19 Submission, Fearlessness and Conscience (Romans 13:1-7)

SPEAKER_00: We are in Romans 13 today. And I have to tell you I'm in a great mood today because January is over. January is my busy work season. I work in a financial industry and we have it's heavily regulated and we have to do all these detailed reports and they all have to be to everyone else. I have to get them to all my clients by January 31st so they can get them all to their people and everybody can meet their April 15th tax deadlines. So every January I feverishly distribute thousands and thousands of pages of documents with all kinds of minute financial details. And I always wonder as I'm generating them, does anybody really read them? All these pages, does anybody, is anyone out there checking it and going, no, this is wrong, you know? Or this this, you know, you should have put this on line five, not line seven, you know, or something. I can't imagine. I mean, I produce truckloads of this paperwork, and I can't imagine what big companies must produce. So it amazes me. Um that maybe can the government actually employ enough people to read all that paper, I don't know. And in my industry we have a compliance manual that's about this thick, and then that details everything you have to do to be in compliance with all the laws. And you would think that if you were just trying to be honest and exercising a little bit of common sense, you could figure it out. No, it doesn't work like that. It's um it's not common sense. And then whenever something like the Enron you know accounting scandal happens, then the regulations just explode for the rest of us. So um I'm done. I got it all out. But it reminds me of I heard this quote from a columnist named Cullen Hightower. He says, We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating or complex, but Congress can. Or um the cartoonist Liechten Wagner said, Oh, I don't blame Congress. If I had$600 billion at my disposal, I'd be irresponsible too. So every January I repeat this task, and every January my family tries to avoid me because I'm grumbling and complaining uh about it. And then I come to a passage like Romans 13, which I thought was quite fitting to be studying during um January, because what I learned is I'm only doing what I ought to do and I shouldn't complain about it. So, but I'm not there yet. So Paul is continuing his application of how we should live in light of the gospel, and today he's gonna talk about how we should relate to government or those in authority over us. And it's a often debated and discussed passage. We're gonna I won't answer all your questions, but we're gonna at least get into it. So we're in Romans chapter 13, and we're gonna be verses one through seven. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority, resist what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God and avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to God's wrath, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes for the authorities or ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed. It's that taxes part that's really why did he have to throw that in? That's the problem. So we are in the last major section of Romans, and just to re-set the stage, remember in chapters 1 through 8, Paul explained the gospel and the greatness of God and the glory of the gospel, how we can be saved, not by keeping the law, but by uh trusting that God will save us and forgive us from our sins because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Then in 9 through 11, he examines the role of Israel and says God's word did not fail Israel, he didn't reject Israel, that um this is all part of the plan. He's working through their salvation, and because we know he's been faithful to Israel, he will be faithful to the Gentile believers as well. And then in this great kind of climax at the end of chapter 11, there's that dynamic praise he gives to God. And in chapter 12, he says, Therefore, it's only reasonable that we serve God or worship God with our bodies. And now the rest of the book, he's explaining that. What does it mean? How should we serve God with our bodies? What difference does the gospel make? So in 12, 3, he says, For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. And essentially that theme is what we're still expounding on. So he says, we've all been given a measure of faith, and as we learn and grow and walk with God, that faith increases. Um, as we learn through, you know, maybe hardship or fellowship or or uh scripture or so forth, our faith grows and deepens. And one practical result of that is we begin to view ourselves more accurately and see ourselves who we are, uh, for who we are, and mature Christians will understand that they have this realistic picture, not thinking exalted thoughts about themselves or more highly than they ought, but figuring out God's given me these gifts, this role to play, and I'll cheerfully go and do it. So last week in the in chapter 12 we talked about how there were two primary categories of gifts, teaching gifts and serving gifts, and that the church needs both. Like a good team needs both offense and defense, the church needs both serving and teaching. Because if you have curriculum without community, then you have a dry, kind of cold church. But if you have community without curriculum, then you have an anemic and shallow church. So both of those are necessary. A good teacher may get someone in the door, but they're only gonna come back year after year if there is good serving and community. So we're not in competition with each other, we complement each other, and sober thinking is figuring out where do I fit in that scheme of thing and what has God called me to do, and then cheerfully doing it. So now he's gonna say, How does that fit with a government or with those who are in authority over me? And there are three words I think that summarize the themes of this passage, and that is submission, fearlessness, and conscience. So if last week the theme words were sober thinking, which was about ourselves, and passion and generosity toward others, that's how that's how these are just the way I try to remember the main points. So last week, chapter 12 is sober thinking about ourselves, passion and generosity toward others. This week he's gonna talk about submission, fearlessness, and consciousness. So that same sober thinking, not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, how does that fit when you're relating to someone who's in a position of authority over you? Okay, so let's start with the first two verses. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for this for there's no authority except from God, and that I cannot read all of a sudden. And those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. So this is submission. It's the first one he's going to start with. And I think part of the point here is that submission gives us a proper perspective about ourselves. It teaches us we're not the center of the universe, we're not God, we're not the one who is in control of everything. There are authorities over us who put limits on us, restrictions on us, um, who dictate to some extent how we live our lives and what we do with our resources. And part of the lesson we can learn from that is not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. So he starts by saying every every government is there by the permission of God. There's no, there's nothing that's rampant, run rampant out of control, so it's not like somebody snuck in and won an election and God didn't know about it. Um that ultimately all the powers are there, that are there, are governed by a higher authority, and that is God, who is greater than all of them. So when we complain and rail about the government, at least to some extent, we have to say, God put me here under this government, in this place, for a reason, and part of my role and calling is to submit to that and learn what I should learn from it. And this theme is echoed in the New Testament elsewhere. Remember when Pontius Pilate is speaking to Jesus before he died, and he's he's basically threatening Jesus and saying, Listen to me carefully, because I have the power uh to determine whether you live or die. I it's up to me whether I can free you or crucify you. And in John 19, Jesus says, You have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. I think he's recognizing the same thing. That even those in authority have an authority over them. And so when we find ourselves kicking against the authority structures in our lives, whether it's a boss or the government or paying taxes or school principals or teachers or whoever might be in authority over us, I think what part of the problem Paul would say is it's not how God's running the universe that is out of kilter, it's my attitude that's out of kilter. So the problem is not how God's running the universe, but how I'm responding to it. If I'm kicking at those authorities, then there's a sense in which I'm in rebellion to God because he's put me here for a reason. We're given a role to play, and I think that's why he says in verse 2, he who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted. What you're saying is, God doesn't know what he's doing, I know what he should be doing, and it's not putting me under this pos in this position. So if we're angrily shaking our fist at God and complaining about where he's put us and what authorities he's put in our lives, then we should expect discipline that he will bring judgment with that. Now, having said then we submit to authorities, let's talk about what that is. Submission is not slavish obedience and it's not mind control. So by saying I submit to my government, I'm not saying that it's a slavish, mindless obedience. Essentially, it's an attitude. It's an attitude of respecting that God has put this institution or person in my life for a reason, and I need to learn what that reason is. Um we've decided ahead of time, I'm gonna submit to God, God's in control, God's put me here, therefore I will start with an attitude of respect toward this person and authority over me. Um it doesn't necessarily mean that we will always do what we're told by the government. I think civil disobedience is well within our rights at times and probably within our responsibility. And um, but I think this passage would dictate when we disobey, we should expect to pay the consequences. Um, that you don't expect to disobey and then and then not, then you have to be willing to take the consequences that come from that, whether that's jail or what. Let me give you an example. Um in Acts 4, there I think there's a good example of civil disobedience. And the authorities in Jerusalem had forbidden the apostles to preach about Jesus. And they basically were talking to Peter and some of the other apostles and said, none of this. You can go, but you can't go talk about Christ anymore. And in Acts 4, Peter replies, Judge for yourself, basically. He says, Is it right for me to obey you or to obey God? Um and then he goes on to say, we can't help speaking about what we've seen or heard. So he's acknowledging, you have the right to judge, you have the power over me to take action against me, but this is what I have to do. I have to speak the gospel, I have to preach the news I've heard. So he's granting them some measure of respect and honor, but he uh says basically, I'm following a higher authority. Of course, he's jailed and beaten for it, and later jailed again. So he does accept the consequences of it. And there are any number of references if you go through the early church where Christians who follow their calling and they get difficult consequences, even martyred from following our their calling. So, and we're gonna talk about that a little bit more in the next verses when he talks about um do being guilty. Well, we'll get there. I'm gonna expand on that. So, let me just go back to what submission is and isn't. It's not slavish obedience. Essentially, it's not thinking too highly of ourself. It's I think Paul's warning us against the tendency to think that, oh, those laws they apply to everyone but me, because my circumstances are different, um, because I have this, you know, I have a shortcut I need to take, or I don't have to fill out that paperwork, or or um I won't get caught, or something. The attitude behind that is essentially thinking I'm more important than I am. Um and I think Paul's saying, look, you have to realize the greater problem is the problem of sin inside you. It's not the problem of the laws and the government. That may be they may be unfair, they may be unjust, they may be burdensome, but the real problem is the problem of sin inside us, and that's what God's dealing with. And he may use a government or an authority figure or an institution to teach us something about that sin. James expands on the same theme in chapter four of his letter. He says, What causes fights and quarrels among you? And the angry, unsubmissive person is gonna say, Well, it's all those other people. You know, it's all the stupidity of all those people around me. That's the problem. That's what all the fights are about. They're not treating me the way I want to be treated, or they're not doing what I want, or expect- I'm they're not meeting the needs I expect them to meet. And James says, that's not in James, but he he goes on and says, Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? In other words, uh you want something but you don't get it, you kill and covet because you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight, you do not have because you do not ask God. He's basically saying, the problem, where do all the quarrels come from? It's your attitude. It's your attitude of me first, I want what I want, I want what I can't have, I want something God hasn't granted to me. And that's the opposite of submissiveness. And I think part of the reason God asks us to be submissive, whether it's to a boss or a teacher or a government, is because we need to learn that lesson, not to think too highly of ourselves, that we're not God, that He is, that He can put limits on our time, He can put restrictions on the way we use our money, and He can do that through the governments, and that's His prerogative to teach, and part of it is to teach us to think soberly about ourselves. So, you know, we when you're driving down the freeway at 75, you know, and you go roaring past that sign that says 65, it's time to back off the gas pedal and say, okay, God, you've built restrictions in my life. They may seem unreasonable, but I'm gonna submit to that. Or, you know, if your boss comes in at the end of the day and and you're ready to leave and and you see your he dumps all this work on your desk and says, Can you have this done before you leave? And you know, what's your first response? Mine is, how unreasonable. Who made them boss? Why do I have to do this? This is not how I spend my time. How did he get to be boss anyway? It's not, you know, all those thoughts start going through your mind, but in the end, what you want to learn to say is, okay, I'll submit to this authority because I'm learning something about my need not to think so highly about myself and my need to submit to God. Or, you know, you go to the grocery store and you pay too much money for something, and then you realize they're gonna add tax on top of this. And it's like, whoa! You you can start getting angry about it, or you can say, Okay, thank you, Lord, for teaching me something about submitting to something I'd rather not, because I need to learn something about me. I think for me, one of the hardest ones is there's a running a small business. I have to pay tax on my computer. And I it just the idea of paying the government a tax for the privilege of using my computer to make money in my home just really annoys me. And it's that time, you know, I have to file the paperwork in February and pay the tax in March, and it's every year it's like, oh, I get so angry. It's like the car tax. Why should you be taxed for having a car? It's like I don't anyway. See, I haven't learned this lesson yet. I'm trying, and every year I have the opportunity to learn it when I write that check. And every year I go, oh, I haven't learned it yet. But maybe one day I'll be able to cheerfully sign that check. But I'm not I'm not there yet. Um so anyway, I just think it's it's a new way to think of your taxes, right? An opportunity to show some submission. Um anyway, what the point of all of that is when you're faced with a essentially of all the laws and all the authorities or limitations on us, because they put limits on what we can and can't do and how we spend our time and how we spend our money and how we drive our cars and what paper we work we have to keep and file, and you have the opportunity in all of that to think less of yourself, or to think accurately and not exalt yourself. As James goes on to say in that passage in chapter 4, he says, the greater danger is the law from the lawlessness within than the laws without. It's not exactly how he phrases it, but that's the idea. What we ought to be concerned about is the sin inside us and letting God deal with that more so than the laws outside us that restrict us. And ultimately, we're free to submit to God because He loves us and He cares for us. And we know that He's the person who's running everything and He can be trusted. So no matter how unjust the authority, I can submit and see what good and trust God to take care of the rest. Okay, so that's submission. Let's look at fearlessness, the second theme, and that's in three and four. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. The first time I read this, I have to admit I was struck by what seemed to be just enormous naivety on Paul's part. I mean, does he not know how corrupt governments can be? I just and then I thought, well, he lived in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire became pretty wicked and pretty evil. I mean, Nero's on the throne and he's about to start the persecutions of the Christians when he's writing this. And how can Paul say, you know, that he bears the sword for a reason? Most of the time, governments bear the sword for vindictiveness or something. They're corrupt. Um so my first reaction to this was how on earth could Paul write this? But I've learned that I'm usually the one that's wrong. When the Bible sounds naive to me, I'm the one who doesn't understand. Um so you've got to keep, when you have that reaction, keep reading, keep thinking. Twice he says governing authorities are God's servants. And I think the logical mistake we make at that point is thinking that if he says they're God's servants, then they must be good. And that's not necessary. Governments may act for selfish reasons of their own, they may be vindictive, they may be cruel dictators, but ultimately they can serve God's purposes. God can use them even when they are not, uh when they don't acknowledge him or recognize him, they still can be a tool in his hands. So the first mistake I think is thinking, well, if they're God's servants, then they must be intrinsically good, not necessarily. Um, in Isaiah 45, God calls Cyrus his separate and his servant. Um Cyrus was a ruthless, unbelieving man, he was king, and God says, I'm going to raise him up to punish the empire that came before him. Well, Cyrus didn't acknowledge God, he didn't believe God, but God still used him as a tool to punish the people he wanted punished. And the again in Habakkuk, there's another example where the prophet says, God's going to bring the ch the Chaldeans to give uh to exercise judgment on the on the people of Israel and the people of God. Well, the Chaldeans were among the most ruthless and vicious people of the time, and yet they were God's tool. So essentially he was using one sinful group of people to punish another sinful group of people. Excuse me. So the point of that is he's perfectly able to use as his instruments people and nations and rulers who have not bowed their knee to him or do not trust him. And even evil rulers may do good. Good inadvertently at times because God is in control ultimately. So what beh I think what's behind Paul's thinking at this point is the recognition that in order for government to exist and stay in power, it has to provide some kind of level playing field and consistent rules. It has to say this is how society will work and not work, this is how laws will be governed, businesses will work so that people know what to do and what not to do, and they have a right to safeguard themselves against those who would overthrow them. So even a bad government can come in and punish liars and chiefs and evildoers and rebels and people who are sworn to overthrow it because they're there to as a um they're having a right to exist. God has given them that authority for that time. So what he's saying is if you are following God and you are following the rules of the government, it's not looking for you. And you don't have to worry. So if you pay your taxes, you don't have to look over your shoulder wondering, Am I gonna get caught? Or if you drive the speed limit, you don't have to worry if there's a police car on the next around the next corner. You're doing the right thing. You don't have to worry. So he's saying, if you want to be free from fear, just practice good, do the right thing. Uh if you consistently keep the laws, then they're not the government isn't gonna be out looking for you. So he says, Do you want to be free from the one on authority? The question is, do you want to live a life that is fearless? Then literally it's practice the good. Just do the right thing, practice what's doing good. Now, um, the idea is you can live without free from guilt. The mistake is thinking that if I'm living a fearless life, I am safe. And fearlessness is not the same thing as safety, especially in an oppressive government. You may be doing the very good thing you ought to be doing, and there are governments in the world who will be out to get you for it. Um there are you know people, Christians living today under governments who would jail them and execute them and forbid them the right to meet together, uh forbid them even showing acts of mercy and kindness, you know, to other despised groups in the community. And there are clearly cases in the New Testament where believers get in trouble for doing what is right. So when I say fearless, I don't mean that doing the right thing means you're safe. You may be in danger of being jailed, but it means you're not guilty of anything. Um and I think what Paul's saying is if you're gonna be persecuted, if you're gonna be um punished, be punished for doing the right thing, not because you're sinful and you deserve it. Peter echoes the same idea in 1 Peter 2. He says, in 212, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil. And then, for this is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. And that's kind of the same idea I think Paul's got in mind here, is if you're going to be slandered and you're gonna be persecuted, make sure it's for following Jesus, not because you're sinful and you deserve it and you broke the laws. Because when you have a chance to be to stand up and show grace and mercy and honor and and honor for your Lord, that will silence the ignorance of evildoers. That's a witness, that's an act of grace. Peter also says in that section, live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. The idea again, you can you want to use your freedom. I am free to follow God, not as a cover-up for selfishness, or saying, I'm going to thumb my nose at the government or disobey flagrantly, and essentially it's for my own selfish reasons. Rather, use it your freedom to serve God. That's the essential point. Keep your behavior excellent among non-believers, so that when they slander you, you have the opportunity to show grace and mercy and goodness and bring glory to God. It's interesting, Peter goes on in that section to say, Um, for this is a gracious thing. When mindful of God, one endures suffering while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure it? It's basically saying, if you're sinful and you get caught and you get punished, what did you expect? That what credit is that? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure it, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. And he goes on in that section to say, Jesus gave us that example and we're called to follow him. So he almost implies you can expect it. This is this is going to happen. So fearlessness is standing free of guilt, or um you don't have to fear those in authority because you know you've done the right thing, but it doesn't mean that you're safe. One of my favorite scenes in the Bible is when Paul and Silas are in the Philippian jail and they've been beaten and they've been putting in stocks, and it must have been absolutely horribly miserable, and here it is midnight, and they're singing hymns. And that's always amazed me. How did they have such confidence and such an attitude that they could be singing hymns at midnight in a cold, probably damp and awful jail? They weren't safe. Their lives were in danger. They were probably gonna they didn't know at that point if they were gonna live or die, but they weren't bound by fear because they knew they were there for doing what God had called them to do, and they knew whose hands they were in. They knew that whether they lived or died, it was up to God and they were following his calling. And I think that's what kind of fearlessness I mean. Another example you're probably familiar with, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three who are with Daniel and the lion's den, before they're thrown into the furnace, and in Daniel 3 it says, Whether we live or die is up to God, but we will not worship you. They weren't safe, but they were free from fear. Kind of like we know whose hands we're in. So we can live lives that are free from fear, free from that guilt that drags you down by practicing good. And again, it's an attitude. Okay, so that's uh submission, fearlessness. The last one is consciousness or conscience. Let's look at five through seven. Therefore, one must submit, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes for the authorities or ministers of God, attend to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed, then taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed. Now, adding honor and respect right there next to taxes and revenue, that's the that's the hard one. Ronald Reagan, when he was president, said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are I'm from the government and I'm here to help. And then my other favorite quote, President John Adams, way back when in the 1700s, said, in my many years I've come to the conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, and three or more is a Congress. Anyway, it's that honor and respect part we have trouble with. Um Paul's adding a new reason here to why we should submit to those in authority to us. He says, one reason you want to submit is uh to avoid God's wrath or to avoid punishment, but there's a better reason to submit, and that is to keep your conscience clear. And again, it's an attitude. Um your attitude about taxes, about the judicial system, he says you can't obey the laws because you're afraid you'll get caught. Um, you know, and you're not just to keep to the speed limit when there's a police car following you, or not just to pay your income taxes because now you know the government has supercomputers that can check all these things, but you ought to do it because it's the right thing to do. Um and that factor um ought to be play into a Christian's thinking. That the ultimately the reason we do things that we follow the laws and submit is because it's the right thing to do before God, and that will keep your conscience clear. Um Ray Steadman, who is one of my favorite pastors, he was a pastor of my church when I was a baby believer, he used to tell the joke about a man who wrote to the IRS and he said, A few years ago I cheated on my taxes, and my conscience has been troubling me, and I just I haven't been able to sleep. So I'm enclosing a check for $200. And if I still can't sleep, I'll send the rest. The idea is that we should keep our conscience clear for God's sake, not for man's sake. So we don't have the right to withhold taxes because I think I should use my money any way I I get to. Um governments, yes, are made up of fallible men and women just like us, but they deserve a measure of respect, um, and we can't demand that they handle everything the way that we think they ought to be handled. So his point is don't resent the powers of government. This is all in the context of don't be conformed to the present age and don't think more highly of yourself. And it's basically it's money, it's in God's hands. He gave it to you to begin with, and he can take it away, and if he requires you to pay some to the government or more than probably is necessary, just do it and trust that he knows what he's doing. Um, I think we have a right to protest injustice and abuse, and um, you know, if you see fraud or or waste, there's no you can't speak out of it, but the idea here is don't be grumbling, complaining, um instead show honor and respect. Okay. And it it strikes me if you listen to political humor, this could be a pl this is a lesson I think our society needs to learn. I mean, some of the cruelest jokes I've heard in the last few years are about Chelsea Clinton and the Bush daughters, the twin daughters. And I think those girls aren't even in office. You know, they didn't run for anything, they weren't elected to anything, but their fathers were, and political humor can just be vicious. Um so it's something I think it's funny it's fun to laugh at, but up to a point. And when it gets to be mean-spirited and scathing, then then I think we've crossed a line and our conscience ought to bother us at that point because we're failing to honor those who are yet people in the image of God just like us in the same in the same boat. They may be doing a job we don't like, but in the end we honor them and respect them as fellow uh humans and people made in God's image. Now, what I haven't told you your notice is what I haven't given you any guidelines for what do you do in a specific situation. And and these verses I don't think answer um some of the really hard questions you have to face. When do I lie to a government who's out to kill Jews? You know, it's kind of the classic one. When how do you know when civil disobedience is appropriate and when it's not? Um Paul doesn't give us a manual to say, um, here's what here's when this is okay and here's when that's okay. And it I don't think there's one answer because circumstances change, lives change, situations change. And what we need to do is be continually studying the scriptures, praying, talking to people, and you know, asking for wisdom and then doing what we think is best, stepping out there and saying, This is what I think is right, I'm gonna do it, and trusting God will teach you. There's um uh in one of my books I like to study is Isaiah, and there's Isaiah would often be dealing with whoever king was important, and it's interesting if you watch the way he counsels the kings, it's not always the same answer. He'll go to one of the kings and the kings will say, Well, should we go to war? And he'll say, Yes. And then the next time he'll come, the king said, Should we go to war here? And he'll say, No. And the next time it's well said the king will say, Well, I'm gonna go to war, and he'll say, Don't do it. And there's no, if you just read through those situations, it's not obvious why is this acceptable that the prophet says yes, go to war here, and why is it not acceptable there? You there's no blanket answer that says war is always justified or war is not always justified. It depends on what God is up to and what the circumstances are. And um I think the analogy here is I can't give you a manual to say civil disobedience is always justified here and not justified there, and this law you can break and that law you can't in these circumstances because we have to figure that out as God calls us. And the good news is God delights in giving us wisdom. I don't think I mean you can ask the wisdom and he will give it to you. And the way to find it is through continued Bible studying and prayer and talking to people and meditating and thinking. Um expect God, if He's put you in that position to give you the wisdom to handle it. The other thing I'd say along those lines is you may think that, oh, I'm going through my life and it's just boring, and I'm doing the same things and the same tasks day after day, and it's mundane and it's trivial. But these I think are the days where God is actually teaching us the lessons we need so that when we're in that crisis moment, whatever it may be, standing before a king or maybe a boss or a family member or someone where we have to act wisely, it's the lessons we learn day to day that prepare us for that moment. The if you think about the story of Nehemiah, he was a believer in a um in the in the exile, and he was serving the king, who was of course not Jewish, and he had risen to one of the highest levels of government you could be. He was the king's trusted advisor, and he had to go through a point where he had to confront the king and ask for something that might he might get killed for. And he's ready for that because he spent day after day after day in the court going through the motions, doing his daily job. It was probably repetitive, it was probably boring, it was probably trivial, and yet the lessons he learned in those mundane days were what prepared him for that big moment where he had to confront the king. And I think that's something we do well to remember. We think, oh, I'm I'm waiting, you know, if I'm doing the laundry again, or I'm I'm driving kids somewhere, or I'm I'm repeating the same task over and over. Those are the times I think God is teaching us, and we don't want to overlook them. It's that routine and mundane that can be the tool that God teaches us patience or perseverance or courage or something, so that when we face that crisis point we're ready. And I think that's what's behind when the New Testament says, Don't worry about what words you will say, because God will give you the words when it's time. I think He gives them to us by training us, and that every day we're here to learn something so that when that moment comes, and it may not come for all of us, it may come sooner than we think, that we're ready because of the lessons God has taught us along the way. So all that's my excuse for saying I can't give you blanket answers on when to do what, but I can encourage you that God will teach you that as you go through your days, um, and that if you're called to be in a situation where civil disobedience may be required, that God will have prepared you for that day. Now, I'm not defending sometimes the gross injustices that prevail in governments and even in the American system, um, but if you think about it, the fact that we can even meet here today and freely talk about the Bible is a result of a stable government. So, however wasteful or unjust or burdensome big government may be, it's at least provided us the opportunity to meet and talk and study the Bible without having to hide behind closed doors. So the relative freedom we have is from the existence of a government that God brought into being. So, yes, it's imperfect, yes, there's waste, yes, there's fraud. And as a good citizen, I may, you know, in vote and engage in political debate to try to improve it. Um but I think Paul's saying even as you do that, your attitude ought to be different than the world. You don't come with hate and anger and fanaticism, you come with respect and honor and grace, uh, not seeking to overthrow the government, but to bring honor to God. So rather than being angry about our those in authority over us, we ought to understand that God's brought it into being and he'll change it as necessary to bring about his kingdom. And ultimately we're free to submit because we know he's in control. We know he's the one that will um is ultimately governing those who govern us. All right, let me just pray to close this and give you a chance to ask some questions. Father, we thank you for these practical words and um to see that you're concerned about every aspect of our lives, not only how we live and work in the church, but how we live and work in our countries and as citizens. We forgive us, ask for your forgiveness for us thinking that we are con that you are concerned in those aspects of our lives, or to think that somehow we're above them and that we're more important than um we really are. Lord, we ask you to teach us to be faithful to our responsibility, to honor those to whom honor is due and respect those to whom respect is due, and to give us the the words to say if we're called to show grace when suffering unjustly. Give us the wisdom to know how to handle the details and the demands that may come through being citizens of uh and under someone's authority. In Jesus' name. Amen.