Challenging? Yes. But true and important. Important, my friends, because the gospel is at stake. Because the souls of men are in danger. This is the truth. 

We need to see our lives as ones of service to others, submission to others, ministering to the brethren in their needs and to the lost, the truth of the gospel. Paul said we are to be peacemakers. Our lives are to exhibit agape love toward all men, seeing all men the same, those for whom Christ died. He died for every man. 

We are not to seek vengeance or return evil for evil, but we are to overcome evil with good. In short, our lives are to be completely different than the world. We are to exhibit agape self-sacrificial love, which sits in contrast to self-esteem, to self-centeredness, to the self-love that exists in the men of the world. 

Listen to 1 John 2. John says, "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him."

In 1 John 3:22, John said, "And whatever we ask, we receive because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment. This is the commandment of the New Covenant: that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave His commandment." 

Jesus said the same thing in John 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." In John 15, He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. These things I command you, that you love one another." 

In Romans 13:8, which we will be coming to soon, he says, "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." This love, this New Covenant agape love, is based in truth. And apart from truth, there can't be love.

So we see that this new life in Christ, this recreation, this salvation, this death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus, has not only changed us drastically—who we are, the realm in which we live—but it has also changed every relationship that we have. 

In our home, in our church, and in the world. This for a very specific reason, as we have seen in our studies, that we might lead men to faith in Jesus Christ through the Gospel, the good news of the salvation He brings. Our actions, our relationships in this world before men, as well as the truth that we preach show the power of the Gospel in a changed life. 

And my brothers and sisters, how we relate to those in authority is no different. And in the flow, in the context of how we relate to the world, Paul says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities." 

Now we need to ask and answer three important questions under our first point in our study this morning. What does it mean to be subject to those in authority over us? What is the purpose of being subject? And to what extent are we to be submissive? Is there a limitation to this in the Scriptures?

Well, to be subject to the governing authorities means that we obey them, that we submit to them, and that we keep the law. I think Paul captures the spirit of this well in 1 Thessalonians 4. Listen to verse 11: "He says that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside and that you may lack nothing."

In Ephesians 4:28, Paul said, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need." 

We should be people who aspire to live a quiet, peaceable life—minding our own business, working with our hands, providing for our own, and sharing what we have with others. This constitutes, in Paul’s words, walking properly toward those who are outside, toward unbelievers in the world.

Listen to Titus 3:1: "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey and be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." 

1 Timothy 2:1 says, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,"—listen to this—"who desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth."

Do you see how God's Word ties our submission to authority, our living a peaceful life, and ministering to others to the coming of them to the knowledge of the truth?

We’ve looked several times at 1 Peter. You're familiar with that text in 1 Peter 2. Listen to verse 11: "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they observe glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men."

This is no thin doctrine, my friends. The Christian attitude toward government is to be one of submission, one of peace and quietness, minding our own business, looking to minister to men as individuals. 

We are to live a life worthy of our calling, to keep our focus. And listen now, here's the main point: Our first priority must be the gospel—must be the salvation of lost souls through the preaching of that good news message. That has to be our first priority. And that is what we are to do. 

That is what it means to be subject to authority. But did you see the purpose, the intent, the result in those texts that we just read? God says that living this kind of life, having this spirit of submission, is a witness to men. 

Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Philippians 2:12 says the same thing: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the Word of Life."

My brothers and sisters, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and we have been given the word of reconciliation to speak, to preach the good news, to share with all men, with every creature. 

But the Scriptures also teach that our lives, the way we live and relate to men, the way we act toward those in authority over us, the way we love the brethren and seek the good of the lost either draw men, point men to Christ, showing evidence of the power and the genuineness of this gospel that we preach, or our lives undermine the message that we preach. 

And this is what concerns me about the church in America. I'm concerned about how the bent and focus of much of the evangelical church in the United States throughout much of our lifetime has had an influence on how we think about our relationship with the government, with society, and with the gospel. 

This concern comes into great conflict with this text that we're studying. This became very apparent to me when I was first saved. You know, when I was first saved, I thought, "Man, people just haven't seen this." All I've got to do is go and show them Ephesians 2:8–9, and we're all in. And I did that, and looked at this, "Oh yeah!" I wanted to witness to everybody. 

I wanted to tell everybody this good news. I remember trying to witness to my neighbor, a man whom I had fished and hunted with many times. We were good friends. I walked down, and he was out in front of his house. It was a nice day, probably summertime in maybe 2002. I began to share the gospel with him. 

He's a great big man. He stopped me and said, "The only thing you Christians care about is abortion and homosexuality." And that was the end of our conversation. I remember on election night, it must have been Bush's second election in 2004. Bobby and I were watching the coverage, and it became apparent that the evangelical vote, the Christian right, was a major influence in putting George Bush back in the White House. 

A man named Alan Dershowitz came on the television, a liberal law professor from Harvard, and he was being interviewed about the election. He made this statement: "The evangelical Christians have made themselves a political force to be reckoned with. And so we will reckon with them." 

Is this how we want to be defined? Seen by the world? Now you need to understand that I'm as red-blooded and red-necked American as they come, and that's how I grew up. I've been all for the greatness and preeminence of the good old USA and the rugged individualism and can-do spirit that represents the best of what America is. 

Now that I've become a Christian, I'd reinforce concern about conservative principles that I valued, like personal responsibility and small government and working with your hands and minding your own business and helping those who have need. When I heard Dershowitz make this statement, it really bothered my spirit. I remember thinking, "There's something really wrong here. Is this what Christians are to be? A political force to be reckoned with? Is that our role in the world—in the government, in our society?" 

Though those early years of my Christian life, it became evident to me that the Christian right, the political force, the focus on social issues, and curing the ills of our society were misguided. They were leading the church away from the priority for which we are here. I love how succinctly Adrian Rogers puts this notion that we're to use all of our money and time and resources in the church to fix the social problems in our world. He says it’s like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. 

This became most evident to me when the coalitions in the religious right became prominent. The focus had shifted to lobbying and leveraging political power in the legislative process to stop the evils of our culture rather than preaching the gospel and teaching God's Word. Christian organizations then started to form, and they welcomed all who held their moral values to work together to end those social ills.

Prominent evangelicals stood shoulder to shoulder with Roman Catholic priests and Mormons and anyone who would hold a picket sign to stand outside an abortion shop. I remember Matt Staber's Faith and Values Coalition that welcomed all kinds of faiths to work together, to lobby, to boycott, to sue, to do anything to stem the tide of the homosexual movement in the United States. 

Out of this came, I think, two important results. One was a compromising of the gospel. All this working together with false Christian cults led to great confusion in the church and resulted in things like Promise Keepers and the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together, which so many prominent evangelicals signed. 

I remember Chuck Colson saying, "We've just made a billion more people Christians by signing a document." A clouding resulted, an undermining of the gospel and confusion in the church as to who is truly Christian and who is truly not. There was a deviation from the clear command in Galatians 1 and Romans 16 and a myriad of other Scriptures to evaluate a man by the message he preaches and to call out, to mark, to note publicly and warn the brethren against those who preach a false gospel for the sake of the church and for the sake of the gospel.

The second thing that resulted from this whole political push in evangelical Christianity was that we truly undermined our witness in the world. Instead of becoming peacemakers—leading a quiet life, minding our own business—becoming those who give their lives as a living sacrifice, exhibiting agape love to the brethren and to the lost and dying world, we became a force to be reckoned with. We became a picket sign, a clanging symbol, an economic boycott, and a legislative lobby. 

And my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am afraid for many evangelicals. Our faith shifted from a sovereign loving Lord to a political, governmental Savior. We've been given a unique blessing in this country by the grace of God, for sure. Our lifestyle, our freedoms, our prosperity is not the default condition of man throughout history. 

This has allowed America to be a great source of missions for the past 200 years, to finance missionaries around the world to bring the gospel, and many great things have been done. But I think this freedom and prosperity brings great challenges to the church as well. 

We're studying through the second and third chapters in the book of Revelation in our Thursday night Bible study, and it's fascinating to see that the church that Christ most commended, that He had no correction for, was the heavily persecuted church in Smyrna. The least effective church, the one Jesus said He wanted to vomit out of His mouth, was the very prosperous and self-sufficient church in Laodicea. 

Paul said in Philippians 4, "I have learned to be content in Christ no matter what state I'm in. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I think it's very difficult to be content in Christ when we have so much prosperity. This is evident in the church in Laodicea and in America. 

The situation is a blessing, but perhaps it's also a curse. My brothers and sisters, it is sometimes difficult to determine what our role is in this constitutional republic, this great freedom we have—how we should be involved, what we should do or not do. These are important questions for us to answer. 

I value Christians in government. I've worked in government and been involved in politics nearly all my life. It's always right to do what is right today—to stand for truth, to stand against lies and errors. We have an obligation in the church to the brethren to preach and teach the truth. We have an obligation to the world to bring the truth of the Gospel, the saving news of Jesus Christ to them. 

But what should our role, our attitude toward government be in our time? The Bible gives us the answer in verse 1 of our text: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities." This is our role. This is a clear command. We are to be people who are submissive, who are obedient to authority. We are to seek to live peaceable, quiet lives, working with our hands and ministering to the brethren and the lost in any way we can, in order to bring the truth into their lives.

My friends, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal—they are not fleshly. They are not courts and judges and legislation and fighting and guns and wars and revolution. These are not the ways that men are won to Christ. 

I had to ask myself as I studied these words, and I've been laboring over this, if you're wondering, "What is it that I have been hoping to gain from having the right man elected to government in the United States?" Certainly, I've been wound up over politics over the years. I've fallen into the trap of thinking if we could just get the right man in office, the right Congress, the right Senate, the right judges, then we could maintain our freedoms, and then all would be right in the world. 

You see, the fatal flaw in my thinking is that I, or the church, am somehow supposed to make things right in the world. The other flaw is thinking that somehow we could do this through the government and legislation. 

Do we really think, in light of the clarity of the Scriptures, that we can conform the hearts and actions of men by external moral laws? We would curse this in religion, but yet we pursue it in government. 

I'm saying all this because I want each of us to think about the purpose of government—why God gave us government. Understanding this will help us understand how we should relate to government as Christians. 

Look at the first four verses of our text again: "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. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For He is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for He does not bear the sword in vain. For He is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."

Government is an institution created by God to rule over society, to protect the innocent, and to pursue the guilty in order to maintain order. He is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. He is God's place for wrath in the world. The church is not to exercise that wrath, nor are we as individuals. This is the purpose of government. 

Obviously, it does not always operate in only this limited scope, and it does not always execute its duty well. But in general, through time, this has been the role and purpose of government in our world. This was true in Nebuchadnezzar's time with Daniel, it was true in Paul's time under the Caesars, and it’s true in our time. 

We should not see government as a tool given to the church to bring Christian values to the world or to accomplish our purposes in the hearts of men. God did not give us government to use to leverage power, to make things the way we want them in our world, or to further the gospel. 

It should be evident to us that this is not God’s way, nor an effective way to reach the world because we have all kinds of examples throughout history. Even today, the church grows in Iran and China, and it grows dim in the United States and Europe. 

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. Our weapon is the sword of the Spirit—it is truth spoken to men, casting down lies of Satan and pulling down strongholds of human wisdom in this world. 

If we set government in its proper place, if we have the right perspective, and if we understand that God’s way for us to win men is through personal interactions, through relationships and speaking the truth in love in the natural course of our lives, we don’t need a five-step method. We don’t need a plan. 

We need to love men and meet them and greet them and talk to them about Jesus in the natural course of our lives. And if we do this, we will see the value, we will see the reasonableness of submitting to those in authority over us. 

Rebellion, fighting, and resisting authority then is contrary to our goal, purpose, and the true desire of our heart. We should obey the law. We should submit to authority as a rule of life. 

So we see that we are to be subject to government. We see that the purpose of this submission is so that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life and bring the good news of the gospel to men, to bring truth into every situation in the natural course of our lives. 

Lastly, this morning, it's important that we are clear to what extent we are to obey those in authority over us. And this is a question that can be answered clearly from the Scriptures. Just as we are to make peace, we are to be peacemakers to a point. Remember that point is the compromise of the truth. 

We are also to obey the government to this point as well, but not beyond. When the government makes a law forbidding us to do something that God told us to do in His Word or commanding us to do something that God forbids, then we obey God rather than men. 

This is what happened in Acts 5. Turn over to Acts 5 with me, please. We're going to look at verse 28. The council had arrested the apostles and commanded them not to preach the gospel anymore—not to preach in the name of Jesus. But God released them from that prison that night and told them to go into the temple and preach. 

There they were, preaching in the temple in the name of Jesus. So they were seized again, and in verse 28, it says, "They said to the apostles, '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.'" 

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."

Peter said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Here’s the answer to our question, my friends. If the government or those in authority over us tell us to do something forbidden in the Word of God, or forbid us to do something commanded in the Word of God, we obey God and resist the authority. 

But in all other cases, we are to obey the government. We are to pay our taxes. We are to keep the laws. We're going to talk much more next time about why this is important and about how it is that we are to disobey when we have to do that. Our attitude and actions are important as well, and we're going to see how this leads again to a life that is a witness to men. 

That’s why it matters because the Gospel is more important than my pleasure, my prosperity, or my freedoms. The Gospel is what matters. I just hope you’ll begin to think about these things—to consider what the Scriptures say and why it matters. 

Because the first priority must be the Gospel—must be the salvation of lost souls. The things of this world don't really matter that much. If we're going to be persecuted, if we're going to be hated, even if we're going to be killed, let it be for the Gospel, not for our political force in this world. Rather, let us be peaceable men. 

This is like the UP motto, I'm telling you. Just leave us alone. Let us be peaceable men who live quiet lives, loving God, loving men, bringing truth into every situation and letting God work through His Word. That's how it works, my friends. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You that You continue to teach us. We thank You that You correct and rebuke and exhort through Your Word. We pray that You give us a humble spirit to receive what You say. Help us to rightly divide Your Word and understand it correctly. 

Help us to apply it—to really put these things into action in our lives, Lord. Because we want men to be saved. Help us to love men as You love men, and to remember why we’re here—for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.