Christians and the Government (Romans 13:1-7)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.919 I fear I will remain standing. Please do. And let's turn our attention 2 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:36.929 to Romans, chapter thirteen. Romans thirteen verses one through seven. Romans Thirteen, 3 00:00:38.329 --> 00:00:44.530 verses one through seven. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, 4 00:00:45.530 --> 00:00:50.479 for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have 5 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:57.759 been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has 6 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:03.430 appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment, for rulers are not a 7 00:01:03.670 --> 00:01:10.230 terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of 8 00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:15.310 the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you will 9 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:21.060 receive his approval, for He is God's servant for your good. But if 10 00:01:21.099 --> 00:01:23.540 you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in 11 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:29.939 vain, for he is the Servant of God, an Avenger who carries out 12 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:34.250 God's wrath on the wrong doer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, 13 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:40.290 not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience, 14 00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:46.609 for because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers 15 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:53.239 of God, attending to this very thing. Pay To all what is owed 16 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:57.799 to them, taxes. To whom taxes are owed revenue to whom revenue is 17 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:04.790 owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 18 00:02:07.390 --> 00:02:38.650 May God bless his word, he may be seated. One of the 19 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:45.560 things a good father, good mother, good teachers due for their children is 20 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:52.680 they open up the world to them. They point to various parts of our 21 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.240 world and say, let me explain this part to you, let me show 22 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:00.509 this part to you. This is how to write a resume, this is 23 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:05.030 how to dress for work, this is how to make a friend, this 24 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:10.189 is how to treat your elders. These kinds of instructions that we are get 25 00:03:10.310 --> 00:03:15.860 that we give two children, I'm to those who are in need of instruction, 26 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:20.900 because we love them well, we want them to do well, we 27 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:24.860 want them to succeed, we don't want them to trouble, fall into trouble 28 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:30.330 or make trouble. Well, our heavenly father does the same thing for us. 29 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:34.969 This is, of course, a really wonderful thing, because he's the 30 00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:38.050 one who made the world, he's the one who works in the rule world, 31 00:03:38.169 --> 00:03:43.120 rules over it, coverns it, and he doesn't sort of ignore us 32 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.000 as his children, but he takes us into the world and he and he 33 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:52.919 shows us things. He explains what he has made and and our place in 34 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:58.750 it. This is one way to describe much of what God is doing in 35 00:03:58.909 --> 00:04:05.550 scripture when he gives us instructions and commands. But sometimes he does more than 36 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:12.379 instruct US and command us. He also explains the reasons behind those what's going 37 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.180 on in a larger picture, and that's exactly what he is doing here in 38 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:23.819 Romans Thirteen. He talks about governing authorities. This refers to a political leaders 39 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:27.610 but more than that, taxes are of course mentioned, but other things as 40 00:04:27.689 --> 00:04:31.970 well. Look at Verse Heaven Again. Pay All, pay to all what 41 00:04:32.129 --> 00:04:36.730 is owed to them. It's a general statement. Right, whatever is owed 42 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:42.639 to anyone you, we ought to pay it. Taxes are mentioned first as 43 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:46.279 a sort of obvious example, but he goes on revenue. To whom revenue 44 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:51.199 is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is 45 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:56.430 owed. So when we think in this broader way, there are a lot 46 00:04:56.550 --> 00:05:01.350 of different kinds of governing authorities. To govern something is just to rule something, 47 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:05.310 to be in charge. So you might think, who are the people 48 00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:10.819 in your lives that are in charge that that rule? There are, of 49 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:16.579 course, senators and representatives, judges and governors, presidents police. These are 50 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:21.410 all political leaders and rulers, people who govern us that we are called to 51 00:05:21.490 --> 00:05:28.410 be subject to and to honor and respect. But there are leaders within the 52 00:05:28.449 --> 00:05:32.290 family as well. We think of parents or grandparents, maybe even ants and 53 00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:39.519 uncle's or sometimes even people that come into our families and sort of like a 54 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:44.600 father figure would we sometimes say, people that aren't necessarily related by blood, 55 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:49.069 and yet they're so close through the Lord's Providence that we respect them and honor 56 00:05:49.189 --> 00:05:57.470 them. There are commercial authorities, owners and managers. There are religious authorities, 57 00:05:57.550 --> 00:06:02.670 pastors, elders, deacons, various kinds of mentors and teachers. We're 58 00:06:02.750 --> 00:06:10.939 talking about people who are in charge over any particular sphere or institution in life. 59 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:15.339 God has put people in charge and he tells us that we are to 60 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:19.050 be subject to them, not just the ones we like or those the one 61 00:06:19.129 --> 00:06:23.329 the ones that we think are doing a good job, but to all of 62 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:28.490 them. This is especially striking when we consider some of the emperor's and some 63 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:32.600 of the rulers that Paul had to suffer under. Some of them he interacted 64 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:39.439 directly with, and you can see good reason for not respecting them. Think 65 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:44.839 of ponscious pilot, for example. Think of other people and other political leaders 66 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.509 in the New Testament. I can't think of one off the top of my 67 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:51.790 head that we can sort of be amazed at and say, well, they're 68 00:06:51.910 --> 00:06:57.430 there is one who's really deserving of honor and respect for the wonderful things they 69 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:02.540 are doing. At best they seem to be short of struggling along kind of 70 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:12.660 mixed bag. Nevertheless, Paul tells us and tells the Christians in Rome to 71 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:17.529 be subject to the governing authorities, and he gives reasons for this as well. 72 00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:23.250 He says to avoid God's wrath was a very strong reason. He also 73 00:07:23.290 --> 00:07:27.970 gives a second reason, for the sake of conscience, a kind of external 74 00:07:28.089 --> 00:07:31.279 and an internal one. You might die, he says, if you don't 75 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:38.000 obey the governing authorities. They do not bear the sword in vain. They 76 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:46.029 are called to administer justice and crush evil and and and if you refuse obedience, 77 00:07:46.069 --> 00:07:50.149 you will likely face not only their wrath but God's wrath through them. 78 00:07:51.509 --> 00:07:55.629 And then an internal reason, for the sake of conscience, he says. 79 00:07:56.550 --> 00:08:00.180 What does he mean by that? Well, if you've ever been pulled over 80 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:05.220 by a police officer for even a minor thing, or maybe even something that 81 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:09.699 you knew you didn't even do anything wrong, and found yourself shaking and nervous 82 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:15.209 and wondering what was going to happen and unable to even control your physical body. 83 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:20.610 You know what that means to be have your conscience worried. It's not 84 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:26.089 a pleasant thing to feel like you're about to be in trouble or that you 85 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.720 are in trouble. It's one of the most difficult and frustrating and scary feelings 86 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:39.159 if you think that you're about to get pulled over or fired or go to 87 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:46.070 jail. Refusing obedience, not fearing and respecting those who are in authority can 88 00:08:46.190 --> 00:08:54.269 bring a kind of inner turmoil as well as an external turmoil, to put 89 00:08:54.309 --> 00:08:58.740 it that way. So these are the things that God speaks to, but 90 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:03.299 to get behind them a little bit and understand why he says them, want 91 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:09.450 to first just point out that the simple thing God has made an orderly world 92 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:16.929 and we have to find our place in it. Paul teaches us that the 93 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:22.330 relationship between those who are in authority and those who are under authorities no accident. 94 00:09:24.049 --> 00:09:28.679 He makes this clear in several ways. For example, he says in 95 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:33.000 verse one, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there 96 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:39.309 is no authority except from God. You See, this is no accident that 97 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:43.909 this person or that person is in authority over us. They have, they 98 00:09:43.950 --> 00:09:48.309 are, they come from God. He'said. Goes on to say that those 99 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:52.539 who exist have been instituted by God. Then, in verse two, he 100 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:58.220 says those who resist authorities, resist God, resist what he has appointed. 101 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.259 He calls them, as I mentioned earlier, ministers of God, servants of 102 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:09.690 God. These are strong words that are also used of ministers of the word. 103 00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:15.129 This the same kind of idea. This is somebody who is administering something 104 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:20.850 of the Lord. Now, it doesn't mean that they're always good or that 105 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:24.039 they always do right, but it does mean that in God's Providence, he's 106 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:31.279 using them in our world and and even when we don't respect them because of 107 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.159 the things that they do, even when we don't like their policies and we 108 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:39.470 think the things that they are doing are bad or even dangerous or even ungodly, 109 00:10:39.590 --> 00:10:45.990 we're still called to respect them. Might meant them in particular because of 110 00:10:46.070 --> 00:10:54.620 their office, because of their authority as God's ministers. God has made an 111 00:10:54.620 --> 00:11:01.419 orderly world and we must find our place in it, those who are in 112 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:05.370 authority and those who are under authority. That's is not because of any accident 113 00:11:05.450 --> 00:11:11.250 and it corresponds with the very way that God made the world. This did 114 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:16.330 this didn't come into existence in Romans thirteen. Know the world has been ordered 115 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:20.080 in this way. First of all, we know, when we remember Genesis 116 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:24.639 One and two, that when God made the world, it was God who 117 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:28.600 made the world. It wasn't random, it wasn't an accident, it wasn't 118 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:33.429 just power struggles and people setting themselves up. No, God made the world 119 00:11:33.590 --> 00:11:37.870 with this a kind of order, by his power, by his sovereignty and 120 00:11:39.029 --> 00:11:43.870 design and creation, he established a world in which there were rulers and those 121 00:11:43.029 --> 00:11:50.139 under rule, family, business, government, church, from soccer leagues to 122 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:54.580 Senates to sessions, there are these things that God has put in place, 123 00:11:54.659 --> 00:12:00.580 structures. We see this in the human world, but the animal world as 124 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:07.330 well. We talked about Queen Bees, King Lions and or lion kings and 125 00:12:07.090 --> 00:12:13.210 leaders of the pack. This is something we recognize. Might even say it 126 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:18.519 it applies even to none living creatures. God says, when he made the 127 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.519 Sun and the moon, that he gave the brighter light to rule the day 128 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.159 and the lesser one to rule the night. Even between the Sun and the 129 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:33.710 moon. We have a kind of status and order and their way that they 130 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:41.149 rule and are lifted up in creation. There is a way in which they 131 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:48.100 are called, they are considered to be ruling. This also corresponds to the 132 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:52.700 God's covenant with Noah. After the world was destroyed through the flood, he 133 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:58.340 makes a covenant with Noah and he established as a kind of system of order. 134 00:12:58.210 --> 00:13:03.049 He says to Noah, to those who shed your blood, blood shall 135 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:07.929 be shed. There's this principle of justice that God covenants with all creation. 136 00:13:09.009 --> 00:13:11.879 The fact that there is good and evil, that there are those who are 137 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:18.559 called to uphold good and put down evil, is not just an accident. 138 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:24.320 It's not just a sort of group decision of human society that we all came 139 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.350 together and said, well, this seems like a good way to run things, 140 00:13:26.509 --> 00:13:33.029 why not? But this, nope, these things exist because God made 141 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:39.549 them this way and God made a covenant with the whole world, the seasons, 142 00:13:41.350 --> 00:13:45.700 the animals, with man, that there would be this order and a 143 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:52.220 continuing on until the new heavens and the new earth would come and so when 144 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:58.409 we stand in this world and we consider this authority figure or that authority figure, 145 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:05.330 we have to place ourselves in a much larger picture, which ultimately is 146 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:13.240 one that is under God. We belong as as parts within a larger whole, 147 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:20.480 a system of of order and and and rule, but under it all 148 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:28.990 is God who created the heavens and the earth. We just sang of this 149 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:31.309 in the last hymn. I don't have it open, so I can't remember 150 00:14:31.309 --> 00:14:35.190 it off the top of my head, but it spoke of angels right, 151 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:39.820 Angels Sing to him rejoice, a sun and moon and planets. This this 152 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:43.700 sort of praise. We are calling all praise to lift up to WHO? 153 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:50.740 To God, not to a social constructs, not to a nice idea, 154 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:54.929 but to God who made the heavens and the earth. And we have to 155 00:14:56.129 --> 00:15:00.049 start here if we are to be wise people, if we are to live 156 00:15:00.169 --> 00:15:05.929 as Christians, who are who trust the Lord and are related to him and 157 00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:09.120 his world. In this way, we have to recognize that God has made 158 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:16.320 an orderly world and we have a place in it. Well, this is 159 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.509 perhaps a good place to point out that there are consequences for those who reject 160 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:26.230 reality. I wonder if you've ever known someone, or perhaps you've been this 161 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:33.710 person who just didn't get it. Sometimes we talk about socially awkward people. 162 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:37.980 Right. What do we mean by this? Socially Awkward People, people that 163 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:43.139 just don't seem to get it right. They can't seem to understand the relationships, 164 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:48.700 is what we're saying. They can don't understand their relationships to other people, 165 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:50.769 those who are the peers, those who are below them, those who 166 00:15:50.769 --> 00:15:54.330 are above them. They either don't want to find that out, they have 167 00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:58.490 no interest, or maybe they're just confused and need instruction. Either way, 168 00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:04.200 we see them as foolish right because they're failing to manage in a good and 169 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:10.799 healthy way the world in which they live, whether that's the world on a 170 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.840 sort of grand scale, or even just the little world of a of a 171 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:22.990 dinner party or a time together with friends or being in the workplace. People 172 00:16:23.029 --> 00:16:30.149 who have trouble relating in these ways is people have trouble understanding their world, 173 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:37.460 really struggle. They find themselves embarrassed and ashamed. Sometimes they find themselves in 174 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:44.620 very difficult positions. We, for example, you might imagine a father cowtowing 175 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:48.610 to his children, trying to act like them be like them, gain their 176 00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:52.570 attention and love by being a child. We look at that and we rightly 177 00:16:52.649 --> 00:17:00.850 go that's weird, because he's not understanding his place. Likewise, a child 178 00:17:00.049 --> 00:17:04.519 who decides to who be the boss of the household, a child who decides 179 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:08.480 that he or she knows what's best and mom and dad can be treated as 180 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:18.309 equals, doesn't usually last very long, doesn't kids? A student who tries 181 00:17:18.390 --> 00:17:21.910 to treat his professor like a peer. I'm in college now. I know 182 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:26.869 what's smride and what's not. I've had biblical training. These people are foolish 183 00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:34.180 and often get bad grades. Imagine we well, we could go on and 184 00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:40.660 on. The point is is that there are immediate consequences these things have at 185 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:45.410 its least important you may not in getting invited to the party again. At 186 00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:48.569 higher levels, you might lose your job, gain a bad reputation, be 187 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:53.769 disrespected, but the consequences, the higher the stakes go, of the greater 188 00:17:53.930 --> 00:18:00.240 the consequences go for refusing to recognize these things, to anticipate them, learn 189 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:06.000 about them and understand them. You could lose your job, your marriage, 190 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:11.910 your children, but Romans Thirteen says you can lose your life. Those who 191 00:18:12.029 --> 00:18:15.750 say I'm going to do what I want to do, I'm going to live 192 00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:21.829 how I want to live, and I don't care what anybody says. Often 193 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:27.299 find themselves in very bad places. They find themselves dead, they find themselves 194 00:18:27.339 --> 00:18:32.900 in jail, they find themselves, even if not in these situations, suffering 195 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:38.259 greatly, greatly in their souls, because they're fighting not just against the order 196 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:45.849 of the world, they're fighting against God himself. And ultimately, to look 197 00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:49.490 at God, or try to look at God in the eye and say, 198 00:18:49.569 --> 00:18:53.130 well, I'm going to do what I want to do, is to be 199 00:18:53.250 --> 00:19:06.480 the ultimate fool and to risk losing one's own soul. So how do we 200 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:11.710 go about following this instruction? Well, first simple enough. We ought to 201 00:19:11.789 --> 00:19:15.509 listen to it, not to hear what God is saying and recognize it and 202 00:19:15.589 --> 00:19:18.430 believe him when he says that we are to be subject to governing authorities, 203 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:23.779 him first and foremost above all, and those he is instituted as well. 204 00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:33.420 But this will never happen unless we are first reconciled to God himself. And 205 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:37.299 you can see why this is important. If God is the one who has 206 00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:41.009 made the world and all things in it, if God is the one who 207 00:19:41.089 --> 00:19:45.049 is supreme over every governor, over every leader, over every head, and 208 00:19:45.250 --> 00:19:51.609 we decide, all right, well, I'm going to respect my authority figures 209 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:56.359 give honor to those whom honor is owed, but I'm not going to bother 210 00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:00.160 doing that with God, the one who is the chief leader, the head 211 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.599 of all things, the maker of the universe, the ruler and governor and 212 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:11.950 King of all of everything. We're failed from the beginning. If we truly 213 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:17.869 want to live in this world in a wise way, in a good way, 214 00:20:17.990 --> 00:20:23.180 in a way that corresponds with it and works within it, we have 215 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:27.380 to begin by recognizing the one who is the maker of it, the head 216 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:33.059 of it, and be reconciled to him. And that comes only through one 217 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:40.369 way, through faith in Jesus. It only comes through faith in Jesus, 218 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:45.369 because Jesus is the king. Jesus is the one who has come to rescue 219 00:20:45.410 --> 00:20:52.440 us and to save us from all of our disobedience, all of our sinfulness, 220 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.200 all of our disrespect. If we simply go to God, and will 221 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.519 try to put it this way, if we go to God and we say, 222 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.440 okay, I see how you've made things, I see how you've made 223 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:07.069 the world, I'll do better, and I'll give you a handshake to prove 224 00:21:07.109 --> 00:21:11.670 it. We've not understood who we are. We've not heard his very own 225 00:21:11.670 --> 00:21:15.470 word, that is said, no one is righteous, no, not one. 226 00:21:17.470 --> 00:21:21.180 We've not heard him when he's told us that we are sinners and weak 227 00:21:21.259 --> 00:21:27.700 and frail, that were disobedient and unruly. If we truly respect God and 228 00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:32.019 what he has said, and we will, then we will have to be 229 00:21:32.140 --> 00:21:36.970 reconciled to him, then coming to him, not as equals or even worse, 230 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:41.890 as God's above him, setting things on our terms, but we must 231 00:21:41.930 --> 00:21:48.279 come to him in reality, in the situation as he has described it. 232 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.440 We come to the maker and the ruler of the world and we say, 233 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:57.240 I have a problem, I am failing, I am falling, I do 234 00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:02.990 not understand your world, I am socially awkward, I struggle to love my 235 00:22:03.150 --> 00:22:08.990 neighbor, I struggle to love you. Save me. You See, God 236 00:22:10.109 --> 00:22:15.019 not only rules the world in this way that administers justice and wrath, he 237 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:22.539 also rules in the world in a way that administers grace and love. This 238 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:26.420 is why he has given Jesus to us, so that we can come to 239 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:33.130 him and be rightly ordered in the world, rightly ordered with him. If 240 00:22:33.170 --> 00:22:37.890 we want to live godly lives in the world, we have to start by 241 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:44.130 being reconciled to God. We go to him in faith and repentance. We 242 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:48.200 tell him we're sorry, we trust in him, in the salvation that he 243 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:52.319 promises to give, and we accept that he has made us something new. 244 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:57.279 We interact with the world in a new way. On the basis of that 245 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:03.869 faith. We say, I am not a citizen of this world. Ultimately, 246 00:23:03.950 --> 00:23:10.190 I my first and primary citizenship is with God and in heaven. But 247 00:23:10.309 --> 00:23:12.619 on the basis of that, I understand that he has not left me alone, 248 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:18.180 but he has placed me here and I can obey and honor and respect 249 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:23.819 those who are over me because I ultimately obey and respect and honor my God. 250 00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:30.890 Once we are reconciled to him, then the second thing becomes much easier, 251 00:23:30.930 --> 00:23:36.009 that is, learning to perceive everything in light of him, his rule, 252 00:23:36.289 --> 00:23:40.890 his reign, his justice, his authority, his love and His grace. 253 00:23:40.930 --> 00:23:48.599 Until we are reconciled to him, it's impossible to see these things and 254 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:55.240 it's impossible to live in a way that pleases him. So Romans Thirteen tells 255 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:59.710 us that as we interact with others in the world, particularly with those who 256 00:23:59.710 --> 00:24:04.029 are above us and those who are below us. By God's Providence, we 257 00:24:04.150 --> 00:24:08.109 are to keep our eye and our hearts on the center of all things, 258 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:15.579 which is God, as he has revealed to himself in Jesus. Once we 259 00:24:17.299 --> 00:24:22.140 are reconciled to him, once we are in a position that is treating him 260 00:24:22.140 --> 00:24:26.250 with the respect and fear and honor that he is owed, then we will 261 00:24:26.289 --> 00:24:30.049 be in a position to make sense of our world, to give priorities where 262 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:37.369 they are needed and really exercise a lot of wisdom in what is a very 263 00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:44.319 messy and difficult situation. And I'll end by just saying that our great hope 264 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:49.559 and our sure hope is that one day God will lift us out of all 265 00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:56.829 the difficulties and troubles of bad leaders and bad followers in this world and he 266 00:24:56.910 --> 00:25:02.230 will take us and, as he has united us to Christ, establish a 267 00:25:02.789 --> 00:25:07.819 consummated kingdom and which we will be able to live with him ruling and reigning 268 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:12.180 over US forever and ever, without ever any dissension, without any other any 269 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:19.180 problems or strife, but God strong and keeping us all within his will. 270 00:25:21.890 --> 00:25:25.410 Let's pray that's the God would work his will into our hearts