Well, I do want to thank all of you for coming to church today, not just those of you who are new, but those of you who were here last week, and you knew we were still talking about the government, and you came back for more this week. God bless you guys, right? Because when we talk about the government, it's controversial, even when we open up the Bible and it says, “submit to the governing authorities. Even a lot of us at church, our initial reaction can be like, no, I don't think we should do that. And we put on this command, we put an asterisk, and what we're going to find out is that Paul puts on this command an exclamation point. And so, I just want to encourage you, as we start, I encourage you to open your Bible with me to Romans 13, and we're going to look at verses 3 to 5. And as we continue to go through this passage where Paul doubles down on his command to submit to the governing authorities, I want to encourage you, if you're watching this online right now, watch it all the way to the end. If you're sitting here right now, don't leave halfway through. Let the Word of God speak to you. Just try to hear what God is saying before you already start firing back your objections and your opinions and your reasons as to why that can't be. Let's just let God speak to us, because this is the Word of God, and God has things that he does want us to do. He does want us to think, and if we don't ever really hear it, how are we going to respond the right way? So, I can just tell you that I received an email from somebody this week; they were very frustrated with this idea, and then I received a second email that began, “So, I watched the rest of the sermon.” Okay? And so, I just want to encourage you, if at any moment you're like, I don't like this, well, why don't you just hear it all the way out and hear what God has to say to you today. And maybe what God has to say will actually start making some sense. And maybe there are thoughts that you have been thinking that actually need to be renewed. So, let's really pay respect to God's Word. In fact, I want to invite everyone to stand up for the public reading of Scripture, and I want to encourage you to really listen to what it says here in Romans 13:3-5, because this is the Word of God.
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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. And so, as I said last week, we started this in verse 1, look back up at Romans 13:1, where it says, “Let every person,” or every soul, “be subject to the governing authorities.” And then, notice it says it again in Romans 13:5 that we just read. in fact, it doubles down on it. Therefore, one must be in subjection. So, these are in the Greek language, imperative verbs. They are commands. Ever since we got to Romans 12, and it became okay, based on all God has done in his mercy. what should we now do in our worship? We've been given lots of things to do, but on this command, specifically, Paul gives it to us once, explains it a little bit, comes back and gives it to us again.
Okay, so there is a handout there in your bulletin. If you want to take some notes on what we're going to learn from the Word today. We're going to start out with a review of what we learned last week, because Paul says it twice.
And the review is this,: “You want to “Willingly place yourself under the governing authorities,” a disposition of submission. Now maybe submission is a negative word in your mind. It's a bad word in your mind. Well, in the Bible, submission is used regularly. It's a biblical word, and the idea is that I acknowledge an authority, and I willingly place myself under that authority. Ultimately, the authority that we submit to is God, as it says in James 4:7. It even talks about us submitting to one another in our fear of Christ in Ephesians, 5:21, I's used of many different relationships, but here the emphasis is, are you willing to acknowledge that the government has authority over you and place yourself underneath them? Now that can be hard, if you just maybe look at the governing authorities and you have your own thoughts about them. But the idea that we learned last week is government is by God, and that the reason those authorities are there is because God has appointed them. And so, the reason that you would submit to them is not necessarily because you trust the authorities, but you trust God, and you see that, yes, we have governing authorities in the United States of America, but God rules over not just the USA, God rules over every nation. God is sovereign. He reigns supreme. God is the one who is in control. Can I get an amen from anybody on it?
So, if you believe that, see, then yes, I will place myself under these authorities, because I know who's really in charge, and that is God, and I trust him, so that's the command, one must be in subjection. Now look, in Romans 13:5. He again gives you two warnings of what will happen if you don't obey this command. One is, you'll be under God's wrath. If you don't willingly place yourself under the authorities, you will find yourself under the wrath of God, because God has appointed those authorities. So, to resist those authorities, watch out, you're actually resisting God himself.
So, I'm a pastor. My job is to care for your soul, and as somebody who really does care for your soul, I'm trying to tell you, if you don't have a disposition of submission towards those who are in authority in our government, you will find yourself on the wrong side with God. And then it also says, “For the sake of conscience,” you will find a conflict happening within you, where you will try to be telling yourself that you're doing the right thing as you think thoughts against the governing authorities, as you want to rebel, or you want to revolt. Or you're like, I'm not going to submit. There will become this struggle within you; conscience is very important to Paul. Paul wants to know he's doing what's right before God, what's right before men. He wants to know that he, inside of himself, he's not being accused of evil, but he's excused because he's doing good. And he says, if you don't submit to the governing authorities, you might lose your own kind of moral compass. You might even go against your own conscience, and there might become this conflict within you, a conflict between you and God, and an internal conflict in your spirit. And I have seen this. I have seen people who go in their mind against the government, and they don't want to submit, they don't want to acknowledge the government's authority. I have seen a warping effect on them, and I would prefer for you not to experience that. And so, that's why Paul is saying this. And Paul, when he says to submit to the governing authorities, he's not asking us to practice anything he hasn't done himself. Paul was a guy who practiced what he preached.
Let me just take you to two examples from Paul's life. One is in Acts 16. If everybody can go back to the book of Acts, where we go along with Paul on his missionary journeys. He gets sent out in Acts 13. And there are so many passages I could take you to from Acts 13 all the way to the end in Acts 28, when he finally gets to Rome. And that's what we did at our church, for those who have been here for years. We went through the book of Acts where we went with Paul to Rome. And then once we got to Rome, we thought we might as well stay here and go through the book of Romans, which we've been doing for the last couple of years. And so, when he's writing the letter to the saints in Rome, he writes this between Acts 19:21 and Acts 21 because he tells the Romans in chapter 15 that he's on his way to Jerusalem, and in Acts 19:21, he sets himself to go to Jerusalem. So, somewhere between Acts 19:21 and then when he gets to Jerusalem in Acts 21, that's when he wrote the book of Romans. And so, this has already happened before he ever writes about submitting to the governing authorities. This happened in Acts 16:19. And what happens? This is the city of Philippi, and there's a lady who's a fortune teller. She's possessed by a demon, and Paul cast the demon out of the lady, which, in my mind, would be a good thing. This poor lady was a slave to these owners, and they're very upset because they just lost their fortune telling way to make money. And so, look what happens in Acts 16:19, “When her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.” Now hopefully, the rulers are going to be like, no, they cast a demon out. That's okay. That's good,. But no, look what happens when they brought them to the magistrates. They said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice. And the crowd joined in attack. And the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.” So, when Paul is writing to us, encouraging us strongly to submit to the governing authorities, he is writing from a personal experience of being mistreated and abused by governing authorities. And if you know the rest of the story, when Paul and Silas are in prison with their feet in the stocks at midnight, what are they doing, everybody? What are they doing? They're praising God, they're singing hymns. In fact, what ends up happening? And there's like an earthquake, and the jailer thinks everybody got away, and he's like, oh no, I'm going to die because the prisoners got away. And Paul's like, no, we're all here. And does anybody know what happens to the jailer and his entire household? They get saved, and they put their faith in Jesus. And so, this was a horrible incident, to have your clothes ripped off of you, to be beaten with rods, and yet it leads to praise and it leads to salvation. And then this happens, Acts 16:35, “But when it was day, the magistrates,” these governing authorities, they sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” Yeah, we beat them up yesterday. Let them go today. And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, hey, the magistrates have sent to let you go’ therefore, come out now; go in peace. Hey, this is good news, Paul. You're free to go. But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned men who are Roman citizens, and they have thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out secretly? No, let them come themselves and take us out.” He's like, hey, this wasn't right what happened here? They're just going to send us away. Now, I don't think this is right. And the police reported these words to the magistrates, and they weren't afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So, they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city. So, this is very interesting. Even though Paul goes through this terrible abuse, based on the governing authorities, he still is like, ready to say, hey, this isn't okay. What happened here? And he calls for what's right.
So, if you read through the book of Acts, you will see that many times, the authorities do injustice towards Paul and whoever's with him, and he gets terribly mistreated. The Jews are against Paul, spreading the gospel of the Gentiles. And so, the Jews come and get the governing authorities riled up in many cities, and they go after Paul in wrong ways. But sometimes, you'll even read stories where the governing authorities have Paul's back and they clear him. And so, you see all kinds of highs and lows. So, Paul, he knows what he's talking about the governing authorities more than most of us. He's been through some terrible situations. But go now to Acts 25:11. Here's a verse I want to bring to your attention. Acts 2511; now this is after he writes the book of Romans. And after he writes Romans, when he gets to Jerusalem, guess what happens? He gets arrested, and he's a prisoner pretty much for the rest of the book of Acts from that point on, because the Jews want to kill him. The Romans, he's safe under Roman captivity. And so, now here he is in trial, and maybe you know the story that Paul appeals to Caesar, and that's eventually how he gets to Rome. But look at what Paul says. Now, this is after he's written Romans. This is Acts 25:11; look at how he refers to the governing authorities. He says, “If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death, but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” And maybe you know, to Caesar, you have appealed to Caesar, you will go, is how the story goes. But did everybody hear what Paul just said. Paul's there on trial. He's in front of the governing authorities, and he's acknowledging, hey, if I've done something, you have the authority even to put me to death. And if I've done something wrong, I'm not trying to get out of any consequences for what I've done wrong. But if their charges against me are false, then I do not deserve to be given up to them and put to death by them. So, you can see the way Paul thinks about it, the way Paul talks about it, is, you have authority over me. You have authority even to kill me. And I want to appeal to you as the authority. Don't give me over to these guys and their false charges. Let me get justice with Caesar. But do you see that that even Paul himself is acknowledging the authority that is over him, that they even have authority to put him to death.
And so, go back to Romans chapter 13 with me now, and let's think about it this way. This is the thought we're going to get into now. We reviewed our role. rule to submit to the governing authorities. Well, what is the role of the governing authorities? Why does God appoint these people? What is the purpose of having governing authorities? And we see that here in Romans 13:3-4. I don't know if you ever thought about what the purpose of government is, but I hope it will be clear in your mind from this day forward. It will even give you clarity and thinking about our country, our election. We're going to find out two purposes that God has in appointing governing authorities. Look at it verse 3, rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to what? To bad. And these are the same words, if you look back at Romans 12, where it said at the end of chapter 12, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” So, evil is going to happen, and don't pay evil back. Don't try to get vengeance against evil. No, when evil comes to you, do what is good, overcome that evil with good. Well, that's what took us into the government, because the government is there. If you're doing what is good, you shouldn't have to be afraid of the government. If you're doing what is evil, then you should be afraid of the government. That's the idea that's presented here. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority halfway through verse 3, right there, “Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval for, the governing authority is God's servant for your good.”
So, maybe you saw the title of this sermon on the handout. You saw the graphic on the screen: Government Is for Good, and you rolled your eyes. You went, right, you know, you went, government is for good. Yeah, right. That is literally lifted from the pages of Scripture. It says so right there in Romans 13:4, everybody that God is appointing the governing authorities for good. And if you do good, they will approve what is good. But if you do wrong, if you do evil, be afraid, for this governing authority does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God. Second time it says that. An Avenger, who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Okay, so let's get this down for point number one: “The purpose of governing authorities is to approve the good and avenge the evil.” That's the purpose. God appoints governing authorities for two reasons. One, to approve what is good that is going on, and then two, to avenge the evil that is going on. Now, you might right away come up with all kinds of objections of how you think that's not happening. Well, let's just start with what it says here. This is the reason that God has governing authorities, okay? And this is the purpose of it. Maybe the purpose isn't happening, but let's get the purpose clear in our mind, that if you're doing what is good, the government is here to approve what you're doing, and if you are doing evil, they're here to avenge evil. They have the sword. They have the authority to put people to death as a deterrent to evil. So, that's what it says the two purposes are. And this actually makes a ton of sense with what we have been learning in the book of Romans. Go back to Romans 12:2, right? Because if you are offering yourself as a living sacrifice, then here's what you're supposed to do. Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Don't get caught up in the spirit of this age. Don't think like everybody else in the culture is thinking. Get your mind right. Think “according to the way of God, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God.” What does God think you should do? That you may be able to discern what is good, what is acceptable, and what is perfect. So, I'm supposed to be learning how to think. That's good. God wants me to do it. Oh, that's evil. Don't do that. In fact, look what it said in verse 9. In Romans 12:9, it taught us, “Let love be genuine, let love be sincere, let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good.”
So, everybody who's a believer in Jesus, we're supposed to be learning discernment from the Word of God. As our mind gets renewed, we're starting to see more clearly. It's not gray, it's not ambiguous. No, it's darkness and light. It's right and wrong, it's good and evil, and I can start to see all the evil, but I'm going to keep doing what is good. And now I'm learning that the government is supposed to see what is good and approve it, see what is evil and avenge it. Okay, so if you've been learning what is evil and what is good, you might see clearly. Then the government, oh, wait, they're not doing what is good, or they are allowing what is evil! And you might see a way that this is off, because this is the issue, what is good and what is evil? Go over to 1 Peter, chapter 2. Let me just show you how Peter says this as well, as this is the purpose of government, okay? And this is the thought that we want to get clear in our minds, what is the government there for? Well, there, we set it to approve good and to avenge evil. Peter just uses a little bit of different words, but he says the same thing here in 1 Peter 2:13. He gives the command, “Be subject for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors.” And then look what it says as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. So that's 1 Peter 2:14. You can write that down under point number one, if you're taking notes. He uses P-words here: “Punish evil and praise good.” Approve good or avenge evil. But it's the same idea. This is what the governors are here to do and I do want to highlight to you that notice it's talking about people. Okay, now, it really surprised me when it mentioned the ruler. It said the one who is in authority. It said that this ruler is God's… what did it say in Romans 13, everybody? “God's servant.” I don't know if you think that our president or vice president or our governor are God's servant, but that's what the Scripture says. The Scripture says that God has appointed these people. It's the word diakonos. It's the word we get Deacon from. Do you see that person serving the Lord at church? And we can see that they're faithful to serve. They pass the test of faithful service over time. We recognize them. They're officially serving the Lord here at the church. It uses that same word to describe the governing authority. So, it's not saying you should submit to the written code. It's not saying you should submit to the law as passed down from generation to generation. It's actually clarifying that you should submit to the people who are there in these positions of authority, and that these people, these individuals, are there, and they have a twofold role, to punish the evil and to praise the good.
Now, here's what's going to happen. Just like we saw with Paul in his example, when he got abused by the governing authorities, he knew that they had done something that was not right. What they had done was wrong. Okay, go with me to Titus, chapter 3 one more time and look at this here, because this is going to happen to every single person in this room. If you're a believer in Jesus, and you're learning what is good and evil, and you're hating what is evil, and you're holding to what is good, then you see one of your governing authorities, and they do something that's evil. Hey, wait a minute. That's not right. Hey, wait a minute, that's not okay. What's happening over here? Well, just remember this, like it says in Titus 3:1, when he's telling Titus, when you're working with all those churches there on Crete, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to the people themselves, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of... What does it say there everybody? “To speak evil of” who? Okay, so am I going to see sometimes that the governing authorities are doing evil? Yes. Does that mean it's okay for me to speak evil of them? See this is where I think the problem is for a lot of us, okay? I think that some of us feel like when I see someone that has an authority given to them by God, when I see them not doing what they should be doing, I see that as evil, and therefore, I feel justified in perhaps speaking about that person in a way that is evil, because I see evil happening. Well, you can see the evil. You can even speak against the evil, but you can't speak evil of the person is what the Scriptures say. Like, just to make it really clear, are you speaking evil of Governor Gavin Newsom at your house? Now, you might think some of the things that the governor's doing, I don't think that's what the government's supposed to be doing. And you can see that you can use the Scripture. You can discern that. You can teach it to your kids, hey, when they say to do this, this is actually evil, don't do this. You can discern what is good and evil. You just can't speak evil of the governing authorities, because speaking evil, I'm no longer being submissive. I'm no longer seeing that they have an authority appointed by God, and I'm willing to place myself underneath them. If I'm calling them names and using derogatory terms and really just venting my anger against this person that's not submissive.
Now, if you were here last week, we even looked at examples, examples held up by God, where God's people did not always do what the authorities told them to do, but they still submitted themselves to the governing authorities. They were told to kill babies. They didn't kill babies. They were told to bow down to idols. They didn't bow down. They were told stop praying, stop speaking in the. name of Jesus. They're like, hey, you guys can decide if you want to judge us or not, but we're going to keep speaking about Jesus Christ. We're going to obey God more than man. Like God's told us things to do. We're going to do it, but they still went before them in a submissive way. And so, even when you see, hey, I don't think the government's approving what is good. I don't think the government is against what is evil, or punishing evil or avenging evil. Hey I think that's wrong. Okay, that's good that you see that. That's good that you're seeing clearly what is good and evil. Teach that to your kids. Encourage your brother with that, just, please don't call politicians names; don't drag them down. I know the politicians are calling each other names, but if you would teach your kid on the playground not to call other kids names, I would encourage you to practice what you preach to your child.
There's a lot of disrespect that's being directed towards our governing authorities by Christian people, which is not a good look for us in the United States of America. And it says, speak evil of no one. Look what he says here, and this is in relation to the rulers and authorities in verse Titus 3:2. “Speak evil of no one. Avoid quarreling, be gentle and show perfect courtesy toward all people.” After all, don't you remember we were fools. We were disobedient. We had hate in our hearts for other people. Remember what Jesus saved us out of, don't let seeing what the government's doing bring you back to a place that you don't belong as one of the people of Jesus Christ. See, don't speak evil yourself in the way you would talk about the rulers and authorities. So, there is a way that maybe you won't even do what you're told. If they tell you to kill someone or they tell you to not worship Jesus, there is a way that maybe you might even be able to see they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing. Yes, you can use this discernment, but you can still be submissive in your tone and in acknowledging the authority that they have over you.
See, we have to see this from God's perspective. God has all authority, and God has purposes that he's working towards, purposes that we know what they are from Scripture. We can't always see them clearly with our eyes, and so we have to do what God tells us to do, and we have to trust God's working through the government. He's accomplishing his purpose. And we have to understand God approves what is good and God hates what is evil. And that's where this whole idea comes from. In fact, I went back to school night recently. Anybody else go to back to school night this year? Yet, I ended up in a world history class. And I started looking around. I was like, what are they teaching in world history these days? And I thought, man, we should go over some world history. Go with me to Genesis, chapter 1, everybody. I'm not sure this is being taught anymore. And so, I want to take you back to where does this whole idea of government even come from? Why would God give people positions of authority, where they bear the sword, where they have authority, even to the point of death, over people? Why would God want to do that with the governing authorities? Well, if you go back to Genesis 1, can we all agree here today that Genesis is World History? In fact, that's where every good world history should start. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Can I get an amen from anybody on that? I kind of think that's important to know if you're going to study world history.
Let's go back to the beginning, right? And “God created us in his image.” In fact, “God created us, male and female.” Can I get an amen from anybody on that? Right? This is how God created us. God created man. “God said it's not good for the man to be alone.” And then out of the man, God created Wo-man. And there she was, right, okay. And now here's something, if you know the story of creation, have you paid attention to this? Look at Genesis 2:15. Look what God says to the man, Adam, the Hebrew word for man. Look what God says to him here in Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man, he put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it, and the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the,” wait for it, everybody. What is it? The “tree of the knowledge of” what? Ooh, good and evil. “Of that tree you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.” “Now the serpent,” it says in Genesis 3:1 “was more crafty than any other beast of the field.” Here comes the devil, Satan. Here he comes in, “and he said to the woman,” and this is always how Satan will go after you. In fact, Satan might go after you about Romans 13. Specifically did God actually say you have to submit to the governing authorities? Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? “And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” And this verse, right here, Genesis 3:4 is my least favorite verse in all the Bible. This is the biggest lie, I think, that's ever been told. “But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die.” And because she was deceived, and because Adam and Eve ate of this tree, now we all die. And look what the serpent says in Genesis 3:5. “For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” See, so the issue, right? They eat the fruit, they realize they're naked. God shows up, “Who told you you're naked?” And off the story goes right there. The whole story of world history is a struggle of good and evil, and it all started right here, with Satan in the garden. So, do you realize, if you and I show up today and we're like, why is there good and evil happening in my country? Why are people doing evil to me. Welcome to world history, everybody. This is the story of the human race. There has now always been people having an inclination to do evil, and how will we see what is good and what's going to happen between good and evil? This is the story of every family. This is the story of every nation. This is our story here in the United States of America.
So, we're entering into now a struggle that has been happening from the beginning ever since Satan lied to Eve. Okay, now notice a theme that emerges right here from the beginning. Go over to Genesis 4. Maybe you've heard the story of Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:10, look what God says to Cain after he kills, he murders, his brother, Abel. And this is very important for you to hear God say this in Genesis 4:10, “And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.’” God is saying that when there is a murder, there is a killing, when someone who is innocent and their life is taken, God can hear their blood crying to him from the ground for justice. You see, every single life that has ever lived has been created by God. God forms us intimately in our mother's womb. God makes us in his image, which means God gives us an eternal soul. We have a spirit, just as God is Spirit, and we're made by God so that we could know him and glorify him forever. And if anyone ever takes one of these precious lives that God has made, it's like their blood is calling to God for justice. In fact, later on in Genesis 4, this guy, Lamech… Look at this guy Lamech here in Genesis 24:23. Now, this guy, he kills people, as well. And look what Lamech said to his wives. Wives in the plural, Ada and Zilla, “Hear my voice, you wives of Lamech.” First of all, you’ve got a big problem if you’ve got wives in the plural. Second of all, husbands do not talk like this. Like, hey Christa, come listen to me, you wife of Bobby. Like that's not the way to talk to your wife, gentlemen. All right, and listen to what this guy says to his wives, in the plural, “you wives of Lamech listen to what I say. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Caine's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy sevenfold. Hey, you thought Cain was a bad guy. Look at me, wives, I've killed people. If Cain deserves to be judged, how much more do I deserve to be judged? And so, there's a theme that sometimes people don't notice. You might have heard the story. Big story in world history is the story of the flood, that God is so angry with the sin of man, with the wickedness of man. God sees so much evil that he judges the world with a flood. And he just saves one man, Noah, and his family, and a representation of all the animals, and they go through on the arky with the barky. Barky. Has anybody heard that story before? Right? But see here's the specific sin that gets talked about. Look at Genesis 6. Before we get to all that flood, look at Genesis 6:13. Look what God is particularly bothered about. Look what God really let us get a glimpse into the heart of God here that we're going to have a problem with good and evil all the way from the beginning. But look at what God thinks about it. “God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with…” what does God talk about, everybody? Violence.
Okay, so it is this idea that taking life is evil, and we cannot allow that to continue. And so that's where the flood really comes from. And then after the flood, go to Genesis 9:6. This is a verse you want to circle. It might already be indented, indented or kind of kind of drawn out here in the text of your Bible. So, you can see Genesis 9:6 clearly, because this is now after the flood. Sometimes it's called the Noahic Covenant, when God makes a promise to never flood the world again. And that's why, when it's raining, sometimes you'll see a rainbow, and the rainbow is God's promise that he's never going to judge the world again through the flood like he did here. But here's something that God says when he gives planet Earth a second chance. Here's how it needs to go. “Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed? For God made man in his own image.” So, God is very particular about this. This is why the government bears the sword is because if someone takes a life, then their life should be taken; if you shed blood, and that blood is crying out to God from the ground that we need justice. God institutes governments now to go and bring about that justice. Now you might start jumping to well, the governments aren't doing that, but let's just understand God's purpose. Go to Deuteronomy 19 and let's see how this played out in Israel. Okay.
Now, I don't know how much you've read of the Law of Moses here, but let's go to Deuteronomy 19:11; if everybody can find it, it's the fifth book of the Bible, if everybody can turn here. Now, let me just share how my experience was growing up going to church. Somehow I got the idea in my head that books like Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, I didn't really need to read those books because they were just about Israel back in the day, God's chosen people, the Jews, and they didn't really relate to me. But if you actually dare to read Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you will see they don't just talk about one nation, but there are entire chapters about the nations and that God has a standard for all nations, that when nations start committing certain abominations, when nations start doing things that God hates, that God is not okay with. What it actually says is that the very land that the nation is on, the land gets sick of the people who live on it, and the land wants to vomit the people out of it that built into God's creation. There are certain lines that when they are crossed, even the creation itself cries out to God for justice. And so, this is something that is very important to the heart of God. And so, when he's teaching his people in Israel, he says things like this, in Deuteronomy 19, look at verse 11, “If anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, and attacks him and strikes him fatally, so that he dies, and then he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city, they shall send and take him from there and hand him over to the avenger of blood.” If you hate somebody and you kill that person, you can't just flee and get away with it. No, they need to be brought to the avenger of blood so that he may die. Look how God says it here in Deuteronomy 19:13, “Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel so that it may be well with you. If you let people kill people, and it just keeps going on, your very land is going to cry out, the blood is going to cry out. So, you can't just let that go. You’ve got to do what God said in Genesis 9:6. If blood is shed, then blood needs to be shed. Now maybe you're concerned right away when you hear about that. Well, what if the person didn't really do it? What if they're falsely accused? Look at verse 15. It gets right into that. “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. No, only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. In fact, if a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests, the judges, who are in office in those days, the authority that God has appointed. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he meant to do to his brother. “So, you shall purge the evil from your midst and the rest shall hear and fear and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Okay, so we've already learned, if you've been going through Romans with us, are we supposed to go and try to get justice for ourselves, to take justice in our own hands? Should we go get vengeance on someone? The answer to that is no. Is that why the governing authorities are there? The answer to that is yes, and it's supposed to be done in such a way that people would be afraid of taking anyone's life, because they would know that would mean they would also lose theirs as well. It's supposed to be something that everybody knows about and everybody's afraid of. They're supposed to be a representation in the governing authorities of the very wrath and vengeance of God himself, and that God is not okay with people that he has created in his image being killed. And so, they're supposed to be this fear of doing evil, because the government will avenge or punish. That's God's heart. That's God's purpose. That's why there are appointed governing authorities who have the sword.
And in fact, remember what Jesus said when Peter took out a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, and remember how Peter cut off the guy's ear and then Jesus miraculously put it back on? What did Jesus say to Peter in Matthew 26:52? “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword, you will perish by the sword.” This is how it's always supposed to have been. This is why there are governing authorities. That's God's purpose.
Now go, go back with me to Romans 13, and let's talk about what about us in the USA? Okay, we have these two ideas that we've been learning. One is God appoints authorities that we need to willingly place ourselves underneath, too. The authorities, they're supposed to approve good, praise what is good, and then they're supposed to punish what is evil, avenge, and God's given them the sword to do that. Okay, now, what about us in our particular situation, right now, okay, what should be our response? Okay, let's really think this through. And there's a lot we could get into, but let's just start with something very basic. Point number one in this bottom box, as we now try to apply this to the year of our Lord 2024, and the election that's about to happen. Point number one is, do good. Now let me just clarify what that is. But if you want to write that down, that's clear here in Romans 13, if you're doing what is good, you shouldn't have to worry about what the government is doing. Now you might think that's not how it is, well, but that's the point here. If you're doing what is good, you don't have to be afraid of the governing authorities. If your conscience is clear, if you know you're doing good in God's sight, then don't worry about what other people think about it. That's the idea. Make sure that you, before you start pointing your finger at everybody else and all the evil that's going on with governing authorities or fellow Americans, just check yourself. Would God have an accusation against you? Is your conscience messed up about something you're doing? We don't need to be pointing out the speck in other people's eye if we’ve still got the log in our own eyes. So, hold up. Am I doing what I should be doing as a citizen here in my country?
Okay, now maybe you're thinking, well, today, if you do what is good, you might get an evil response. Well, go with me to 1 Peter 3:13, where he says that that could happen, and he teaches them how to think about that in 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 13. So, he's told them to be subject to the governing authorities. He's told slaves be subject to your masters. He's told wives, be subject to your husbands. Like this is something Peter thinks is really important. A part of how we live is we see the authority of God. We see the other authorities that God gives, and we place ourselves under those authorities. And then Peter starts to say, hey, “and when they do evil to you, when they revile you, bless them, don't get caught up in all the evil going on. Make sure you're not speaking evil. Make sure you turn from evil and do good.” And then he says this in chapter 3, verse 13 of 1 Peter, “Now, who is there to harm you?” If you are zealous for what is good, that's the general principle. If you're doing what is good, don't worry about what the government or other people are thinking. But verse 14, “Even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be…” what does it say there, everybody? Blessed. If I'm doing what is good and the government doesn't acknowledge it, or other people don't acknowledge it, does God know that I'm doing what is good, and is God going to bless me? The answer here is yes, which kind of makes me ask, who am I really living for? Am I living for the approval of other people, like my governing authorities, or am I living to please God? And if I know God is pleased, then I don't need to be afraid of what other people think. That's literally what it says. “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy.” Lift Jesus high in your heart, set Jesus apart in your heart above everybody else. Because we may have many different governing authorities in our lives, but we have one king, we have one Lord, and we know who he is, and I'm living for him. That's what it says here, make sure your heart is right before the Lord Jesus Christ, and then always be prepared to make an offense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. And when they come at you for doing what is good, what are you supposed to do? Just rip them apart. Because how dare they come at you, those hypocrites. No, look what it says. You “give them a reason for the hope that is in you.” And how do you do it? With what? “With gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame, for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will than for doing evil.”
So, even if you feel like there's evil all around you, even if you feel like the evil is in your governing authorities, you should still do good. Now, one thing that happened last week that I'm still kind of processing is we tried to say what the Bible says, to submit to the governing authorities. And then people say things to me after the sermon, like, so why are you acting like we shouldn't vote? And I'm like, where did I say we shouldn't vote? Like you can tell people have a bad idea of submission. They don't have a biblical idea of submission. Submission is in many people in this room right now. It's a bad word in your mind. And so, you think submission is like passive, where I just have to take it, where it's just like whatever goes I'm okay with it. No. Submission is you actively trusting in a God who hates evil and wants good, and I'm trusting him, and if all these other people aren't doing what they should be doing, I'm going to keep doing it, because I actually believe in God. Submission is an active response to the Word of God. It's not passive. It's not us just being doormats and letting evil win. Submission is us saying, I'm going to keep doing what is good if none of my neighbors are, if even my governor's not, if my president's not, I'm going to keep doing what is good. That's what submission is. Submission is not some passive, weak response. Submission requires a lot of courage and a lot of faith. It requires you to actually believe that God is in control, even when you can't see it right in front of your eyes.
And so, in no way am I implying that we who live in the United States of America, we have a very unique government in world history, where you could actually become one of the governing authorities, if you want to. I'm not sure you do want to, but you could run for it. You could put posters with your picture up all over the neighborhood, and you could say, vote for me. Like we have a political process that you can get engaged in, and you can speak the truth of what is good and what is evil in the public square. You can actually say no, according to the Word of God, this is good, or according to what God says, this is evil. And you could actually speak truth to people. And you could educate your kids, you could talk to your neighbors and your family members, you could say, yeah, but isn't this how God set it up? Isn't this God's plan? And so, I actually want to encourage everybody here, just to make it crystal clear, like I would encourage you to vote, and I would actually encourage you to use Romans 13 as your criteria. When you start looking at, well, what are all the options to vote for because, yeah, there's president, there's a whole lot of other places that you could vote as well. A whole lot of things are on the ballot. Well, let me just take this criteria right here. What kind of vote could I give that would help the governing authorities approve what is good and avenge what is evil? Is there any way I could vote that would push the governing authorities in that direction. That would be a good thing to do. And so, yeah, I want to make it very clear, you can be engaged, and if you act like, well, this isn't even happening. The government, they're so off. They don't even approve what is good, or they don't even avenge what is evil. Well, what are you advocating for? Do you want to go back to the wild wild west? Do you want to go back to Cain and Lamech? Do you want to just have no government at all? No, this is the human struggle that we're in. There is a battle between good and evil going on, and we're all going to be a part of it, and we're all going to see evil happen.
So, what can we actually do about it? Well. There are things in America that you can do, and I would encourage you to do those things, but this is just a small example. This isn't a big deal, but let me just give you an example of a little church in Huntington Beach that came here ten years ago, and we knew this command, and we decided that whatever the city of Huntington Beach wants us to do as a church in this city, we're going to submit to the governing authorities. I've spent many days down at City Hall, if you've been down there on Main Street, right across from HB high. I know not everybody here lives in Huntington Beach, but as a church in Huntington Beach, we wanted to obey our governing authorities, and so we had to get conditional use permits for every place we've ever met, including Marina High School, and we started there on day one. We got a conditional use permit for that. And then we got a conditional use permit for this auditorium over here. When we got Charlie Coffee in the revival room over here, we’ve got a conditional use permit for that. Every activity we've done, maybe you've run with us at the bunny run around Easter time. Anybody been to Fall Fest on October 31 before right that event we do at the HB sport complex? They have you jump through all these hoops and pay all these fees to do those events. We do it every single time. We go to city meetings. We explain the event to them. Do you know that this week, the city of Huntington Beach called your church, and they said, hey, are you guys doing Fall Fest on October 31? Yeah. You guys are already approved. You don't even need to come to the meetings anymore. We got you guys that. So that's not a really a big deal in the scheme of things, but I think that's the governing authorities approving what is good. Do you realize we got the conditional use permit for Marina High School. We got it for that building off of Argosy. We got it for the cafe area, and then came our biggest request yet. We wanted to get the permit for this space. We wanted to get double the auditorium with the same amount of parking as some of you are finding out, right? And it's like we go to the city approved right away, right away the city approved. It's almost like they've gotten to know us. It's almost like they think we believe what we preach around here. You know, they called us this summer. Are you guys going to please be in the Fourth of July parade again? We could really use you guys in the parade again. See? So, this is happening. This is real. This is real. Maybe you think, well, that's just an ideal situation in the city of Huntington Beach. Yeah, it's kind of nice living in the city of Huntington Beach. We actually have a Christian man named Chad Williams, who lives right down the street from here. He's running for our city council. So, there's a guy, there's a brother in Christ, who's like, I see what's going on. I want to do some good. I've had a meal with Chad. I've known him. Some people at our church, they're friends with him. Like, here's a guy. He's like, I'm going to go try to represent Jesus Christ in this city.
There are still good things happening in the United States of America, and you can vote for them. If you're not registered to vote, you've got until October 21; you can start voting in California as early as October 7, and Election Day is November 5. Tuesday. We will be having an event, Jesus 2024, and we will worship, and we will share testimonies, and we will fellowship. We will eat food, and as the election results come in, we will praise the Lord Jesus Christ, who rules over all.
Okay, so there is a lot of good that you can do. Okay? Have I made that very clear? There's a lot of good that you can do. You can go vote. Have I said that? Has everybody heard me saying that? Okay, now let me talk about the real issue, though, because the real issue is, if you're concerned about what we can do for the United States of America, and voting is the first thing that comes to your mind. I mean, I think it's important for your voice to be heard, and I think you should speak up for what is good and what is evil. But more important than casting a vote is, how much are you praying for the United States of America? Most important thing you're ever going to do for this country is to talk to God about it. Because God is the one who actually rules over these United States. And I want to just ask you a personal question in the year of our Lord 2024, a highly controversial election year, have you personally spent more time complaining about America or praying about America? Because in there is the problem that we are supposed to be people who would intercede on behalf of our fellow Americans, that if we see our governing authorities not doing what they should be doing, we shouldn't be speaking evil of them. We should be talking to God about them.
Turn with me in 1 Timothy 2, where it makes this application very clear. 1 Timothy, chapter 2, this is a letter written so that we would know how one ought to conduct himself in the church. And in 1 Timothy, chapter 2, Paul gets to the first thing, because that's how Paul rolls. It takes him a whole chapter to get going. And in chapter 2, verse 1, he says, “First of all, then…” And if you know how Paul rolls, he usually says first, and there's never a second, because once he gets going, he doesn't stop. But in 1 Timothy 2:1 he says, “First of all, then…” What is the first thing that Paul urges people who go to church how they should conduct themselves in church? What is the first thing that he says? “First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, all the people that we would have to place ourselves underneath, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good.” You want to know what's good? You want to know some good that you can do is you can pray for people. You can pray for all people. You can pray for those who are in authority. And what are you praying for? You're praying that we can keep doing what we do, that we can live peaceful, quiet lives as good citizens in our country, and that we can live godly lives, dignified lives. And here's what those lives, here's our purpose. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Yes, there's a lot of truth that you could speak into America, but the only truth that you can speak that leads to people getting saved is the truth of Jesus Christ. It says here, “This is the truth. There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time, and now is the proper time.”
So, point number two, let's get it down like this. What about us in the USA? Well, “we need more than good, we need God.” Like just doing good at this point is not going to be enough in the United States, we can't just try to hang on to the status quo. We can't just try to keep going. No, our nation, has been turning away from God, and I've watched it happen in my lifetime. You've watched it happen. If God's taught you discernment, if you know how to test the will of God and see what is good and what is evil, you have seen that our nation, just like it says in Romans 1, and Romans 1 almost perfectly goes with the history of the United States of America in our lifetime, because we did not give glory to God. We haven't really acted like we're one nation under God. We haven't really acted like God is the one who can tell us how to live and how he designed life. No, we have denied God his glory. And so, what happens in Romans 1 is when you don't acknowledge God as the ultimate authority, and you don't give him the glory that he deserves, “then God gives you up to your sin.” And the first thing it says that God gives you up to is your lust. We saw a sexual revolution happen in America. Then it says God gives you over to unnatural passions, men pursuing men, women pursuing women. We've seen a homosexual revolution happen in America. And then the third thing it says, if you don't acknowledge God, if you don't turn back to God, if you don't go to Him, He will give you up to a debased mind. And now you have a warped sense of good and evil. Now you're actually, instead of approving what is good, you're now approving what is evil. And we've watched it happen in real time. All you’ve got to do is drive around the streets. You've seen it. I've seen it. God has given us over to our sin. And so, we’ve got to do more than just try to do what is good. We need God. He is our only hope. If God, through his Son Jesus Christ, and if God doesn't save many people and turn people back to him, we're going down a path of judgment. That's the story of the United States of America. That's the story of nations. That's what happens.
And so, I'm asking you, when it says to pray for all people, for your fellow Americans, for your governing authorities, I'm asking you, is that something you're really doing? Do you do it with other believers? Do you do it in the secret place when it's just you and God? Do you say, God, I know some of my fellow Americans aren't praying to you. I know they're not acknowledging you. I know they actually are blaspheming your name, and they're actually doing the things you hate, and they don't even care what you think. And so, God, I'm coming to you on behalf of the United States of America, and you would be right to judge us, and we would deserve it. And God, I'm coming to beg you for mercy today. Please don't give us what we deserve here. Please don't give us over to more evil. And do you remember when God was going to judge Sodom, that wicked city, that infamous city? And do you remember how Abraham was there because Abraham cared about that city, because that's where his relative Lot lived in that city. And he said, God, if there are fifty righteous people, will you spare the whole city? Yes, Abraham, I'll spare it for fifty righteous. And Abraham talks him all the way down to how many righteous people? Ten righteous people. Now, turns out there's only one righteous man in the whole city. It's Abraham’s relative Lot, a righteous man tormented by the evil all around him. And what does God do? God saves that man out of the city. Man, when was the last time you said, God, will you please spare us? I want to be one of the righteous people here. If everybody's doing evil, if even the authorities are doing evil, God, will you please help me to keep doing good? I want to be one of the people. Will you please be merciful on us? And God, we can't just have a reform. We can't just try to do the right thing. God, we need Jesus. We need people to be saved. And I know you want to save people, and so I'm asking you to do what you told me you want to do that you desire them to be saved. You want them to know the truth, and the truth is in your Son Jesus. So, God, will you let the name of Jesus be lifted high in 2024? In Christ alone, our hope is found. So please, let me speak the name of Jesus so more people can be saved. Are you praying things like this? This is what you can do for your country. Uncle Sam needs you to pray, not to complain, not to argue, not to get disengaged or to get really angry. But I want to encourage you every day, from today until November 5, will you pray for America? Do you still care? Do you still have compassion? Now, look at 1 Timothy 2 with me, let's just make this very clear, because it says in 1 Timothy 2:2, for kings and all who are in high positions. Now what I hear some people do is I hear them pray that Joe Biden will get saved, because he's the president, okay, and that, I hope that that is something you are able to do. I hope that you can still see that the governing authorities are souls, created in the image of God, that they are people just like us who are dead in their trespasses and sins. We were all dead in our trespasses and sins until God makes us alive by grace, we have been saved. Can I get an amen for that?
So yeah, I encourage you to pray for our President, our Vice President, our Governor, our former President, pray for their salvation, I encourage that. But I hope when you pray for it, you're genuinely asking God to save them and believing he can do it. Because if you're not praying with faith, maybe it's not good to be praying if you're just praying it because you think you should. That's not real prayer. You’ve got to believe. But I'm not sure that's even what it's saying. I think what it's saying is, yes, you could, there's some of the people that need to be saved. Pray for them. But see, do you see how what am I praying for, the kings and those in high positions, that we can keep living our life, that we're not getting caught up in all that's going on. We're living a quiet life. We're living a godly life, and our purpose is to spread the truth. And the truth is Jesus. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. Nobody's getting saved except through Jesus. See? So, what I'm really praying? Yeah, I want things to go well for the United States? Yeah, I want us to be safe from our enemies. Yeah, I'd like to see things turn around and go down the right track. I would love to see our president get saved. I would love to see our Governor get saved. That would be amazing to the praise of God's glorious grace. But here's what I really understand is happening right now in the United States of America, is Jesus is building his church, and every day that God is patient and not to judge us, is an opportunity for more people to repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus and be saved. Do you believe that's what's happening in America? Are you praying for that to happen? I believe that all the evil and all the governing authorities cannot in any way stop God from doing what he wants to do. And I believe when it says God desires all people to be saved, I believe that's who God is. And so, I don't want to get caught up in what's going on today in America, because I believe the most important thing going on today is people being saved by Jesus Christ. That is the reason there is it today. That is the reason that God has been patient to the year of our Lord 2024 is there are still more souls to be saved. Are you praying for that? Is that your number one priority is seeing people get saved? That's the purpose here. Yeah, I'm praying about what's going to happen in our election. I'm praying for our governing authorities that they would approve what is good, and they would avenge evil, and maybe they need to be saved to see that clearly themselves. And so, I'll pray for them, but I want to make sure. That we keep leading a peaceful and quiet life, that we stay godly and dignified in every way, because we've got a mission and we’ve got to stay on focus, and I've met too many Christians that are more ready to debate politics than they are to share the gospel. Now, we don't need good in America. We need God. And so, I want to invite everybody here to pray.
If you open up your bulletin, you can see we've got a very important week here ahead of us at our church. This could be the most important week we've ever had at our church. Tonight, you want to talk about helping people get saved. What you want to talk about Jesus building his church. Come back tonight at five o'clock. You don't want to miss this announcement. You will be encouraged, but I want to encourage you. We're going to be here every night this week, right here in this room. Monday night, you can see it. Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night. At 6:30, we will gather together as a church, and we will pray for America. We will do what 1 Timothy 2 tells us to do if we're concerned that our governing authorities aren't approving good and they aren't avenging evil. Well, let's go talk to God about it. And so, you can come back tonight at five. You can come back tomorrow night at 6:30 and the night that you would normally come to your fellowship group, instead of going to wherever your fellowship group meets at a house or somewhere here on campus, all fellowship groups are going to come and gather together right here in this room to pray all together for America. And then you'll break up with your group, and you'll have time to pray just with your one anothers in your group. But we're going to come together as a church, and we're going to pray. Now, if you come normally on Tuesday or Wednesday, there'll be the normal kids’ ministry if you put your kids in there, and there's not kids’ ministry on the other nights, if you want to come more than one night. But for sure, at least come on the night you would normally come with your fellowship group and come on in to pray. And see, if you flip your handout over, it starts making you think, well, what should you pray for America? What are Bible verses? We've started with 1 Timothy 2. Let's build up for there. What are things that you know God wants? It's God's will. You can discern it. This is good, this is acceptable, this is perfect. This is what God would want for my country. What should you be asking God to do? Yes, we should do the good we can do. But what's more important is, what is God going to do? What are you asking him to do? So, maybe start getting some verses. Maybe write out your prayer for America. Start thinking through. Start praying yourself in the secret place, so when we all come together, you've got something to say. You've got something to ask God for. It's time for people who are afraid to pray in public, it's time for you to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For those of you who have been faithfully praying, it's time for you to gather together and to lift up the specific need of our nation at this time that we need to acknowledge God and give him glory, because we've had enough of being given up to our own sin. And so, I'm asking you, will you please? Can we come together as a church, and can we ask God to do something, because he's the one who reigns above the governing authorities, he's the one who reigns over all the evil, and we have not because we ask not. And so, let's make sure that God hears from some people on behalf of these United States. So, I hope to see you again tonight or some other night this week. I'll be here every night because we want to pray for America. Will you pray with me right now?
Father in heaven, I just come to confess that it is easy for us to fall into the evil around us, or if we think our government is doing evil, it's easy for us to start speaking evil of governing authorities. Father, I just want to confess that maybe some of us here at the church have said derogatory things about our President, our Vice President, our Governor. Father, we just confess that that was not an attitude of submission. I pray that we could see the difference between saying what is evil, and discerning between the good and evil, and then not speaking in an evil way about other people. And I pray that you will help us to have renewed minds, to hate what is evil and to do what is good. I pray that we could teach our children what is good and what is evil. I pray that we could encourage one another and what is good and what is evil, and if our government is doing evil, I pray that we could point that out to the people around us, but Father, please let us see that you are the one who is over all, and let us still be willing to place ourselves under the governing authorities, believing that you have appointed them. And let us still speak with perfect courtesy, even if we're pointing out evil. Let us not turn it into our reviling, but let us bless people, knowing that if we do good, you will bless us. And so, Father, will you please forgive us for all the complaining that we've been doing? Will you please forgive us for all the times we've said derogatory things about governing authorities? And will you please put it on our hearts to pray that if there's still hope for the United States, there's only one name, there's only one place that hope is going to be found. It's in Christ alone, the cornerstone. It's in the name of Jesus, the name that you have exalted above every name, the name above all rulers and all authorities, the one who is the king, the one who is the Lord, the one who will come back again and establish his kingdom. He requires no votes. He needs no permission, because he already has the authority. God, we know the truth, but there's only one way to get right with you. There's only one way to have peace on earth. There's only one good news of great joy for all people. And his name is Jesus. And so, please turn our hearts from complaining about America, to speak in the name of Jesus. Turn our hearts from talking bad about our governing authorities to praying for them like you taught us in 1 Timothy 2. And let us pray for a great revival. Let us pray for a day of repentance. Let us pray that in the name of Jesus, many people will be saved, kings and those in high positions, neighbors and friends. God, let us see that you want to save people, and we need to ask you to do it, and if we ask you to do it, we're going to see it, because we're just asking you to do what you said you already wanted to do. So, Father, please, will you put it on the hearts of everybody here to come together as a church and to pray for our country, to pray for salvation of many of our fellow Americans. God, please forgive us for our prayerlessness, and please give us the faith now at this time to pray like we never have before, because we know there is hope, and his name is Jesus. We pray this in his name. Amen.