Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit, preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ, and now the message. We've been speaking at length off of the topic of ministering effectively, kind of tying into our theme of service. As one thinks of service, you might think of anything from someone that's a waiter at a restaurant or establishment you went to, they served you, they brought you something. But in reality, service is the watchword of the Christian life. The scriptures speak of it in this wise, for you are not your own. You are bought with a price. Wherefore glorify God in your members, which are his. So if you are a believer, you've put, as we heard in the invocation, your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. He's purchased you out of a debt to sin. And he has paid that sin debt with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So you're not your own. Now that doesn't keep us from a desire in our heart, right, to do what we wanna do, to continually struggle in areas that we know God would give us victory over. It doesn't keep us from willfulness. There's that level of humanity within us that Cries out much like Romans chapter seven, who shall deliver me from this body of flesh. But your life as a believer is really one of ministry. We minister to this world, do we not, by the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ? I mean, when you think about it that wise, on occasion, you'll go to a door, or a home or a friend or a family, whatever it might be, and they'll gratefully receive you and they appreciate the gospel. I once, I was with a group of our folks from church, we had knocked these doors, I'm not sure who knocked on this one gentleman's door, but he made an event for us to call the church, and he left a message, and in the message he said, I don't agree with probably some of the stuff you believe, but that's not the purpose of my call. I'm so thankful that you're going out and doing this. And I just wanted to be an encouragement and thank you for it. I thought that was kind. He recognized that the gospel of Jesus Christ going forward, the potential it has, that it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek is life changing. It's transforming Romans chapter 12, verse one and two. And if it's transforming in one person's life, it can be transforming in 10 people's life. If it's transforming in 10 people's lives, it can be transforming into a community, a society, and a civilization. So there, really, the fact remains that rather than getting upset at the ministry of the preaching of the gospel, it really would make the world more inhabitable to live in. But I don't think that we'll get too many of those applause over the years. But I have a ministry, we all do. God has called every one of us to be faithful in the transmission of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have a service in that sense to the world. I have a ministry that I'm called to as a parent. I have a ministry I'm called to as a child. I have parents. I have honor that is due unto them. I have love that is due unto them. I have affection that is due unto them. As a parent, I have training that is due unto children. It's a ministry. I have a ministry as a husband. I think that's one of the sometimes reasons that there's difficulty in marriage when we begin to forget that marriage is ministry. It's work, and sometimes it's a pleasant type work, and sometimes there's responsibilities within marriage that require more difficulties. Sometimes it's hard conversations to be had, but marriage is ministry. If we get into marriage and we're focused solely on us, then you've not looked at marriage from God's perspective, and you know what you'll have? you'll have a good marriage until you stop getting what you want to get out of that marriage. And then, and then trouble will come. Marriage is ministry. You pick the position for the Christian and the watch world really is ministry. At the end, as we're dealing with this service, because we could have dealt with any of those topics, but we're focusing on Romans chapter 12 this past week and the weeks before it. And when you come to the end of Romans chapter 12, and just flip over just for a moment, because I want to tie this together with you for a moment before I get on this morning's topic. You look at verse 14, he's talking about being compassionate in previous verses, being loving, being rejoicing. In verse 14 he says, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Then you go down in verse number 17, recompense no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible as much as lie within you, live peaceably with all men." Verse 19, avenge not yourselves. So that's the tenor that the end of Romans chapter 12 takes. And then the Holy Spirit of God moves on the Apostle Paul into chapter 13. And what's the first sentence? Let every soul be subject to the higher power. So the time that we have and really this is a complex there's a tremendous amount of truth that's packaged in 13. So I won't get to all of it but I want to deal with the first four or five verses and talk a little bit about another one of God's ministers. I would talk about the government. That's what's in context of ministering effectively and for a child of God which most here today would vocally proclaim to be. We have life as a ministry. But flip over and look, well in my scriptures it's laid out that way, but look in verse four. Let me show you three words. Look at verse four. For he is the what? Isn't that interesting? Look later down at verse four. For he is the minister of God. Twice in verse four. Now look at verse 6, for this cause pay ye tribute also for they are their God's minister. Well, I thought the minister was the preacher. No, that's why I had that statement earlier. Every child of God, they're ministering, they're serving at something. But if you consider for the moment that there's another minister in your life, In fact, he limits you. He restrains. Every April 15th, if not before, you pay him. And some of you say you didn't see my paycheck last week, brother. I paid him already. Have you ever considered that that also is God's ministry, God's minister? We deal with ministering effectively and notice the natural flow of the scriptures. Now God has another minister. Now this is interesting because Oftentimes is the case, when we think about blessing those that curse us, when we think about the difficulties, the pressures that sometimes believers are under, the persecution that sometimes individuals face, we say, why doesn't the government, why doesn't someone really step in and do something? And we would say to our minds, isn't that what government's for? Doesn't government have the responsibility to protect the innocent, to punish the guilty, to protect the weak? to advance good, isn't that her responsibility? To personify it for a moment? Isn't that what the government's for? Some four years ago, you get this massive virus spreading across the world, as they would say, and citizens around the world, who do they look to? Doesn't government have a responsibility? How did you let this happen to us? Government's supposed to help us. Government, government. Isn't that their job? My answer oftentimes would simply be this, the government ultimately cannot save you. No more than your preacher can save you. Historically speaking, every time the minister of government has entered into the realm of theological nature, he has always fallen flat on his face. But politically and practically speaking, the government is an ordained realm that God has established. but it is not always a God-approved realm. What do you mean? I mean, the truths and doctrines of Christ are unchanging. Hebrews 13, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday forever, today and forever. James 1, and I believe around verse 17, that every good gift, every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of love, and he's no variableness nor a shadow of change. God doesn't change, governments do. Governments even change in what they prosecute and what they advocate for. You think in, I've invoked April 15th, but for generations, I do not mean a few years, generations, our federal government advocated for a nuclear family. That's why If a man was married, he and his wife labored. She was a stay-at-home mom, never worked outside of the home a day of her life. There was actually a provision written into retirement social security code that allowed for a house worker stipend when she retired. That was there. I assume it's still there today. It was there. They were advocating for something. Many of you are familiar with the child tax credits. It's there to help families. That's what it was initially there for. Our government has advocated for those. Of course, now we're in a society where dinks. How many of you are familiar with that term, dinks? Yeah, dual income, no kids. Dinks. Now look at some of that that the government advocated for and said, hey, that doesn't help us that way. It's not equal. So governments change. things that they pursue and prosecute in life. Maybe a couple of quick considerations about government. These are very quick. This is not the thesis of the message, but I want you to consider that all governments had a beginning. There's never been an eternal government outside of God's kingdom. And you go back to the first government that was ever called anything, you'll find it in the book of Genesis, and it was Nimrod the mighty hunter who was before God that established what would be Tanamata Kingdom, post-flood. That's the first government. You move on, and I would give you with that that all governments had a definitive beginning, but all governments, historically speaking, have a conclusion. Find me the government of the Edomites. For that matter, go find me the pharaohs of Egypt. They would say, historically speaking, that Cleopatra and her amour, Mark Antony of Rome, that she would really be the last pharaoh. Problem speaking is she was really a Ptolemaic. It was the dynasty of the Ptolemies, not truly Egyptian pharaoh in that essence. We're the pharaohs of Egypt. You move down from Egypt, you go down to Sudan. I have a missionary that I'm in talks with and he is ministering in South Sudan, one of the newest countries on the face of the earth. But in Sudan, you have the kingdom of the Kush. They built pyramids before the Egyptians built pyramids to honor the kings. They're no more than a pile of archaeological rubbish, as some would deem it, but treasure in the deserts. And that's true of every society that exists. Governments have an end. I would submit to you another thing. All governments have limitations. There's never been a worldwide government in the history of humanity. You consider this for a moment, I think of the late World War II. Hitler did not manage to capture all of Europe, much less all of the world. I would even be so bold as to say there never will be a human that sits on a worldwide government. Even the Antichrist, if you'll come down to Revelation chapter 19, he's not a worldwide ruler. Why would you say that? Well, if I take it literally in Revelation chapter 19, he's fighting somebody before Jesus descends. And by virtue that there's another entity that he's fighting, that means that there's an entity that he's not controlling. There'll only be one worldwide kingdom. And I don't know if I've shared this with you yet, but I'm gonna be a minister in that kingdom as well. preacher? No, no, no. I don't, I don't think so. I don't know yet. I haven't been appointed. But I'm a ruling reign in that kingdom. That's what I'm telling you. And if you're a believer, you will too. I would submit to you that almost, almost, let me say that word one more time, Almost, I struggle, my conscience struggles to always say what I'm about to say. Almost any government is better than living in a society with no government. You think of the French Revolution. I really, from a historical point of view, cringe. when people talk about the late 1700s being a time of revolution, and they go and they talk about the American Revolution and the French Revolution as being the same. And I struggle with that, because they weren't. I digress. In a society where there's no government, you'll find in Judges chapter 17, the era of the judges, where there was no king, every man did that which was right, in his own eyes. That's a frightening thing for me to consider. We'll perhaps look at that topic in a moment. A fourth consideration I give you is that every government is composed of sinners. And as such, it's doomed to inconsistencies, mistakes, and failures. It's destined. It's destined to government because it's composed of sinners to seek their own. Now, I'm gonna smile while I say this, but the longer I live, and the more history that I see replicated, I come almost to a conclusion that I usually favor a divided form of government in these, our United States of America. You say, well, Preacher, if we have a divided government, that means one party has the Congress and another one has the executive branch, or some combination of that. Nothing gets done. And I say, isn't that great? Every government's composed of sinners. I think of Samuel's great message on government to the children of Israel as they gathered before him. And they had determined that they were done with judges and they were gonna appoint a king. And Samuel, aged man, mustering all of his strength, proclaimed forcefully, if you get a king, and he began to serenade them with the theme, he will take, take, take. Every government is composed of sinners, they'll seek their own. I guess what you really want is more moral sinners. Another one is no government has all power. Governments derive their power from I love the opening parts of our Declaration of Independence. A government of the people, by the people, for the people, whose powers derive from the consent of the governed. It talks about one people, under God, as in, we would say, our pledge and on our currency. No government has all power. You look in Romans chapter 13 and verse 1, notice the trilogy. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Where did government get its authorization to rule? Brethren, I realize it's not popular in the world. It's not even popular as a whole in our country anymore, but every nation is one nation under God. Whether that nation believes God, likes God, or wants God, that nation is one nation under God. It may not be indivisible. It may be divisible, but that does not remediate for a moment that it is one nation under God. Now as I stand here and I speak on Romans chapter 13 and I speak, I'm going to say something else, just by way of introduction. I realize that there are many with us this morning that they've lived under different types of governments. Some in this very room have lived under oppressive dictators. Some have lived under extreme communistic rule. Some have lived under chaotic socialistic rule. Some have lived under freedom-leaning governments that did not have the same guarantees that we as American citizens have. I often consider that when I think about the biblical teaching of the government. There's no personal action that I did by which I was born into an American home. More than 300 years ago, give or take, My forebearers, whom I've never known, I don't even know all their names. They left the Scottish Highlands, they left the Ulster area of Ireland, they left Eastern Germany, the Rhine River Valley, and they landed here. And they became American citizens at some point after the establishment of this union. And that was not even really a thought in their mind when they made those decisions. So when on occasion I have the opportunity and in my hand I hold my U.S. passport, to the number of folks that I know that did not have that opportunity as I've had that opportunity all my life, I'm immensely grateful. Immensely grateful. To the scriptures, I want to set one more narrative for you. Particularly with verse one, when he's saying, let every soul be subject, he's including believers. But the expression of that word is not exclusively believers. Notice, every soul. He did not use the oft used phrase, all of us. You go back to chapter one, other places in Paul's writings, as the spirit of God moved in him, he inculcates himself in us. For instance, in 1 Thessalonians, writing to the Thessalonian church, talking about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture his saints, he says, for we which are alive and remain. He includes himself in this group. But in this passage, he does not use that phrase, let us be subject to the higher powers. He's being broad, he's including all humanity has this divinely appointed responsibility because the government which is, is God's minister. So what groups is he referring to? Well, we could look at the name of the epistle. It is the epistle to the Romans. It is those saints which live in the provincial and the empirical capital of the Roman Empire, the Romans. In many regards, historians would call the Romans world rulers. Now they did not rule the world, but much like that future Antichrist, of whom Rome is a type in one sense, according to Daniel, they ruled and influenced almost all the world. Ruled a great part in a real sense, influenced a significant larger part. And there were groups, like the Parthians of Arabia, that they never defeated. like the Pictish people north of Britannia that they never conquered, but they still influenced them in one fashion or another. In fact, Trajan's Wall, I believe, is still in Britannia, built as a defensive measure. But when Paul's writing, he's talking about the Romans. Well, who are they? Well, they believed in empirical worship. You had to worship the emperor. They believed in that. They were individuals that were murderers of innocents. You think of the Colosseums. It weren't just lions dying in the Colosseums. If you are a captured enemy, that might be where your final end was. If you refused empirical worship, likely that's where your end was. Nero, as history states, persecuted such the believers that he put them out and kind of lit Rome with their demise. They were unjust in their prisoners. You know, I think about our society and we talk about first ladies, right? Maybe we talk about the first lady of Pennsylvania. You talk about the first lady of the federal government. But there's this esteem that goes with certain members of the leader's family that are not directly appointed to some type of governmental service. Well, that wasn't a title they had in Rome. Because sometimes even the emperor's wife or children or parents. We're at the top of the list of individuals that need to die for that emperor to keep his kingdom. I don't suppose that we would look at that and say that that's a good choice to be made or that it's defensible from a biblical position. They were impressors of slaves. And I would note when I use this phraseology, the Romans didn't really care what color your skin was. It wasn't a black and white thing. Many become their slaves. Foreign kings would become their slaves. Foreign governors, their slaves. They had corrupt morals and corruption of leadership. But to the Romans, Paul cries, through inspiration, let every soul be subject to the higher powers. But that was not the only group he's speaking to. There's another group that exists. I suppose they exist in every civilization. Yea, even one of Christ's own disciples had this moniker in his name. There were the zealots. The zealots, in many regards, specifically of a Jewish group, believed there was no king but God. You'll remember one of the disciples, Simon Zelotes, the zealot. He either came from a region or had a past where he took umbrage with the Roman government. He decided he would stand when they said to kneel, not pay when they ought to pay. That's how zealots behave. And that actually brought the full force and fury within about 10, 15, 20 years of Paul's pinning of Romans. That zealot-type action brought the full fury and fervor of the Roman Empire upon Jerusalem. History calls it 70 AD, the destruction of Jerusalem. They destroyed the temple, and the Jews fled in every direction, and he was determined, Titus and Vespasian, to root out these zealots that had been a thorn in his proverbial behind all this time, and he pursues them all the way down to the southern fortresses, and spent three years trying to kill the last couple hundred of them. and to the zealots that were against the authority that was, Paul penned, let every soul be subject to the higher powers. But the Romans and the zealots were not the only people there. You also had some Jews and certainly, as the scripture mentions, some believers. They believed it. illegal, unlawful to worship the emperor. I'm just curious, but I think it's still wrong to worship a man. Amen? We worship the true and living God. There's been some great kings. The scripture indicates them. I think of Nebuchadnezzar. God through Daniel spoke of Nebuchadnezzar as being the king of kings in one sense, a head of gold, of marvelous intellect, of political marvelous timing. And yet it seems that there's some believing Jews in the plain of Dura that refused to bow, though the king had done them much good. He had appointed them. He had cared for them. Yes, I know they were mistreated at the beginning, but by the time you find them in the plains of Dora, they're sitting in the cabinet member's status. They're someone that the people know. They're at the top of the political food chain. And yet they still chose the same truths of the book of Acts. We worship God alone. And to these Christians that are under duress, Their cult betwixt the Romans and those that hate the Romans. Paul writes, let every soul be subject to the higher powers. I'll give you quickly a couple of thoughts on what is the role of government. They are the minister, we've seen that. It's problematic, we've seen that. What are they supposed to do? I want you to notice here in verse number one, that last phrase, they are ordained by or rather of God. You know what that word ordained means? It has the idea of established on purpose. Established on purpose. What's the role of the government? Number one, I would say of this, they exist because of his divine will. He wants them here. I dare say no Christian should really pray for the overthrow of a government. I realize there are some governments that are horrendous. But the overthrow of those governments should be considered in measure to the human life that it will cost. Government exists by God's divine will. It's quite interesting to note in 1 John 5, the scripture conveys that the whole world lieth in darkness. And yet God has arranged that governments exist with the code of law by which to cause man not to fall into the depths of depravity that his heart longs for. It is interesting to me. And I won't chase this rabbit, but I'll give it to you to chase and you go home and chase it. But there's no decree to establish a government. There's no government established until after the flood of Noah. But we know a lot about that society that existed before Noah. And what did God say about their thoughts and meditation? Evil continually. And God promising not to destroy earth. He established the realm of human government and ordained it as a means to restrain man, even a lost man from his natural desires to be. I realized that statement might be hard. God does not look at unredeemed humanity and say, well, there's a spark of divinity in them. He said, if they don't have a code of law, natural law, if they don't have a fomentation of government, we'll go right back to the flood. You wanna speak about the influence of darkness, we could speak of Satan, but I would remind you when God, commending on Satan's future and declaring on Satan's past, he's always, Satan is, often associated with governments. Particularly in Isaiah 14, I think it's the king of Tyre. God ordained them. Number two, another role, if you will, they are to serve. Another role of the government, I should say, is to note, or individuals that live under the government, is that resistance to this ordained government by God is seen rebellion against him and therefore must be punished. Take your mind back to number 16. Some of you probably don't remember what number 16 was. It's the story of Korah and 250 other individuals. And they were not happy and thrilled about the decisions that Moses was making. What happened? Judgment came. Resistance against government. God said, will bring punishment. Note verse two there. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resisteth what? What God ordained. You look at the Old Testament, much of it, some of it, particularly in Deuteronomy and following is a code of law on how the Israelites were to behave with the government that God had given them, the theocracy. and it was laid out, and you're going to do it this way or else. The theme is set out in Deuteronomy 19 and 21, the eye for eye. You find that in Genesis 9, 6, who so shedeth man's blood? By man's hand should his blood be shed. Deuteronomy 19, 21, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. You resist, you get to the point you can't control yourself, you're gonna defy the law, then note it's resistance against God. Government serves as a place of deterrence, preventiveness against the human heart. Government is to serve as a matter of honesty and impartiality. Government really is to serve as a scene of expedience. Justice is to be meted out. You look at the government's justice in one sense, At least in God's governmental system that he set up in Deuteronomy 25 there was a place allowed for pardon and mercy. As a sad thing in our society sometimes you never know how to think about all these gubernatorial and presidential pardons. And all I'll say about that is that when you look in the Old Testament God had pardons. I'll leave it at that. And I'd like to say also he had mercy on me and the Apostle Paul and Moses. A third thing about government is government is a restrainer. We live in a day of this feeling of sovereign citizenship. And I have a right to be my own cop on police force and my own this my own that my own government. I don't have to have a driver's license, please don't pull me out without a driver's license. I tell him I don't have to have one because I'm entitled to do what I want to do. Well, there ought to be a place in our life where we're thankful. Look at Romans chapter one. Look at the opening of Romans chapter one, particularly this first chapter. Just note this with me, if you will. I've already alluded to this, so I won't spend long here. But when you look at Romans chapter 1 and you get a grasp of the wickedness that God is foretelling of the hearts of men, notice in this verse 21, neither were they thankful, vain in their imagination, foolish heart darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became as fools, changed the glory of an uncorruptible God to an image made like to corruptible man, to birds, to four-footed beast, God gave them over, in verse number 24, to their own uncleanliness through the lust of their own hearts. For this cause, God gave them up, verse number 26, to vile affection. Even their women did change the natural use of that which is against nature. Likewise, also men leaving the natural use of women burned in their lusts one towards another, men working that which is unseemly, receiving in themselves a recompense of this error. And as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. It means rejected to do those things which are not convenient. Becoming is the idea. What was it like? They were filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetous, maliciousness. That's just a growing appetite and attitude of hatred, full of envying, jealousy on the rampant rise murder, debate, quarrelsomeness, invariance, malignity, whisperers, backbiners, haters of God, despiteful, proud, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without natural affection, I'm sorry, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection. It means they don't even love the things that nature would tell them to love. Implacable, the truth breakers, truth breakers, unmerciful. I read down through those verses. And I wouldn't want any of those people to be my neighbors. And also, as I read down through those verses, I come to the conclusion. But that's the judgment of God on any society that turns his back. Upon us. We could also say, that's America. That's where you're at right now. We talk about the judgment of God. God, stay the judgment of God. Friend, it's here. It's here. Just like in Romans 13 and verse one, when Paul is preaching, let every soul be subject to the higher power. It's not a time of peace. The Roman Empire is not at her apex. The judgment of God is present. And God said, I've installed and ordained a government. I submit to you. I know there's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the child of God, I understand that. But as bad as things are, According to Romans chapter one, have a little thanks that the government is a restrainer. It could be far worse. Number four, what's the role of government not only as a restrainer, government should promote good. I mentioned about a passport earlier. I'll give you this thought. I think of Acts 25. The Apostle Paul, well, and Acts chapter 16. In Acts chapter 16, Paul's imprisoned in Philippi, and they beat him, they mistreat him, they've locked him up. And the next morning, of course, the jailer, there's an earthquake, the jailer comes and gets saved, and he's treating their wounds and such. And if you keep reading the verse, it says that the magistrates sit to sergeants. And the sergeants came into the prison and they said, all right, you two fellas can go now to Paul and Silas. Do you remember what Paul did? He says, sir, I'm a we, he uses we, him and Silvanus, a Silas. We be Roman, we be Romans. And you've treated us this way. It's not lawful, because Philippi was a tribute of Rome. It's not lawful that you treat a Roman citizen this way. If you, we're gonna stay right here. If you want us to be turned loose, you come down here and do it yourself. And the next verse talks about the magistrates going down there and turning them loose. Acts chapter 25, he's down in Jerusalem. They're about ready to half kill him. The guards have whisked him away and there's a threat against his life and yet again he claims that Roman citizenship and no man could touch him. I think one of the greatest things the Roman government ever did was the freedom to give the blessed Apostle Paul the opportunity and those like him to preach the gospel to regions beyond. Government's supposed to be in business of promoting that which is good. Number five, governmental rulers Governmental rulers, that is kings and governors, as mentioned in 1 Peter chapter 2, are stewards of God. You'll notice here in your text, he speaks in verse number four, they are the ministers. The ministers, in verse six, they are God's ministers. They're God's stewards. In 1 Peter, turn over there just a moment with me, in 1 Peter, He says, submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to God as supreme or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. Notice what he says in verse 17, honor all men. That's to place a value upon. Love the brotherhood, fear God. What's the next one? Listen. I've never had a king in my civic life, but I have had some times that I was very proud of the person that was president. I remember one president in the past that he was given his farewell address. It was his last public speech. He'd been in office eight years. And it was on a radio, by the way, that was a thing with dials that used to be in your car. And they were broadcasting it. And in his speech, that he oversaw its preparation, he began to talk about the importance of life and liberty. And I remembered how much I wanted to hear the rest, so I pulled off the side of the road. I think in my mind it was one of the finest speeches on the responsibility of a government to protect life, even the life of unborn, that I have ever heard in my life. I may not have been proud of everything that president did, but I was proud that that was my president at that very moment. Sometimes it's easy to honor a king when you're always proud of him. I don't think there's ever been a king historically The children of God under that kingdom can say, I'm so proud to have him, but we are to give him value as king, as God's minister. He beareth not the sword in vain. Let me give you one more. I should have compliance. Compliance to their, his, its ordinance is proper. Notice, if you will, right here in the text, verse five. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, to what? His ordinances. Not only for wrath, but what's that last phrase? What's that mean? I can understand the first part, I'm to be subject because of wrath. I get that. If I don't do, he's going to do. That's wrath. But what does it mean for conscience sake? That's not him. That's you and I. I'm to be subject to the ordinance of the king for conscience sake. That's my conscience. Consider these verses. In 1 Peter chapter 3, Peter talks about suffering for doing well. He speaks of it of having a conscience that is void of offense. In Acts chapter 24, the Apostle Paul speaking about conscience talks about having a pure conscience. Again, the idea of void of offense towards God and man. Why do I have a responsibility for conscience sake? Because if I intend on being the child of God that understands his role and ministry, my inability to submit myself to the God-ordained authority that he's placed in my life will result in me rendering my ability to witness for him null. For conscience sake. Sometimes the role of the government is at enmity with God. There are times for a child of God to defy that ordinance. By the way, there's a time every relationship, every entity that God has established, there's a time and place for Christians to defy its commands and precepts. And it's the same ground all the time. Consider with me for a moment. Children, Ephesians six and one, children, obey your parents. What does that in the Lord mean? What does it mean in the Lord? It means, if you will, like unto the Lord. My children have a biblical obligation to do right, even if I tell them to do wrong. By the way, that's how I'm gonna obey my government. When my government produces, God defying orders, I have a responsibility to do what? Right. But if their ordinance is simply the fact that I don't like it, I'll simply say you don't have theological grounds. But if God's not for it, if it is in direct conflict to the word of God, then you have a responsibility to obey the supreme God of all the universe. It takes very little spiritual enlightenment to resist and rebel against any authority, much less divinely placed authority, because that is our natural heart's desire. It takes very little spiritual insight to disobey your parents. Amen. You don't have to work at it comes naturally. That aspect of the rebel nature comes natively. It's our natural heart's desire, but it takes real courage, it takes real faith, it takes real boldness to submit to laws that we do not like while maintaining our responsibility to obey God. If we would minister effectively in this life, let us be people of quiet meekness that boldly stand for truth, that courageously give the gospel of Jesus Christ, that humbly submit to the authority of God and the authority that he has placed in our life. And let our lives be marked by the peace of God, because truly our God is peace. The role of government and the ministries. Let's stand, Father. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541-Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.svbcpa.org. Until next time!